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5 Jul 2005 : Column 399W—continued

Project Iris

Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost is of the contract with SAGEM to supply the Iris based immigration system as part of Project Iris. [9028]

Mr. McNulty: The cost of the five year contract awarded to SAGEM to deliver the Iris biometric automated border entry system for pre-registered travellers at 10 airport terminals in the United Kingdom is £2.86 million.

Public Order Act

Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people (a) over 18 years and (b) under 18 years were prosecuted for offences under section (i) 1, (ii) 2, (iii) 3, (iv) 4, (v) 4(a) and (vi)5.5 of the Public Order Act 1986 in each of the last three years; and how many were convicted in each case. [5159]

Hazel Blears: The information contained in the following table gives the number of defendants proceeded against at the magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for offences under the Public Order Act 1986, Secs one, two, three, four, 4A and five, in England and Wales from 2001 to 2003. Statistics on court proceedings for 2004 will be published in the autumn.
Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for certain offences under the Public Order Act 1986⁽⁵³⁾, England and Wales 2001 to 2003

			Aged 10 to 17
Offence description	Statute	Year	Proceeded against	Found guilty
Riot	Public Order Act 1986,	2001	9	7
	Sec 1	2002	37	34
		2003	3	2
Violent	Public Order Act 1986,	2001	1,214	155
disorder	Sec 2	2002	996	182
		2003	897	194
Affray	Public Order Act 1986,	2001	3,169	1,236
	Sec 3	2002	3,026	1,233
		2003	2,821	1,152
Fear or	Public Order Act 1986,	2001	2,597	1,532
provocation	Sec 4 as amended by	2002	2,519	1,527
of violence(54)	Crime and Disorder Act 1998 Sec31(1)(a) and (4)	2003	2,529	1,535
Causing	Public Order Act 1986,	2001	526	224
intentional	Sec 4A as amended by	2002	453	214
harassment, alarm or distress(55)	Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, Sec 154	2003	466	238
Harassment,	Public Order Act 1986,	2001	4,763	2,819
alarm or	Sec 5 as amended by	2002	4,442	2,685
distress(56)	Crime and Disorder Act 1998, Sec 31 (1)(c) and (5)	2003	4,846	2,984

 
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			Aged 18 and over
Offence description	Statute	Year	Proceeded against	Found guilty
Riot	Public Order Act 1986,	2001	71	3
	Sec 1	2002	124	99
		2003	34	43
Violent	Public Order Act 1986,	2001	3,373	513
disorder	Sec 2	2002	2,720	704
		2003	2,380	625
Affray	Public Order Act 1986,	2001	13,641	5,965
	Sec 3	2002	13,392	5,949
		2003	12,970	5,893
Fear or	Public Order Act 1986,	2001	14,826	10,043
provocation	Sec 4 as amended by	2002	14,883	10,106
of violence(54)	Crime and Disorder Act 1998 Sec31(1)(a) and (4)	2003	14,962	10,314
Causing	Public Order Act 1986,	2001	1873	972
intentional	Sec 4A as amended by	2002	1817	976
harassment, alarm or distress(55)	Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, Sec 154	2003	2028	1113
Harassment,	Public Order Act 1986,	2001	19,621	13,394
alarm or	Sec 5 as amended by	2002	20,235	13,987
distress(56)	Crime and Disorder Act 1998, Sec 31 (1)(c) and (5)	2003	21,852	15,416

			All ages
Offence description	Statute	Year	Proceeded against	Found guilty
Riot	Public Order Act 1986,	2001	80	10
	Sec 1	2002	161	133
		2003	37	45
Violent	Public Order Act 1986,	2001	4,587	668
disorder	Sec 2	2002	3,716	886
		2003	3,277	819
Affray	Public Order Act 1986,	2001	16,810	7,201
	Sec 3	2002	16,418	7,182
		2003	15,791	7,045
Fear or	Public Order Act 1986,	2001	17,423	11,575
provocation	Sec 4 as amended by	2002	17,402	11,633
of violence(54)	Crime and Disorder Act 1998 Sec31(1)(a) and (4)	2003	17,491	11,849
Causing	Public Order Act 1986,	2001	2,399	1,196
intentional	Sec as amended by	2002	2,270	1,190
harassment, alarm or distress(55)	Criminal Justice 4A and Public Order Act 1994, Sec 154	2003	2,494	1,351
Harassment,	Public Order Act 1986,	2001	24,384	16,213
alarm or	Sec 5 as amended by	2002	24,677	16,672
distress(56)	Crime and Disorder Act 1998, Sec 31 (1)(c) and (5)	2003	26,698	18,400

⁽⁵³⁾These data are on the principal offence basis.
⁽⁵⁴⁾Includes offences: Racially aggravated fear or provocation of violence, Religiously aggravated fear or provocation of violence and Racially or religiously aggravated fear or provocation of violence.
⁽⁵⁵⁾Includes offences: Racially aggravated causing intentional harassment, alarm or distress, Religiously aggravated causing intentional harassment, alarm or distress and Racially or religiously aggravated causing intentional harassment, alarm or distress.
⁽⁵⁶⁾Includes offences: Racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress, Religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress and Racially or religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress.



 
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Right of Abode

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of British nationals have the right of abode in the UK; and if he will make a statement. [8967]

Mr. McNulty: The expression British national" is not used or defined in our nationality legislation, but is commonly understood to refer to the following:

British citizens;

British overseas territories citizens;

British overseas citizens;

British subjects;

British nationals (overseas); and

British protected persons.

Because these statuses are in most cases acquired through the automatic operation of law it is not possible to say precisely how many people fall into each category and, thus, what proportion have the right of abode in the United Kingdom.

Shoplifting

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of shoplifters brought to police attention were (a) taken into custody, (b) charged, (c) prosecuted and (d) convicted in each year from 1997 to 2004. [5373]

Hazel Blears: Statistics on the number of people brought to the attention of the police for shoplifting who were taken into custody or charged are not centrally collected. Available information from the Home Office Court Proceeding database giving the number of persons prosecuted and found guilty for the offence stealing from shops and stalls" England and Wales for the years 1997 to 2003 is shown in the table. Statistics on court proceedings for 2004 will be available in the autumn.
Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for offences under S1 Theft Act 1968, England and Wales, 1997 to 2003⁽⁵⁷⁾—Offence: Stealing from shops and stalls

	Proceeded against	Found guilty
1997	69,666	58,401
1998	77,915	66,690
1999	85,491	74,350
2000	89,050	77,542
2001	92,233	79,933
2002	92,664	80,167
2003	86,089	74,928

⁽⁵⁷⁾These data are on the principal offence basis.

Student Visas

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the likely effect on the number of non-EU students studying in the UK of increasing the charges for student visas. [8035]

Dr. Howells: I have been asked to reply.

UKvisas is committed to working with the education sector through the newly formed Joint Education Task Force to examine any relationship between fees and
 
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student visa application numbers. Visa fees are generally a relatively small part of the overall students costs and there are many other factors; course costs, cost of living, exchange rates that influence the decision of where to study. Following the fee increase in 2002, the number of student applications during 2003–04 increased by approximately 24 per cent.

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from the higher education sector on the likely impact of increased charges for student visas on future revenue for UK universities. [8041]

Dr. Howells: I have been asked to reply.

UKvisas wrote to stakeholders on 15 April about the proposed fee increases. UKvisas subsequently received a number of representations from individual higher and further educational establishments and from representative bodies including UKCOSA (the Council for International Education), Universities UK (UUK), Association of Colleges (AoC) Association of Independent Higher Education Providers (AIHEP), EnglishUK, National Union of Students (NUS). UKvisas wrote again to education stakeholders on 16 May, including with details of the costing methodology for the fee increase and details of the kinds of abuse being perpetrated in the student visa sector by bogus applicants.

My noble Friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister responsible for entry clearance (Lord Triesman of Tottenham), and my hon. Friend the Home Office Minister for Citizenship, Immigration and Nationality (Mr. McNulty), held a meeting with the education sector on 24 May to discuss stakeholder concerns and to explain the rationale for the fee increases. UKvisas is working to develop further the dialogue on visa matters with the education sector through the Home Office-chaired Joint Education task Force.

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the effects of increasing the charges for student visas on future revenue for UK universities from fees paid by non-EU students. [8042]

Dr. Howells: I have been asked to reply.

There is no direct evidence of a causal relationship between visa fee levels and UK University income affecting one or the other. However UK visas is committed, including through its participation in the Joint Education Task Force, to developing further the dialogue with the education sector and improving the evidence base on all aspects of the impact of the visa operation on that sector.

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the likely revenue from increasing charges for non-EU student visas. [8043]

Dr. Howells: I have been asked to reply.

In financial year 2005–06, estimated revenue from all student visa fees globally will be £24,430,815.
 
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