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Identity Cards

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will modify ministerial statements, public documents and answers to parliamentary questions which refer to the privacy protection afforded by the Data Protection Act 1998 in the context of the identity card to alert the reader to the fact that the European Commission has formally expressed an opinion that the Data Protection Act 1998 is a defective implementation of Directive 95/46/EC; and if he will make a statement. [13167]

Andy Burnham: The Identity Cards Bill is fully compliant with the Data Protection Act 1998 and with Directive 95/46/EC—the provisions of which the Act (together with other provisions in UK law) accurately and proportionately reflects. We are in discussion with the European Commission about some issues in respect of the operation of the data protection regime in the UK, which result from their work in reviewing the way in which all member states have implemented the directive.

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce an amendment to modify the Identity Card Bill so that personal information from the national register associated with the identity card cannot be used by any public authority
 
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for the purpose of the efficient and effective delivery of public services without the consent of the identity card holder; and if he will make a statement. [13169]

Andy Burnham: The Government will not introduce such an amendment. The Bill as drafted only allows information to be used without a person's consent by specified public authorities named on the face of the Bill, or others subsequently approved by Parliament. These arrangements will be subject to independent oversight.

Mark Fisher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the identity card will be a (a) contact and (b) contactless card. [12612]

Andy Burnham: It is currently planned that identity cards issued to British nationals eligible for a passport could be used by individuals for travel within Europe. In order to facilitate this, the card will need to meet standards established by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which require the card to be contactless in order to be considered a valid travel document.

In addition, we are also investigating whether it would be beneficial and cost effective to be compatible with other card reader national infrastructures, such as the Chip & PIN network, which requires contact card.

Thus it is possible that an identity card will function as both a contact and contactless card.

Identity Theft

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his Answer of 28 June 2005, Official Report, column 1458W, on identity fraud/theft, what definition (a) he and (b) the Association for Payment Clearing Services uses of identity theft. [10090]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The Home Office Identity Fraud Steering Committee, of which Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS) is a member, has produced a high-level definition of identity crime, within which identity theft is defined broadly as occurring when sufficient information about an identity is obtained to facilitate identity fraud, irrespective of whether, in the case of an individual, the victim is alive or dead.

For their purposes, APACS consider identity theft on cards as occurring when a criminal uses fraudulently obtained personal information to open or access card accounts in someone else's name.

National Offender Management Service

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress his Department is making with the proposed introduction of the National Offender Management Service. [9056]

Fiona Mactaggart: A NOMS Offender Management model has been developed to implement in both community and custodial sentences. A pathfinder in the north-west region has been operational since October 2004. The first evaluation report (Action Research) was published on 30 June 2005, and outlines the value of the north-west's testing of the model. The information gained is being fed into the implementation plans for prison and probation areas. A national offender manager and 10 regional offender managers have been
 
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appointed. The latter will play the main role in commissioning and will help to build partnership working locally.

Passports

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the umbrellas purchased by the Passport Agency in the summer of 1999 for use by customers have been retained by the agency. [13210]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The UK Passport Service purchased 1,200 umbrellas in 1999 due to the abnormal situation of those calling personally at our offices having to queue in the rain. The appointment system that has operated in all offices since 2002 resulted in the umbrellas no longer being required and they were donated to the charity, Oxfam. In 2004–05, 94 per cent. of customers that applied personally were seen within 20 minutes of their appointment time. Customers' brief wait to be seen will normally be inside our office building.

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 12 July 2005, Official Report, column 911W, on passports, what the reasons are for the increase in the average unit cost of producing passports from 2005–06 to 2006–07. [13480]

Andy Burnham: The increase in the average unit cost of producing passports from 2005–06 to 2006–07 is due largely to the delivery of a number of key counter fraud initiatives in 2006–07 notably interviews for all first time adult applicants, linkages with other public sector databases and the full implementation of facial biometric passports.

Payroll Giving

Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to advertise and promote recent changes to the Payroll Giving Grants programme. [12364]

Paul Goggins [holding answer 18 July 2005]: There have been no changes to the Payroll Giving Grants Programme since its launch in January 2005. The programme is being promoted in a number of ways including: distribution of promotional materials; extensive media coverage; and the creation of an awards scheme.

Police

Ed Balls: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many deaths in police custody occurred in (a) West Yorkshire police authority and (b) the UK in each year since 2001. [11823]

Hazel Blears: The total number of deaths of people during or following police custody are as follows:

	West Yorkshire police area	England and Wales(32)
2001–02	1 (0)	21 (3)
2002–03	1 (0)	40 (8)
2003–04	0	38 (7)

⁽³²⁾ The statistics for deaths in police custody are collated for the period 1 April to 31 March.
Note:
The figures in brackets indicate the deaths that occurred within police stations.





 
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The Home Office do not collate statistics on deaths during or following police custody for Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance his Department gives to police forces on the employment of interpreters (a) from the National Register of Public Service Interpreters and (b) engaged through agencies. [13332]

Hazel Blears [holding answer 19 July 2005]: The Home Office has issued no advice on the employment of interpreters, which is an operational matter for chief officers of police.

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 4 July 2005, Official Report, column 144W, when the Metropolitan Police commenced checking the list of names; how many officers are in the team which is doing the checking, broken down by rank; and if he will make a statement. [10461]

Hazel Blears: Since the War Crimes Unit was disbanded in 1999, the Metropolitan Police has continued to investigate all allegations of war crimes as and when they have arisen. Following receipt of the most recent allegations, it has now deployed a team of officers to investigate suspected Nazi War Criminals residing in the UK; this includes checking the list of 75 names against existing material. The team consists of a Senior Investigating Officer, an Investigating Officer, two Detective Sergeants, two Detective Constables, a Police Analyst and an Indexer.

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