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19 Oct 2005 : Column 1060W—continued
TV Licences
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many concessionary television licences for elderly people have been issued in each of the last two years, broken down by Northern Ireland parliamentary constituency. [19579]
James Purnell: TV Licensing, who administer free television licences for people aged 75 or over as agents for the BBC, are not able to provide geographical breakdowns of the number of concessionary licences issued. However, 2001 Census data indicate that the approximate number of individuals aged 75 or over living in each constituency in Northern Ireland was:
Information is not held centrally on the number of retired people aged 60 or over in each parliamentary constituency living in accommodation which qualifies for the Accommodation for Residential Care concessionary scheme.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people were fined for not having a television licence in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [18331]
James Purnell: Information is available only for England, Scotland and Wales. Data for England and Wales relates to all offences under the Wireless Telegraphy Acts of 1949 and 1967 and data for Scotland to offences under the 1949 Act. Most though not all offences recorded under these Acts involve television licence evasion. The number of people fined in each of the last five years for which information was available was:
| Number of people fined(26) | |
|---|---|
| 1999(27) | 55,280 |
| 2000 | 105,203 |
| 2001 | 83,200 |
| 2002 | 95,757 |
| 2003 | 81,126 |
(26)On the principal offence basis.
(27)999 data for Scotland is incomplete.
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HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION
Environmental Audits
Peter Law: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what recent audits of (a) energy use, (b) energy efficiency, (c) waste disposal and (d) recycling in the House have been carried out. [18273]
Nick Harvey: Energy use and waste disposal and recycling related to the Parliamentary Estate are monitored monthly and trends are plotted in a monthly management report by the Serjeant at Arms. Energy efficiency is more complex to assess due to the difficulty of benchmarking similar buildings to the Palace of Westminster, a vast listed building used for long periods in the day: figures available do however demonstrate that energy consumption per square metre of floor area has reduced in recent years. An independent environmental survey of the parliamentary estate was completed by Urban Mines Ltd. last year, and a copy of the report was placed in the House of Commons Library.
CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS
Asylum/Immigration
Jenny Willott: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many asylum appeals lodged (a) before and (b) after 4 April were processed and determined by the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal in (i) April, (ii) May, (iii) June, (iv) July, (v) August, (vi) September and (vii) October to date; and if she will make a statement. [18974]
Bridget Prentice: The latest provisional figures available from the electronic database of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) indicate that, at the end of June 2005, the number of asylum appeal decisions determined by the AIT in each month from April to the end of June 2005 is as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| April | 3,528 |
| May | 3,025 |
| June | 2,194 |
| Number | |
|---|---|
| April | 44 |
| May | 246 |
| June | 1,047 |
Statistical data confirming the numbers of asylum appeals determined in the period beyond June 2005 is not yet currently available.
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Jenny Willott: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many (a) asylum appeals and (b) immigration appeals have been lodged with the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal since 4 April; and if she will make a statement. [18976]
Bridget Prentice: The latest provisional figures available from the database of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) indicate that, at the end of June 2005, 3,550 asylum appeals, and 8,200 immigration appeals (comprising in country and entry clearance cases but not family visitor appeals) had been lodged with the AIT.
Statistical data confirming the numbers of appeals received beyond the end of June 2005 is not yet currently available.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many (a) asylum appeals and (b) immigration appeals lodged with the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal and its predecessor bodies before 4 April are outstanding; and if she will make a statement. [18977]
Bridget Prentice: The latest provisional figures available from the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) indicate that, at the end of June 2005, (a) 12,650 asylum appeals and (b) 17,550 immigration appeals (comprising in country and entry clearance cases but not family visitor appeals) were outstanding before the AIT.
Outstanding cases are those either listed and awaiting hearing before an immigration judge, or appeals that have been heard and that await determination by the immigration judge.
Statistical data confirming the numbers of outstanding appeals before the AIT beyond the end of June 2005 is not yet currently available.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the current backlog is of cases at the Immigration Tribunal; how many are (a) asylum cases, (b) immigration cases and (c) family visitors cases; and what steps have been taken to reduce the backlog of cases. [18954]
Bridget Prentice: The latest provisional figures available from the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) show that, at the end of June 2005, (a) 12, 650 asylum appeals, (b) 17,550 immigration appeals (comprising in country and entry clearance cases) and (c) 17,800 family visitor appeals, were outstanding before the AIT.
Outstanding cases are those either listed and awaiting hearing before an immigration judge, or appeals that have been heard and that await determination by the immigration judge.
The latest manual figures, as at 10 October 2005, show that approximately 36,800 appeals (of which 27,900 are family visitor cases and 8,900 are entry clearance immigration appeals) were awaiting initial acknowledgement and case management at the AIT. Those cases are considered to be backlogged.
The AIT is taking recovery action to resolve the backlog of case processing. This includes a significant increase in administrative resource; process re-evaluation and changes; and the re-organisation of key
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functions. All backlogged cases are due to have been acknowledged and case managed initially by the end of December 2005, with appeals being heard over the course of 2006.
Consultants
Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much the Department spent on external consultants in 2004–05. [18948]
Bridget Prentice: This information is not held centrally by my Department but is collected on an annual basis. The data collection exercise relating to expenditure on consultancy in 2004–05 is currently underway, and on completion of it, details of the expenditure will be sent to the hon. Member.
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