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24 Oct 2005 : Column 40W—continued
Human Trafficking
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his strategy for (a) combating trafficking in human beings and (b) caring for victims of trafficking. [330]
Paul Goggins: The Government have a comprehensive strategy to tackle trafficking which encompasses legislation, law enforcement, prevention, international co-operation and the support of victims. Trafficking is a priority for our presidencies of the EU and G8. The Government provide £20 million of funding annually to Reflex, the multi-agency task force which co-ordinates the law enforcement response to organised immigration crime. Reflex has resulted in a number of successful prosecutions of traffickers.
In March 2003 a small-scale Home Office-funded pilot Scheme was launched in London in partnership with Eaves Housing for Women to provide safe accommodation and one-to-one support for adult female victims trafficked into the UK for prostitution. An evaluation of the Scheme has just been completed and published. Overall this was positive about the model of support provided by the Scheme and funding has been extended until March 2006. We are now considering the future provision of support in light of the evaluation findings.
Identity Cards
Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he plans to make financial concessions on the cost of identity cards for (a) people on low income, (b) young people and students and (c) the elderly; and if he will make a statement. [17488]
Mr. McNulty: Clause 37 of the Identity Cards Bill provides for maximum flexibility in setting reduced fees for any group including those listed in the question. No decisions have been made on the details of any concessionary fee regime which will need to be informed by the outcome of the procurement stage. The Bill was amended in Committee to ensure that the first fee schedule for the scheme will be debated in Parliament.
As to the cost of ID cards more generally, our current best estimate of the average unit cost of getting a combined passport and ID card package valid for 10 years is £93. Around 70 per cent. of these costs would be incurred anyway because of the world-wide move to biometric passports.
However some people may choose to obtain a stand-alone ID card. It will be affordable to set a charge of £30 at current prices for a standalone ID card which is valid for 10 years. This will be affordable within current Home Office spending plans.
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Illegal Migrants
Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many illegal migrants including dependants he estimates are resident in London. [19163]
Mr. McNulty: As in other countries, the number of unauthorised" or illegal" migrants—including failed asylum seekers—in the UK is unknown. A report by the Migration Research Unit (MRU) of University College London on Sizing the Illegally Resident Population in the UK" was published last year. It reviewed the methods used by researchers and Government agencies in other countries and assessed their viability for use in the UK.
That report suggested that a method which could be applied in the UK is the residual method" used in the United States. The new report details how that method has been applied in the UK. It was published by the Home Office on 30 June. A copy of the RDS on-line report 29/05—Sizing the unauthorised (illegal) migrant population in the United Kingdom in 2001" can be found at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/notes/june_summaries.html.
The central estimate of the illegally resident population is 430,000. This is not broken down geographically. It must be emphasised that, while this method is one that can be used with data available for the UK, over-reliance must not be placed on this result in the absence of the means to produce other estimates using different methods.
Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many illegal immigrants have been found (a) within the UK and (b) in London in each year since 1992. [19161]
Mr. McNulty: The number of persons who have had enforcement action initiated against them as illegal entrants in each year since 1992 is given in the table. People who have had enforcement action initiated against them may then be removed from the country.
There may be some barriers to removal including judicial or human rights applications; lack of documentation (without which an applicant cannot be returned); absence of a travel route, lack of co-operation from receiving countries or scheduled flight services (resulting in lengthy documentation processes or use of charter flights).
Alternatively, some people may decide to leave voluntarily, after enforcement action has been initiated against them and others may chose to leave via Assisted Voluntary Returns programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration. Information on the number of illegal immigrants that have been found in London is not available.
(4) Under sections 3(6), 3(7) or 33(1) of the Immigration Act 1971, or under section 10 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
(5) Figures rounded to the nearest five.
(6) Illegal entrants detected and persons issued with a notice of intention to deport, recommended for deportation by a court or proceeded against under Section 10.
(7) 2004 figures include dependants of asylum seekers.
(8) Figures for 2004 include nationals of the 10 EU accession countries.
(9) Provisional.
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Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many successful prosecutions have been brought against employers for hiring illegal immigrants in each year since 1992. [19162]
Mr. McNulty: Information on the number of persons found guilty under section eight of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1996 for employing illegal immigrants is published annually in the Control of Immigration Command Paper. Section eight of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 first introduced the offence of employing illegal migrant workers and it came into force on 27 January 1997.
No figures are therefore available for the years prior to this date. The published statistics are available on the Home Office's Research Development and Statistics website:
Immigrant Labour
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the net contributions of immigrant workers to the UK economy in the latest year for which figures are available. [18749]
Mr. McNulty: In 2002 the Home Office published research into the net fiscal contribution of migrants. This was based on figures for 1999–2000 and estimated that migrants made a net fiscal contribution of £2.5 billion. This research was recently updated by IPPR based on figures for 2003–04 (Sriskandarajah, Cooley and Reed: Paying their way: the fiscal contribution of immigrants in the UK, IPPR, London, 2005). This found that migrants made a relatively greater fiscal contribution than UK born residents.
Immigration
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will commission research on whether the integration of refugees is affected by the grant of limited rather than indefinite leave to remain. [18983]
Mr. McNulty:
No. We have a comprehensive strategy for the integration of migrants including refugees Integration Matters, published this year, which takes
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account of this change, and we will be carrying out a survey as part of that strategy which will provide information on a range of factors which affect the integration of refugees.
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many working hours have been lost at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate due to the loss of computer access in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [17004]
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Mr. McNulty: Information about loss of computer access can only be provided from 1 January 2005 since prior to this date, the contractual performance measures did not support the provision of this information.
From 1 January 2005 to 10 October 2005 (comprising 6,720 working hours), 113 IT service hours have been lost to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate resulting from four major incidents, highlighted in the table.
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