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Identity Cards

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how, following the introduction of identity cards, restrictions on travel will be enforced on those who have a football banning order but are required to remain in possession of their identity cards for the purpose of access to certain services while in the UK. [61655]

Andy Burnham: The Identity Cards Bill amends the Football Spectators Act 1989 to make it clear that an identity card issued to a British citizen falls within the definition of travel authorisation". This ensures that travel restrictions can be imposed. However, to ensure that anyone subject to restrictions for an extended period of time can demonstrate their identity for domestic purposes, they will be able to obtain an identity card which will be issued to the same standards as other cards but which will not be valid for travel. This will be achieved by not specifying the nationality of the card holder on the face of the card.

Immigration Status (Christian Purcarelu)

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when a decision will be taken by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate on the immigration status of Christian Purcarelu, reference P1077185. [60055]

Mr. McNulty: I wrote to the hon. Member on 21 March 2006.
 
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Laptop Computers

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many laptop computers have been lost (a) temporarily and (b) permanently by MI5 employees in each year since 1997. [60172]

Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 20 March 2006]: The available information is that since 2000 three laptops have been lost or stolen.

MI5

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms are in place to prevent the Defence Intelligence staff from undertaking activities properly within the remit of MI5; what mechanisms are available to solve demarcation disputes; and if he will make a statement. [60873]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The Defence Intelligence Staff exists to provide intelligence assessments and advice to the Ministry of Defence. This involves close co-operation and regular discussion with all of the UK's intelligence agencies, including the Security Service, but they have quite different functions. lf a demarcation dispute were to arise it would be resolved through dialogue.

National Identity Register

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what contingency plans are beingprepared for the rapid wholesale deletion of data held on the National Identity Register in the event of invasion by a foreign power; and if he will make a statement; [60945]

(2) what contingency plans are being prepared for the rapid wholesale deletion of data held on the National Identity Register in the event of a coup d'e"tat; and if he will make a statement. [60990]

Andy Burnham: The National Identity Register will be classified as part of the nation's Critical National Infrastructure and security procedures to protect the Register will reflect this status. Security risk assessments have been conducted on issues such as the physical, logical, procedural, personnel and systems aspects of the identity card scheme to ensure such necessary procedures are implemented correctly and are sufficiently comprehensive. In addition, all security aspects of the scheme will be subject to a security accreditation process which must be passed before the scheme can be launched. However, it would not be appropriate to give more detailed information about security contingency planning for the scheme as to do so would jeopardise future integrity of such arrangements.

National Offender Management Service

Mrs. Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the resources that will be required for the end-to-end supervision of offenders under the National Offender Management Service arrangements. [52874]

 
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Fiona Mactaggart: We expect Offender Management to be cost neutral over the long term, with any costs balanced by the benefits of the system. There will, however, be some start-up costs. These are estimated to be £10 million in 2006–07.

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the likely impact on public safety of shadow commissioning arrangements under the National Offender Management Service. [59967]

Fiona Mactaggart: The National Offender Management Service is introducing commissioning from 1 April 2006, at which point Regional Offender Managers will hold service level agreements with Probation Boards for the delivery of offender management and interventions.

The current legislative framework which sets out the statutory duties of probation boards remains in place until the proposed new legislation is in place, and is unchanged by the creation of service level agreements. In supervising offenders, Probation Boards will still be required to have regard to public protection. As commissioning will not change these arrangements, no impact assessment has been made.

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action will be taken under the National Offender Management Service arrangements if a probation board or probation trust fails to deliver a service. [59968]

Fiona Mactaggart: Regional Offender Managers will, from 1 April 2006, hold Service Level Agreements with probation boards for the delivery of Offender Management and Interventions. Under the SLA, the ROM can issue a Compliance Failure Notice if s/he is not satisfied that a performance weakness either has been, or can be, resolved locally.

If performance continues to be weak then the process can be escalated to include the National Offender Manager and the National Director of Probation. Ultimately the Secretary of State can use his existing powers in relation to either the Board Chair and/or the Chief Officer of probation. With the introduction of probation trusts, once legislation is on the statute book, the ROM will have greater powers of intervention as there will be legally binding contracts between the providers and the ROM.

The contractual arrangements will be supported by a clear performance assessment framework and transparent performance management arrangements. These are being designed. The ultimate sanction for continued under-performance could include a range of measures that could lead to the service, or aspects of the service, being contested or contracted out.

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the National Offender Management Service sought advice from the Treasury Solicitors on whether service level agreements negotiated by the National Offender Management Service and probation areas were legally binding. [59986]

Fiona Mactaggart: Advice was sought from TreasurySolicitors on whether service level agreements negotiated between Regional Offender Managers and
 
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Probation Boards were legally binding. The current legislative framework which sets out the statutory duties of probation boards remains in place until the proposed new legislation is in place, and is unchanged by the creation of service level agreements. However, the SLAs are the key mechanism for introducing commissioning, and signed SLAs will demonstrate the strength of the relationships.

Non-emergency Telephone Number

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many calls he expects the 101 non-emergency telephone number to receive in its first month of operation; and what percentage reduction in calls to the 999 emergency telephone number he expects to result from the introduction of the 101 non-emergency telephone number. [59919]

Hazel Blears: In May 2006 the 101 service will be launched in two of the First Wave 101 Partnership areas (Hampshire/Isle of Wight and Cardiff). Provision has been made for up to 40,000 calls in this first month, based on the number of calls currently handled through existing emergency and non-emergency telephone numbers.

Whilst the 101 service is expected to bring about a significant reduction in the number of calls to the police 999 emergency service, that do not require an emergency response (experience from the United States shows up to 50 per cent. reduction to their equivalent to the 999 service), this is only predicted to happen once the service is available nationally and has been widely marketed. Successful use of both 999 and 101 will depend upon a significant marketing and public education campaign. The 101 programme will not only reduce calls to 999 but also provide better access to advice, information and improve action concerning community safety issues.

The first wave of the programme is a special stage that allows for close monitoring and measurement of the introduction of the service to allow lessons learned to be fed into the roll out of the programme to achieve national roll out by 2008. The programme is also subject to an independent evaluation.

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