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18 Apr 2006 : Column 280W—continued
Asylum Seekers
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints of racism by removal centre employees his Department received from detained asylum seekers in each of the last five years. [50648]
Mr. McNulty: The total number of complaints of racism made against all contracted staff, including those employed in removal centres can be found in the Complaints Audit Committee reports on the Immigration and Nationality Directorate website. However, information on the number of complaints of racism made by detained asylum seekers against removal centre employees is not readily available except on examination of Immigration and Nationality Directorate case files at disproportionate cost.
Mr. David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his estimate is of the number of asylum seekers resident in (a) the constituency of Clwyd, West, (b) the county borough of Conwy and (c) the county of Denbighshire whose applications have not yet been determined. [63052]
Mr. McNulty: Data for the numbers of asylum seekers whose applications have not yet been determined are not available by region and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for theHome Department how many failed asylum seekers left the UK in (a) January and (b) February under the pilot voluntary assisted return and reintegration programme. [63832]
Mr. McNulty: In order to be eligible for return under VARRP (Voluntary Assisted Return and Reintegration Programmes) the applicant must have either a current asylum application awaiting consideration or they must be a failed asylum seeker.
The number of people who left the UK under VARRP in January was 318 and in February 452.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many failed asylum seekers, who had exhausted all appeals, absconded prior to deportation in 2005. [63833]
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Mr. McNulty: Information on the number of failed asylum seekers who having exhausted all appeals, absconded prior to deportation in 2005 is not readily available. This information could only be obtained by examination of individual case files at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether an asylum seeker who has made a voluntary return and who later returned to the UK has the right to make a further claim for asylum. [63983]
Mr. McNulty: Where the person's original claim was refused and the further submissions they make on return to the United Kingdom do not satisfy us they are a refugee and contain nothing that is both new and creates a realistic prospect of success we will not regard it as a fresh asylum claim and may remove the person with no in country right of appeal. Even if we accept the further submissions amount to a fresh asylum claim there are provisions to prevent any appeal against refusal of that claim where there is no satisfactory reason why the details of the new claim were not provided earlier, or to prevent any in country appeal where we consider the claim to be clearly unfounded.
In assessing the claims made by those who have previously returned voluntarily we will take appropriate account of that return when assessing the merits of their present claim to fear persecution in their country of origin.
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers with a criminal record have been given indefinite leave to remain in (a) the last 12 months and (b) the last five years. [43168]
Mr. McNulty:
Applications for asylum can be refused where a person has committed a serious non-political crime outside the UK or has committed a particularly serious crime in or outside the UK. Information about any criminal record is held on the individual case records
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but is not collated centrally: the total number of asylum seekers with criminal records who have been granted indefinite leave to remain, therefore, is not available and could be calculated only at disproportionate cost.
Bad Character Evidence
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made of the impact on criminal proceedings of the provisions governing the admission of bad character evidence in the Criminal Justice Act 2003. [62557]
Fiona Mactaggart: We have commissioned a research project to assess the impact on the courts of the bad character provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. The researchers are due to complete their work by the end of 2006.
Bail
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of (a) male and (b) female defendants in England and Wales charged with (i) summary only (ii) triable either way and (iii) indictable only matters in the latest year for which figures are available (A) received police bail, (B) did not receive police bail but subsequently received court bail and (C) remained in custody pending resolution of their case. [62521]
Fiona Mactaggart: The table shows figures for police bail decisions in 2004 with a further breakdown of the magistrates court bail decision for those arrested and held in custody. The remand data received by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform are often incomplete and custodial remands are believed to be under-recorded. The figures are estimates for England and Wales based on those areas providing reasonably complete data. Due to the poor quality of the data we are unable to present separate figures for triable either way and indictable only offences.
(68) Including triable either way offences.
(69) Including those remanded for part of the time in custody and part on bail.
Biometric Data
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what health and safety studies have been carried out on the long-term effects of iris scans conducted as part of biometric data collection. [59687]
Andy Burnham: It is envisaged that iris scans for the National Identity Register will be recorded on application to register and then once every 10 years as individuals renew their passport and/or identity card.
The Identity Cards Programme has sought advice with regard to the health and safety aspects of iris scanning. This advice suggests that no long term effects arise from iris scanning as planned by the Identity Card Scheme. For instance, the amount of infrared light that iris scanners emit is very small and is of a level far
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smaller than many everyday appliances, such as desk lamps.
In addition, iris cameras for consumer use require CE health and safety certification before they can be sold. Thus, such technologies are tested against agreed EU health and safety standards.
As part of the implementation of the Identity Cards Programme, the Identity Cards Scheme will be designed to comply with all relevant health and safety standards.
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to page 10, point 1.2.2.3, first bullet point of the UKPS Biometrics Enrolment Trial, what percentage of (a) all participants and (b) disabled people were (i) not very and (ii) not at all concerned about having their biometrics recorded prior to enrolment, broken down by type of biometric. [63594]
Andy Burnham: The percentage of participants who were not very or not all" concerned about having their biometrics recorded prior to enrolments is shown in the following table, broken down by type of biometric.
| Iris image | Facial image | Fingerprint | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quota sample(70) | 90 | 91 | 91 |
| Opportunistic sample(71) | 87 | 91 | 90 |
| Disabled sample | 84 | 90 | 89 |
(70) Representative cross-section of the UK population.
(71) Self-selected participants
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