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5 Jun 2006 : Column 66W—continued
Racially Motivated Attacks
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many racially motivated murders took place in (a) England and Wales and (b) London in each of the last 24 months for which figures are available. [71181]
Mr. Byrne: The available information relates to 2002-03 and 2003-04. Data extracted from the homicide index are given in the following table:
Right-to-Work Permits
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance his Department has issued to other Government Departments and agencies on the need to verify the right-to-work permits of non-UK citizens undertaking (a) contracted and (b) sub-contracted work. [73624]
Mr. Byrne: Section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 is the primary measure for combating illegal working. It provides employers with a statutory defence from conviction if they check and record certain specified documents belonging to potential employees. To support employers in meeting their responsibilities under section 8, IND produced short (summary) guidance which was distributed widely among other Government Departments and agencies. If further guidance on this legislation is required, the booklet refers the reader to the immigration and nationality directorate website where comprehensive guidance is available, and there is also a reference to the Employers’ Helpline which offers a dedicated service for employers by advising on the legislation on preventing illegal migrant working. The Employers’ Helpline also disseminates hard copies of the comprehensive guidance on request. The comprehensive guidance makes clear that this legislation covers contracted and sub-contracted employment.
Secure Training Centres
Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions oxygen was used on (a) staff and (b) trainees following incidents involving the use of restraint in (i) Hassockfield, (ii) Medway, (iii) Oakhill and (iv) Rainsbrook secure training centres between (A) January and June 2005, (B) July and December 2005 and (C) January and May 2006. [72305]
Mr. Sutcliffe:
Oxygen was administered to trainees at Rainsbrook following a restraint incident twice during the first six months of 2005 and twice during the last six months. On each occasion the trainee had been
hyperventilating or appeared to be feeling faint. None of the trainees had lost consciousness. In each case, oxygen was administered as a precaution and no other treatment was required.
These were the only occasions during the specified periods on which oxygen was used at any of the secure training centres in connection with a restraint incident.
Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times restraint was used in (a) Hassockfield, (b) Medway, (c) Oakhill and (d) Rainsbrook secure training centres between (i) January and June 2005, (ii) July and December 2005 and (iii) January and May 2006. [72306]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The information requested—apart from the figures for May 2006, which are not yet available—is given in the following table. It includes all occasions on which any form of physical intervention was necessary, including low-level interventions such as a young person being led away from a potential incident.
| Use of physical intervention in secure training centres | |||
| January to June 2005 | July to December 2005 | January to April 2006 | |
Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions (a) staff and (b) trainees lost consciousness during incidents involving the use of restraint in (i) Hassockfield, (ii) Medway, (iii) Oakhill and (iv) Rainsbrook secure training centres between (A) January and June 2005, (B) July and December 2005 and (C) January and May 2006. [72321]
Mr. Sutcliffe: No trainees or staff lost consciousness in the course of restraint at any of the secure training centres during the specified periods.
Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions (a) staff and (b) trainees were injured during incidents involving the use of restraint in (i) Hassockfield, (ii) Medway, (iii) Oakhill and (iv) Rainsbrook secure training centres between (A) January and June 2005, (B) July and December 2005 and (C) January and May 2006. [72322]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The information requested is given in the following table, apart from the figures for May 2006, which are not yet available. The table shows all injuries that required treatment by a medical practitioner.
| Injuries to staff and trainees resulting from restraint incidents in secure training centres | ||||||
| January to June 2005 | July to December 2005 | January to April 2006 | ||||
| Staff | Trainees | Staff | Trainees | Staff | Trainees | |
Serious and Organised Crime Agency
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of posts in the Serious and Organised Crime Agency are unfilled. [71551]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 17 May 2006]: The Serious Organised Crime Agency was established on 1 April 2006 with a staff of around 4,300, the vast majority of whom came from the precursor agencies. SOCA has identified shortages in some specific skills which it is now seeking to fill through external recruitment and internal promotion and staff moves.
Terrorism
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many terrorist suspects have been detained by the police at UK airports since July 2005. [66869]
Mr. McNulty: Information in the precise form requested is not held centrally. Records of arrests and charges generally under the Terrorism Act 2000 are available on the Home Office website (http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/security/terrorism-and-the-law/terrorism-act/) for the period September 2001 to September 2005.
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons the consultation period on the Draft Code of Practice for the detention, treatment and questioning of persons under section 41 and schedule 8 to the Terrorism Act 2000 lasts from 2 May to 25 May; and what account was taken of the Cabinet Office Code on consultation criteria when the consultation period was set. [72394]
Mr. McNulty: The Government undertook to produce a Code of Practice before bringing into force the provisions of the Terrorism Act 2006 which relate to extended detention. These provisions were discussed extensively during the passage of the Act, and given the urgent need to have these powers in place as soon as possible, I hope my hon. Friend will understand why the period of consultation agreed by the Government and the main opposition parties is shorter than usual.
The Code of Practice is also based largely on the revised Code of Practice for the detention, treatment and questioning of persons by police officers (Code C), issued under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, which was subject to extensive consultation before being issued on 1 January 2006.
The Consultation Paper issued with the Draft Code of Practice stated clearly that this consultation process was not being carried out within the usual Cabinet Office guidelines.
Violent Crime
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which crimes are recorded under the general heading of violent crime in his Department's statistics. [71702]
Mr. McNulty: Violent crime comprises the offence groups of violence against the person, sexual offences and robbery. The individual offences in each group are shown in Appendix two of “Crime in England and Wales 2004-05”, and are available at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/hosb1105append.pdf
Work Permits
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has received about work permits from (a) farmers and (b) the National Farmers Union. [69739]
Mr. Byrne: Since the beginning of 2006 my predecessor, my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, East (Mr. McNulty), has received four representations from farmers and growers in the UK regarding the future of the seasonal agricultural workers scheme (SAWS) and a comprehensive reply from the National Farmers Union (NFU) in response to the consultation document “Selective Migration: Making Migration Work for Britain”. There is also close contact with the NFU through the Illegal Working Stakeholder Group.
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