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7 Jun 2006 : Column 736W—continued
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the (a) regulations, (b) conventions and (c) laws that he has identified as affecting the deportation of foreign criminals. [69517]
Mr. Byrne: The following have been identified as affecting the deportation of foreign criminals:
(i) Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 which transpose ED Directive on the Free Movement of Persons (2004/38/EC);
(ii) Immigration (Notices) Regulations 2003;
(iii) Immigration Rules (HC395 with amendments);
(iv) The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Procedure) Rules 2003v) The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (Specification of Particularly Serious Crimes) Order 2004;
(vi) The Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (Procedure) Rules 2005;
(i) The 1951 Refugee Convention;
(ii) The European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms;
(i) The Immigration Act 1971;
(ii) Special Immigration Appeals Commission Act 1997;
(iii) Human Rights Act 1998 iv) Immigration and Asylum Act 1999;
(iv) Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000;
(v) Nationality Immigration and Asylum Act 2002;
(vi)Criminal Justice Act 2003;
(vii) Immigration Asylum and Nationality Act 2006;
(viii) Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
Illegal Immigration
Mr. Mudie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many carriers have been fined for transporting illegal immigrants in each year since the passage of the relevant legislation. [74540]
Mr. Byrne: In 2005, charges were imposed on 157 different air and sea carriers under section 40 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 as amended in respect of passengers arriving in the United Kingdom without the required documents.
For earlier years records are not accessible centrally and the information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many illegal immigrants were found at each main port of entry in 2005. [74673]
Mr. Byrne: The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Illicit Drugs
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what account the Government take in formulating their policy on illicit drugs of the effects of supply-side prohibition; and if he will make a statement. [71311]
Mr. Coaker: The Government’s strategy in tackling drugs is founded on the fact that all drugs subject to it are harmful and no one should take them. We take full account of the importance of the role of legislative controls on the unauthorised production, supply and possession of these drugs in reducing the harms that such drugs cause by helping to limit their use and deter experimentation. These necessary controls are an integral, but not exhaustive, part of the Government’s drugs strategy.
Immigration and Nationality Directorate
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the rate of absenteeism due to illness was in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in the last period for which figures are available. [73673]
Mr. Byrne: I am advised that the annualised rate for the number of working days lost per employee per year based on sickness absence reported on our computerised resource data system, Adelphi, from 1 March 2005 to 31 March 2006 is 10.32 days.
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many letters of complaint have been received by his office relating to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in each year since 2001. [73680]
Mr. Byrne: The total number of complaints received from members of the public through the Immigration and Nationality Directorate’s central complaints unit, broken down by category and year are presented in the table. These figures do not include complaints received elsewhere across IND that are dealt with under separate processes i.e. MPs correspondence. Central data specifying the nature of that correspondence is not maintained electronically.
| Formal complaints (relating to staff behaviour) | Operational complaints (relating to level of service) | |
These figures do not include complaints received elsewhere across IND that are dealt with under separate processes i.e. MPs correspondence. Central data specifying the nature of that correspondence is not maintained electronically.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he plans to commission a report into the most recent allegations of corruption by staff at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. [74994]
Mr. Byrne: Following the publication of allegations in The Observer on 21 May 2006, an internal disciplinary investigation has taken place, as a result of which a member of IND staff has been dismissed. A criminal investigation continues.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has considered commissioning an externally-based investigation into allegations of corruption at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. [74995]
Mr. Byrne: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given earlier.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what procedures his Department follows for checking that applicants for employment in (a) his Department and (b) the immigration and nationality directorate are entitled to reside and work in the United Kingdom. [75201]
Mr. Byrne: I am advised that our current policy is to ask all new staff to produce a passport. If they are not a British or EEA national, an original Home Office document confirming immigration status must be produced. If a UK citizen does not have a passport, and is not being employed in an IND operational grade, they may provide two pieces of alternative identification which can include an original birth certificate, P45. In addition all new entrants will have their immigration status checked against IND records.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will order a review of immigration casework in which Mr. James Dawute was responsible for (a) decisions and (b) recommendations for decisions. [75200]
Mr. Byrne: Immigration Service managers are carrying out a risk assessed review of selected casework dealt with by Mr. Dawute. The outcome of this review will determine if a more detailed and far reaching review of all of Mr. Dawute's cases is required. In addition, the Immigration and Nationality Department’s Security and Anti Corruption Unit are conducting a criminal investigation into Mr. Dawute and this will include reviewing some of the cases handled by him.
Leave to Remain (Overruled Decisions)
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions a Minister has overruled a decision by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate to reject an application for leave to remain since 1999. [73681]
Mr. Byrne: Statistics on the number of occasions Ministers have asked for cases to be reviewed or have overruled decisions made by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate since 1999 are not available and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
Licensing
Ms Diana R. Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions have been brought for (a) sales of alcohol to under age children under the Licensing Act 2003 and (b) crime and disorder associated with pubs and clubs in Kingston upon Hull, North since November 2005. [69775]
Mr. Coaker: It is not possible to identify prosecutions in Kingston upon Hull, North as the centrally held data are not broken down to that level of detail. Additionally, since the Licensing act 2003 came into force in 2005 there are no data currently available for prosecutions under the act.
Data for 2005 will be available in the autumn.
Lilian Woodcock
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when Lilian Woodcock (née Nyakundi), date of birth 24 September 1977, registration number LR1728016673/01, will receive the outcome of her application for leave to remain in the UK as a spouse. [74638]
Mr. Byrne: I am advised that officials at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate wrote to Mrs. Woodcock’s legal representatives on 26 May 2006 informing them of the outcome of her application.
Mini-motorcycles
Mr. Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) mini-motorcycles have been confiscated by the police and (b) fines have been issued to drivers of mini-motorcycles in (i) Dudley, (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) England in the last two years. [62023]
Mr. Coaker: This information is not collected centrally.
Ministerial Cars
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the fuel costs were for ministerial cars used by his Department in each of the last five years. [67124]
Mr. Byrne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Transport (Dr. Ladyman) on 27 April 2006, Official Report, column 1226W.
Ministerial Visits
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality has visited (a) the Immigration and Nationality Department, (b) the Channel ports and (c) an immigration detention centre since 2001. [73623]
Mr. Byrne: In addition to everyday contact with the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND), the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality regularly visits IND and related facilities.
People Trafficking
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to link the Coordinated Strategy for Prostitution with the response to the Tackling Trafficking Consultation. [74839]
Mr. Coaker: We are currently in the process of assessing the responses to the consultation paper on proposals for tackling human trafficking.
It is our intention to publish the UK strategy later this year. This will link in with the wider coordinated strategy for prostitution, particularly in relation to tackling demand for prostitution and raising awareness of the trafficking of women and children for the purposes of prostitution.
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in the prevention of human trafficking into the United Kingdom. [74857]
Mr. Coaker: The Government are committed to tackling human trafficking and on the 5 January 2006 launched a national consultation exercise on proposals for a UK action plan on human trafficking. The question of how to prevent human trafficking features prominently in the consultation and a summary of the consultation responses is due to be published on the 21 June 2006 with a final UK action plan to follow later in the year.
The Government have introduced comprehensive legislation to criminalise trafficking and in 2000 established Reflex, a multi-agency taskforce on organised immigration crime which has worked closely with international law enforcement partners in taking forward trafficking investigations and in strengthening the capacity of other countries to deal effectively with trafficking at source. In addition, on 3 April 2006 the Serious Organised Crime Agency was launched with organised immigration crime as one of its key priorities, bringing a renewed focus on improving intelligence on organised criminals engaged in this type of crime. During the course of our presidency of the Council of the European Union the Home Office developed an EU action plan on human trafficking which was adopted at the JHA Ministerial Council on 1-2 December 2005. This plan takes an end-to-end approach to the issue and includes specific measures to prevent trafficking into and within the EU.
Police
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress with proposals to merge West Mercia police force with other forces. [69968]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 11 May 2006]: Following the announcement by the previous Home Secretary (Mr. Clarke) on 3 March of his intention to merge the four existing forces in the West Midlands region into one strategic force, we are now in the four- month period for objections to be formulated by the police forces, police authorities and local authorities involved and submitted to the Home Secretary by 2 July.
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he plans to continue with his predecessor’s plans to abolish the West Mercia police force. [71956]
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