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19 Jun 2006 : Column 1674W—continued
Domestic Violence
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many domestic violence incidents dealt with by police in the past five years involved disputes regarding child contact. [76728]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many domestic violence incidents dealt with by police in (a) England and Wales, (b) Luton and (c) Bedfordshire in the past five years the children concerned were on the child protection register. [76729]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Equatorial Guinea
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what stage the investigations by the Metropolitan police anti-terrorist branch into the attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea and the involvement of Greg Wales, David Tremain, Eli Calil and others has reached. [68319]
John Reid: The conduct of any criminal investigation is a matter for the police. It is the Government’s policy not to comment on such matters.
Home Detention Curfews
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners released on home detention curfew have been recalled to prison in each year since 1999, broken down by reason for recall. [76918]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Information on the number of persons recalled to prison from home detention curfew between 1999 and 2004, by reason for recall, can be found in table 10.7 of Home Office Statistical Bulletin 17/05: Offender Management Caseload Statistics, England and Wales, 2004. Copies of this publication can be found in the House of Commons Library.
Human Trafficking
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what additional safeguards he will put in place relating to trafficked children in the Action Plan for Tackling Human Trafficking. [76676]
Mr. Coaker: The Government are currently considering the responses to its consultation on its proposal to publish a National Action Plan for Tackling Human Trafficking. A summary report of responses will be published on 21 June 2006. Whilst a range of views were presented on tackling issues around child trafficking, the Government will fully consider these responses before it decides whether additional safeguards to protect trafficked children are needed. It aims to produce a final UK Action Plan later this year, after further discussions with stakeholders and other Government Departments and agencies, in order to build upon the proposals for action set out in the consultation paper.
Mr. Walter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) crisis centres and (b) safe houses there are in England and Wales where child victims of trafficking can find refuge. [76841]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 15 June 2006]: We are not aware of there being any safe houses specifically for accommodating victims of child trafficking. However, there are accommodation facilities in many locations that will cater for children in need who it is believed may have been trafficked. Planning for children's services is carried out on a locality basis throughout the UK. It is the statutory duty of local authorities under the 1989 Children Act to ensure that safe arrangements are in place to look after individual children at risk, including children from abroad.
It is also the responsibility of the local authority to assess any risk of harm and to arrange for the provision of a suitable range of accommodation for all the children in their area. Any lone child in the UK in contact with any statutory or child welfare agency will be urgently referred to the appropriate local authority. The Home Office National Asylum Support Service (NASS) reimburses local authorities who receive unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) into their care with a total of £140 million p.a. Partnership plans to provide safer arrangements for children who have been trafficked are being incorporated in a Home Office/DfES joint review of how local authorities accommodate children from abroad.
The review will aim to deliver improvements by ensuring UASCs are placed in local authority areas where specialist services are in place—including local authority social workers who can recognise and deal appropriately with UASCs who may have been trafficked to the UK. The review is also designed to increase specialisation, end inconsistencies in treatment and enable the retention and development of expertise.
Illegal Immigration
Mr. Mudie:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 7 June 2006, Official Report, column 737W, on illegal
immigration, what charges were imposed on the air and sea carriers; which carriers were charged; and what penalties were imposed on the carriers. [76936]
Mr. Byrne: Under section 40 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (as amended by the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002), air and sea carriers are liable to a fixed charge of £2,000 for each inadequately documented passenger brought to the UK. In 2005, 2,472 charges were imposed on 157 different carriers. I am unable to disclose details of individual carriers for reasons of commercial confidentiality.
Immigration and Nationality Directorate
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) posts, (b) full-time equivalent posts and (c) vacant posts there were at each civil service grade in the immigration and nationality directorate on the most recent date for which information is available; and if he will make a statement. [75162]
Mr. Byrne: The information is set out in the following table:
| Table: Staff breakdown by headcount and full-time equivalent (FTE) | ||
| Grade | Headcount | FTE |
| Notes: 1.Other includes various, (e.g. research and statistical grades), as well as staff whose grade is not recorded. 2. FTE figures rounded to the nearest whole number. | ||
Mr. Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when Lin Homer was appointed director general of the immigration and nationality directorate; where the application for the job vacancy was advertised; how many applications were received for the position; and who made the final decision on the successful candidate. [75849]
Mr. Byrne:
Lin Homer was appointed as director general of the immigration and nationality directorate on 27 May 2005 and took up post on 1 August 2005. The post was advertised in the national press including The Sunday Telegraph, The Observer, The Guardian
and The Daily Telegraph. It was also advertised on the Home Office jobs database and the civil service recruitment gateway. There were 40 applicants who responded to the advertisement. The appointment was approved by the Prime Minister with the agreement of the Home Secretary, on the recommendation of the head of the home civil service.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what standard checks are made by the immigration and nationality directorate on its employees' right to work. [76194]
Mr. Byrne: A range of pre-appointment checks are conducted for prospective employees including nationality and residence verification, immigration record checks and national security vetting.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many joint meetings between the officials of the immigration and nationality directorate and Jobcentre Plus have taken place over the past five years. [76195]
Mr. Byrne: Officials, at a variety of levels and locations, in the immigration and nationality directorate meet with their counterparts in Jobcentre Plus on a regular basis. There is no central record of the number or content of these meetings so it is not possible to state how many have taken place over the Past five years.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many members of staff at the immigration and nationality directorate have been found not to have valid leave to remain in the United Kingdom in each of the past five years. [75202]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 6 June 2006]: The Department's records show that one member of staff of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate was detected as not having valid leave to remain in the United Kingdom in 2004.
Invest to Save
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he plans to meet (a) officials of local authorities and (b) other stakeholders in receipt of Invest to Save funding to discuss future funding of current projects when initial Home Office financing ends; and if he will make a statement. [75956]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 8 June 2006]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has no current plans to visit any Invest to Save Budget (ISB) projects or to make a statement. However, he strongly supports the objectives of the ISB programme to create sustainable improvements in the capacity to deliver public services in a more joined-up manner. An example of a project that has continued to receive funding from the Home Office is the joint working pilot between the National Missing Persons Helpline and the Metropolitan police from ISB round four.
Knife Crime
Mr. Stewart Jackson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he is taking
to reduce the incidence of knife crime in Peterborough constituency; and if he will make a statement. [77663]
Mr. McNulty: On 24 May, working closely with ACPO, we launched the first nationwide knife amnesty in 10 years. Cambridgeshire Police are participating in this amnesty, which provides an opportunity for the safe disposal of unwanted knives and sharp instruments. The amnesty highlights the dangers of carrying knives particularly to young people. The amnesty runs until the end of June, following which police will undertake robust enforcement as well as educational and other programmes.
The Violent Crime Reduction Bill, currently before Parliament, includes measures to reduce knife crime, including the introduction of a new offence of using someone to mind a weapon; raising the age at which someone can be sold a knife from 16 to 18; and providing powers for head teachers to search pupils for weapons. We are also working closely with community organisations, providing support through the Connected Fund for gun, knife and gang related projects and supporting organisations such as Be Safe, which runs a programme of education for young people on the risks of carrying knives.
Mosques
Laura Moffatt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps have been taken to support mosques in preventing their use by extreme fringe groups. [74901]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 6 June 2006]: A public consultation on taking powers to intervene in places of worship threatened by extremist activity concluded that self regulation was usually effective. Government have provided encouragement and support to the creation of a Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board. It is expected to be launched in late June.
National Asylum Support Service
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) properties and (b) bed spaces are available for use under National Asylum Support Service contracts, broken down by local authority; how many of these were (i) occupied and (ii) unoccupied at the end of March 2006; and what the mean cost was of each (A) bed space and (B) property as at the end of March 2006, broken down by local authority. [71917]
Mr. Byrne: Under its new accommodation contracts the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) no longer procures or maintains properties or bed spaces.
Neighbourhood Charters
Mr. Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to ensure that the neighbourhood charters will be delivered by service providers. [77328]
Mr. Woolas: I have been asked to reply.
As set out in the respect action plan, published in January 2006, we want to give every area the chance to
have a neighbourhood charter. We intend to set out further detail about this in the Local Government White Paper.
Paladin Recommendations
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in implementing the Paladin recommendations proposed by the Metropolitan Police in 2003, with particular reference to the issue of unaccompanied minors entering the UK through London Heathrow. [74836]
Mr. Byrne: Since publication of the report we have made significant progress. In particular the immigration and nationality directorate’s (IND) children’s taskforce is tackling a number of the recommendations. These include:
the provision of guidance to staff on identifying and dealing with children in need;
developing processes for working with other agencies on child protection issues;
the provision of specialist training for IND staff;
identifying ways to improve information received from abroad, child protection officers are now based at Heathrow airport and both child protection officers and social service staff are based at the Croydon asylum screening unit to ensure a more joined up approach.
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