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11 July 2006 : Column 1780W—continued


European Union Satellite Centre

Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what services available from the European Union Satellite Centre are being used by his Department. [70352]

Mr. Byrne: The Home Office does not use any of the services of the European Union Satellite Centre (EUSC) as the services provided relate to “second pillar” issues. Details of the services which the EUSC provide are obtainable from their website http://www.eusc.org
11 July 2006 : Column 1781W
.

Fatmir Kurti

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether Fatmir Kurti, the subject of crime reference 435W09297/02, of 17 and 18 September 2002, remains in the UK. [71689]

Mr. Byrne: It is not the policy of the Department to comment on the specific details of individual cases in the public domain.

Foreign Criminals

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the impact of (a) European Council and (b) European Court of Justice decisions on the effective deportation of foreign nationals incarcerated in the UK. [68683]

Mr. Byrne: The Secretary of State is satisfied that current procedures with regard to deportation of EEA nationals comply with relevant European Council and European Court of Justice decisions. The European Council directive 2004/38/EC provides for the deportation of EEA nationals on public policy, public security and public health grounds. This directive was transposed into UK law by the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006.

Foreign Prisoner Releases

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether (a) Fouad Boukadiar, (b) Abderrahamane Boulares, (c) Faleh Rechachi, (d) Alarbi Khelifi and (e) Khelid Khelifi, convicted of conspiracy to defraud and sentenced to imprisonment in November 2004, have (i) completed their sentences, (ii) been released and (iii) been deported in accordance with the court's recommendations; [68218]

(2) whether Shamar Evans-Abdulie who was convicted of supplying drugs and sentenced to imprisonment in October 2003, has (a) completed his sentence, (b) been released and (c) been deported in accordance with the court's recommendations; [68529]

(3) whether (a) Malik Madani and (b) Hamlaoui Selama convicted of conspiracy to defraud and sentenced to imprisonment in November 2004, have (i) completed their sentences, (ii) been released and (iii) been deported in accordance with the court's recommendations; [68530]

(4) whether Bogdan Tanasa, convicted of fraud and sentenced to imprisonment in March 2004, has (a) completed his sentence, (b) been released and (c) been deported in accordance with the court's recommendations; [68531]

(5) what the (a) name and (b) nationality is of the foreign male prisoner detained by Grampian police on 3 May; what the nature of his conviction was; what the (i) date and (ii) term of sentence was; what the date of release was; and whether he was recommended for deportation on release. [69733]


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Mr. Byrne: The Home Office does not comment on individual cases.

Gurkhas

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Gurkha soldiers who have completed their service (a) applied for and (b) were granted (i) leave to remain and (ii) British citizenship in each year since 1997. [82373]

Mr. Byrne [holding answer 4 July 2006]: Figures for applications from Gurkhas for ILR before October 2004 are not available. Figures for the period October 2004 until June 2006 for indefinite leave to remain (settlement) are in table 1. Figures for applications from Gurkhas for citizenship before October 2001 are not available. Figures for the period October 2001 until June 2006 are in table 2. The figures quoted are from provisional management information and are subject to change.

Table 1: Gurkha applications for indefinite leave to remain (settlement)
Applied for ILR Granted ILR

October 2004-March 2005

269

227

April 2005-March 2006

1,205

1,212

April 2006-June 2006

565

526

Gurkha total

2,039

1,965


Table 2: Gurkha applications for citizenship
Applied for citizenship Granted citizenship

October 2001-March 2002

88

41

April 2002-March 2003

538

111

April 2003-March 2004

658

181

April 2004-March 2005

462

388

April 2005-March 2006

952

1,024

April 2006-June 2006

207

223

Gurkha total

2,905

1,968


Human Trafficking

Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department from which countries people convicted of human trafficking came in each of the past five years. [78807]

Mr. Coaker: The nationalities of the people convicted of trafficking offences in the last five years are Albanian, Kosovan, Macedonian, Lithuanian, Turkish, Chinese, Moldovan and Thai.

Illegal Workers

David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) asylum seekers and (b) illegal immigrants have been caught working illegally in each of the past five years. [79764]


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Mr. Byrne: I am advised that IND records show that the number of offenders detected during illegal working operations is as follows:

Number of offenders detected during illegal working operations
Financial year FAS Non FAS Total

2002-03

194

905

1,099

2003-04

456

1,848

2,304

2004-05

1,240

2,614

3,854

2005-06

2,218

7,009

9,227


Immigration and Nationality Directorate

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) applicant files, (b) passports and (c) other documents submitted by applicants have been lost in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in each of the last three years. [79172]

Mr. Byrne: Other information is not routinely kept and the cost would be disproportionate to provide the information requested. I am advised that IND records show that the number of passports lost in 2003-04 was 588, in 2004-05 was 452 and in 2005-06 was 288.

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what procedures are (a) in place and (b) planned to reduce the number of documents submitted by applicants being lost in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate; and if he will make a statement. [79173]

Mr. Byrne: IND takes seriously its responsibility for ensuring the safe handling and return of important documents submitted by customers. Measures already in place include procedures for early return of passports, secure handling areas to safeguard documents, secure movement in sealed crates or secure wallets, dedicated passport searching and streamlined work processes. These procedures are kept under review with the aim of further reducing the potential for documents to be lost.

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Immigration and Nationality Directorate will reply to letters of (a) 21 December 2005, (b) 3 February 2006 and (c) 12 May 2006 from the hon. Member for Richmond Park, regarding the immigration case of her constituent, Mrs. Ifeoma Ngozi Hewlett (née Exebilo), Home Office reference number E114243. [79307]

Mr. Byrne [holding answer 21 June 2006]: I wrote to the hon. Member on 26 June.

IT Projects

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many IT projects which cost over £1 million and were introduced since 1997 are in use in his Department. [26611]


11 July 2006 : Column 1784W

Mr. Byrne: To say how many IT projects which cost over £1 million, were introduced since 1997 and are in use in the Home Department could be given only at disproportionate cost. However as of 8 June 2006, the Home Department had 21 current IT enabled programmes, which either had a full life cost of over £40 million or were mission critical.

John Rose

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will investigate why a constituent, Mr. John Rose, has not received his licence or passport following the undertaking by the Minister to raise the case with the Security Industry Authority; [67161]

(2) when he will reply to Question 67161 tabled by the hon. Member for Hereford concerning his constituent, Mr. John Rose. [76247]

Mr. Coaker: I will write to the hon. Member on this matter.

Judicial Review

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what occasions an (a) individual and (b) organisation has applied for a judicial review of decisions of his Department in each year since 1997; and what the outcome was of each case where proceedings have been completed. [80482]

Mr. Byrne: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Money Laundering

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of suspicious activity reports relating to suspected money laundering were in connection with transactions in basic bank accounts in 2005. [83752]

Mr. Coaker [holding answer 10 July 2006]: A total of 127,918 suspicious activity reports were received by the National Criminal Intelligence Service from the banking sector in 2005, representing just over 65 per cent. of all SARs received in that year. There is no requirement on the banking sector to make reference to, or distinguish between, account types on the report form. It is not possible, therefore, to break SARs down by account type.

Offences Committed on Probation

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals have been convicted of (a) drug dealing offences, (b) rape, (c) armed robbery and (d) manslaughter while on probation in each year since 1998. [66888]


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Mr. Sutcliffe: The information is not available in the precise form requested.


11 July 2006 : Column 1786W
Number of individuals convicted of rape, armed robbery and manslaughter whilst under probation supervision
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Rape convictions

33

18

24

27

30

37

Armed robbery convictions

4

6

10

5

9

5

Manslaughter convictions

20

12

2

1

4

2

Source: RDS NOMS Offender Caseload Statistics.

Parole

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 23 May 2006, Official Report, column 1705W, on parole, what measures have been put in place since 2001-02 to reduce the number of parolees breaking the terms of their release. [77433]

Mr. Sutcliffe: Probation National Standards require breach action to be considered after one unacceptable failure to comply with the sentence. Where breach action is not undertaken after one unacceptable failure to comply, a formal written warning of the consequences of further failure may be issued. Ultimately breach or recall action will be taken after the offender's third unacceptable failure to comply. The target for the national probation service to take such enforcement action within 10 working days is met in 90 per cent. of cases. In 2001-02 the enforcement rate for all offenders released on licence was 58 per cent. In 2005-06, this had improved to 93 per cent. The Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements were introduced in the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 and came into effect in April 2001. They were strengthened through the Criminal Justice Act 2003. They provide the framework for the police, prison and probation services to supervise the most serious sexual and violent offenders and to take swift enforcement action where such offenders engage in behaviour which demonstrates a risk of harm to the public.


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