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18 July 2006 : Column 404W—continued
Identity Checks (Licensed Premises)
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the risk of identity theft when identity is requested and taken by door staff at licensed premises; and if he will make a statement. [79529]
Mr. Coaker: No assessment has been made of this specific risk. However, since 11 April 2005 all door supervisors working on licensed premises have been required to be licensed by the Security Industry Authority. This requires them to undertake training and a criminality check from the Criminal Records Bureau. If an applicant is found guilty of identity theft it is highly likely that he will be refused a licence. If a licensed door supervisor is subsequently found guilty of identity theft then it is also highly likely that his licence will be revoked.
Illegal Immigrants
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many illegal immigrants have been employed on Home Office premises in each of the last five years. [77073]
John Reid: I am advised that of such records that are held locally, two members of staff were detected as not having valid leave to remain in the United Kingdom at the time of their employment. One in 2004, and one in 2005.
In addition, 12 contracted workers have been identified as having worked on Home Office premises illegally: eight this year, two in 2005, one in 2004 and one in 2002.
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of foreign-born prisoners who (a) entered and (b) remained in the UK illegally. [64268]
Mr. Byrne: The Immigration and Nationality Directorate does not currently record the information requested. The provision of this information could therefore be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of prisoners who (a) entered and (b) remained in the UK illegally have been recommended for deportation on completion of their sentences. [64269]
Mr. Byrne: The provision of this information could only be obtained through review of individual case files and could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance his Department provides to police forces on processing illegal immigrants when an Immigration Service official is unable to attend; and if he will make a statement. [84092]
Mr. Byrne: Police will be provided with advice by the relevant local enforcement office in the event that resources do not permit attendance in person by an Immigration Service official.
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in the past 12 months his Department has received information pertaining to illegal residency in the UK; and on how many occasions such information led to a deportation. [84253]
Mr. Byrne: Data on the number of separate pieces of information about illegal residency received by the Home Office are not currently recorded centrally and therefore not available.
Immigration (EEA) Regulations
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the ways in which the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2006 (a) impact on the deportation of (i) European Economic Area (EEA) nationals and (ii) members of EEA nationals' extended families and (b) change the relevant processes in place previously. [73427]
Mr. Byrne: EEA nationals and their family members may be deported if their removal is justified on the grounds of public policy, public security or public health. The principles to be applied to such deportation cases are set out in regulation 21 of the 2006 Regulations. The deportation provisions in the 2006 Regulations will only apply to an "extended family member" of an EEA national if the United Kingdom has issued entry or residence documentation to the extended family member under the Regulations.
The deportation provisions in the 2006 Regulations are in most respects similar to those in the previous Regulations but introduce different tests for deportation where EEA nationals and their family members have acquired permanent residence in the UK or where an EEA national has resided in the UK for at least 10 years or is under 18. The 2006 Regulations also update the list of diseases relevant to deportation decisions taken on public health grounds and provide some opportunity for a person to leave voluntarily when facing deportation.
Immigration and Nationality Directorate
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many case files have been lost by the Immigration and Nationality Department (a) temporarily and (b) permanently in each of the past five years. [63967]
Mr. Byrne: The information is not available in the format requested.
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many vacancies there are at the Immigration and Nationality Department. [73621]
Mr. Byrne: There are currently 427 (2.4 per cent.) posts in the Immigration and Nationality Department that are vacant, according to the figures reported on the computerised resource reporting system called Adelphi.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who will lead the inquiry into the allegations made in The Observer on 21 May regarding malpractice in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate; when the inquiry will report; if the report will be published; what the terms of reference are; from whom the inquiry will take evidence; and if he will make a statement. [73687]
John Reid: An internal disciplinary investigation has taken place, as a result of which a member of IND staff has been dismissed. A criminal investigation continues.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Director General of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate compiled an action plan to take forward the recommendations made by Mr. Gbedemah; and if he will place a copy in the Library. [73688]
John Reid: I am advised that an action plan was initiated immediately upon the publication of Mr. Gbedemah's report. The action plan is an internal working document and as such it would not be appropriate to place it in the public domain.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what disciplinary action he has taken against officials in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate following Mr. Gbedemah’s report. [73689]
John Reid: I am advised that 13 separate disciplinary investigations were commissioned following Mr. Gbedemah’s report. Disciplinary action has been completed in respect of seven members of staff and is ongoing in respect of the remaining six.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people referred to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate by the Department for Work and Pensions for having suspect immigration documents in (a) the last six months, (b) the last 12 months and (c) each of the last five years have been (i) investigated and (ii) prosecuted. [75704]
John Reid: This information could be obtained only by individually searching IND databases for the outcome of each referral received, which would have significant resource implications.
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department plans to reduce the charges for leave to remain applications once the deficit identified by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate associated with the processing of chargeable applications during 2003-04 and 2004-05 has been recovered. [76924]
John Reid:
The fees for leave to remain are set to recover the full costs of the leave to remain service. These include not only the recovery of past deficits but also the direct and indirect costs associated with processing the application, including overheads and appeal costs. Our fees are set at a level appropriate for
the costs of managing the service in an area of fluctuating volumes and we will continue to review this in the future.
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department at what point he expects the deficit identified by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate which occurred in processing chargeable applications for leave to remain during 2003-04 and 2004-05 to have been recovered as a result of increases to leave to remain fees from 1 April 2005. [76925]
John Reid: Deficits identified by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate are being recovered through the fee for leave to remain in 2005-06. The accounts for the financial year 2005-06 are still being finalised and are yet to be audited by the National Audit Office. Until these accounts have been finalised I am unable to state whether the deficits referred to have been recovered.
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total running costs were of the Department that handles further leave to remain charges within the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in each year since their introduction. [76926]
John Reid: The published resource accounts for the fiscal year 2003-04 show that full costs of service provision for leave to remain applications totalled £44.985 million.
The published resource accounts for the fiscal year 2004-05 show that full costs of service provision for leave to remain applications totalled £74.588 million.
The resource accounts for the financial year 2005-06 are still being finalised and are yet to be audited by the National Audit Office.
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was raised through further leave to remain charges in each year since their introduction. [76927]
John Reid: The resource accounts for the fiscal year 2003-04 show that £44.157 million were received as income from leave to remain charges.
The resource accounts for the fiscal year 2004-05 show income of £60.927 million in respect of fee income from leave to remain charges.
The resource accounts for the financial year 2005-06 are still being finalised and are yet to be audited by the National Audit Office.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for which projects external consultants were hired for work for the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in the last financial year; who the consultants were in each case; and how much was paid in each case. [77071]
John Reid:
Detailed information in the format requested is not available centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost. In 2005-06 a total of £20.1 million (subject to audit) was spent by the
Immigration and Nationality Directorate on all external professional services, including consultancy support for projects.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was paid to external consultants for work for the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in each year since 1997. [77072]
John Reid: I am advised that IND's expenditure on all external professional services comprising payments made to management, IT and accommodation consultants in the last three years was as follows:
| £ million | |
| Payments to external consultants | |
| (1) Provisional figures, subject to audit. | |
Figures for earlier years are not available on a comparable basis.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent guidance he has issued to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate's Security and Anti-Corruption Unit on developing a more proactive strategy for combating fraud and corruption. [73709]
John Reid: One of the recommendations in Tim Gbedemah's report on the investigation into the Public Enquiry Office (PEO) in Croydon was that the IND should consider giving its Security and Anti- Corruption Unit (SACU) sole responsibility for investigating allegations of corruption across the whole of IND and tasking the unit with developing a more proactive strategy for combating fraud and corruption. Ministers accepted all of the recommendations in the report.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department to what extent the Immigration and Nationality Directorate's Security and Anti-Corruption Unit is responsible for investigating allegations of corruption across the whole of the IND; and when it was given this role. [73710]
John Reid: IND's Security and Anti-Corruption Unit was given sole responsibility for investigating allegations of corruption made against all IND staff on 1 April 2006.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are employed in the Immigration and Nationality Directive at (a) senior management and (b) junior management level. [77403]
John Reid: I am advised that IND records show the number of people employed by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in senior, middle and junior management grades are shown in the following table:
| FTE | Headcount | |
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