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4 Sep 2006 : Column 1823W—continued
Firearms
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of illegal firearms in circulation; what steps he is taking to reduce the number; and if he will make a statement. [89031]
Mr. McNulty: There are no reliable estimates of the number of prohibited firearms in circulation.
We are taking action in a variety of ways to take illegal firearms off the streets:
we have introduced a five-year minimum sentence for possession of a prohibited firearm and are tightening legislation in the Violent Crime Reduction Bill with a new offence of using someone to mind a weapon;
we support dedicated and intelligence-led police enforcement operations focusing on gun crime, including the seizure of firearms, such as Operation Trident;
HM Revenue and Customs conduct operations to detect and seize illegal weapons. We also support community work aimed at helping young people who may be at risk of involvement in gun crime through the Connected Fund.
Foreign Criminals
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many foreign mentally-disordered individuals held in special hospitals under mental health legislation were released without notification to the immigration and nationality directorate in (a) the last six months, (b) the last 12 months and (c) the last five years; [77405]
(2) how many foreign mentally-disordered individuals held in special hospitals under mental health legislation have been released without being considered for deportation in (a) the last six months, (b) the last 12 months and (c) the last five years. [77406]
John Reid: The information requested is not currently held centrally.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign national offenders have been served with deportation orders in each year since 1999. [68731]
John Reid: Up until 2002, published information is available on the total number of persons against whom enforcement action was initiated, including deportation action, in the Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom Command Paper. Published editions of this Command Paper and other information on immigration and asylum are available on the Home Office’s Research Development and Statistics website at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html
Information on deportation action was not available for 2003 due to data quality issues in this area. Information for 2004 has been published (as at the listed website) provisionally and may be revised in the 2005 Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom Command Paper publication.
The immigration and nationality directorate is currently putting in place new processes to improve its data collection systems for the future in this area.
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether private finance initiative schemes have been used for handling the deportation of foreign national criminals since 1997. [68747]
Mr. Byrne: I can advise the hon. Member that no private finance initiative schemes have been used for handling the deportation of foreign national criminals since 1997.
Mr. Hayes:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost has been of (a)
back-processing and (b) locating of foreign national prisoners released without processing for deportation; how many personnel have been deployed on these tasks; and from which other sections they have been reassigned. [68767]
Mr. Byrne: The total cost of the operation to track and detain foreign criminals is not currently available because work on the 1,013 cases released without consideration of deportation is still ongoing.
The immigration and nationality directorate’s criminal casework directorate is overseeing work, staffed with over 400 full-time equivalent staff of which some are on loan on a short and long-term basis from other areas of the immigration and nationality directorate as recruitment takes place. These staff have come from a range of operational areas. Risks to business delivery associated with loaning staff to the criminal casework directorate are being closely managed.
IND is also working closely with a number of other Government Departments in locating and dealing with these individuals, in particular the police who have jointly led the intelligence gathering operation to locate these individuals.
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answers of 29 June 2006, Official Report, columns 641-2W, on foreign criminals, where in the written statement of 29 June 2006, Official Report, columns 18-19WS, on deportation and removal of foreign nationals, or in the letter from the director-general of the immigration and nationality department to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee the information sought in Question numbers 67390 and 67391 is to be found. [85900]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 17 July 2006]: The immigration and nationality directorate (IND) director general’s letter of 29 June provided a comprehensive breakdown at that time on the 1,013 foreign national prisoners released without deportation consideration. The information was collated centrally and quality assured by the Department and is the most accurate and robust data currently available to the Department on these individuals.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary will be writing shortly to the hon. Member to address the particular point she raised with him on 17 July 2006, Official Report, column 3W, regarding sex offenders in oral questions to the Home Department.
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many cases when a deportation notice has been served the Home Secretary has exercised his powers to grant bail pending termination of the appeal in each of the last three years. [86049]
Mr. Byrne: The Department does not collate information in the format requested and it could be produced in the format requested only at disproportionate cost.
Anne Main:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 29 June
2006, Official Report, columns 641-42W, on foreign criminals, what procedures are in place in his Department to ensure that a ministerial answer to a parliamentary question addresses the terms of the question asked. [87754]
Mr. Byrne: The hon. Member is entitled to ask a pursuant question for further clarification or detail. I am already aware that the hon. Member has tabled a pursuant question regarding the answers given on 29 June 2006 to her questions.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of activities associated with the tracking and detention of the 1,023 foreign criminals released without consideration for deportation. [73526]
Mr. Byrne: The total cost of the operation to track and detain foreign criminals is not currently available because work on the 1,013 cases released without consideration of deportation is still ongoing.
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the nationality of prisoners is routinely recorded on their files; and if he will make a statement. [67473]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Yes. This information is routinely recorded on both the computerised Local Inmate Database and on the prisoner’s core paper file. Where it cannot be recorded on the day of reception, it will normally be added shortly after as part of the reception process. In a written ministerial statement of 19 July 2006, Official Report, column 29WS my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill (Mr. Byrne) set out the progress the Department is making to address the fact that there is currently no requirement in law for the detainee to provide details of their identity or nationality.
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (1) how many foreign nationals there are in prison in England and Wales with each type of immigration status; and what percentage of the total number of foreign nationals in prison this represents in each case; [67557]
(2) how many foreign nationals there were in prisons in England and Wales in each year since 1996; [67558]
(3) how many foreign nationals are in prisons in England and Wales, broken down by sex. [71824]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 2 May 2006]: Available information for the years 1996 to 2005 on the number of foreign nationals held in prison establishments in England and Wales, broken down by sex, is given in table 8.4 and 8.4a of Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2004, which can be found at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/omcs.html
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many people granted asylum in the UK in the last 10 years committed criminal offences which attracted (a) custodial and (b) non-custodial sentences in each year since 1997, broken down by country of origin; [68883]
(2) how many people given indefinite leave to remain in the UK within the last 10 years committed criminal offences which attracted (a) custodial and (b) non-custodial sentences in each year since 1997; [68916]
(3) how many illegal immigrants have been convicted of criminal offences which attracted (a) custodial and (b) non-custodial sentences in each year since 1997. [68917]
Mr. Byrne: The information requested is not available centrally as details relating to the immigration status of persons sentenced does not form part of the Home Office Court Proceedings Database. Neither does the immigration and nationality directorate hold information centrally on offences committed by or convictions and sentences imposed on persons falling within these categories.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign national prisoners were imprisoned in each year between 1999 and 2005; and what the average time spent in prison was by these prisoners. [69537]
Mr. Byrne: Information for the years 1999 to 2005 on the number of foreign nationals held in prison establishments in England and Wales is given in table 8.4 and 8.4a of Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2004. Information on the average time served in prison establishments of foreign nationals discharged from determinate sentences is given in the following table.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system.
| Average time served in prison (including remand time) in months of foreign national prisoners discharged from prison from determinate sentences on completion of sentence or on licence | |
| Year of discharge | Number of prisoners |
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research his Department has carried out on the rates of recidivism among foreign national prisoners. [69540]
Mr. Sutcliffe:
The Home Office has not conducted any specific research into reoffending amongst foreign national prisoners. Reoffending rates for discharged prisoners are published annually. These include foreign national prisoners (unless marked as deported upon release from custody) but separate figures are not available for this group. The latest figures can be found in ‘Adult reoffending: results from the 2002
cohort’. Home Office Statistical Bulletin 25/05'. This is available on the Home Office's website: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/hosbpubs1.html. The report shows the reoffending rate of offenders released from prison for 2002 and 2000.
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many non-British citizens are serving prison sentences in England and Wales. [69599]
Mr. Byrne: Information on the number of foreign national prisoners serving an immediate custodial sentence in prison establishments in England and Wales is given in table 8.28 of the web tables of Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2004, available at the following address: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/omcs.html
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total cost has been of the operation to (a) trace, (b) track, (c) detain and (d) conduct surveillance on foreign prisoners released without due deportation review process. [71208]
Mr. Byrne: The total cost of the operation to track and detain foreign criminals is not currently available because work on the 1,013 cases released without consideration of deportation is still ongoing.
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to question (a) 67587, on foreign prisoners, tabled by the hon. Member for the Isle of Wight on 26 April and (b) 67931, on prisoners released on licence, tabled on 27 April. [82663]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 4 July 2006]: The hon. Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill (Mr. Byrne) replied to (a) on 29 June 2006, Official Report, column 645W. The hon. Member for Bradford, South (Mr. Sutcliffe) replied to (b) on 18 July 2006, Official Report, column 414W.
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of those foreign nationals eligible for deportation following the end of their prison sentence who have remained in the country have been in receipt of state benefits in the period following their release; and if he will make a statement. [75497]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 7 June 2006]: The information requested is not collected centrally and therefore would be available only at a disproportionate cost.
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many former foreign prisoners are claiming asylum, broken down by country of origin. [73602]
Mr. Byrne: The information requested is not collected centrally and would require an examination of individual case files at disproportionate cost.
Fox Hunting
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what powers (a) Scottish police forces operating close to the border have to enforce the fox hunting ban in England and (b) English police forces operating close to the border have to enforce the fox hunting ban in Scotland. [88220]
Mr. McNulty: Section 98 of the Police Act 1996 enables aid to be provided between police forces in the different jurisdictions within the United Kingdom. While providing mutual aid a constable is under the direction and control of the receiving force and has the powers and privileges of a constable in the receiving force.
Where cross-border aid provisions are not in effect part 10 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 provides police constables from one jurisdiction with the following enforcement powers in other jurisdictions in the UK:
Section 140 provides that where a constable in one jurisdiction has a power to arrest a person for an offence committed in their jurisdiction an officer from another jurisdiction who is present there has the same power of arrest in the jurisdiction where the offence was committed.
Section 137 provides that where a person suspected of committing an offence in one jurisdiction is in another jurisdiction an officer from the jurisdiction where the offence was committed has the power to arrest the suspect in the other jurisdiction.
The issue of mutual aid or the exercise of cross-border powers is an operational matter for the individual Chief Officers concerned.
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has given to English constabularies on supporting constabularies in Scotland in enforcing the fox hunting ban. [88514]
Mr. McNulty: None. This is an operational matter for Chief Officers.
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