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Correspondence

Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter of 4 September from the hon. Member for Walsall, North in relation to his constituent’s case ref: A 1102564. [92916]

Mr. Byrne [holding answer 12 October 2006]: I wrote to the hon. Member for Walsall, North on 9 October 2006.

Drugs (Testing)

Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what Government policy is on
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testing people for illegal drug use who have been arrested on suspicion of other crimes; and whether the powers of police forces vary between different areas in this regard. [92799]

Mr. Coaker: There is a well evidenced link between some offences, particularly those connected with acquisitive crime, and Class A drug misuse. It is Government policy to break that link and to move offenders out of crime and into drug treatment.

Individuals arrested or charged with committing a range of offences (referred to as “trigger” offences) in areas with high levels of acquisitive crime are tested for Class A drugs as part of the Government's Drug Interventions Programme (DIP). Trigger offences include acquisitive crime offences.

Drug testing is one of a number of interventions aimed at identifying drug misusing offenders and persuading them to engage in drug treatment and support. Intensive elements of the programme, which include drug testing, are currently operational in 23 police force areas and 175 custody suites across England and Wales. Some 17,000 drug tests are conducted each month as part of the programme.

Immigration

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library the background papers which led to his estimate of between 5,000 to 13,000 immigrants from the EU accession countries coming to the UK in 2004. [88572]

Mr. Byrne [holding answer 25 July 2006]: There was no such estimate produced by either Ministers or officials from the Department prior to the enlargement of the European Union on 1 May 2004.

Christian Dustmann, et al from University College London produced a report entitled “The impact of EU enlargement on migrations flows” which was commissioned by the Home Office and published in June 2003. It contained estimates of the numbers of people expected to migrate to the UK from the new member states in the years following enlargement of the European Union on 1 May 2004. These are independent estimates and not Home Office figures.

The report itself is available from the Department’s Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/rdsolr 2503.pdf.

Income Support

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what total financial support the Government have provided to families in the lowest income decile in each of the last 20 years. [93665]

John Healey: I have been asked to reply.

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The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 16 October 2006:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question to Her Majesty’s Government, what total financial support the Government has provided to families in the lowest income decile in each of the last 20 years. (93665)

Estimates of the financial support provided to households through cash benefits are based on the ONS analyses “The effects of taxes and benefits on household income” which is published annually. The latest analysis for 2004-05 was published on the National Statistics website on 12 May 2006 at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/taxesbenefits. The analysis is based on data from the Expenditure and Food Survey, which is a sample survey covering approximately 7,000 households in the UK. The income decile groups used in this analysis are based on a ranking of households by equivalised disposable income—a widely used proxy for standard of living.

The table below shows the average receipts of cash benefits by households in the bottom income decile. Figures have been provided back to 1987, the earliest year for which comparable figures are available. They are based on the figures which have appeared annually in the taxes and benefits analysis, but have been adjusted to 2004-05 prices using the all items retail prices index. Receipts of cash benefits have also been shown as a percentage of average gross household income for households in the bottom income decile.

There has been some cyclical variation in receipts of cash benefits by this group of households, although there is no clear long term trend. However cash benefits constitute a declining proportion of gross income for these households. This is because of trend increases in real incomes from other sources such as wages and salaries and occupational pensions.

Cash benefits include contributory benefits such as the state retirement pension, and incapacity benefit, as well as non-contributory benefits such as income support, child benefit, housing benefit, and disability living allowance. Tax credits are only partially included since for households paying some income tax, the tax credits are initially treated as negative tax, rather than a benefit. Only after the tax credit has eliminated any income tax liability, is any further tax credit receipt treated as a benefit.

It should be remembered that these results are based on a sample survey and so there is some uncertainty surrounding the estimates for any one year. The bottom income decile is likely to contain some households who have low income but high wealth, and so can sustain a standard of living higher than that which would be suggested by their income alone.

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Average receipt of cash benefits and gross income of households in the bottom income decile( 1)
United Kingdom
	Receipt of cash benefits (£ per year, 2004-05 prices( 2) )	Gross household income (£ per year, 2004-05( 2) )	Cash benefits as a percentage of gross household income
1987	5,600	7,300	76
1988	5.300	6,900	77
1989	5,100	6,700	76
1990	5,000	6,800	74
1991	5,100	6,700	76
1992	5,200	7,300	72
1993	5,600	7,500	74
1994-95	5,500	7,500	74
1995-96	5,700	8,200	69
1996-97	5,100	7,400	69
1997-98	5,100	7,200	71
1998-99	4,900	7,300	67
1999-2000	4,800	7,100	68
2000-01	5,100	7,400	69
2001-02	4,900	7,600	64
2002-03	5,100	8,000	64
2003-04	5,200	7,900	66
2004-05	5,400	8,400	65
(1) Households are ranked by equivalised disposable income. (2) Adjusted to 2004-05 prices using the all items Retail Prices Index. Note: Numbers in the first two columns are rounded to the nearest hundred and so percentages calculated from them may not equal those in column three. Source: Expenditure and Food Survey (the Family Expenditure Survey before 2001-02).

Prisons

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans there are for Standford Hill Prison to take Category C prisoners. [93688]

Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 16 October 2006]: No decision has been made to increase the security categorisation of HMP Standford Hill.

The National Offender Management Service has developed long-term strategic plans to manage prison population pressures. These include ensuring we can use the prison estate as flexibly as possible, and in support of this a planning application for additional security at HMP Standford Hill was submitted. This would provide the option of holding prisoners at this establishment in closed conditions.

Visas

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people from each of the EU accession countries registered for UK work visas in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available. [92160]

Mr. Byrne: The Worker Registration Scheme (WRS), is not a scheme for issuing work visas, but a method of monitoring the impact on the UK economy of workers from eight accession states which joined the European Union on 1 May 2004. Individuals must register within one month of starting work and both the worker and employer receive a Worker Registration Scheme Certificate.

The Accession Monitoring Report is the main source of statistical data on the Worker Registration Scheme (WRS). The latest report covers the period May 2004 to June 2006 and is available on the Home Office website at: www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/aboutus/reports /accession_monitoring_report

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Nationality of applicants approved by quarter applied. July 2005 to June 2006
	Number of applicants
	Q3 2005	Q4 2005	Q1 2006	Q2 2006	Total
Czech Rep	2,860	2,265	1,850	1,885	8,860
Estonia	600	530	390	305	1,825
Hungary	1,670	1,665	1,425	1,475	6,235
Latvia	3,290	2,470	2,535	2,575	10,870
Lithuania	5,720	4,485	4,210	4,075	18,490
Poland	38,310	32,935	31,720	34,525	137,490
Slovakia	6,375	5,045	4,275	4,970	20,665
Slovenia	35	55	55	35	180
Total	58,860	49,450	46,465	49,850	204,625
Note: This table shows applicants approved rather than the total number of applications made. The figures are for initial applications only (not multiple applications, where an individual is doing more than one job simultaneously, nor re-registrations, where an individual has changed employers). All figures are rounded to the nearest five. Because of rounding, totals may not sum.

Health

A and E

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance her Department has produced on the (a) maximum or optimal geographical area and (b) maximum or optimal population that a local accident and emergency department should cover. [92398]

Ms Rosie Winterton: It is a matter for the local national health service to ensure that there is appropriate provision of urgent and emergency services that are responsive to people’s needs. The Department launched on 4 October a discussion on the “Direction of Travel for urgent care” and aims to produce an urgent and emergency care strategy in the first half of 2007.

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