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31 Oct 2006 : Column 387W—continued
EU Travel Bans
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2005, Official Report, column 1747W, on EU travel bans, what liaison takes place between the Immigration and Nationality Directorate and other of his Department’s agencies in monitoring entry to the UK by individuals subject to EU travel bans. [95333]
Mr. Byrne: An individual who is subject to an EU travel ban is not normally permitted to enter the UK. An exemption can be agreed in respect of a person whose presence in the UK is required, for example as a witness, to further the cause of peace or for humanitarian reasons. In such cases an assessment of the risks posed to the UK and public by the individual would be made in conjunction with law enforcement and security agencies. Depending on that assessment appropriate measures would be taken to monitor the individual while here.
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2005, Official Report, column 1747W, on EU travel bans, what estimate he has made of the cost of collecting information on those who may have entered the UK in breach of an EU travel ban; what travel bans are in operation from other bodies; whether individuals in breach of an EU travel ban have been (a) arrested and (b) deported in the UK; who has entered the UK since 1997 under international immunity but in breach of an EU travel ban; whether individuals subject to an EU travel ban are permitted to transit via the UK; what Government policy is on action to be taken when an individual is located in the UK in breach of an EU travel ban; and what representations he has received on visits to the UK by people subject to EU travel bans. [95334]
Mr. Byrne: A person subject to an EU travel ban is excluded from the UK and details of all those individuals included on a travel ban are entered on the Home Office watch list. That watch list is used by staff overseas and at UK ports to identify those people who should not be admitted to the UK. A person who entered the UK by deception and so in breach of a travel ban would be treated as an illegal entrant and be subject to removal. We have no record of any individual who is subject to a travel ban being identified in the UK and being either arrested or deported.
The UK is only party to EU and UN travel bans and the enabling immigration legislation only allows the Secretary of State to designate EU or UN travel bans. Such designation has the effect of making individuals subject to such bans automatically excluded from the UK under section 8B of the Immigration Act 1971.
There is no international immunity from the effects of an EU travel ban. I can also confirm that individuals subject to an EU travel ban are not permitted to transit the UK.
The Home Office has not received any representations from people subject to EU travel bans. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has received only one formal representation but does receive a number of informal, and not centrally recorded, representations from those who are subject to EU travel bans.
Extradition
Ms Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether persons extradited from the UK to the US may be tried only in US courts. [97945]
Joan Ryan: Yes; extradition for any purpose other than trial, sentencing or to serve a previously imposed sentence would not be lawful.
In relevant cases, the courts in this country have been given assurances that the person sought will not be subject to the provisions of the President's Military Order No. 1.
Ms Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the provisions of the extradition treaty between the UK and the US to be fully implemented by the United States of America. [98296]
Joan Ryan: Once the Extradition Schedule to the Police and Justice Bill becomes law, providing the Opposition amendments are removed, and the US President ratifies the Treaty, then the Treaty will come into effect immediately upon both Governments exchanging instruments of ratification.
Faith Groups
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from representatives of faith groups on the application of section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986, as amended, by the (a) police and (b) Crown Prosecution Service. [97046]
Mr. Coaker: Decisions on the arrest and prosecution of an individual under section 5 of the Public Order Act are matters for the police and prosecution authorities. We have received representations from a number of individuals in respect of the police's action in one particular case.
Feltham YOI
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether Ministers (a) have reviewed and (b) plan to review the report of the investigation into the recent attempted escape at HM Young Offenders Institute Feltham; and if he will make a statement. [97398]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I am aware of the findings of the investigation into the attempted escape at Feltham. I am also satisfied that appropriate action has been taken in response to the recommendations made in the investigation report.
Foreign Prisoners
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will place in the Library copies of the (a) policies, (b) guidance, (c) circulars and (d) instructions on (i) the security categorisation and (ii) the allocation to open or closed prisons of foreign nationals (1) subject to immigration control and (2) liable to be deported issued since 1 March; [94764]
(2) if he will place in the Library copies of the (a) policies, (b) guidance, (c) circulars and (d) instructions on the release from prison of foreign nationals (i) on completion of their custodial sentence, (ii) on licence during the course of their custodial sentence and (iii) on release on temporary licence issued since 1st March. [94765]
Mr. Sutcliffe: All new or amended Prison Service policies, guidance, instructions and orders are distributed to outside agencies, including the House of Commons Library.
Immigration and Nationality Directorate
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions the Immigration and Nationality Directorate did not meet its 20-day target response time in respect of inquiries from hon. Members in each of the last 12 months. [93015]
Mr. Byrne: The published target is to answer 95 per cent. of Members’ letters on Immigration and Nationality Directorate—related matters within 20 working days. Although we still have some way to go to achieve that standard, performance has none the less already improved significantly from 34 per cent. in 2004 to 76 per cent. for the period September 2005 to August 2006, the latest period for which figures are available.
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Immigration and Nationality Directorate will reply to the letter of 28 June 2006, from the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green, regarding a constituent, Mrs Filiz Kart, (Home Office reference S1041072). [97235]
Mr. Byrne: The Immigration and Nationality Directorate wrote to the hon. Member on 24 July and on 25 October 2006.
Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the operation of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006; and what recent representations he has received about the operation of that Act. [95125]
Mr. Byrne: The Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 received Royal Assent on 31 March 2006.
We are carrying out a phased commencement of the Act. Managing the sections which have still to be
commenced are linked to the implementation of the new Points-Based Scheme and the e-Borders Programme.
Representations on individual provisions of the Act are not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Indian Workers
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many workers from India received permits to work in the UK in each sector of the work force in the last 12 months. [96194]
Mr. Byrne: The number of work permits issued to workers of Indian nationality to work in the UK by industry sector for the period October 2005 to September 2006 is in the following table:
| Sector | Number of work permits |
The number of work permits issued will not equal the number of workers of Indian nationality receiving work permits, who may have received more than one work permit during the period. The figures quoted are not provided under National Statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.
Islam and Muslim Affairs
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements his Department has in place for offering him advice on Islam and matters relating to Muslims; and who his advisers are on Islam and Muslim affairs. [94335]
Mr. Byrne:
Where appropriate, officials in the Home Office provide advice on matters relating to Muslim communities. The Department for Communities and Local Government is the lead Department on domestic
matters relating to Muslim communities and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is the lead Department on international matters. Where appropriate, officials seek advice from these Departments.
The Immigration and Nationality Directorate also has regular formal consultations with the Advisory Board on Naturalisation and Integration, (ABNI) Advisory Panel on Country Information (APCI) and National Refugee Integration Forum (NRIF) on a variety of issues including Islam and Muslim affairs.
John Walters
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what preparations have been made for the visit to the UK of US anti-drug czar John Walters. [95085]
Mr. Coaker: Mr. Walters has no current plans to visit the UK.
Marriage Visas
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many members of the communities of (a) Bangladeshi origin, (b) Pakistani origin and (c) South Asian origin have married spouses from the Indian sub-continent who have come to the UK on marriage visas in each of the last 20 years. [96684]
Mr. Byrne: The Department does not routinely collect statistical information by country of origin on the sponsors of applicants who are coming to the UK on a marriage visa, or who are applying in-country in that category.
Miscarriages of Justice
Mr. O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for (a) ex gratia payments of compensation from public funds for miscarriages of justice there have been since 1976 and (b) payments under section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 there have been since its inception; how many such cases were decided by the assessors in each year; what the date was of each assessment; how much compensation was awarded in each case; how each award was made up; how much in legal costs was awarded in each case, broken down by type of cost; what the reasons were for the award of costs in each case; what the administrative costs, including fees and other benefits payable to the assessor, were in respect of each case; and what length of time was taken in each case (i) from receipt of the application to the assessment of eligibility, (ii) from acceptance of eligibility to assessment of compensation and (iii) from assessment of compensation to the payment of compensation. [94397]
Mr. Sutcliffe:
The full information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, or by divulging details of individual awards. However, the following table gives information for the last five financial years regarding the number of applications for compensation in respect of miscarriages of justice, the number granted under section 133 of the Criminal
Justice Act 1988, the number granted under the discretionary scheme, and the total spent on compensation for miscarriages of justice. Until the abolition of the ex gratia scheme on 19 April this year, all applications were considered under both the statutory and ex gratia schemes.
| Miscarriage of justice compensation applications and expenditure | ||||
| Number of applications | Number granted under s133( 1) | Number granted under ex gratia( 2) | Total spend (£ million)( 3) | |
| (1 )Applications are not necessarily granted in the same year as the application is made, nor finalised in the same year that eligibility is approved. (2 )See footnote 1. (3 )This includes interim payments and payment of legal and other costs. | ||||
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