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2 Nov 2006 : Column 602W—continued
Departmental Staff
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment the Government have made of whether the cleaners in his Department recently detained by the immigration and nationality directorate (a) were on the electoral roll at their home addresses and (b) had national insurance numbers; and if he will make a statement. [74083]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 5 June 2006]: Prior to any operation, our normal practice is to check the details of any alleged offender against the electoral roll and where appropriate NI records. In this particular case, the individuals were arrested immediately on Home Office premises and so no such checks were required.
Deportations
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the safety of individuals deported to Algeria. [92946]
Mr. Byrne: I replied to the hon. Member on23 October 2006, Official Report, column 1678W.
Driving Licences (Criminal Records Checks)
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Criminal Records Bureau disclosure applications for private driver licences are outstanding in the Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme area; and what the timescales are for their completion. [98908]
Joan Ryan: The information sought by my hon. Friend is not available. The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) is unable to provide information on Disclosure applications based on geographical areas.
The CRB aims to complete all Disclosure applications within the shortest time possible, while operating to a published service standard (PSS) of issuing 90 per cent. of Standard Disclosures within10 days and 90 per cent. of Enhanced Disclosures within 28 days.
Some Disclosures do take only a matter of days, while others can take considerably longer. There are a number of factors that can affect the timely completion of checks, including but not restricted to, the accurate completion of the application form, the clarity of the information provided and the existence of conviction or non-conviction information. A further factor is the operational effectiveness of the Disclosure Units of the police forces involved in the Enhanced Disclosure process and the CRB publishes police force performance on its website at www.crb.gov.uk.
Drug Offenders
Mr. Skinner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convicted drug offenders are participating in rehabilitation schemes in prison. [98772]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Information is not available in the format requested. A survey of all prisoners engaging with the CARAT Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice and Throughcare service in 2004-05 showed that 10.8 per cent. reported drug offences as their main offence.
This is consistent with the fact that problematic drug misusers tend to be convicted of a wide range of offences rather than offences specifically against the Misuse of Drugs Act.
Extradition
Ms Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the evidential requirements for extradition to the United States from the United Kingdom are the same as those for extradition to the United Kingdom from the United States. [97737]
Joan Ryan: The Extradition Act 2003 requires the US to provide
“information that would justify the issue of a warrant for the arrest of a person accused of the offence within the Judge’s jurisdiction, if the person whose extradition is requested is accused of the commission of the offence”.
When the request is made by the UK, “probable cause” must be shown. While it is impossible to precisely equate provisions in the laws of different countries, these provisions are broadly comparable.
It should be noted that the US must itself meet the probable cause test domestically before making an extradition request to any country, including the UK. Regardless of any provision of UK law there is, therefore, in practice reciprocity for extradition requests to and from the US.
Final Warnings
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many people received a final warning having previously received a reprimand in each of the last five years; [91514]
(2) how many (a) reprimands and (b) final warnings were issued in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [91515]
Mr. Sutcliffe: It is not possible to identify the number of people who received a final warning and who previously received a reprimand, as the data held centrally are not collected to that level of detail.
Previous offending is, however, taken into account locally by police officers in deciding whether to issue a reprimand or final warning, or refer the case to the Crown Prosecution Service.
Firearms
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effect of the ban on hand-held firearms on the number of illegal shooting incidents; and if he will make a statement. [94147]
Mr. Coaker: The Firearms (Amendment) Acts of 1997 which placed handguns into the prohibited weapons category were introduced to ensure, as far as possible, that the terrible events of 13 March 1996 at Dunblane Primary School, when 16 children and a teacher were shot dead by a man with a handgun which he held legally on a firearm certificate, would never happen again. In 2004-05, Firearms were reported to have been used in 22,789 recorded crimes (including air weapons). This is a 5 per cent. reduction on the previous year. Offences involving handguns fell by15 per cent. in 2004-05.
Fireworks
Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals have been prosecuted under the Fireworks Act 2003 in the South Wales police area, broken down by offence; and if he will make a statement. [93609]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform shows that there have been no prosecutions reported in 2004 under the Fireworks Act 2003 in the South Wales police force area. Data for 2005 will be available in November.
Offences under the Fireworks Act 2003 for breach of the fireworks curfew, possession of category four fireworks, and possession by a person under 18 of an adult firework were added to the PND Scheme on 11 October 2004. However there have been no reports of penalty notices issued by South Wales police force area in 2004 and 2005 (provisional data) for these offences.
Foreign Prisoners
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether (a) any of the convicted foreign nationals who were released without being considered for deportation and (b) foreign national terror suspects hold national insurance numbers(i) legitimately and (ii) fraudulently; and if he will make a statement. [73987]
Mr. Byrne:
Appropriate checks have been carried out by the relevant agencies on the 1,013 foreign national
prisoners released without deportation consideration. These checks were conducted on a case by case basis and not held centrally and so the overall results are available only at disproportionate cost. Similarly, the information requested about terror suspects is not held centrally.
Dartmoor Prison
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department is taking to resolve the dispute between the prison service and residents of Grosvenor House, Barracks Road, Princetown over the proposed sale of the property. [92754]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Matters relating to the dispute between residents of Grosvenor House, Barracks Road, Princetown and Dartmoor prison is being dealt with under the Prison Service Joint Industrial Procedure Agreements (JIPRA) procedures.
Human Trafficking
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what additional steps the Government plan to take at ports of entry to identify (a) trafficked people and (b) traffickers following the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the EU. [94240]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 18 September 2006]: A range of operational measures have been—and continue to be developed by operational planning groups. Many must remain confidential. Support to Romania and Bulgaria however will include building intelligence-led infrastructure within their respective law enforcement units to tackle organised immigration crime and share intelligence; funding training and specialist equipment for organised crime analysts dealing with migration and trafficking in the new country-wide risk assessment units in Romania; providing forgery detection equipment and training for Bulgarian border police, and sharing UK expertise through contributing short-term experts to EU Twinning projects which focus on border management issues.
Illegal Migrants
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he plans to take steps to enable an estimate to be made of the illegal migrant population resident in the UK. [73527]
Mr. Byrne: Since the dismantling of embarkation controls in 1994 it has been impossible to count the number leaving the UK, and impossible to estimate how many remain.
The IND Review “Fair, effective, transparent and trusted; Rebuilding Confidence in our Immigration System”, published in July 2006, sets out our plans to extend exit controls in stages based on risk, identify who overstays and by 2014 count everyone in and out. The e-borders programme will assist in this transformation.
Immigration and Nationality Directorate
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) average waiting time
and (b) longest individual waiting time experienced by hon. Members waiting for responses from the immigration and nationality directorate has been in each of the last 12 months. [93014]
Mr. Byrne: For the 12 month period up to and including September the average waiting time for responses to letters from hon. Members to the immigration and nationality directorate (IND) was23 days in respect of correspondence on IND matters.
The longest individual waiting time experienced by hon. Members for February this year, the last month for which figures are available, was 152 days in respect of correspondence on IND matters. Although this represents an improvement the IND Review, Rebuilding confidence in our immigration system (July 2006), underlined the need for further improvement.
Migration
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many nationals of EU member states have settled in the UK (a) alone and (b) with family members in each of the last five years. [97238]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 26 October 2006]: There is no requirement for European economic area (EEA) nationals to register with the authorities in order to exercise treaty rights allowing them to reside legally within the UK. As such, the Home Office does not have statistics to show how many nationals of European Union (EU) member states have settled in the UK.
Statistics on the issue and refusal of residence documentation (excluding the Worker Registration Scheme) to EEA nationals and their family members are published annually in Command Papers entitled “Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom”. The 2005 publication is available from the Library of the House and via the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html
Miscarriages of Justice
Mr. O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what (a) financial and (b) other assistance is given to (i) a person who is released from prison following the quashing of his conviction after a miscarriage of justice and (ii) the (A) family and (B) legal personal representative of a person whose conviction has been quashed who has died. [94415]
Mr. Sutcliffe:
The Home Office is funding the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux to provide an advice and assistance service to those who have been released from prison following a successful appeal against conviction. This service, known as the Miscarriages of Justice Support Service, is based at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. It provides advice and assistance to clients on a one-to-one basis in respect of such matters as: obtaining sufficient documentation relating to identity, gaining access to accommodation, social security benefits, local health care services and other mainstream provision. It also assists with practical day-to-day matters, such as opening bank accounts. This service does not extend to family members or legal personal representatives of those who have died prior to the quashing of their
convictions. The aim of the service is to provide immediate assistance to those who find themselves suddenly released from custody.
Family members and the legal personal representatives of those who have died prior to the quashing of their conviction can, if an application for compensation under section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 is approved, seek financial recompense for the non-pecuniary and pecuniary losses sustained by the deceased. They are able, within their financial claim, to include their own expenses incurred in visiting the deceased while in custody, any campaign costs associated with the case, and legal costs. Since 19 April 2006, legal costs are based on legal assistance help rates.
Motoring Offences
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people who are under the age of 17 years have been banned from driving. [97834]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Available information, taken from the Court Proceedings Database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, shows that for England and Wales in 2004 (latest available) 5,100(1) persons aged under 17 years were given a disqualification from driving by the courts.
(1) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete However it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts, and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
Multi-agency Public Protection Arrangements
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which agencies participate in multi-agency public protection arrangements. [97655]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) are established by statute (the Criminal Justice & Court Services Act 2000 as amended by the Criminal Justice Act 2003). The law requires the police, prison and probation services (the Responsible Authority) in each of the 42 Areas of England and Wales to establish arrangements for the assessment and management of risk posed by certain sexual and violent offenders. It also places the following agencies under a duty to co-operate with the Responsible Authority:
youth offending teams;
the Ministers of the Crown exercising functions in relation to social security, child support, war pensions, employment and training (at a local level the duty effectively lies with Jobcentre Plus);
local education authorities;
local housing authorities or social services authorities;
registered social landlords who provide or manage residential accommodation in which MAPPA offenders reside or may reside;
health authorities or strategic health authorities;
primary care trusts or local health boards;
NHS trusts; and
Electronic monitoring services providers.
The Strategic Management Board for each area, led by the Responsible Authority and which now includes lay advisers, is required to keep the arrangements under review, which will include ensuring participation within MAPPA.
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