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19 Dec 2006 : Column 1953W—continued
| Table 2: Offences of theft of a motor vehicle recorded by the police in Suffolk | |
| Number of offences | |
| (1) The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced on 1 April 2002. Figures before and after that date are not directly comparable. | |
Darfur
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many female Sudanese nationals from the Darfur region since 2003 have cited rape in their application for refugee status in the UK and been refused refugee status in the UK; [104913]
(2) how many Sudanese nationals from the Darfur region have successfully appealed since 2003 after being declined refugee status in the UK; [104914]
(3) how many Sudanese nationals who have unsuccessfully claimed asylum in the UK have been returned to the Darfur region since 2003; [104915]
(4) how many Sudanese nationals from the Darfur region have (a) applied for, (b) been granted and (c) been refused refugee status in the UK since 2003. [104916]
Mr. Byrne: Data from a specific area or region (of a country) of origin of asylum seekers are not collated centrally and are therefore not available, the requested information would be available by examination of individual case-files only at disproportionate cost.
Information on asylum, by nationality, is published in quarterly web pages and in the annual statistical bulletin Asylum Statistics United Kingdom. Copies of these publications and others relating to general immigration to the UK are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html
Data Protection
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will cease the practice of neither confirming nor denying the holding of data by the security services on individuals which is not covered by section 7 of the Data Protection Act 1998; and if he will make a statement. [108953]
Mr. McNulty: The intelligence and security agencies comply fully with the Data Protection Act 1998. It has been the policy of successive Governments to neither confirm nor deny in circumstances where necessary to protect national security.
Departmental Energy
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State forthe Home Department pursuant to the answer of30 November 2006, Official Report, column 899W on Departmental energy, what the figure 62,505,257 kWh represents as a percentage of the total amount of energy consumed by the Home Office; and what plans his Department has to increase the amount of energy acquired from renewable sources. [109785]
Mr. Byrne: Pursuant to the answers of 30 November 2006, Official Report, column 899W, and 11 December 2006, Official Report, column 824W, in 2004-2005, the latest year for which figures have been published,17 per cent. of the electricity consumed by the Home Office was acquired from renewable sources. This figure exceeds the target laid down in the framework for sustainable development on the Government estate, which remains a commitment within the new sustainable operations targets announced by the Prime Minister in June this year, which requires Departments to source at least 10 per cent. of electricity from renewable sources by 31 March 2008.
The Home Office continues to explore opportunities to further increase the amount of renewable electricity acquired from renewable sources both with suppliers and through self generation.
Departmental Pay Award
Mr. Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the effective date is forthe annual pay award for his Department; and what the actual implementation date was in each of the last five years. [108296]
Mr. Byrne:
The settlement date of a pay award is the effective date from which any pay changes occur. The implementation date is the date at which a pay award
has been finalised and paid to the employee. The implementation date is variable because it is dependent upon factors such as gaining HM Treasury approval for pay spend and the completion of negotiations with employee representatives.
For civil servants within the Home Office, the settlement date of pay award is 1 July. The following table shows the implementation dates for pay awards from 2002 to 2006.
| Implementation Date | |
| (1 )The 2003 pay was a 2 stage pay award. | |
For civil servants in the Prison Service the following table shows the implementation dates for pay awards from 2002 to 2006.
For civil servants in the Identity Passport Service, the following table shows both the settlement and implementation dates for pay awards from 2002 to 2006.
| Settlement date | Implementation date | |
For civil servants within the Criminal Record Bureaux the following table shows both the settlement and implementation dates for pay awards from 2002 to 2006.
| Settlement date | Implementation date | |
For senior civil servants throughout the Home Office, the settlement date of pay award is 1 April. The following table shows the implementation dates for pay awards from 2002 to 2006.
| Implementation date | |
| (1 )The 2006 pay was a 2 stage award. | |
Departmental Staff
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what monitoring his Department has undertaken of its dispute resolution strategy; [104732]
(2) what steps (a) the Department and (b) its associated public bodies have taken to promote proportionate dispute resolution in connection with disputes involving them; and what (i) training and (ii) monitoring of staff has taken place in respect of such dispute resolution; [104753]
(3) what requests for alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in respect of disputes involving (a) the Department, (b) personnel of the Department and (c) bodies for which the Department is accountable to Parliament have been received by the Department; and what requests for ADR have been received by (i) the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, (ii) the National Offender Management Service and (iii) HM Prison Service; [104754]
(4) how many requests for alternative dispute resolution (ADR) have been (a) agreed to, (b) declined with reasons being given and (c) declined without reasons being given by (i) his Department, (ii) the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, (iii) the National Offenders Management Service and (iv) HM Prison Service since 2001; and what review and monitoring of the response to ADR requests has been undertaken. [104764]
Mr. Byrne: A new internal grievance procedure was introduced in January 2005 which is compliant with the Employment Act 2002 (Dispute Resolution) Regulations 2004. All staff and managers have access to the procedures. The operation of this new policy in the central Home Office and the Immigration and Nationality Directorate was reviewed in 2006. Before following the formal procedure, employees are required to attempt to resolve any grievances informally. The Home Office has a number of trained mediators who can act as an impartial third party to help members of staff reach agreement. Additional support and guidance for those handling grievances is provided by HR units.
HM Prison Service has a similar grievance procedure but does not have a written dispute resolution strategy. However, they use alternative dispute resolution in a variety of litigation matters where legal advisers consider this to be a viable option. Establishments are also encouraged to use workplace mediation where appropriate, facilitated either by their staff care and welfare service (whose staff are appropriately trained) or by external organisations.
Records of disputes are not held centrally, and the other information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what procedure is followed in respect of complaints and concerns about (a) the Permanent Secretary, (b) legal advisers, (c) staff handling complaints and (d) other staff in his Department; what the timescale is for dealing with each such complaint; and what the grade should be of the staff dealing with complaints in each case; [104750]
(2) how complaints and concerns about (a) the Permanent Secretary, (b) Ministerial Correspondence Unit staff, (c) staff handling complaints, (d) other staff, (e) consultants working for his Department, (f) his Department's legal advisers and (g) persons who have held any of the above positions but no longer do so are recorded and monitored; [104751]
(3) what procedures ensure an independent and impartial handling and assessment of redress matters to those affected by misconduct by (a) the Permanent Secretary, (b) Ministerial Correspondence Unit staff, (c) staff handling complaints, (d) other staff, (e) consultants working for his Department, (f) departmental legal advisers, (g) persons who have held any of the above positions but no longer do so and (h) the Department and (i) associated bodies of the Department. [104752]
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