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17 Jan 2007 : Column 1183W—continued
UK Sport has allocated the following combined exchequer and lottery funding to the Elite Coach programme which aims to develop a new generation of elite coaches:
| £ | ||
| UK Sport—actual spend( 1) | UK Sport( 2) | |
| (1) To nearest thousand (2) Projected spend | ||
UK Sport is also investing £215 million of combined exchequer and lottery funding in the Olympic and Paralympic World Class Pathway between 2005 and 2009. UK Sport estimate that around 20 per cent. of this funding is spent on sports coaching.
Sport England advises that a number of its exchequer and lottery funding programmes and initiatives since 1997 will have benefited sports coaching, e.g. World Class Funding, Whole Sport Plans, Community Revenue, Community Capital and Community Investment Fund awards. It is not possible to disaggregate the specific amounts spent on coaching from the overall spending figures.
Wheelchair Basketball
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to fund the Great Britain Wheelchair Basketball Association’s development programmes. [115629]
Mr. Caborn: In the period October 2006-March 2009 UK Sport will invest £643,000 in the World Class Development programme for wheelchair basketball. This money will support athletes nominated by the Great Britain Wheelchair Basketball Association (GBWBA) for the developmental level of the World Class Performance Pathway.
In addition to this investment Sport England, UK Sport, the Youth Sport Trust and the British Paralympic Association have supported the development of a framework described as the ‘playground to podium’ pathway for disability sport. This framework is currently at draft stage and it is therefore not possible at present to say what level of funding will be available for individual disability sports.
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to help the Great Britain Wheelchair Basketball Association increase participation in wheelchair basketball. [115630]
Mr. Caborn: Sport England, our non-departmental public body responsible for delivering our strategy on increasing participation, does not currently provide funding for the Great Britain Wheelchair Basketball Association. However, through Sport England and other key delivery partners including the National Governing Bodies, County Sports Partnerships and sports equity organisations, we continue to work towards delivering our public service agreement target to increase sports participation by 3 per cent. among disabled people by the year 2008.
Home Department
Assets Recovery Agency
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the future of the Assets Recovery Agency in Northern Ireland. [115798]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 15 January 2007]: I announced in a written statement on 11 January 2007, Official Report, column 21WS, the Government’s plans to merge the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) with the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). Nothing in the new proposals will take away from our efforts in tackling organised crime in Northern Ireland through the recovery of assets. Our aim is that they will improve and enhance our efforts to do so.
In recognition of the high profile, public confidence and success achieved by ARA in Northern Ireland in tackling organised crime and dealing with organised criminals, SOCA will have a designated officer responsible for asset recovery work in Northern Ireland, and there will be no diminution in the resources available for assets recovery work there.
Subject to the passing of the necessary legislation the merger is likely to come into force from April 2008.
Asylum Seekers
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people who have (a) claimed asylum in and (b) been removed from the UK since May 1997 have been deported once already. [109455]
Mr. Byrne: The requested information is not available and could be obtained by an examination of individual case records only at disproportionate cost.
Deportation proceedings are initiated either following a court recommendation as part of a sentence under section 3(6) of the Immigration Act 1971 or on the grounds that presence in the United Kingdom is not conducive to the public good under section 3(5) of the same Act.
A deportation order remains in force until revoked and a deportee may not return to the United Kingdom during that time.
Mr. Khabra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers whose claims had been initially unsuccessful and who had exhausted their appeal rights have lodged new asylum applications since January 2004, broken down by (a) nationality and (b) sex. [112931]
Mr. Byrne: A breakdown of new applications from asylum seekers whose claims were initially unsuccessful and who had exhausted their appeal rights, in the period 1 January 2004 to 19 December 2006 is included in the following table. This information is not part of published statistics. It is based on internal management information and is therefore subject to change.
| Gender | |||
| Country of origin | Female | Male | Total |
| Note: Figures are provisional and rounded to the nearest five. | |||
Mr. Khabra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what targets are set by his Department for reaching decisions on new applications for people whose claims had been initially unsuccessful and who had exhausted their appeal rights. [112932]
Mr. Byrne: When a failed asylum seeker who has exhausted his appeal rights submits further representations, it is the task of the caseworker to decide whether those representations amount to a fresh claim.
We do not set specific targets for reaching decisions on these claims as they represent a very small number of cases. It is the aim of IND to consider and make decisions on applications within a reasonable time scale.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what investigations his Department is carrying out in relation to the conduct of the examination of asylum applications from Uganda. [113941]
Mr. Byrne: Asylum applications by nationals of Uganda are individually and impartially determined on their merits in accordance with our obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention. Each application is carefully considered in the light of the country information available in the published Home Office Country Report and related sources of information.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when investigations of a senior caseworker’s conduct of asylum applications from Uganda will be completed. [113943]
Mr. Byrne: Investigations of the allegations are continuing and will be completed as soon as we can be satisfied that all the issues raised have been appropriately considered.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what procedures are in place through which asylum applicants can submit complaints about officials. [113944]
Mr. Byrne: Asylum applicants should make complaints, giving full details in writing (in English), by post, e-mail or fax to:
IND Complaints Unit
PO Box 1384
Croydon
Surrey
CR9 3YJ
Email: ind.cu@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Fax: 020 8760 4310
Full details on how to complain are given on IND’s website at:
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/contactus/complaints
All complaints about the behaviour of IND staff are thoroughly investigated and we aim to provide a response within eight weeks.
Mr. Pelling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made on the New Asylum Model target on the recruitment and training of new staff. [114021]
Mr. Byrne: The establishment of 25 non-detained regional asylum teams under the New Asylum Model (NAM), to work alongside the Detained Fast Track teams, was achieved by the target of December 2006. All NAM case owners will have completed the 55 day Foundation Training Programme by March 2007. We have also provided tailored management development programmes for team leaders, senior caseworkers and workflow managers. We are on target for all new asylum applications to be dealt with by NAM teams from April 2007.
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department further to the replies of 19 December 2006, Official Report, column 1944W, on asylum seekers, what factors led to the modification of the family indefinite leave to remain exercise by the replacement note of 12 June 2006; what steps were taken to publicise this change; and if he will make a statement. [114532]
Mr. Byrne: We modified the terms of the family indefinite leave to remain exercise because as originally drafted the policy excluded families for non-recordable criminal offences, and did not make it explicit that compassionate factors could be taken into account.
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