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24 Jan 2007 : Column 1826W—continued
Police officers act at the request of IND with whom operational tasking generally rests. The police role is to enter, secure, search premises, detain suspects and maintain a safe environment.
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether officials able to use the language of the asylum seekers concerned are required to be present when dawn raids on failed asylum seekers are undertaken; [115608]
(2) whether officials qualified in child care are required to be present when dawn raids are undertaken on asylum seekers where children are likely to be present; [115609]
(3) whether dawn raids to detain failed asylum seekers are authorised at ministerial level; [115610]
(4) whether neighbours of asylum seekers detained in dawn raids are offered any explanation of the action being taken; and whether they are given an opportunity to express their views on such raids; [115611]
(5) what opportunities asylum seekers detained during dawn raids are offered to consult (a) their legal advisers and (b) their Member of Parliament (i) at the point of detention, (ii) in transit and (iii) at a detention centre. [115612]
Mr. Byrne: The immigration and nationality directorate (IND) does not conduct ‘raids’ against asylum seekers. Officers undertake operational visits to detain and remove persons who no longer have the right to remain in the UK and do so in line with operational policy and guidance.
Immigration officers are instructed, in chapter 58 of the Operational Enforcement Manual (OEM), available on the IND website, to book an interpreter if required when planning a family detention visit.
The IND Family Removals Policy notice (EPU 2/06), available on the IND website, requires that there must be a minimum of one officer trained in emergency life saving when it is expected that children will be present during any operation to detain a family. IND’s policy and practice is to deploy immigration officers who have been trained in working with families and children. Such officers are based in every office which plans and carries out family detention visits. To strengthen these arrangements, IND has been conducting a review of family removal procedures, the report of which is to be published shortly. One of the aims of that review has been to identify how the welfare of the children can be properly taken into account.
Chapter 46 of the OEM sets out the levels of authority of enforcement visits.
If neighbours have any questions or concerns about an enforcement visit at the time it is taking place, this will be dealt with by the officer in charge (OIC) so long as it is safe to do so and does not unduly delay proceedings.
In chapter 58 of the OEM, immigration officers are instructed to inform families that they can contact a legal representative once they are at the detention centre. As set out in the Removal Centre Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), detainees are able to make a phone call immediately on arrival at the removal centre free of charge. Thereafter they must have access to phones for at least 14 hours a day,
including during normal active periods. It is a matter for detainees as to whether they wish to consult a legal adviser or their Member of Parliament. Detainees must be advised of their right to legal representation, and how they can obtain such representation, within 24 hours of their arrival at the centre.
Bokhari Family Raid
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many (a) police officers and (b) immigration officers were used in the raid on the Bokhari family in Grimsby on 9 January 2007; when the relevant detention order was issued; how many people were detained following the raid, broken down by age; what factors were taken into account when deciding to carry out the raid at 6 am on 9 January; and what the cost was of the raid; [115808]
(2) whether the officers who carried out the dawn raid on the Bokhari family in Grimsby on 9 January were informed of Mr. Bokhari’s medical condition. [115810]
Mr. Byrne: I wrote to my hon. Friend on 22 January with the information requested.
British Citizenship
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions (a) he and (b) his predecessors have used the power to revoke British citizenship in each of the last 10 years. [116313]
Mr. Byrne: My right hon. Friend has used the power once, in July 2006. That decision is now subject to appeal. One of his predecessors gave a person notice in February 2003 that he intended to use the power against him. That intention is also the subject of an appeal which has been delayed by the intervention of criminal proceedings.
Citizenship Applications: Armed Services
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for UK citizenship are expected from members of Commonwealth countries serving in the UK armed forces in the next three years. [115287]
Mr. Byrne: Following the change of policy that I announced on 22 November 2006, Official Report, column 68WS, and based on current service records held by the Ministry of Defence, we estimate that approximately 1,500 members of the UK armed forces are currently eligible to apply for naturalisation and that between 700 and 1,900 may be expected to be eligible in each successive year. There is, however, no requirement on them to apply for British citizenship.
Correspondence
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Minister for Policing, Security and Community Society Security received the letter from the hon. Member for St. Albans, ref. SA3180, dated 16 May 2006, referred to in the answer of 8 November 2006, Official Report, column 1658W, on correspondence. [109896]
Mr. Byrne: I wrote to the hon. Member on 14 November 2006.
Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate of 10 October 2006 from the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood on behalf of Wenceslas Mwanda Baka Nzita (Home Office reference M729250). [116224]
Mr. Byrne: The Immigration and Nationality Directorate wrote to my right hon. Friend on 19 January.
Criminal Justice
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many defendants in courts in England and Wales have been sentenced to (a) a disposal under Section 190 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (b) a disposal under Section 190 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 together with a suspended sentence of imprisonment and (c) a stand alone suspended sentence of imprisonment under Section 190 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 since the implementation of the Criminal Justice Act 2003; and if he will make a statement. [116632]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 18 January 2007]: Between April 2005 and July 2006, 22,500 Suspended Sentence Orders were made which commenced under probation service supervision. Section 190 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 allows the courts to impose requirements under a Suspended Sentence Order. Suspended Sentence Orders cannot be made in isolation, without requirements being added to them.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system, and the totals have been rounded.
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the provisions in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 relating to the abolition of committal for trial and the extension of Section 51 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 are planned to come into effect. [116633]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 18 January 2007]: These procedural reforms in Schedule 3 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003 are connected with another provision in that Act that would increase magistrates sentencing powers, and it was announced last year that the implementation of these provisions would be reviewed together. The Government are committed to ensuring that cases are dealt with as efficiently as possible in the appropriate court. Discussions are continuing about how best to achieve this, and an announcement about the way forward will be made in due course.
Development Plus Programme
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) cost and (b) performance of the Development Plus Programme was in 2005-06. [115671]
Mr. Byrne: Between 2005-06 the cost of the Home Office Development Plus Programme was £260,310. Feedback from the programme indicates that most G6/7 participants reported becoming more self aware, had set and achieved goals, identified strengths, built confidence and benchmarked skills as a result of the programme. Most AA—SEO participants reported that the course had a significant impact on their work as well as their ability to set or address job-based/professional goals.
Driving Without Insurance
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has considered the merits of the use of windscreen insurance discs to combat uninsured driving; and if he will make a statement. [117065]
Mr. Coaker: We consider there are significant drawbacks to this approach. It is not vehicles that have to be insured, but a particular driver’s use of a particular vehicle. The presence of a disc on a vehicle’s windscreen would not prove that the person driving it at any particular time was properly insured to do so. Improved use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology linked to the Motor Insurance Database, the power to seize a vehicle being driven by someone without insurance and the introduction under the Road Safety Act 2006 of continuous enforcement from the record are likely to be more effective in dealing with uninsured driving.
Drug Importations
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many drug importation detections by HM Revenue and Customs were referred to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) for further investigation in the last two years; and how many of those were acted upon by SOCA; [117037]
(2) how many detections by HM Revenue and Customs of substantial quantities of class A drugs were referred to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) in the last two years; how many of these cases SOCA decided not to investigate; and what the reasons for decision were in each case. [117038]
Mr. Coaker: Since the establishment of the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) on 1 April 2006, it has worked closely with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. SOCA does not comment on operational matters but will publish an annual report following the end of the financial year on the exercise of its functions during the year.
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many referrals of drug importation detections by HM Revenue and Customs were passed by the Serious Organised Crime Agency to police drug teams in the last two years; and how many of these have been acted upon. [117039]
Mr. Coaker:
Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) does not refer drug importation cases notified to it by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
to police forces. HMRC drug detections notified to SOCA by HMRC that are not adopted by SOCA are for HMRC to action as they consider appropriate.
Drug Liaison Officers
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drug liaison officers transferred from HM Revenue and Customs to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) on 2 April 2006; how many of these are in post; and how many drug liaison officer posts have been converted into general crime posts at SOCA. [117040]
Mr. Coaker: On 1 April 2006, 59 HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) overseas officers with functions including those of a drugs liaison officer transferred to Serious Organises Crime Agency (SOCA). Of those, 50 remain in post to-day.
In line with the statutory responsibilities of SOCA to reduce harm from all forms of organised crime, not just from the threat of drugs trafficking, all of these posts have been converted to SOCA liaison officer posts which are general crime posts.
EU Accession State Workers
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the average earnings of workers in the UK from the 2004 EU accession states. [117264]
Mr. Byrne: The Department has not commissioned research into the average earnings of workers from the 2004 EU accession states. However, the Government does publish data from the Worker Registration scheme (WRS) which regulates access to the labour market of the A8 EU accession states on a quarterly basis. The latest quarterly statistics for the period 1 May 2004-30 September 2006 were published on 21 November 2006. This report includes information on the number of hours worked by A8 workers and their hourly wages.
A copy of the report is available on the IND website:
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind/en/home/0/reports/accession_monitoring.html
Flu Jabs
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many members of staff under the age of 65 received an influenza vaccination as part of the Department’s 2005-06 influenza campaign. [115673]
Mr. Byrne: 2,869 non Agency Home Office staff under the age of 65 received an influenza vaccination as part of the Department’s 2005-06 voluntary influenza vaccination programme. The Identity and Passport Service, formerly the UK Passport Agency, similarly vaccinated 589 staff. The Prison Service does not run a centrally organised vaccination programme and there is no centrally held data for individual establishments on this matter.
Immigration and Nationality Directorate
Mr. Pelling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what projections he has made of the number of staff to be employed at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in Croydon in each year to 2010. [117315]
Mr. Byrne: The Secretary of State is unable to give projected numbers of staff employed at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in Croydon that will be employed each year to 2010, as the resource budget for 2007-08 and following years for the Immigration and Nationality Directorate has not yet been decided. Final decisions on 2007-08 budgets will be taken shortly.
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to improve the red rating given by the independent Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) Complaints Audit Committee to IND complaints handling performance. [117498]
Mr. Byrne: The red rating was given to the IND complaints procedures by the Home Office Audit and Assurance Unit (HOAAU). The Complaints Audit Committee (CAC) mentioned the red rating in its latest report, published on 14 December 2006.
IND published a detailed formal response to the CAC report on the same date, explaining what action it intends to take on each of the CAC's recommendations.
A complaints handling programme has been established to overhaul IND's complaints processes in line with Cabinet Office guidance and the CAC's recommendations. It will also take account of recommendations made by the HOAAU. The necessary changes will happen over the next 12 to 15 months.
Full details and timescales can be found in IND’s formal response, available in the House Library. It can also be found at:
www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/aboutus/reports/cac
Motoring Offences
Sir Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) why the drivers of vehicles with overseas registration plates cannot be traced to enforce penalties and prosecutions after they are caught on cameras committing speeding and red light offences; [117309]
(2) how many vehicles with overseas registration plates were caught on camera committing (a) speeding and (b) red light offences in England in (i) 2004, (ii) 2005 and (iii) 2006; and how many drivers of these vehicles had (A) penalties imposed on and (B) prosecutions brought against them; [117310]
(3) what proportion of (a) speeding and (b) red light offences caught on camera were committed in vehicles with overseas registration plates in 2006; [117311]
(4) how many (a) penalties were imposed and (b) prosecutions were brought against foreign nationals for (i) speeding and (ii) red light offences in England in 2006. [117312]
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