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1 Mar 2007 : Column 1492W—continued
Departments: Furniture
Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many items of furniture were (a) lost and (b) stolen from his Department in each year since 1997; and what the value was of those items in each year. [120701]
Mr. Byrne: This information is not held centrally and could be collated only at disproportionate cost.
Departments: Surveys
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether staff satisfaction surveys are carried out at the (a) core Home Office, (b) Immigration and Nationality Directorate and (c) National Offender Management Service. [122026]
John Reid: Staff in the core Home Office, the Immigration and Nationality Directorate and National Offender Management Service participate in the Home Office staff survey. In January 2007 we began a short monthly survey, sent to a random sample of staff in the core Home Office and IND.
Deportation: Administrative Delays
Stephen Pound: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) target and (b) average time taken was in the past 12 months for consideration of an application for revocation of a Deportation Order under Immigration and Nationality Directorate Rule 390. [121870]
Mr. Byrne: There have not been any specific targets set for dealing with the relatively small number of considerations for revocations of deportation orders actioned by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND). Revocation of an order does not mean the subject may re-enter the UK. It only makes them eligible to apply for entry under the Immigration Rules. Consideration of these applications is not measured using average times but rather is included in the total for all non-asylum, non-charged postal applications. These are measured against the published service standards set for IND’s Managed Migration which are that 25 per cent. of all applications should be completed within 20 working days, and 30 per cent. completed within 70 working days. As of 31 January 2007, 43 per cent. of these applications are completed within 20 working days and 87 per cent. are completed within 70 working days. The above data are not provided under the National Statistics protocols. They have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.
Deportation: Democratic Republic of Congo
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the evidential basis is for the assessment of the Immigration Service that asylum seekers returned to Kinshasa will not be at risk of mistreatment; and if he will make a statement. [123525]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 26 February 2007]: Each asylum and human rights claim is considered on its individual merits in accordance with our international obligations and taking full account of conditions in the country concerned as they impact on the individual. Information obtained from a wide range of governmental and non-governmental and human rights organisation sources is provided to asylum claim decision makers in country information reports which are published on a regular basis. The most recent Home Office country information report on DRC was published on 14 February 2007, and can be accessed on the Home Office website at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/country_reports.html.
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department has chartered a flight to return a group of asylum seekers to Kinshasa on 26 February 2007. [123526]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 26 February 2007]: I can confirm that a charter flight to Kinshasa for nationals of the Democratic Republic of Congo who had no legal basis to remain in the UK was arranged for Monday 26 February 2007.
Deportation: Somalia
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance his Department has issued in the last five years relating to the deportation to Somalia of Somali nationals convicted of a crime in the UK. [122898]
Mr. Byrne: The Country of Origin Information Service provides the most accurate and up-to-date information on Somalia for use by IND officials involved in considering foreign national prisoners for deportation. This can be accessed at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/somalia-140207.doc
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Somali nationals convicted of a crime in the UK were deported to Somalia in (a) the last three months, (b) the last six months and (c) the last 12 months. [122899]
Mr. Byrne: The Department publishes statistics on the number of Somali nationals removed from the UK. Information relating to the third quarter of 2006 has been published on the Home Office’s Research Development and Statistics website at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/asylumq306.pdf
The document is too large to attach so I have arranged for a copy to be placed in the Library.
Domestic Violence
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of incidents of domestic violence reported to the police involved (a) male, (b) female and (c) child victims in the last year for which figures are available. [121748]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Home Office does not routinely collect this information, although a gender breakdown of victims of domestic violence incidents reported to the police would be available at police force area level. Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) guidance states that officers should identify and record whether a child was present when the incident occurred, or if children are resident at the house in question.
National prevalence data on domestic violence by gender is collected through the British Crime Survey’s Inter-Personal Violence (IPV) module. The 2004-05 IPV suggests that about one in four women and one in six men had been a victim of domestic violence (current/ex-partner) since the age of 16, and about 6 per cent. of women and 4 per cent. of men had experienced domestic violence (current/ex-partner) in the last year (although women were more likely than men to suffer greater injury and be classed as chronic victims).
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many domestic violence co-ordinators there were in each (a) local authority area and (b) police authority area in each of the last five years. [121749]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 21 February 2007]: In response to the hon. Member’s request for the number of domestic violence co-ordinators there were in each local authority area in each of the last five years, the Home Office has provided the number of local authority areas that currently employ domestic violence co-ordinators in response to the hon. Member's previous question [112100]. The Home Department does not have access to this information over the preceding years.
In relation to the hon. Member’s latter question concerning the number of domestic violence co-ordinators in each police authority area, we can confirm that every police force in England and Wales has a domestic violence champion.
Entry Clearances
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals who had their initial application for asylum refused were subsequently granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement. [123360]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 27 February 2007]: The requested information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost by examination of individual case records.
Information on asylum 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.
Harmondsworth Centre
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the private contractor running Harmondsworth Immigration Detention Centre will reimburse his Department for the costs of handling press inquiries in relation to the disturbances on 29 November. [109677]
John Reid: Harmondsworth Detention Services Ltd. (HDSL) that operates Harmondsworth IRC is not liable to reimburse the Secretary of State’s departmental costs for the handling of press inquiries relating to the disturbances of 29 November.
Identity and Passport Service: Consultants
Mr. Clegg:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of (a) contracts entered into with consultants and (b) fees paid to
consultants by the Identity and Passport Service in the last two years were on the basis of (i) fixed fee, (ii) fixed fee plus bonus and (iii) daily rates. [122013]
John Reid: The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) is unable to answer this question as its system for recording consultancy contracts does not provide the level of detail requested. The information could be obtained from other records only at disproportionate cost.
Immigration and Nationality Directorate
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of human trafficking were notified to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in each of the last five years; and in how many cases action was taken. [116706]
Mr. Byrne: The United Kingdom Human Trafficking Centre, established in October 2006 is creating a United Kingdom wide database of all potential human trafficking cases encountered by law enforcement agencies. All cases notified to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate are investigated and where appropriate referred to the police and the Crown Prosecution Service.
The Immigration and Nationality Directorate Intelligence Service (INDIS) dealt with 13 major investigations into organised human trafficking since April 2002. These resulted in 17 arrests and the convictions, so far, of seven individuals. Other sections of the Home Office have also been involved in the investigation of trafficking.
Immigration and Nationality Directorate: Correspondence
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library copies of all internal memoranda he sent to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate between 15 January 2007 and 26 January 2007. [120395]
Mr. Byrne: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Immigration Controls: Biometrics
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department at what locations foreign nationals will be entitled to register their biometric information for a biometric immigration document. [117841]
John Reid: For foreign nationals required to apply for a biometric immigration document, their biometric information will be verified and recorded through existing immigration processes and at public caller facilities, enhanced as necessary.
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what biometric information he will require from foreign nationals registering for a biometric immigration document. [117843]
John Reid: Subject to the successful progress of any necessary legislation we plan to record 11 biometrics: 10 fingerprints and the face for those registering for a biometric immigration document.
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what fee he plans to charge for foreign nationals to register for a biometric immigration document; and whether fees will recover the full administration costs of the system. [117844]
John Reid: Subject to the successful progress of any necessary legislation we will announce the fee payable by foreign nationals for a biometric immigration document to Parliament in the usual way when we have determined the full costs of the system. The fees and charges guidance issued by HM Treasury makes clear that we would normally expect to recover the full administrative costs of the system.
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the cost of registering foreign nationals already resident in the UK for a biometric immigration document. [117845]
John Reid: In line with my commitment to Parliament we have undertaken to give the estimated costs and cost-benefit analysis in our next six-monthly ID card cost report.
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what deadline he plans to set for the registering of foreign nationals for a biometric immigration document. [117846]
John Reid: Subject to the successful progress of any necessary legislation from 2008, we will roll out biometric immigration documents progressively to qualifying foreign nationals from outside the EEA who are already in the UK and reapply to stay here.
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether information held for the purposes of a biometric immigration document will be destroyed if the individual (a) leaves the UK and (b) is granted British citizenship. [122058]
John Reid: Regulations under the UK Borders Bill will be made so that some immigration information about an individual may be retained if they leave the country, so that we will be able to identify them upon their return. Other information that is no longer required will be destroyed.
When an individual is granted British citizenship, information we have obtained when they applied for a biometric immigration document may be retained if it is required for another enactment, such as under the Identity Card Act 2006 for the national identity register. The normal requirements for the destruction
of the information will not apply in such circumstances. Information that is no longer required will be destroyed.
Immigration: Custodial Treatment
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people held in the UK on immigration warrants are resident at (a) detention centres and (b) prisons. [122572]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 22 February 2007]: The Director General of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, Lin Homer, wrote to the Home Affairs Committee on 19 February 2007 to provide an update on progress in the deportation of foreign national prisoners. A copy of this letter is available from the Library of the House.
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people subject to immigration control died in custody in each of the last 10 years. [122056]
John Reid: The available information, detailed in the following table, is in respect of immigration detainees in Immigration Removal Centres.
| Deaths (including apparently self-inflicted deaths) in Immigration Removal Centres | |
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