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13 Mar 2007 : Column 292W—continued
Elderly: Abuse
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what steps the Government is taking to reduce the number of cases of abuse or mistreatment of elderly people; [123690]
(2) what steps the Government is taking to ensure that older people are aware of their rights in cases of abuse and mistreatment. [123691]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: I have been asked to reply.
The Government deplore abuse of all older people. We have set out standards of care and treatment for older people in the national service framework and in national minimum standards for care homes and domiciliary care agencies. We have also created independent regulators and given them the powers they need to take action against poorly providing performers. Staff who provide personal care to older people in their own homes or in care homes are subject to statutory checks, including checks of their criminal record and the protection of vulnerable adults scheme.
The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 introduces a new vetting and barring scheme which will be passed in from autumn 2008. The new scheme will be proactive, with vetting taking place on an individual's first application to work with children or vulnerable adults. This will make it far more difficult for abusers to gain access to the most vulnerable groups in our society.
Statutory guidance has been issued to local authorities on putting in place multi-agency policies and procedures to protect vulnerable people from abuse. “No Secrets” makes it clear that local strategies for the prevention of abuse of vulnerable adults should include plans to disseminate information to users, carers, relevant staff groups and agencies to ensure they are aware of local arrangements including how to report abuse.
The Department has commissioned research, jointly with Comic Relief, on the prevalence and nature of abuse of older people who live in their own homes. It will be published later this year.
Entry Clearances: Marriage
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many marriage visas were granted in each year since 1985. [126044]
Dr. Howells: I have been asked to reply.
I refer the hon. Member to the following table. Please note that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office electronic resources only go as far back as 1998 for marriage/fiancé(e) visas.
| Applications for UK marriage/fiancé (e) visas issued from 1998 to 2006 | |
| Number | |
| Note: UKvisas makes every effort to ensure that statistics produced from our ‘Central Reference System’ are accurate. However, the complexity of our global business, including technical failures or occasional inconsistencies in data entry across any of over 150 offices, means we cannot 100 per cent. guarantee accuracy. Sources: 1998-2003: Central Reference System (CRS) 7 March 2007 2004-2006: Statistics Search Screen on CRS 7 March 2007 | |
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people received marriage visas in (a) 2005, (b) 2000, (c) 1995, (d) 1990 and (e) 1985, broken down by nationality. [126046]
Dr. Howells: I have been asked to reply.
I refer the hon. Member to the following table. Please note that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office electronic resources go as far back as 1998 only for marriage/fiancé(e) visas. These statistics therefore cover the years 2005 and 2000 only.
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