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27 Mar 2007 : Column 1440W—continued
Military Decorations
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many medals for gallantry have been (a) awarded and (b) awarded posthumously since 2003. [129725]
Derek Twigg: Awards for gallantry and meritorious service on operations are published routinely in the Defence Supplement of the London Gazette, copies of which are available in the Library of the House. The relevant references from 2003 to date are as follows:
| Date | Issue |
Awards made posthumously are included in the main lists with the suffix ‘killed in action’ following an individual’s name.
Home Department
Asylum: Families
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the process for removing failed asylum seeker families. [127906]
Mr. Byrne: The process for removing failed asylum seeker families is set out in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) Family Removals Policy notice (EPU 2/06), and the Operational Enforcement Manual chapter 58—Family Detention Visits, both of which are publicly available on the IND website.
Departments: Diaries
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who has been allowed access to diaries of Ministers and officials in his Department in the last three months. [129817]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Home Office employs approximately 78,000 officials. Identifying who would have access to each official's diary would be a disproportionate cost. Access to ministerial diaries is limited to those persons who support Ministers in performing their ministerial duties.
Departments: Ministers
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether Ministers in his Department have had meetings with former Ministers of the Department in the last three months. [129824]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 26 March 2007]: Home Office Ministers meet regularly with ministerial colleagues and former ministerial colleagues in the course of performing their ministerial duties. In so doing, each acts in accordance with the ministerial code.
Departments: Paper
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms are in place to ensure his Department's economical use of paper. [128013]
Mr. Byrne: The Home Office is committed to meeting all the targets for Sustainable Operations on the Government estate, which include targets to reduce waste and increase recycling. Actions that have been taken specifically on paper include the purchase of recycled paper as standard for internal printing and photocopying, and the setting of many printers to automatically print double-sided. We have also run articles on the Home Office intranet advising staff about reducing paper wastage by, for example, not printing off e-mails. Staff are also encouraged to re-use paper as scrap, where possible, before putting it in the recycling facilities.
Departments: Public Expenditure
Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the expenditure threshold is above which spending decisions by his Department require Treasury approval. [125760]
Mr. Byrne: The Home Office requires specific Treasury approval to commit resources and/or incur expenditure above the following thresholds:
Capital projects—information technology, lands and buildings, on a private finance initiative basis or otherwise—£100,000,000;
Disposal of fixed assets—£5,000,000;
Write-offs—£25,000,000
Bad debts—£10,000,000
Impairments—£10,000,000
Fraud/theft—£5,000,000
Provisions—£5,000,000
Abandoned/waived claims—£50,000
Gifts (cash or assets)—£100,000
Indemnities—£50,000
Compensation payments—£20,000
Deportation: Democratic Republic of Congo
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made of the security situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo before deporting foreign nationals to that country; and if he will make a statement. [127864]
Mr. Byrne: Every 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 claimant. Information about the conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo, including the security situation, is obtained from a wide range of governmental and non-governmental sources, human rights organisations and the media. This information is published in regularly updated Home Office Country of Origin Information Reports. The latest Country of Origin Information Report on the Democratic Republic of Congo was published on 14 February 2007, and can be accessed on the Home Office website at:
It is important for the integrity of our asylum system and to prevent unfounded applications that we are able to enforce the return of those who have no right to remain in the UK. The asylum decision making and independent appeals system exist to consider in each case whether the individual claimant would be at risk in their country of origin and we will only seek to return those who have been found not to need our protection.
Deportation: Terrorism
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been deported from the UK since 24 August 2005 on the ground that their presence is not conducive to the public good due to their involvement in fomenting or provoking others to commit acts of terrorism. [127003]
Mr. Byrne: Since 24 August 2005 no individuals have been deported from the UK specifically on the ground of involvement in fomenting or provoking others to commit acts of terrorism. However, such acts come within the scope of the power to deport a person because their presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good and are listed under the “unacceptable behaviour” (UB) provisions announced on 24 August 2005. To date there has been one deportation on UB grounds.
Entry Clearances: Fees and Charges
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consultations his Department held with community representatives before he announced the proposed new levels of fees for visas and in-country fee levels. [127401]
Mr. Byrne: A public consultation was conducted for an eight week period between 30 October and 22 December. The consultation document was available on the Home Office website and over 3,000 copies were sent to individuals and organisations. Almost 300 documents were sent to community representatives and another 180 were sent to foreign embassies and missions.
340 responses to the consultation document were received in total, of which 10 were from community representative groups and six from foreign embassies.
In addition, we ran 13 sector based stakeholder events with over 400 participants. These included key stakeholders in the heath and social care, education and business sectors, as well as diplomats and representatives of the travel and tourism sector.
A full copy of the publication ‘A Response to the Consultation on a New Charging Regime for Immigration and Nationality Fees’ can be found on the Home Office website at:
Golden Arrow Communications
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have had with Golden Arrow Communications. [129823]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 26 March 2007]: A review of ministerial diaries has indicated that no current Home Office Minister has met with representatives of Golden Arrow Communications in their official capacity. The Home Office employs approximately 78,000 officials. Identifying which of these officials have held meetings with representatives from Golden Arrow Communications could be done only at disproportionate cost.
Immigration Controls: Northern Ireland
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many immigration control staff are deployed in each Northern Ireland airport; where those staff are based; and what arrangements are in place for transporting such staff to their places of work. [128026]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 19 March 2007]: There are 14 immigration officers and two chief immigration officers who are all based at Belfast International airport.
These staff are also deployed to Belfast City and Derry airports when required.
All staff are responsible for their own travel arrangements to their places of work.
Immigration: Appeals
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received on the treatment of rape victims in immigration appeal hearings; what guidelines are in place for immigration judges in considering such claims; if he will commission research into this matter; and if he will make a statement. [129573]
Bridget Prentice: I have been asked to reply.
The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) has considered the recent report ‘Misjudging Rape: Breaching Gender Guidelines and International Law in Asylum Appeals’ published by the Black Women's Rape Action Project (BWRAP) and Women Against Rape. Additionally, it has recently received representations on similar issues from stakeholders groups such as Asylum Aid and the Medical Foundation for the Victims of Torture.
The BWRAP report recommended that the Asylum Gender Guidelines (2000) be applied by immigration judges in all asylum appeals where rape is cited in the grounds of appeal. The guidelines never had binding authority on the tribunal and are out of date in respect of current law. The guidelines are framed very much as a statement of what the law is on particular aspects of a refugee claim. It is not the role of the tribunal to make statements on the law, save through its jurisprudence.
Immigration judges are independent members of the judiciary who determine cases on the evidence that is placed before them. Judicial training is facilitated by senior and experienced members of the judiciary. All immigration judges receive training in diversity and refugee law and are encouraged to keep up to date with legal developments both in the UK and nationally. All judiciary have access to the Judicial Studies Board (JSB) Equal Treatment Benchbook as well as country guidance determinations, Home Office country reports and wider information, and case law of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal and higher courts.
There are currently no plans for the DCA to commission research into this area. It is not for the AIT, as an independent tribunal, to commission objective research into such issues.
National Crime Squad
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) arrests were made and (b) convictions were secured by the National Crime Squad in each year since 1998, broken down by offence. [128785]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 22 March 2007]: The data available are for the four NCS threat areas, as shown in the following table. The data between 1998-89 and 2001-02 are not complete.
| National crime squad—performance data | ||||||||
| 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | |
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