House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 06 Jun 2007 (pt 0027)

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Togo

Tunisia

Uganda

Zaire

Zimbabwe

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Illegal Immigrants: Crime

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of people convicted of a crime in Lancashire in each of the last five years were illegal immigrants. [127100]

Mr. Byrne: Information on the immigration status of offenders is not held centrally on the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform; therefore data on the number of illegal immigrants convicted of an offence are not available.

Immigrants

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to determine the application of Mrs. Zainabu Reed (ref M1037442) for leave to remain in the UK. [135139]

Mr. Byrne: I wrote to the hon. Member on 23 May 2007.

Mr. Ian Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the new Border and Security Agency to clear outstanding (a) exceptional leave to remain and (b) 14-year rule applications. [135335]

Mr. Byrne: Following the IND Review there is an ongoing programme to identify and clear arrears of casework across the whole of the Border and Immigration Agency, including exceptional leave to remain and 14-year rule applications. Resources have been diverted to some areas where backlogs exist in order to improve performance. This work is continuing. Clearance timescales are not yet resolved.

Immigration: Skilled Workers

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) which categories of individual are awarded fast track status through UK immigration and customs procedures; [132013]

(2) what the application process is for the award of fast track status through UK immigration and customs procedures at UK airports. [132014]

Mr. Byrne: No individual is given privileged entry treatment by the Border and Immigration Agency when entering the United Kingdom.

The airport operator at Heathrow funds the staffing of Fast Track Immigration Controls. Fast Track offers travellers selected by participating airlines a discrete channel to the Immigration Control. The decision about who receives a fast track ‘ticket’ for this service is not an immigration one. At the Immigration Control, all persons seeking leave to enter the United Kingdom must satisfy the Immigration Officer that they qualify for entry in accordance with the Immigration Rules and will comply with any conditions attached to their leave.

IRIS (Iris Recognition Immigration System) is delivering a biometrically controlled automated border entry system for pre-registered travellers at selected ports in the United Kingdom. This initiative is part of
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the eBorders programme. All passengers enrolling are subject to rigorous checks to confirm nationality, identity and eligibility to enter the UK. This mirrors those checks conducted on arrival. Further information on IRIS is available from:

http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/applying/iris/

There is no Fast Track procedure for HM Revenue and Customs.

Members: Correspondence

Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Warley of 9 March regarding Mr. Randhawn of Oldburg. [138738]

Mr. Byrne: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 24 May 2007.

Migrant Workers: Agriculture

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many farmers receiving single farm payments in the UK applied for work permits for overseas workers in (a) 2006 and (b) 2007. [138829]

Mr. Byrne: The information requested is not available. Border and Immigration Agency databases do not hold information that identifies employers/farmers who receive ‘single farm payments’.

Police: Databases

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his response to the answer of 26 February 2007, Official Report, column 1076W, on the police national computer, if he will place in the Library a copy of (a) the audits conducted in August 2002 and (b) the Home Office report to Lord Falconer. [126004]

Mr. McNulty: I have arranged for a copy of the two audit reports referred to and summarised in the answer to the hon. Gentleman to be placed in the Library. Further to my previous reply the audits were two research exercises undertaken by the Home Office in 2001 and 2002 to assess the accuracy of conviction information recorded on the Police National Computer partly in preparation for the establishment of the Criminal Records Bureau. The reports and a supplementary report were released in 2006 in response to a Freedom of Information request. The report to Lord Falconer was in the form of advice to Ministers and as is the convention, such advice is not published.

Police: Retirement

Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department at what age (a) male and (b) female police officers are able to retire on a full pension. [140885]

Mr. McNulty: I refer my right hon. Friend to the reply I gave on 27 November 2006, Official Report, column 399W to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws). There is no difference between the pension ages of male and female officers.

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Police: Road Traffic Control

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many dedicated traffic police officers there were in England and Wales in each year since 1997. [139559]

Mr. Coaker: The numbers of dedicated traffic police officers are not collected centrally. The available data are the number of full time equivalent police officers primarily employed in the function “traffic”.

The available data are given in the table.

Police officers (FTE)^{( 1)} whose main function is traffic^{( 2)} (1996-97 to 2005-06)
	England and Wales
1996-97⁽³⁾	—
1997-98⁽³⁾	—
1998-99	7,525
1999-2000	7,238
2000-01	7,005
2002-03	6,902
2003-04	6,706
2004-05	7,104
2005-06	6,511
⁽¹⁾ This and other tables contain full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. ⁽²⁾ Staff with multiple responsibilities (or designations) are recorded under their primary role or function. The traffic function includes staff who are predominantly employed on motorcycles or in patrol vehicles for the policing of traffic and motorway related duties. This does not include officers employed in accident investigation, vehicle examination and radar duties. ⁽³⁾ Data are not available for 1996-97 and 1997-98.

Police: Technology

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to use technology to modernise the operations of police forces. [140452]

Mr. McNulty: The Home Office is fully committed to driving continuous improvement across policing as a whole in order to deliver better services to the public. Where necessary and operationally practical, this will include the promotion of technological innovations that aid the prevention and detection of crime and antisocial behaviour.

Security Measures

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made on each of the 12 points outlined by the Prime Minister as security measures on 5 August 2005; and if he will make a statement. [134312]

Mr. McNulty: The progress that has been made on each of the 12 points is set out as follows.

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Progress on Prime Minister’s 12 point plan
Measure	Progress
1. Introduce new grounds for deportation and exclusion.	Since the introduction of the new grounds of Unacceptable Behaviour for deportation and exclusion, 52 individuals have been excluded from the UK and 1 deported. A further 62 exclusion and 5 deportation cases are under consideration.
2. To create an offence of condoning or glorifying terrorism.	The Terrorism Act 2006 includes the new offence of encouraging terrorism, including glorifying terrorism, which is now in force.
3. To refuse asylum in this country automatically to anyone who has participated in terrorism.	Section 54 in the IAN Act allows us to deny asylum to terrorists while respecting our obligations under the Refugee Treaty. Section 55 in the Act allows the Secretary of State to certify that an appellant is not entitled to the protection of the Refugee Convention.
4. To consult on extending the powers to strip citizenship, applying them to British citizens engaged in extremism and making the procedures more effective.	A provision included in the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 lowers the bar for removal of citizenship by replacing one of the existing criteria with a new power to deprive where such action is held by the Home Secretary to be “conducive to the public good”. The power came into force on16 June 2006. One person has been deprived under this new power. Several other cases are being actively pursued having been identified as priority cases by Security Service and the Special Cases Oversight Board.
5. To consult on setting a maximum time limit for all future extradition cases involving terrorism.	Rashid Ramda extradited. A working group chaired by the Home Office with membership from CPS, HMCS, SOCA and other stakeholders is meeting bi-monthly to monitor developments in cases and remove obstacles to progress.
6. To examine a new court procedure to allow a pre-trial process.	We are currently examining ways of allowing more sensitive material in court. The maximum period of pre-charge detention has been extended to 28 days in the Terrorism Act 2006
7. To extend the use of control orders for those who are British nationals and cannot be deported.	There are 17 orders currently in force, 8 of which are in respect of British citizens. Control orders continue to be an essential tool to address the threat posed by suspected terrorists who cannot currently be prosecuted or, in respect of foreign nationals, who cannot be removed from the UK.
8. To expand the court capacity to deal with control orders.	Work continues to review the capacity of the courts, specialist tribunals and the judiciary to deal with existing and anticipated caseload relating to terrorism.
9. To proscribe Hizb-ut Tahrir and the successor organisation of Al Mujahiroun.	The Terrorism Act 2006 widens the criteria for proscription. Two of the successor organisations to Al Mujahiroun were proscribed in July 2006.
10. To review the acquisition of British Citizenship to make sure that it is adequate and to establish with the Muslim community a commission to advise on better integration.	We have extended the requirement to be of good character to virtually all applicants for British citizenship. The relevant provision, section 58 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, was commenced on 4 December 2006. We are also looking at extending the checks carried out to establish good character.
	The Commission on Integration and Cohesion was launched on 24 August 2006. It will report in mid-June 2007.
11. To consult on a new power to order closure of a place of worship which is used as a centre for fermenting extremism and to consult with Muslim leaders in respect of those clerics who are not British Citizens to draw up a list of those not suitable to preach and who will be excluded from our country in the future.	The public consultation on taking powers to close a place of worship resulted in a decision not to legislate at this stage. This decision was announced to Parliament on 15 December 2005.
	The Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board (MINAB) was launched on 27 June 2006. We work closely with MINAB to ensure that they meet the challenge of their role as the national body with responsibility for mosques and imams.
	MINAB has committed itself to making early progress in five core areas: the accreditation of imams; the development of leadership skills for imams and mosque officials; progress in the inclusion of young people and women; improvement in the governance of mosques; and supporting mosques to contribute to community cohesion and to combating extremism.
12. To bring forward the proposed measures on the security of our borders with a series of countries specifically designated for biometric visas over the next year	By end 2007, all visa applicants (100 nationalities) will be required to provide biometric data (10 fingerscan and digital photograph) wherever in the world they apply for a UK visa. The equipment and process changes to enable this will be deployed overseas between autumn 2006 and the end of 2007. We are currently collecting biometric data from all visa applicants in 67 countries and checking the data against records held on the Border and Immigration Agency’s Immigration Fingerprint Service database. The intention is that in due course all fingerscans will be checked against the Border and Immigration Agency’s Immigration and Asylum Fingerprint Service database held in the UK, and the police national database, prior to reaching a decision on the visa application.

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Teachers: Foreign Workers

Mr. Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many work permits were issued for teachers and lecturers from (a) Africa, (b) Asia, (c) Latin America and (d) the Caribbean in each year since 2000. [139542]

Mr. Byrne [holding answer 4 June 2007]: The following table and list shows the number of work permit applications which were approved for overseas nationals, in the period 1 January 2000 to 31 March 2007 from (a) Africa, (b) Asia (c) Latin America and (d) the Caribbean.

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Work permit approvals 2000 to March 2007
	Lecturer	Teacher	Total	Total
2000
Africa	50	340	390	⁽¹⁾—
Asia	160	80	235	⁽¹⁾—
Latin America	15	5	20	⁽¹⁾—
Caribbean	⁽²⁾—	20	5	⁽¹⁾—
Total	225	440	665	⁽¹⁾—

2001
Africa	65	2,485	2,550	⁽¹⁾—
Asia	155	285	440	⁽¹⁾—
Latin America	15	40	55	⁽¹⁾—
Caribbean	5	460	460	⁽¹⁾—
Total	240	3,265	3,510	⁽¹⁾—

2002
Africa	80	3,380	3,460	⁽¹⁾—
Asia	210	535	745	⁽¹⁾—
Latin America	30	65	95	⁽¹⁾—
Caribbean	5	620	625	⁽¹⁾—
Total	325	4,600	4,925	⁽¹⁾—

2003
Africa	80	2,265	2,345	⁽¹⁾—
Asia	295	370	665	⁽¹⁾—
Latin America	30	50	75	⁽¹⁾—
Caribbean	5	595	600	⁽¹⁾—
Total	410	3,280	3,690	⁽¹⁾—

2004
Africa	105	1,680	1,790	⁽¹⁾—
Asia	265	390	655	⁽¹⁾—
Latin America	30	35	65	⁽¹⁾—
Caribbean	10	415	425	⁽¹⁾—
Total	410	2,525	2,935	⁽¹⁾—

2005
Africa	110	1,425	1,530	⁽¹⁾—
Asia	290	365	660	⁽¹⁾—
Latin America	35	60	95	⁽¹⁾—
Caribbean	10	350	360	⁽¹⁾—
Total	445	2,200	2,645	⁽¹⁾—

2006
Africa	80	1,225	1,305	⁽¹⁾—
Asia	340	390	730	⁽¹⁾—
Latin America	30	40	70	⁽¹⁾—
Caribbean	10	310	320	⁽¹⁾—
Total	460	1,970	2,430	⁽¹⁾—

2007^{( 3)}
Africa	20	200	220	⁽¹⁾—
Asia	70	70	140	⁽¹⁾—
Latin America	5	⁽²⁾—	5	485
Caribbean	⁽²⁾—	40	40	⁽¹⁾—
Total	90	315	410	⁽¹⁾—
^{(1 )}Indicates Nil ^{(2 )}Indicates 1 or 2 ⁽³⁾ January to March Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to nearest 5. 2. Because of rounding, figures may not add up to totals shown.

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