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20 Jun 2007 : Column 1949W—continued
Crime
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the recorded level of crime was in (a) Bridgend constituency, (b) the South Wales police authority area, (c) Wales and (d) England in each of the last 10 years. [144294]
Mr. McNulty: The available information is given in the following tables. Statistics for Bridgend relate to the Bridgend Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership area.
| Table 1: Offences recorded by the police, 1996 and 1997 | ||||
| Number of offences | ||||
| Bridgend | South Wales | Wales | England | |
| n/a = Not available. | ||||
| Table 2: Offences recorded by the police, 1998-99 to 2001-02 | ||||
| Number of offences | ||||
| Bridgend | South Wales | Wales | England | |
| n/a = Not available. (1) Using the expanded coverage and revised counting rules which came into effect on 1 April 1998. Figures after that date are not directly comparable with those for earlier years. | ||||
| Table 3: Offences recorded by the police, 2002-03 to 2005-06 | ||||
| Number of offences | ||||
| Bridgend | South Wales | Wales | England | |
| (1) The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced nationally in April 2002. Figures after that date are therefore not directly comparable with those for earlier years. | ||||
Crime: Middlesbrough
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the contribution of the Alleygate scheme in Middlesbrough towards reducing crime. [143565]
Mr. Coaker: The Home Office has not undertaken an assessment of the contribution of the Alleygate scheme in Middlesbrough towards reducing crime. Alleygating schemes are local initiatives, implemented based on local priorities and therefore an assessment of the contribution of such a scheme is a matter for local agencies.
Alleygating is one of a number of ways of incorporating crime prevention measures into existing environments. We are also working with a range of partners including Communities and Local Government, local authorities, architects, designers, builders and others to ensure that when new buildings or communities are planned they are well designed places where crime prevention is taken into account
from the outset so that crime and disorder or the fear of crime do not undermine quality of life or community cohesion.
Departments: Internet
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has held on changes to the (a) design and (b) layout of his Department’s website. [143246]
Mr. Byrne: The Home Office site was redesigned 18 months ago and has subsequently been successful in two pan-government web awards.
However, we are reviewing design and information architecture as part of our response to the Varney report, which made recommendations for the better delivery of Government web services.
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to improve the (a) quality and (b) quantity of information provided on his Department’s website. [143247]
Mr. Byrne: The Home Office site was redesigned 18 months ago and has subsequently been successful in two pan-government web awards.
However, in line with the Varney report, which made recommendations for the better delivery of Government web services, we are reviewing content with a view to moving appropriate content to the Direct.gov and Business link sites.
Departments: Ministerial Policy Advisers
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of his Department's special advisers were on (a) paid and (b) unpaid leave in order to assist with party political matters under section 22 (iii) of the code of conduct for special advisers on 16 May; and how many days' leave each adviser was granted. [140116]
Mr. Byrne: None of the special advisers was on leave on 16 May.
Departments: Official Residences
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the official ministerial residences allocated to Ministers in his Department; and what the total annual cost is of running each. [141958]
Mr. Byrne: No Ministers in the Home Office are allocated a ministerial residence.
Departments: Property
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate has been made of the value of the Department's property portfolio. [139376]
Mr. Byrne:
Asset valuations are carried out at five- yearly intervals in accordance with Government accounting requirements. The estimate applicable on 1
April 2007 was £5,931 million based on valuations carried out from 31 March 2004 to 1 April 2007. This includes property transferred to the Ministry of Justice on 9 May 2007. The estimated value of the Home Office estate that did not transfer to Ministry of Justice was £209 million.
| Home Office estate estimated values—March 2007 | |
| £ million | |
| Type of property | Estimated value |
Departments: Sick Leave
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what average number of days per year was taken by staff in his Department as sick leave in each of the last five years for which records are available. [143056]
Mr. Byrne: The information requested is given in the following table:
| Working days lost to sickness per FTE staff per year | |||||
| Business area | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 |
Deportation
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been deported under section 97A of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. [143604]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 18 June 2007]: No one has yet been deported following certification under this provision.
Deportation: Afghanistan
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many case studies were carried out monitoring the safety of women deported to Afghanistan in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [142272]
Mr. Byrne: There have been no enforced removals of women to Afghanistan in the last five years so no case studies have been undertaken.
Dr. Cable:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the safety of single women whose asylum
claims have failed and who have no family ties who have been deported to Afghanistan. [142273]
Mr. Byrne: There have been no enforced removals of single women without family ties to Afghanistan in recent years so no such assessment has been made.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many single women whose asylum claims had failed were deported to Afghanistan in each of the last five years for which records are available. [142275]
Mr. Byrne: There have been no enforced removals of single women to Afghanistan in the last five years.
Detainees
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which countries have been passed information about detained asylum seekers originating from those countries in the last 12 months. [141404]
John Reid: The Border and Immigration Agency does not disclose information to other countries which would identify someone as an asylum applicant.
When communicating with foreign embassies for the purpose of re-documentation the Border and Immigration Agency will only inform them that we believe the person to be one of their nationals and they have no legal basis to be in the United Kingdom.
Detention Centres: Manpower
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department has a target for the staff-to-detainee ratio in immigration removal centres. [138200]
Mr. Byrne: The Border and Immigration Agency does not have a target for the staff-to-detainee ratio in immigration removal centres. Staffing levels are a key area of evaluation during the competitive tender process for the operation of removal centres. All contractors are required however to provide a safe environment at all times to detainees, staff and visitors.
The Border and Immigration Agency does not have a target for the staff to detainee ratio for Immigration Removal Centres run by HM Prison Service as they have vast experience in operating custodial environments.
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