Previous Section Index Home Page

25 Jun 2007 : Column 289W—continued


Borders and Immigration Agency: Correspondence

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what average time was taken for the transfer of files between the Borders and Immigration Agency casework unit and correspondence unit in the last 12 months. [144555]

Mr. Byrne: The information requested is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

British Nationality: Applications

Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been made to retake the Knowledge of Life in the UK test due to test centres not administering the test correctly. [141598]

John Reid: The information requested could be obtained only by detailed examination of individual case records at disproportionate cost.

British Nationality: Assessments

Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 12 April 2007, Question 130039, on the Life in the UK test, what the average test results were of (a) the British citizens participating in the test pilot and (b) the pilot group as a whole. [133330]

John Reid: The Department used an independent contractor, Ufi, to conduct the pilot tests. Ufi have indicated that in respect of the pilot group as a whole, 73 per cent. of the 245 candidates who completed pilot tests achieved a pass.

In seeking to establish the information requested on the average test results for British citizens, I can also provide further clarification to the hon. Gentleman about the figure of 25 per cent. given for British citizens participating in the pilot test given in my previous answer of 16 April 2007, Official Report, column 470W. This figure of 25 per cent. referred to a
25 Jun 2007 : Column 290W
benchmark figure of how many native speakers of English (of which British Citizens could be included) the Department asked Ufi to take part in the pilot scheme and not the nationality of participants.

Although the information collected cannot be broken down by nationality, this does not affect the usefulness of the pilot to developing the test proper. The test is not designed to compare whether citizens and non-citizens are achieving similar results and nor was the pilot conducted in that spirit.

British Nationality: Eligibility

Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what offences and behaviours are considered to be not conducive to the public good, leading to deprivation of citizenship under section 56 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. [143601]

Mr. Byrne [holding answer 18 June 2007]: As was explained to Parliament during passage of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Bill, deprivation of citizenship might be considered appropriate in cases involving national security (including espionage), war crimes; serious and organised crime; and unacceptable behaviours such as glorification of terrorism.

Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been deprived of citizenship under section 56 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. [143602]

Mr. Byrne [holding answer 18 June 2007]: None so far. One person has been deprived and one case is in train under the powers which preceded section 56.

Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been given penalties under section 15 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. [143603]

Mr. Byrne [holding answer 18 June 2007]: Section 15 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, which replaces section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996, has yet to be commenced. This part of the Act is currently the subject of a public consultation which was launched on 15 May 2007. Following this, and subject to the responses, the proposals are due to be implemented by the end of this year.

Crime: Firearms

Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) confiscations of firearms and (b) convictions for the illegal possession of firearms there were in each police authority area in each of the last eight years. [139507]

Mr. Coaker: On (a), this data is not collected centrally.

On (b), data from the court proceedings database held by the Ministry of Justice, showing the number of defendants convicted at all courts for possessing or distributing prohibited weapons or ammunition in
25 Jun 2007 : Column 291W
England and Wales, broken down by police force area and for the years between 1998 to 2005, is shown in the following table.


25 Jun 2007 : Column 292W
Number of defendants convicted at all courts for possessing or distributing prohibited weapons or ammunition in England and Wales, broken down by police force area and for the years between 1998 and 2005( 1,2,3,4)
Force 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Avon and Somerset

32

6

9

27

15

20

18

25

Bedfordshire

8

2

2

5

10

9

7

6

Cambridgeshire

17

8

9

1

5

12

4

3

Cheshire

5

8

4

5

6

4

20

11

City of London

4

1

1

0

4

2

5

0

Cleveland

12

7

8

5

6

11

11

13

Cumbria

7

2

4

4

1

4

8

8

Derbyshire

6

13

12

5

14

6

15

17

Devon and Cornwall

13

10

8

10

13

16

15

12

Dorset

2

2

4

7

5

8

7

8

Durham

6

9

9

6

5

12

11

14

Essex

37

22

22

15

25

18

29

22

Gloucestershire

6

5

6

5

3

9

6

6

Greater Manchester

100

57

55

57

51

55

115

108

Hampshire

18

18

15

9

21

16

15

28

Hertfordshire

9

8

8

10

5

5

16

23

Humberside

5

5

7

8

9

9

14

17

Kent

20

11

22

29

18

22

18

11

Lancashire

32

12

19

17

11

15

22

27

Leicestershire

29

15

26

20

13

16

17

17

Lincolnshire

6

10

13

4

2

5

6

6

Merseyside

31

20

14

18

19

25

54

68

Metropolitan Police

270

221

173

224

257

297

268

302

Norfolk

8

7

6

4

5

2

12

9

North Yorkshire

11

7

7

3

1

6

3

3

Northamptonshire

6

11

4

4

5

4

4

7

Northumbria

43

43

32

40

26

45

38

38

Nottinghamshire

20

12

16

16

12

28

23

27

South Yorkshire

24

22

19

11

17

21

23

27

Staffordshire

8

7

0

6

16

8

15

13

Suffolk

2

4

8

5

4

7

7

6

Surrey

5

4

7

7

8

6

7

4

Sussex

10

8

4

11

9

14

18

21

Thames Valley

30

23

15

11

16

20

24

22

Warwickshire

5

5

4

3

7

4

7

6

West Mercia

6

11

5

7

7

5

11

6

West Midlands

92

87

74

71

79

66

72

69

West Yorkshire

72

55

36

33

38

33

52

51

Wiltshire

7

5

6

8

6

4

6

10

Dyfed-Powys

5

2

7

3

3

5

4

4

Gwent

2

4

8

5

4

4

6

4

North Wales

4

7

1

1

3

3

7

5

South Wales

9

16

11

17

11

18

21

24

Total

1,044

812

720

757

795

899

1,061

1,108

(1) These data are on the principal offence basis.
(2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete.
However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces.
As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
(3) Includes the following statutes and offences:
Firearms Act, 1968 Sec 5(1) (Group I) as amended by Criminal Justice Act 2003 S.288
Possessing or distributing prohibited weapons or ammunition.
Firearms Act 1968 Sec 5(1)(b) (Group I) as amended by Criminal Justice Act 2003 Sec. 288
Possessing or distributing prohibited weapons designed for discharge of noxious liquid etc.
Firearms Act 1968 Sec 5(1A)(a) (Group I) as amended by Criminal Justice Act 2003 Sec. 288
Possessing or distributing firearm disguised as other object
Firearms Act 1968 Sec 5(1A)(b),(c),(d),(e),(f) or (g) as amended by Criminal Justice Act 2003 Sec. 288
Possessing or distributing other prohibited weapons
(4) Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000.
Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table.
Our ref: IOS 239-07
Source:
RDS Office for Criminal Justice Reform

Next Section Index Home Page