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23 July 2007 : Column 693W—continued
Genetics
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long the process of identifying an individual through analysis of a DNA profile takes. [151750]
Meg Hillier: It is not possible to provide a precise time for how long it takes to identify an individual through a DNA profile since this will vary between cases and depend on the circumstances of the case investigation.
Genetics: Databases
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many UK nationals recorded on the National DNA Database have been identified as having their DNA found on bomb parts and fragments in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan. [150719]
Meg Hillier: It is not policy to answer questions of this nature since to do so would constitute a breach of national security.
Identity and Passport Service: Vetting
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what security checks are made of a recruited member of Identity and Passport Service staff responsible for approving passport applications; and if she will make a statement. [151504]
Meg Hillier: All recruits to the IPS have to meet the baseline personnel security standards which include:
Identity;
Employment history;
Nationality/immigration status; and
Unspent criminal record.
Staff dealing with passport applications have to meet counter terrorist check standards and those in the new interview office network, who will be interviewing first time passport applicants, have to be cleared to the higher level of security check and are subject to checks with the Criminal Records Bureau.
Asylum and Immigration Tribunal
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she has received notification from the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal of its decision in the case of Ms L.K., wife of Mr. P.H. of Aylesbury (AIT OA/44119/2006; post reference 115884 Harare); and if she will make a statement. [152002]
Mr. Byrne: A copy of the decision was received at the Border and Immigration Agency on 6 July and was forwarded to the overseas post on 13 July.
Immigration: Advisory Services
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many immigration advice centres there are; and how much Government funding is provided to them. [149405]
Mr. Byrne:
An individual who wishes to obtain immigration advice can do so through a solicitor registered with the Law Society or through an advisor registered with the Office of Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC). The OISC is a non-departmental public body of the Border and Immigration Agency. Organisations regulated by the OISC can be ‘for profit’ or ‘not for
profit.’ In 2006-07 there were 673 ‘for profit’ organisations registered with the OISC and 976 ‘not for profit’ registered with the OISC of which 596 were Citizen Advice Bureaus (CABs).
Some of the ‘not for profit’ sector only provide immigration advice, but others such as CABs offer advice on a range of issues. As such, the actual funding the Government provides for immigration advice through the not for profit sector cannot be isolated.
Immigration: Philippines
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health on the number of Philippine nationals working in the (a) NHS and (b) nursing home care sector who will be required to leave the UK in the last quarter of 2007 and the first quarter of 2008 because of new visa restrictions. [150748]
Mr. Byrne: Regular discussions are held between the Department of Health and the Border and Immigration Agency on labour market and immigration related issues.
Police: Finance
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding has been allocated to the police per head of population in (a) Sussex and (b) the South East of England for 2007-08. [151782]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested is set out in the following table.
The Government do not distribute grant to police authorities purely on the basis of population. The police funding formula uses a range of data relating to demographic and social characteristics to reflect the relative needs of each authority. Grant allocations also take into account the relative tax base of each authority. Grant allocations are stabilised by damping to limit year-on-year variations.
| Police authority | Total grants 2007-08( 1) (£ million) | Resident population mid-2005( 2) (million) | Funding per head of population 2007-08 (£) |
| (1) Total grants comprises: Home Office Police Grant, DCLG Revenue Support Grant and National Non-Domestic Rates; Special Formula grant, Specific Grants: Crime Fighting Fund, Neighbourhood Policing Fund, Basic Command Unit Fund, Community Support Officer Funding, Pension Deficit Grant and Dedicated Security Post funding and Capital provision (including the increased capital allocations announced on 24 May and 19 June 2007). (2) Population data sourced by the Office for National Statistics from the mid-2005 population estimates. | |||
Tom Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the timetable is for the full implementation of the agreed police funding formula without floors and ceilings. [152261]
Mr. McNulty: Grant floors are an integral part of the local government finance system. A damping mechanism is applied to police formula grant allocations to protect all police authorities against financial instability and to ensure they all receive an increase in grant at least equal to the ‘floor’ level on a like-for-like basis year-on-year.
Any movement towards full implementation of the funding formula will depend on the overall amount of grant available for distribution. Decisions on police grant for 2008-09 to 2010-11 will be taken in the autumn.
Police: Road Traffic Control
Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of police resources in (a) England and Wales and (b) each region was allocated to traffic policing in the last period for which figures are available. [151861]
Mr. McNulty: This is an operational matter for chief officers and the police authorities and the information is not held centrally.
Police: Stun Guns
Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will increase the number of police forces in the UK which are trained and equipped to use Taser stun guns; and if she will make a statement. [152025]
Mr. McNulty: Taser has been available to all Authorised Firearms Officers in England and Wales since September 2004 as a less lethal alternative for use in situations where a firearms authority has been granted in accordance with criteria laid down in the Association of Chief Police Officers Manual of Guidance on Police Use of Firearms.
From 20 July 2007 Chief Officers throughout England and Wales have been able to deploy Taser for use by Authorised Firearms Officers in operations or incidents where the criteria for the authorisation to issue firearms does not apply, but where officers are facing violence or threats of violence of such severity that they would need to use force to protect the public, themselves and/or the subject(s) of their action.
In addition, a 12 month trial of the deployment of Taser by specially trained units who are not firearms officers in similarly violent circumstances requiring conflict management will commence on 1 September 2007 in the following 10 forces in England and Wales: Avon and Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, Gwent, Lincolnshire, Merseyside, Metropolitan Police Service, Northamptonshire, Northumbria, North Wales and West Yorkshire.
Pornography: Children
Dan Norris:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government are taking to accelerate international co-operation to
ensure the swift closure of websites hosted overseas which contain child abuse images. [149905]
Mr. Coaker: The Government and law enforcement are working hard to build international co-operation and collaboration to improve all aspects of investigations into online child abuse.
This will cover not only investigations into websites hosting images of children being sexually abused; but, also, investigations to find the children who appear in these images and to identify those who are making, downloading, distributing and/or trading in images of children being sexually abused. A recent investigation led by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre led to the rescue of over 30 children from abuse and the identification of over 700 suspects worldwide.
The Government recognise the need to take action to shut down these sites and law enforcement are
pro-actively seeking to build relationships in those parts of the world where it appears the majority of sites are hosted. We are also very supportive of CEOP’s initiative to embed law enforcement officers from overseas into CEOP to improve co-operation and to facilitate investigations.
Stop and Search: Vehicles
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 9 July 2007 to the hon. Member for Sheffield, Hallam, Official Report, column 1344W, on stop and search: vehicles, if she will provide the equivalent figures in relation to searches of (a) persons and (b) persons and vehicles. [149715]
Jacqui Smith: The available information is given in the following tables from 1998-99 to 2004-05 (latest available).
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