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5 Dec 2007 : Column 1215W—continued
Terrorism
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many persons have been (a) questioned about and (b) charged with the bomb scare in Enniskillen and the planting of a device which ignited a canon at Newry War Memorial on Remembrance Sunday, 11 November; and if he will make a statement. [170497]
Paul Goggins: PSNI has advised that 18 people have been interviewed as witnesses in connection with the bomb scare in Enniskillen. PSNI investigations are continuing but to date no arrests or charges have been made in connection with either incident.
These mindless and despicable acts have no place in our society and those responsible need to know that they will not deter us from achieving long-term political stability.
Children, Schools and Families
Children in Care
Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children are in care outside their home local authority area. [169790]
Kevin Brennan: The number of children looked after by local authorities in England, who were placed outside the area of their local authority was 20,200 at 31 March 2006. This represented 33 per cent. (60,300) of all children looked after at 31 March 2006. Table 22 of the statistical volume entitled Children Looked After by Local Authorities Year Ending 31 March 2006 is accessible at:
Children in Care: Standards
Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) private and (b) local authority children's homes have been deregistered in each of the last 10 years; and what percentage of the total number of children's homes such deregistrations represented in each year. [171554]
Kevin Brennan: Information on the number of private children's homes that have been deregistered in each of the last 10 years is not held centrally by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF).
Information on the number of local authority children's homes that have been deregistered in each of the last 10 years can be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
Women and Equality
Equal Pay
Jo Swinson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality whether an equal pay audit (a) has been conducted and (b) is planned for the Government Equalities Office. [170586]
Barbara Follett [holding answer 3 December 2007]: No equal pay audit has been conducted since the Government Equalities Office was announced by the Prime Minister on 26 July 2007 and set up as a stand alone Department on 12 October 2007. As a matter of good practice, the Office would plan to conduct an equal pay audit, but no timetable has been set for this as yet.
Scotland
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the office costs for his Department's special advisers for 2007-08 are expected to be, including costs of support staff; and how many full-time equivalent civil servants work in support of such special advisers. [164919]
David Cairns: No staff in the Scotland Office are directly employed to support special advisers. The office costs of special advisers are not separately recorded.
Departmental Secondment
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many secondments of staff were made (a) to and (b) from his Office in each year since 1997; which organisations staff were seconded (i) to and (ii) from; how many staff were seconded in each year; for how long each secondment lasted; and what the cost was of each secondment in each year. [168695]
David Cairns: The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999. The Office does not directly employ staff and does not second staff to other organisations. All staff in the Office are on loan from other Government Departments, such as the Scottish Executive and Ministry of Justice. Information on staff numbers is published in the Office's Annual Report, a copy of which is in the House Library. The Office does not keep central records in a form that would allow the cost of each loan to be identified.
Departmental Visits Abroad
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department spent on overnight accommodation for Ministers overseas in the last year. [171327]
David Cairns: Details of the cost of overseas travel, including the cost of travel and accommodation, are contained in the Overseas Travel by Cabinet Ministers list. The latest list for the period 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007 was published on 25 July 2007. Details for the 2007-08 financial year will be published as soon as possible after the end of the financial year. All travel is made in accordance with the Ministerial Code.
Leader of the House
Corporate Hospitality
David Simpson: To ask the Leader of the House on how many occasions she has accepted corporate hospitality in the last 12 months. [171304]
Ms Harman: In the last 12 months, neither my right hon. Friend the then Leader of the House until 28 June 2007 (Mr. Straw) nor I (Leader of the House of Commons since then) have received corporate hospitality that has not already been declared in the Register of Members’ Interests.
Departmental Public Participation
Mr. Maude: To ask the Leader of the House how many responses were received to the Government’s consultation on the Draft Legislative Programme for 2007-08; and from whom. [171452]
Helen Goodman: The consultation on the draft legislative programme was made up of a number of events and activities which included the publication of the Draft Legislative Programme on the Cabinet Office and Leader of the House of Commons’ website. 106 responses were received in writing or by email. We are currently checking with these respondents that they are happy for their responses and names to be released into the public domain. Once this process has completed we will place a copy in the Library.
The Leader of the House of Commons published “The Government’s Legislative Programme—Taking a wider view” on 14 November 2007 which summarised the activity that had taken place this year.
Ministerial Duties
Jo Swinson: To ask the Leader of the House what proportion of her average working week is allocated to her role as (a) Leader of the House, (b) Minister for Women and Equalities and (c) Lord Privy Seal; what responsibilities she has as Minister for Women and Equalities; and what mechanisms are in place for liaison with the Minister for Disabled People. [171355]
Ms Harman: There is no such thing as an average working week.
As with any Minister who has a broad portfolio I prioritise my work accordingly.
Home Department
Asylum: Christianity
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what methods are used to verify claims by asylum seekers that they are Christian. [167025]
Jacqui Smith:
All asylum applications, including those which are based either in part or wholly on the applicant being a Christian, are considered very carefully on their individual merits and with regard to objective country specific information. The primary method of gathering
and testing the information which forms the basis of a person’s asylum application is the asylum interview conducted by a case owner. Case owners, who also take initial asylum decisions, receive detailed training and instructions on all aspects of the asylum process including interviewing and assessing claims which are based on religious or other grounds. Refused applicants have access to an independent appeal process.
Crime: Foreigners
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) foreign nationals and (b) asylum seekers jailed for major criminal offences are in immigration and removal centres (IRCs); how long each has been in an IRC; and if she will make a statement. [167027]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested can be obtained through the detailed examination of individual case files only at a disproportionate cost. The Chief Executive of the Border and Immigration Agency wrote a letter to the Home Affairs Committee on 20 November in which she gave the most accurate and robust information available on foreign national prisoners. A copy of this letter is available in the House Library.
Crimes of Violence
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department have had with the Metropolitan police on proposals for police officers to meet identified gang members to discuss levels of gang- related violence; and if she will make a statement. [169483]
Mr. Coaker: The Home Office is working closely with the Metropolitan police and local partners in the Five Borough Alliance who are taking forward a range of action as part of the Tackling Gangs Action Programme.
This work may include a pilot informed, among other elements, by an operating model established in Boston, under which members of a local community, supported by the police and local authorities, are given the opportunity to make it clear to gang members that violence will not be tolerated. This is then backed up by support for those wishing to exit gangs, and robust enforcement should any further violence occur. In Boston the model took some 18 months to put together, and it is considered critical that all the relevant elements are fully in place before the London model is launched, in order to ensure its effectiveness.
The London Guns, Gangs and Weapons Reduction Board will be developing this model in partnership with the community.
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to support parents in challenging the behaviour of their children who are gang members or at risk of becoming gang members; and how much her Department has committed to such initiatives in the last 12 months. [169487]
Mr. Coaker: We are working closely with the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) on the roll-out of the accelerated extended schools programme, which includes work on supporting parents in a number of areas, including schools in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool, where the Tackling Gangs Action Programme is operating.
We are also developing guidance for parents and young people to provide advice on gang-related issues, and we are working with DCSF on guidance for schools.
In addition, through the Connected Fund, we support community groups which work with young people at risk of involvement in gangs and criminal activity. The fund was set up in May 2004 and provides small grants to local community groups working on tackling gun and knife crime and gangs issues. A number of the projects supported by the fund provide support to parents and young people who are at risk of gang membership. Under round six of the Connected Fund we awarded £500,000 to 100 community groups.
Deportation: Iran
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will reconsider her policy of returning individuals to Iran. [167030]
Jacqui Smith: The Border and Immigration Agency only enforces the return of Iranian nationals where we are satisfied they are not in need of protection in accordance with our obligations under the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Domestic Violence
Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many community domestic violence programmes there are for the treatment of violent women; [170578]
(2) how many community domestic violence programmes have been implemented nationally; [170579]
(3) how many integrated domestic violence abuse programmes there are for the treatment of violent women; [170580]
(4) how many integrated domestic violence abuse programmes have been implemented nationally. [170581]
Mr. Hanson: I have been asked to reply.
There are two domestic violence programmes that have been accredited for use with offenders in the community: the Community Domestic Violence programme (CDVP) (available in eight probation areas) and the Integrated Domestic Abuse programme (IDAP) (available in 34 probation areas). Both programmes are for male offenders only. Women may attend the accredited community programme aggression replacement training (ART), which is a mixed gender programme aimed at violent offenders or they may take part in individual work.
Domestic Violence: Counselling
Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many accredited independent domestic violence advisers are male. [170582]
Mr. Coaker: The organisation Coordinated Action Against Domestic Abuse (CAADA) has developed and delivers the accredited training for Independent Domestic Violence Advisers (IDVAs). CAADA have informed the Home Office that three men have received the accredited training.
Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many independent domestic violence advisers have been trained and accredited; and who trained them. [170583]
Mr. Coaker: Accredited advocacy training for Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) is carried out by the organisation Coordinated Action Against Domestic Abuse (CAADA). The Home Office has funded places on this training course for IDVAs working in services supporting the 64 Specialist Domestic Violence Courts.
Up until August 2007, CAADA had trained a total of 111 Home Office-funded advocates (both IDVAs and Independent Sexual Violence Advisors), with a further 94 places funded for the remainder of 2007-08.
Human Trafficking
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will list each legislative measure the UK needs to take to ensure it is ready to ratify the European Convention on Action against trafficking in Human Beings; and how many of those measures are contained in the Bills scheduled for the 2007-08 Session. [169283]
Mr. Coaker: We judge that domestic legislation is already largely compliant with the Convention. Victims of trafficking can already be identified, supported and where appropriate, may be issued with limited or indefinite leave to remain in the UK. But to ratify the Convention some legislative changes will be necessary. The detail of these is still subject to discussion within government but we will ratify the Convention as soon as we can.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which requirements of the European Convention against Trafficking in Human Beings require amendments to UK (a) primary and (b) secondary legislation; when the Government plans to bring forward such amendments; and if she will make a statement. [169562]
Mr. Coaker
[holding answer 29 November 2007]: We consider existing domestic legislation to be largely compliant with the Convention. Victims of trafficking are already being identified, supported and where appropriate may be issued with limited or indefinite leave to remain in the UK. However, we have identified a need for limited amendments to legislation and procedures, including the mechanisms for the support of victims of trafficking. The detail of the legislative
changes required is still subject to discussion within government but we will ratify the Convention as soon as we can.
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