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7 Jan 2008 : Column 269W—continued
Deportation: EC Action
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations her Department has made in the Council of Europe on revision by international instrument of Article 3 of the European Charter of Human Rights as it applies in deportation cases. [164449]
Jacqui Smith: None. As I made clear when I wrote to the chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights in August, the Government are not seeking to amend the text of article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Emergency Calls
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made with plans to introduce a new national three digit non-emergency phone number for contacting the police; and if she will make a statement. [173131]
Mr. McNulty: The Home Office has established a national telephony infrastructure for the non-emergency policing and community safety phone number, 101, and has demonstrated the principles and benefits of this new service in five police and council partnership areas across England and Wales. The Home Office will not continue to directly fund these initial partnership areas from 14 February 2008 or to directly fund further roll-out in other areas. However, the Home Office will continue to provide funding to support the national 101 telephony infrastructure. This continued funding together with the lessons learned for improving local services from the initial areas, will enable and inform local police and councils who wish to develop their own locally funded 101 service.
Entry Clearances
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make it her policy to revoke the status of a person granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK if it can be demonstrated that this status was acquired on a fraudulent basis. [173442]
Mr. Byrne: There is provision in both primary and secondary immigration legislation to revoke or invalidate indefinite leave to remain where this has been fraudulently obtained.
Essex Police Authority: Qualifications
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what relevant specialist qualifications the chief executive of Essex police authority holds; what his or her career has been to date; what process was followed in his or her appointment; where the post was advertised; how many persons applied for the post; how many were short-listed for interview; how each was appraised; what criteria were adopted for each candidate; how many candidates were rejected; and if she will make a statement. [174059]
Mr. McNulty: The appointment of chief executives and their qualifications and experience is a matter for the individual police authority.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what relevant specialist qualifications each member of the Essex police authority holds; what the career of each has been to date; when each was appointed and by whom; what process was followed in his or her appointment; where the post was advertised; how many persons applied for the post; how many were short-listed for interview; how each was appraised; what criteria were adopted for each candidate; how many candidates were rejected; where Essex police authority is located; how much was spent by it on (a) office accommodation, (b) staff costs, (c) travel and subsistence and (d) staff bonuses in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement. [174060]
Mr. McNulty: The appointment of police authority members, the experience and qualifications of their members and the expenditure of the authority are matters for the individual police authority. Essex police authority is located in Chelmsford, Essex.
Essex Police: Standards
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to improve the performance of (a) Southend Police and (b) Essex Police following the Police Performance Assessment 2006-07 produced by her Department and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary; and if she will make a statement. [174044]
Mr. McNulty: Assessments are made for all 43 police forces in England and Wales and in seven key areas. Forces are assigned the clear judgments “excellent”, “good”, “fair” and “poor” and—for three of these areas—a judgment of “improved”, “stable” or “deteriorated” is also made.
Essex's assessment in each area was as follows:
Tackling crime—Good
Serious crime and public protection—Good
Protecting vulnerable people—Fair
Satisfaction and fairness—Fair
Neighbourhood policing—Fair
Local priorities—Good
Resources and efficiency—Good.
Essex's assessment for direction of travel was:
Tackling crime—Stable
Satisfaction and fairness—Stable
Resources and efficiency—Stable.
The Home Office and HMIC will continue to support forces to address the issues highlighted in the assessments.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations she has received on the performance of police in (a) Essex and (b) Southend in each of the last seven years; and if she will make a statement. [174067]
Mr. McNulty: I and my predecessors have received numerous representations regarding police forces in England and Wales. In addition, there have been formal reports published relating to the performance of the police service and of Essex police specifically. These can be found on the websites for Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) at:
The most recent police performance assessments were published in October 2007.
The latest HMIC publication regarding Essex police was the phase one Inspection Report (October 2007), and regarding policing in the Southend BCU in the BCU Inspection (September 2003) and Follow-Up Inspection (December 2004).
Firearms
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many firearms were (a) surrendered to and (b) seized by the police in each London borough in each year since 2001. [174817]
Mr. Coaker: The figures requested are not held centrally.
Firearms: Databases
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will establish a central register for firearms (a) seized and (b) disposed of by police services in England and Wales. [176296]
Mr. Coaker: The Home Office does not collate information on the number of firearms seized by police forces. The new National Ballistics Intelligence Database, which will start being implemented this year, may provide an overall picture of firearms seizures in future.
Foreigners: NHS
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the planned identity card scheme will enable NHS managers to check the eligibility of non-EU citizens for NHS outpatient care. [168134]
Meg Hillier: ID cards issued under the UK Borders Act to non-EU citizens will record an individual’s immigration status, indicating whether the person has limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain. It will not contain details of the individual’s right to NHS services. Where a person has no recourse to public funds, the card will have the statement “no recourse to public funds”.
The criteria for access to NHS services are defined by the NHS therefore it would be the health care provider’s responsibility to confirm eligibility.
Forensic Science Service
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether there is European legislation relating to the liberalisation of forensic science services. [173599]
Meg Hillier [holding answer 13 December 2007]: There is no European legislation specifically on the liberalisation of forensic science services. The procurement of such services is, however, governed by the same European legislation as governs the procurement of publicly financed services in general, which requires bidding to be open to suppliers in all EU member states, except where certain national security conditions apply.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent on the Forensic Science Service since it acquired the status of a Government-owned company in 2006. [173600]
Meg Hillier [holding answer 13 December 2007]: The Forensic Science Service has received no additional money from the Home Office since it was vested as a Government-owned company, other than through the provision of loans arranged prior to vesting and intended to support the transition from Executive Agency to GovCo. The loan in relation to their pension provision has been partially repaid, and the balance is expected to be paid by 2008-09. The Home Office receives interest on the outstanding loans and is eligible to receive dividends on its investment.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what performance targets were set for the Forensic Science Service (FSS) in (a) 2006 and (b) 2007; and how the FSS performed against its targets in the most recent year for which figures are available. [173601]
Meg Hillier
[holding answer 13 December 2007]: Since December 2005, the Forensic Science Service (FSS) has been established as a Government-owned company. It is no longer an Executive agency of the Home Office and thus no longer subject to the agency
target setting regime. Its establishment as a Government-owned company was designed to provide the FSS with the freedom, flexibility, structures and resources to better respond to customer needs.
Therefore, the Home Office as its shareholder does not set the FSS detailed performance targets as such. Instead it agrees an overall strategic business plan with the FSS. The business plan covers such matters as trading and operational performance, but as the FSS now operates in a competitive market, the details are commercially confidential. The FSS published a report and accounts covering its financial performance for the period since changing status, in August 2007. This was filed at Companies House, and copies were placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Genetics: Databases
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals have personal data relating to fingerprints or DNA stored on national police computers; and what percentage of these records relate to individuals who (a) have not committed a criminal offence and (b) are not suspected of any criminality. [166807]
Meg Hillier: 7.3 million individuals have fingerprint records stored on the national fingerprint system, Ident1, as at 31 October 2007. This includes records for England, Wales and Scotland. The number of these who have not been convicted of a criminal offence could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
An estimated 4,188,033 individuals had a DNA profile on the National DNA Database, of which 3,938,156 were sampled by police forces in England and Wales, as at 31 October 2007. In relation to the number of individuals who have not been convicted of any offence on the National DNA Database, I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Lynne Featherstone) on 13 December 2007, Official Report, columns 761-62 W.
Of those on the DNA Database, about 22,700 have provided a DNA profile voluntarily and the remainder had DNA taken under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE).
The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 amended PACE to allow samples to be taken if the person was charged with, or reported for summons, or convicted for a recordable offence, and allowed the samples and DNA profiles derived from these to be retained and speculatively searched against other samples and profiles held by or on behalf of the police, thus allowing the creation of the DNA database for use in criminal investigations. However, if the person was not prosecuted or was acquitted the samples and profiles had to be destroyed. The Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 amended PACE to remove the requirement for destruction of samples following a discontinuance or acquittal, but specified that any samples and profiles that were retained could be used only for the purposes of the prevention and detection of crime, the investigation of an offence or the conduct of a prosecution. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 amended PACE to allow the police to take DNA and fingerprints without consent from anyone arrested for a recordable offence and detained in a police station.
People who volunteer to give a DNA sample include victims, witnesses, people with legitimate access to crime scenes, family members, and those responding to DNA intelligence-led screens. There are two options: consent to giving a sample of DNA to be used in a single investigation only which is then destroyed; and consent to giving a sample of DNA which will be added to the database and kept permanently.
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) males and (b) females aged (i) under 14, (ii) between 15 and 24, (iii) between 25 and 34, (iv) between 35 and 44, (v) between 45 and 54, (vi) between 55 and 64 and (vii) over 65 years in each of the ethnic appearance category were registered on the National DNA Database in each period for which figures are available. [167013]
Meg Hillier: The information requested is supplied in the following tables which show the position for the UK, and for England and Wales, at 30 September 2007.
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