| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
18 Feb 2008 : Column 424W—continued
Trade Unions
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what meetings he has had with trades union officials since 1 July 2007; on what dates; and with which trades unions. [179852]
Mr. Lammy: Ministers meet many people as part of the process of policy development. It is not normal practice to disclose details of such meetings.
Vocational Training: Expenditure
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what proportion of the additional support budget of the Train to Gain programme was spent in each English region by the Learning and Skills Council in 2006-07. [164208]
Mr. Lammy: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Mr. Hayes) on 12 November 2007, Official Report, column 57W.
Home Department
Animal Experiments
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made since the ministerial letter of 31 January 2006 responding to the recommendations of the Animal Procedures Committee's 2005 report on the Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals on the commitment to liaise with the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety for Northern Ireland with the aim of amalgamating the statistics for Great Britain and Northern Ireland. [185465]
Meg Hillier: We plan to make a final decision on this issue in time for the publication of the Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals 2007.
Antisocial Behaviour Orders
Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many anti-social behaviour orders have been placed on individuals living in Wirral, West constituency in the last two years; on what grounds each was imposed; and how many such orders were breached. [185848]
Mr. Coaker: Antisocial behaviour order (ASBO) data for 2004 and 2005 (latest available) for the Merseyside CJS area in which the Wirral, West constituency lies can be found in the following table. Information on the grounds on which ASBOs are imposed is not collated centrally. ASBO data do not identify the constituency in which an ASBO is issued or breached.
| N umber of ASBOs issued and breached in the Merseyside CJS area, 2004 and 2005 | ||
| Merseyside CJS area | 2004 | 2005 |
| (1) ASBOs may be issued in one area and breached in another. Breaches are counted in this table on area of issue. (2 )ASBOs may be breached more than once and in more than one year. In this table ASBOs are counted once only within the period when they were first breached. Hence the ASBOs listed as breached in 2004 and 2005 may have been issued in earlier years. Note: 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. 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. Ref: ASBO 08-08 Source: OCJR Court Proceedings Database | ||
Asylum
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made by her Department in responding to the key findings of the National Audit Office report Asylum and migration: a review of Home Office statistics (HC (2003-04) 625) of 25 May 2004. [179816]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 17 January 2008]: The asylum and immigration statistics are
“produced to high professional standards set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political influence”.
The National Audit Office (NAO) report concluded that “asylum data and statistics are in most respects reliable”. Home Office statisticians continue to quality assure the asylum statistics and to expand their range to provide a broader picture of the asylum process, as can be seen from the published statistics.
A National Statistics Quality Review was conducted in 2006 on the “Control of Immigration: United Kingdom” publications (as is required by the National Statistics code of practice). This review and the Home Office’s implementation plan are available from the Library of the House and from the National Statistics website:
The Border and Immigration Agency is currently reviewing what asylum and migration statistics are produced and published, and the frequency of the publications. This review was signalled by the Home Secretary in the House of Commons on 9 July 2007.
Copies of these publications are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at:
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations she has received on granting amnesty for asylum seekers without a record of illegal activity who have been in the UK for over 10 years. [184948]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 6 February 2008]: The information requested is not collated and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Asylum: Afghanistan
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Afghan nationals were granted asylum in (a) 2007 and (b) each of the 10 previous years. [185045]
Mr. Byrne: Provisional information on Afghan nationals granted asylum in 2007 will be published in the Q4 2007 Asylum Bulletin on 26 February 2008. Information on asylum decisions is published in quarterly web pages and in the annual statistical bulletin Asylum Statistics United Kingdom. Copies of these publications and others relating to immigration to the UK are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
Asylum: Housing
Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) asylum applications originated and (b) asylum seekers were housed in Enfield in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2007. [182664]
Mr. Byrne:
Information on numbers of asylum applications relating to particular areas of the UK are unavailable. Statistics on the location of asylum seekers in the UK are linked to the available information on
those asylum seekers in receipt of support. Not all asylum seekers are eligible for asylum support.
The numbers of asylum seekers in receipt of support, broken down by Government office region and local authority, are available from December 2002 onwards. These statistics are published on a quarterly and annual basis. Copies of these publications are available from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at:
Further breakdowns, of those in receipt of support by parliamentary constituency, are also available from the Library of the House.
Beatrice Guessie
Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects the investigation into the treatment of Beatrice Guessie to be completed. [184188]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 4 February 2008]: I have been informed that the investigation into the treatment of Beatrice Guessie has now been completed. I am unable to comment until the findings have been published.
Biometrics
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Government have statutory powers to share information held on biometric immigration documents and identity cards issued to foreign nationals resident in the United Kingdom with (a) the national's own government, (b) other national governments other than the person's own and (c) international and non-governmental security-related organisations such as Interpol; and if she will make a statement. [184490]
Mr. Byrne: The Secretary of State has the power to share information with other countries and international organisations, provided this is done compatibly with the safeguards of the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Human Rights Act 1998. When the identity cards for foreign nationals are rolled out from this year, information provided can be shared, subject to these key safeguards.
The UK Borders Act 2007 enables the Secretary of State to make regulations requiring a foreign national to apply for a biometric document—the identity card for foreign nationals. By regulations made under section 8, the Secretary of State may use biometric information collected as part of the application for the card for any of the specified purposes including the prevention, investigation or prosecution of an offence or to protect national security.
Regulations under section 8 also preserve the ability of the Secretary of State to share biometric information relying on her Common Law powers.
Additionally, the Secretary of State will be able, as now, to share non-biometric information under her existing Common Law powers.
Where it is right to do so, the Secretary of State is able to share information with other governments and international organisations.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what statutory authority the Government have to hold the biometric details and other information relating to foreign nationals who have been issued with biometric information documents and identity cards in the United Kingdom when such nationals are no longer resident in the UK. [184492]
Mr. Byrne: The Secretary of State has the power, by regulations made under section 8 of the UK Borders Act 2007, to retain biometric information about foreign nationals who have applied for a biometric immigration document—an identity card for foreign nationals—even if they leave the UK. The Secretary of State may also retain biographical information about foreign nationals who are subject to immigration control after they have left the UK, under her Common Law powers, provided this is done compatibly with the safeguards of the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Human Rights Act 1998. It is essential to retain this information, for example, to identify those who may seek to abuse immigration control by seeking to return to the UK with a false identity.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether her Department plans to keep the (a) biometric and (b) other information held on biometric immigration documents and identity cards issued to foreign nationals after the individual is no longer resident in the United Kingdom. [184851]
Mr. Byrne: The Secretary of State will retain the biometric information provided by those who apply for an identity card for foreign nationals for as long as the Secretary of State thinks the information is likely to be of use for any of the purposes specified under section 8(2) of the UK Borders Act 2007. That will, in all likelihood, include retaining such information even after an individual has left the UK. Where a foreign national becomes a British citizen, the Secretary of State is required to destroy the biometric information in her possession unless it is to be retained and used for the purposes of another Act of Parliament.
The Secretary of State will be able, as now, to retain and use non-biometric biographical information provided by foreign nationals under her Common Law powers, provided that this is compatible with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Human Rights Act 1998. This is the case even where the foreign national leaves the UK.
Border and Immigration Agency: Databases
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate she has made of the error rate in each of the databases operated by the Border and Immigration Agency. [180257]
Mr. Byrne: Within the context of this question, ‘error rate’ is considered to relate to data accuracy within each database.
This information is not held centrally and cannot be provided from current information available.
However, there are controls in place to safeguard against certain errors and to help prevent them occurring. Where errors are identified, prompt and robust remedial action is implemented.
In order to prevent data being captured which are inaccurate or incomplete (often keystroke errors), it is conventional to provide data capture forms that have as few ‘free text’ fields as possible to limit the possible occasions of input data error.
All core systems within BIA are subject to quarterly data audits by our data bureau, a third party supplier, overseen by Home Office IT officials where appropriate corrective actions are implemented as needed. Using root cause analysis, such errors are identified, analysed and remedied.
Following advice from the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), this statement is included as supporting information:
written ministerial statement of 21 November 2007, Official Report, column 1179 notes that the review by the Cabinet Secretary and security experts is looking at procedures within Departments and agencies for the storage and use of data. A statement on Departments’ procedures will be made on completion of the review. An interim progress report on the review was published by the Cabinet Office through a written ministerial statement on 17 December 2007, Official Report, column 98WS. This included a recommendation regarding enhanced transparency with Parliament, and the public about action to safeguard information and the results of that action, through publication of results departmental annual reports and an annual report to Parliament.
Border and Immigration Agency
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what the reasons are for the time taken by the Borders and Immigration Agency to reply to the request made by the appellant in case number 15A/1510/2007, despatched by special delivery on 26 September 2007 (ZU 5490 3847 8GB) and delivered on 29 September 2007 (DL 8504 23545GB); and if she will make a statement; [180893]
(2) if she will make available a copy of the letter dated 27 August 1998 which was despatched from Beckett House to the appellant in case number ISA/15110/2007 to (a) the appellant and (b) the hon. Member for Thurrock before the hearing on 31st January; and if she will make a statement. [180894]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 24 January 2008]: I wrote to the hon. Member on 4 February 2008.
British Nationality
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many naturalised UK citizens have had their citizenship revoked since 1997. [185376]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 7 February 2008]: One naturalised British citizen has been deprived of that citizenship since 1997. In addition one person who was registered as a British citizen had his citizenship removed in 2006.
Burglar Alarms
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many burglar alarm activations were responded to by the Metropolitan Police in each of the last five years; and how many turned out to be false alarms. [176064]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested is not centrally available.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |