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18 Feb 2008 : Column 438W—continued
Drugs: Peterborough
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2007, Official Report, column 652W, on drugs: Peterborough, what methodology she will use to assess the delivery of the Prime Minister's recent pledge to deport foreign-born drug dealers; and if she will make a statement. [173220]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 12 December 200 7 ]: It has already been made clear that we will take deportation action against those foreign nationals who commit serious offences. The chief executive of the Border and Immigration Agency advised the Home Affairs Committee on 15 January that more than 4,200 foreign national prisoners were deported in 2007. The Home Secretary has also confirmed that this includes more than 1,100 drug offenders, more than 200 sex offenders and more than 20 killers.
Drugs: Smuggling
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent support (a) her Department and (b) police forces have offered to the Government of Colombia in combating the smuggling of illegal drugs across the Colombia-Venezuela border. [185492]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 7 February 2008]: Preventing the cross-border flow of illicit drugs from Colombia to neighbouring countries is a top priority for the UK’s international counter-narcotics efforts. The UK is investing in projects in Colombia and Venezuela to tackle the cross-border flow of illicit drugs. These projects have helped to build capacity among Colombian and Venezuelan law enforcement agencies and the judiciary. In addition, funding of a United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime project on cross-border co-operation has recently been approved.
We take a broad regional approach to tackling the trade in illicit drugs, through a mixture of political engagement, capacity building and law enforcement support in producer, transit and consumer countries. This includes working with Governments of other producer and transit countries in Latin America and countries along the main trafficking routes for drugs via the Caribbean and West Africa.
Emergency Calls
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the average cost of answering and responding to a call to 999; and if she will make a statement. [184138]
Mr. McNulty: The Home Office does not collate the cost of answering and responding to 999 calls and we do not hold data centrally on the duration of calls and level of response to each call to provide estimated costs.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost per call is to use the 0845 6070999 non-emergency police number. [186759]
Mr. McNulty: This information is not collected centrally.
Entry Clearances: Indian Subcontinent
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) spouses and (b) fiancés and fiancées were admitted to the UK in each of the last five years from (i) Pakistan, (ii) India, (iii) Bangladesh and (iv) Sri Lanka. [180623]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 21 January 2008]: The information requested is shown in the following table.
| Passengers given leave to enter the United Kingdom as spouses( 1) or fiancé(e)s by selected country of nationality: 2002 to 2006( 2) | |||||
| Country of nationality and category of entry | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006( 2) |
| (1) Includes settlement-on-arrival spouses (family reunion), and excludes civil and unmarried partners. (2) Provisional and subject to change. Note: Figures rounded to the nearest five. | |||||
Entry Clearances: Students
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many student visas were revoked in each of the last five years as a consequence of (a) failure to register with the relevant institution at the beginning of the academic year and (b) failure to attend classes. [180676]
Mr. Byrne: The information requested could be obtained only by the detailed examination of individual case records at disproportionate cost.
Extradition: USA
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many requests for extradition under the Extradition Act 2003 have been received from public authorities in the United States; what offences those the United States sought to extradite were suspected of; how many such requests have been granted; and how many of those extradited have subsequently been convicted of the offence for which they were extradited. [185999]
Meg Hillier: The purpose of extradition is to ensure that those accused—or already convicted—of a crime do not avoid justice by leaving the country in which the offence or alleged offence took place. The available information in the following table does not differentiate between accused and convicted cases, but the great majority of requests for extradition involve those accused of offences. All extradition requests, from the US or any other country, are made by public authorities.
We do not hold information about whether those extradited have subsequently been convicted of the alleged offence for which they were extradited. The involvement of the Home Office extradition section finishes when the extradition case is concluded, either by the person being extradited to the US or by the extradition request being dismissed. The Home Office has no statutory role in the monitoring of cases post extradition.
| Number of requests received | Offence | Number surrendered( 1) | |
| (1) Surrender will not necessarily take place in the same year in which extradition was requested. | |||
Fair Trade Initiatives
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her Department's policy is on the use of fair trade goods (a) in staff catering facilities and (b) at official departmental functions and meetings; and if she will make a statement. [183873]
Mr. Byrne: Although there are no mandatory requirements in place for the procurement of fair trade products by Government Departments it is Home Office policy to provide fairtrade tea and coffee at official meetings in some of its key buildings. In addition the Home Office encourages suppliers to offer fair trade products such as chocolate, biscuits and orange juice in staff restaurants and coffee shops.
Foreign Workers
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether foreign nationals working as diplomats and in other jobs at foreign embassies, high commissions, consulates and other diplomatic posts will be required to hold biometric information documents and identity cards; and if she will make a statement. [184491]
Mr. Byrne: Our intention is that the new identity cards for foreign nationals will eventually be issued to all foreign nationals who are subject to immigration control. However, those working as diplomats and in posts at foreign embassies, high commissions, consulates and other diplomatic posts which render them exempt from immigration control, will not be required either to provide biometric information or to apply for an identity card for foreign nationals.
I do not intend to make a statement at this stage.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of foreign senior care workers who will not meet the minimum salary requirements to continue employment under the Border and Immigration Agency guidelines. [184738]
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