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18 Feb 2008 : Column 445W—continued
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will estimate the number of known illegal immigrants in each constituency. [181776]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 24 January 2008]: No government have ever been able to produce an accurate figure for the number of people who are in the country illegally. By its very nature it is impossible to quantify accurately and that remains the case. It is therefore not possible to provide an estimate for the number of immigrants known to be illegally resident in each constituency.
Exit controls were phased out from 1994. As part of the Government’s 10-point plan for delivery, by Christmas 2008 the majority of foreign nationals will be counted in and out of the country. This will build on the successes of our early testing of the e-Borders programme (Project Semaphore) which already covers over 30 million passenger movements and has led to 18,000 alerts and more than 1,500 arrests.
This is part of a sweeping programme of border protection which also includes the global roll-out of fingerprint visas, compulsory watch-list checks for all travellers from high-risk countries before they land in Britain and ID cards for foreign nationals.
Illegal Immigrants: Poole
Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what level of fine has been levied on individuals and companies for carrying illegal immigrants through the Port of Poole in the last five years; [184676]
(2) how many (a) individuals and (b) companies have been fined for carrying illegal immigrants through the port of Poole in the last five years. [184677]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 5 February 2008]: There have been 107 incidents involving drivers and transport companies for the carriage of clandestine entrants into the port of Poole over the last five years. Penalties were not imposed in all cases as the imposition of a penalty depends upon the measures taken by the company and the driver to prevent the carriage of clandestine entrants and the extent to which they comply with the Code of Practice.
The level of penalty imposed depends upon the measures taken by the owner, hirer and driver to
prevent the carriage of clandestine entrants and with regard to the Level of Penalty Code of Practice. Penalties range from nil to £2,000 per clandestine entrant.
Immigrants: National Insurance
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to her statement of 13 November 2007, Official Report, columns 531-3 and her answer to the hon. Member for Hertsmere, how many of the non-EEA nationals without the right to work to whom she referred have been issued with national insurance numbers. [165386]
Mr. Plaskitt: I have been asked to reply.
The information on national insurance numbers is not currently available.
The Security Industry Authority (SIA) is currently conducting an exercise to determine the right to work status of SIA licence holders. If, following completion of the legal appeals process, an SIA licence is revoked because the holder has failed to demonstrate the right to work in the UK, the SIA will provide DWP with the information they require. This will enable a check to be made upon whether the individuals concerned were issued with a valid national insurance number by DWP and under what circumstances.
The Department for Work and Pensions does not issue temporary national insurance numbers.
Immigration
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria she used to select the cases to be dealt with in the legacy exercise as referred to in the letter of 17 December 2007 from the Chief Executive of the Border and Immigration Agency to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee. [177364]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 10 January 2008]: The cases dealt with by the case resolution teams include unresolved asylum applications which are not being processed by case owners in our regional asylum teams, meaning that they are those lodged with the Agency before 5 March 2007, and many of them have been in our system for more than three years.
The common factor that defines incomplete asylum cases for the purpose of the case resolution directorate is that there was initially an asylum claim and, as yet, the case record has not been concluded( i.e. granted, removed or closed) either due to errors in recording information or there are outstanding actions that need to be taken. Our cases largely date from before the Asylum (Treatment of Claimants etc.) Act 2004. Case records are concluded when individuals have permission to stay; are removed from the UK, voluntarily or by force; or their records are otherwise closed (e.g. when data errors are resolved).
The priorities are those who may pose a risk to the public, those who can be more easily removed, those receiving support and those who may be granted leave. All cases will be dealt with on their individual merits.
Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 14 January 2008, Official Report, column 105W, on immigration, how many unresolved electronic and paper asylum records within the Border and Immigration Agency related to the London borough of Hillingdon; and how many and what proportion of such cases were concluded within the six month target period up to December 2007. [183522]
Mr. Byrne: The requested information is not collated centrally and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost through the examination of individual cases.
There is no requirement for unresolved asylum cases to be concluded within a specific target date due to the differing nature and complexity of the casework undertaken.
Immigration Officers: Airlines
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many airline liaison officers are employed by her Department; and in which locations they are stationed. [184171]
Mr. Byrne: The UK Border and Immigration Agency currently has 34 airline liaison officers (ALOs) posted to 32 locations listed as follows. These long-term deployments are supplemented by five ALOs who provide short-term additional coverage where required for operational reasons.
Amsterdam
Athens
Barcelona
Budapest
Copenhagen
Frankfurt
Lisbon
Madrid
Milan
Moscow
Paris
Rome
Colombo
Dhaka
Islamabad
Mumbai
New Delhi
Bangkok
Beijing
Hong Kong (two ALOs)
Kuala Lumpur
Shanghai
Amman
Bahrain
Dubai
Doha
Accra
Banjul
Cairo (two ALOs)
Lagos
Nairobi
Pretoria (covering Johannesburg)
Immigration Officers: Complaints
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of those making a complaint against staff involved in removals from the United Kingdom were interviewed in each of the last three years. [184947]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 6 February 2008]: Records have only been held centrally since October 2006 and relate to contractors’ staff who are involved in the detention and overseas escort process only. During this period, of the 51 complaints received, 37 complainants have been interviewed to date.
Immigration Officers: Crimes of Violence
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints of assault have been made against staff involved in immigration removals from the United Kingdom in each of the last three years. [184946]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 6 February 2008]: This information has only been held centrally since October 2006 and relates to contractors’ staff involved in the detention and overseas escort process only. During this period there have been 51 complaints of assault to date.
Immigration: Children
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to her written ministerial statement of 31 January 2008, Official Report, columns 28-29WS, on care for children in the immigration system, which local authorities will be part of the network of specialist local authorities looking after unaccompanied asylum seeking children. [184736]
Mr. Byrne: The location of the specialist network is currently being discussed with local authorities.
Immigration: Work Permits
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 21 January 2008, Official Report, column 1773W, on Immigration: Work Permits, how much her Department spent in relation to reviews where work permits have been refused and the applicant has sought a review of their case (a) in total, (b) on legal counsel and (c) on staffing, administration and accommodation costs in the last 12 months. [184424]
Mr. Byrne: The information requested is not available. The team responsible for the consideration of work permit reviews is part of a larger unit and expenditure relating specifically to work permit reviews is not separately recorded.
Immigration: Workers
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research she has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the effect on the recruitment of highly skilled chefs for Chinese restaurants in the UK of the points-based immigration system, with particular reference to the language test requirement; and if she will make a statement. [175498]
Mr. Byrne: The Government have not commissioned specific research to address the effect of the points-based system on the recruitment of highly skilled chefs in Chinese restaurants. Tier 2 of the points-based system is designed to ensure that employers can bring in the skilled migrants they need subject to meeting the relevant points criteria. In addition, the Migration Advisory Committee will produce a list of shortage occupations which will receive additional points and I have specifically asked the MAC to consider the ethnic cuisine sector when they draw up their list later this year.
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