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18 Mar 2008 : Column 933W—continued
Departmental Public Relations
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent by her Department on external media relations during the 12 months to December 2007. [185290]
Jacqui Smith: Media relations for the whole Department and agencies are handled by the Home Office based press office and the Borders and Immigration Agency regional network of five press officers. The total cost of providing these services for the 12 months to December 2007 was £2,120,357(1)
(1 )Includes the costs of the functions now attributable to MOJ until their transfer to the new Department in May 2007.
Entry Clearances
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many visa cases were personally considered by a Minister in her Department in 2007; [181382]
(2) what percentage of visa cases which were considered by Ministers in her Department as a result of the original decision by the Border and Immigration Agency was overturned in 2007; and if she will make a statement; [181383]
(3) in what circumstances Ministers in her Department consider overturning a decision by the Border and Immigration Agency in a visa case; and if she will make a statement. [181404]
Mr. Byrne: I refer to Lin Homer’s letter to the Home Affairs Committee on 18 February 2008 which addresses the issue of ministerial consideration of individual cases.
The specific information requested in (181382) and (181383) could be obtained by the detailed examination of individual case records only at disproportionate cost.
Human Trafficking: Children
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 20 February 2008, Official Report, column 793W, on human trafficking: children, who the Metropolitan Police Service Gold Commander for Operation Caddy was. [190840]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 29 February 2008]: This is an operational matter for the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.
Immigration: Gurkhas
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what rules govern applications for (a) leave to remain and (b) British citizenship by Gurkha soldiers who completed their service (i) after and (ii) before 1 July 1997; and if she will make a statement. [193711]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 13 March 2008]: The rules applying to applications for leave to remain in the United Kingdom by former Gurkhas who completed their service on or after 1 July 1997 are set out in paragraphs 276E to 276K of the Immigration Rules. This information is contained on the Border and Immigration Agency website at:
Former Gurkhas who are unable to fulfil the requirements of the Immigration Rules, including those who were discharged from service before 1 July 1997, may benefit from concessionary arrangements on a case by case basis where there are strong reasons why settlement in the UK is appropriate. Guidance for dealing with these cases is contained in Immigration Directorate Instructions, chapter 15, section 2A, at:
Gurkha soldiers who have completed their service in the British Army and wish to apply for British citizenship must make a successful application for naturalisation under section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981. There is no distinction between those who enlisted before or after 1 July 1997.
Policy requirements and procedures for handling nationality applications are available for viewing on the Border and Immigration Agency website at:
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for (a) leave to remain and (b) British citizenship by Ghurkha soldiers who completed their service (i) after and (ii) before 1 July 1997 are being processed by her Department. [193712]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 13 March 2008]: There are 61 applications for naturalisation as a British citizen currently outstanding where Nepal is given as the place of birth. Without analysing each file and making further inquiries where necessary it is not possible to establish how many of these involve former Ghurkhas and if so, whether they were discharged before, on or after 1 July 1997.
This information has been derived from local management information and is the best available. It is not a National Statistic. As such it should be treated as provisional and therefore subject to change.
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for (a) leave to remain and (b) British citizenship by Gurkha soldiers who completed their service (i) after and (ii) before 1st July 1997 were (A) received and (B) granted in each year since 1997. [193713]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 13 March 2008]: The new immigration rules enabling Gurkhas discharged on or after 1 July 1997 to apply for settlement became effective on 25 October 2004. Immigration data for applications and grants of indefinite leave to remain relating to former Gurkhas prior to 2004 are not available. Nor is it possible to provide a breakdown between those who retired before 1 July 1997 and those who retired on or after this date. The data for applications received and granted for the years 2004 to present are as follows:
| Granted | Received | |
This information has been derived from local management information and is not a National Statistic. As such it should be treated as provisional and therefore subject to change.
The elevated figures for 2005 and 2006 reflect the higher number of cases dealt with under the transitional arrangements. Further details of the transitional arrangements are contained in the Immigration Directorate Instructions, chapter 15, section 2A, available for viewing on the Border and Immigration website at:
Data on applications and grants of citizenship to former Gurkhas cannot be identified electronically and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Individual Support Orders
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how much has been spent by her Department to encourage greater use of individual support orders; [193458]
(2) what proportion of antisocial behaviour orders had an individual support order attached in the most recent period for which figures are available. [193462]
Mr. Coaker: We made £500,000 available to the Youth Justice Board (YJB) in June 2005 to encourage Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) to apply to the courts for individual support orders when making an application for an antisocial behaviour order (ASBO) on a young person aged 10 to 17. Funding from 2006 onwards was made available through the £45 million uplift given to the Youth Justice Board as part of their youth prevention budget. In 2007-08 the Youth Justice Board invested £31.2 million in grants to Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) to run a range of targeted prevention programmes. This investment supports over 400 evidence-based programmes across England and Wales. All of these programmes are available to support young people involved in antisocial behaviour and crime in order to reduce their involvement, as part of a tiered approach that involves ISOs where appropriate.
Up until 31 December 2005, 5 per cent. ISOs were attached to ASBOs on young people in 5 per cent. of cases. New data are due to be published shortly which are expected to show the results of the joint Home Office, Youth Justice Board and Her Majesty's Court Service to increase awareness of ISOs.
Migration
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether EEA nationals fall within the scope of the fund to manage the transitional impact of migration proposed in the Path to Citizenship Green Paper; and if she will make a statement. [193930]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 13 March 2008]: The Green Paper “The Path to Citizenship” published on 20 February 2008 proposes the creation of a new fund to help alleviate the transitional pressures we know migration can bring. The fund, if created, will allow us to release limited amounts of money quickly and responsively.
Money for the fund will be raised through increases to certain fees for immigration applications. Under European law, EEA nationals exercising or seeking to exercise treaty rights in the UK are not subject to these fees. We will work closely across Government to develop a clear and transparent methodology for the appropriate surcharge with the aim of the fund operating from April 2009.
Migration: Finance
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how much she expects her Department to raise for the fund to manage the transitional impact of migration announced in the Path to Citizenship Green Paper in each of the last five years of its operation; how these figures were calculated; and if she will make a statement; [193481]
(2) what estimate she has made of the operating costs of the fund to manage the transitional impact of migration announced in the Path to Citizenship Green Paper in each of the first five years of its operation; [193482]
(3) what estimate she has made of the average contribution to be to the fund to manage the transitional impact of migration announced in the Path to Citizenship Green Paper by each new migrant, broken down by number of dependants. [193483]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 11 March 2008]: ‘The Path to Citizenship’ published on 20 February 2008, outlines the Government's plans for a third phase of migration reform. That is reform of the path to British citizenship to reinforce our shared values. The consultation concludes on 14 May 2008.
One of the proposals is to create a new fund to manage the transitional impact of migration, to which we will ask newcomers to contribute extra in payments to the public purse to help alleviate the transitional pressures we know migration can bring. The fund will allow us to release limited amounts of money quickly and responsively.
We would aim to raise tens of millions of pounds with the fund operating from April 2009. We will work closely across Government to develop a clear and transparent methodology for the appropriate surcharge, including who should pay them, once the consultation has closed.
National High Tech Crime Unit: Manpower
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were employed in the National High Tech Crime Unit in 2005; and how many people are employed in the e-crime unit in the Serious and Organised Crime Agency. [187274]
Jacqui Smith:
The number of people employed in the National High Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) varied
from time to time but in July 2005 there were 54 persons employed in the NHTCU.
The budgeted capacity of the SOCA e-crime unit is 58 posts. On 25 January 2008 51 of these posts were filled.
National Retail Crime Steering Group
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who the members of the National Retail Crime Steering Group are; and what its terms of reference are. [193456]
Mr. Coaker: The National Retail Crime Steering Group is chaired by myself. The members are: the British Retail Consortium, Tesco, the John Lewis Partnership, the Co-op, the Federation of Small Businesses, the Association of Convenience Stores, the Action Against Business Crime Group, the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers and the Home Office Business Crime Team.
The terms of reference for the group are as follows:
National Retail Crime Reduction Strategy focusing on reducing retail crime. It will improve the co-ordination and delivery of retail crime reduction initiatives by all stakeholders.
1. Assess and improve the tools available to measure the scale of retail crime nationally, and encourage Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships to evaluate retail crime reduction initiatives locally.
2. Identify and document initiatives currently being undertaken by Government, police, local business crime reduction partnerships and retailers to combat business crime.
3. Identify and promote good practice for retailers to adopt in working with Government, police and local partnerships, to reduce retail crime and the underlying causes of crime.
4. Assess and improve local engagement between retailers and neighbourhood police, taking into account local crime reduction plans.
5. Investigate the opportunities for improving retailer involvement in Home Office and Ministry of Justice policy development.
National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much money has been seized by the National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit since the Serious Organised Crime Agency assumed responsibility for the unit in April 2006. [192832]
Jacqui Smith: The National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit (NTFIU) is not, nor has ever been, under the responsibility of the Serious Organised Crime Agency. The NTFIU is part of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorist Command.
Since April 2006 the NTFIU have seized £1,344,271 in cash.
Offensive Weapons: Football
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many football spectators were charged with possession of weapons at matches in each of the last five years for which records are available. [193637]
Mr. Coaker: The following table provides details of the number of individuals charged, cautioned and convicted for possession of an offensive weapon in connection with regulated football matches in England and Wales.
| Number of individuals charged, cautioned and convicted for possession of an offensive weapon in connection with regulated football matches in England and Wales | |||
| Football season | Charged | Convicted | Cautioned |
| (1) A number of prosecutions for offences committed during season 2006-07 are currently in the Criminal Justice System. Source: Football Banning Orders Authority | |||
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