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27 Mar 2008 : Column 437W—continued
Immigration: Deportation
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 17 March 2008, Official Report, columns 803-4W, on immigration: deportation, what the definition is of serious criminality for the purposes of prioritisation of consideration of deportation under the legacy exercise; what guidance is given to caseworkers relating to this; whether any record is kept of how many such cases result in deportation; and what approach is taken in respect of applicants whose criminality falls outside the definition of serious criminality. [196177]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 25 March 2008]: The definition of serious criminality used within the Border and Immigration Agency is set out in published guidance. Cases which fall within that definition are prioritised in the legacy exercise.
All decisions on legacy cases are made on a case by case basis by caseworkers within the Case Resolution Directorate. The Border and Immigration Agency's website provides details of policy and guidance that staff follow when considering all cases.
In her letter of 17 December 2007 to the Home Affairs Select Committee, Lin Homer, chief executive of the Border and Immigration Agency, stated that of the 52,000 older asylum cases that had been concluded, about 16,000 led to removals, some of which would be deportations. A detailed breakdown of the reasons for these removals could only be obtained by examination of individual case records at a disproportionate cost.
The Border and Immigration Agency is committed to the removal of foreign criminals who commit a serious crime in this country. We have repeatedly said we will target the most dangerous first. Increasingly we are deporting those who have received shorter sentences.
Immigration: Fees and Charges
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate her Department has made of the number of people entitled to apply for indefinite leave to remain under the 14-year residence rule who are not permitted to work or claim benefits until their status is regularised and cannot afford the fee. [195556]
Mr. Byrne: This information is not known. An estimate of this type would be extremely difficult to arrive at, resource intensive and unlikely to be accurate given the nature of this type of application.
Members: Correspondence
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she will answer Question 168341, tabled by the hon. Member for Mid Sussex on 21 November 2007, on terrorist suspects and asylum. [185960]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 18 February 2008]: I replied to the hon. Member on 14 March 2008, Official Report, column 681W.
Migrants: English Language
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research she has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into the proficiency in English of workers obtaining leave to enter under (i) the highly skilled migrants scheme and (ii) the work permit scheme; and what assessment she has made of the proficiency in English of those who have obtained leave to enter under these schemes. [162956]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 12 November 2007]: People coming here under the highly skilled migrant programme (HSMP) have been obliged to meet an English language requirement since November 2006. Such migrants have to prove that they have either:
passed an English language test equivalent to level 6 (competent user) on the International English Language Testing System’s scale; or
Obtained a bachelor’s degree or equivalent that was taught in English.
Passports: Personation
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps were taken to counter identity fraud by the UK Passport Service in each of the last five years; what the cost of these was in each year; what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of these steps; and if she will make a statement. [195094]
Meg Hillier: The Identity and Passport Service, and prior to 1 April 2006, the UK Passport Service, has introduced a range of measures that help to counter identity fraud. These include carrying out identity checks, investigating suspected identity fraud cases, implementing systems and processes to detect and prevent fraudulent applications for UK passports, systems to confirm the validity of UK passports presented to other organisations and the introduction of interviews for first time passport applicants over 16-years-old. As part of research into the cost of identity fraud to the UK economy published in February 2006, The UK Passport Service calculated the cost of measures to counter identity fraud when processing applications for UK passports issued in the UK at £62.8 million.
In addition, the Identity Fraud Steering Committee (IFSC), chaired by the Identity and Passport Service, has since 2003 been leading a cross public-private sector work programme to tackle identity fraud. There have been a number of successes and costs are given where available. Tougher criminal penalties have been introduced for driving licence and passport offences, alongside offences in the Identity Cards Act 2006 to target those who possess and use false identity documents and genuine documents belonging to someone else.
The IFSC has also led on introducing more powers to share data to combat fraud, and most recently the Disclosure of Death Registration Information Scheme was launched on 16 January 2008.
We have worked extensively to raise public awareness of identity fraud. A leaflet and the website:
provide a quick and easy guide on things to look out for that indicate that a person may be at risk of becoming a victim of identity theft or fraud, or that they are already a victim. Over 13 million leaflets are in circulation and the website receives an average of 16,000 visits per month. Leaflets are printed by a range of partners on the IFSC, as well as banks and other organisations.
Costs associated with the website are shared across IFSC members. The total cost to Identity and Passport Service in 2007-08 of the leaflet, poster and website is
£12,000. In 2006-07 Identity and Passport Service spent £5,500 on printing leaflets. In 2005-06 the Home Office spent £25,000 on identity fraud awareness material.
We have also sought to ensure better co-ordination in prosecuting fraudsters. This has involved the establishment of a network of Single Points of Contact in all police forces and a range of Government Departments and agencies dealing with identity fraud investigations and prosecutions.
Public Order: Young People
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the police’s powers to disperse groups of youths; and what plans she has to extend those powers. [193459]
Mr. Coaker: Dispersal orders are one of a number of measures to tackle antisocial behaviour. They have succeeded in tackling underage drinking, joyriding, noise nuisance, the antisocial use of fireworks and the harassment and intimidation of residents. They are not intended to be used in isolation, but should form part of a tiered and integrated response to tackling crime and disorder and antisocial behaviour in local areas. This includes work by Youth Offending Teams to prevent young people getting involved in offending and antisocial behaviour. There are no plans to extend dispersal powers.
While no assessment has been made of the efficacy of dispersal orders on their own, a study and report by the National Audit Office (‘Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour’, HC 99 Session 2006-07, 7 December 2006) confirmed that a tiered approach to tackling antisocial behaviour is highly effective. This is also borne out by the fact that perceptions of antisocial behaviour have fallen by 4 percentage points from the baseline of 21 per cent. in 2002-03 to 17 per cent. in 2005-06.
Rape: Prosecutions
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the next quarterly report to the National Criminal Justice Board on local progress in investigating and prosecuting rape will be issued; and if she will publish (a) this report and (b) all future reports from the board. [194283]
Mr. Coaker: The Rape Performance Group will report to the National Criminal Justice Board on a quarterly basis, but the precise arrangements for this have yet to be agreed. There are no plans to publish a quarterly report on the performance of police forces and CPS—the Crown Prosecution Service—areas on the investigation and prosecution of rape cases.
Travel Restrictions: Football
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations she has received on the enforcement of prohibitions upon certain individuals against travel to and attendance at international football matches; what discussions she has had on the matter with her counterpart in the Scottish Executive; and if she will make a statement. [196282]
Mr. Coaker: Individuals subject to football banning orders imposed in England and Wales are required by the Football Banning Orders Authority to report to a designated police station at the beginning of the control period for all matches and tournaments played outside England and Wales and thereafter on match days. Failure to comply with these instructions is a criminal offence punishable by a custodial sentence of up to six months and/or £5,000 fine and the imposition of a further football banning order.
There is close co-operation between the Home Office and Scottish Executive, and between police forces on both sides of the border to ensure that different legislative arrangements across the UK do not lead to evasion of the controls. The requirement that banned individuals report to their designated police station at least five days prior to a relevant match or tournament ensures local police have sufficient time to take enforcement action against any individual who fails to comply with reporting instructions.
Vandalism: Staffordshire
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many arrests there were for vandalism in (a) Tamworth constituency and (b) Staffordshire in each year since 2000. [195445]
Mr. Coaker: The arrests collection undertaken by the Ministry of Justice provides data on persons arrested for recorded crime (notifiable offences), by Police Force area, age group, gender, ethnicity, and main offence group. Hence data are not available at parliamentary constituency level and cases involving vandalism are not identified by the collection. Information is given in the following table for Staffordshire police force area for the number of persons arrested for offences within the main offence group “criminal damage”:
| Table 1: N umber of persons arrested for recorded crime (notifiable offences) of Criminal Damage( 1) in Staffordshire police force area, by period | |
| Total | |
| n/a = Not available. (1) Includes indictable offences for criminal damage and summary offences of criminal damage, 35,000 or less. Note: Every effort is made to ensure that 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 police forces. 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. | |
Written Questions: Government Responses
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she will answer Question 176720, tabled by the hon. Member for Shipley on 18 December 2007, on Project Semaphore. [188667]
Mr. Byrne: I replied to the hon. Member on 5 March 2008, Official Report, column 2669W.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects to reply to the Question tabled on 4 February 2008, by the hon. Member for Eddisbury, on Wikipedia, (185527). [195203]
Mr. Byrne: I replied to the hon. Member on 17 March 2008, Official Report, column 790W.
International Development
Departmental Sustainable Development
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when his Department plans to publish its sustainable operations policy statement. [195878]
Mr. Thomas: The Department for International Development (DFID) has published its Environmental Operations Policy which is available on the DFID website at:
This sets out the Department’s approach to managing the Estate’s operational and support activities in line with the Government’s objectives on Sustainable Development. The DFID Sustainable Development Action Plan has also been published and is available at:
This explains DFID’s approach to sustainable development, the commitments made in the UK Sustainable Development Strategy, and plans for taking them forward.
DFID’s performance against Sustainable Development in Government targets is reported annually by the Sustainable Development Commission, and the latest (2007) report records the continuing improvement in DFID’s environmental performance.
Developing Countries: Overseas Aid
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of UK aid in reducing poverty in the developing world. [196696]
Mr. Thomas: The Government are committed to ensuring that UK aid is used effectively to make a difference to the lives of the world’s poorest people. UK aid helps lift three million people permanently out of poverty every year. The recent OECD-DAC baseline survey also shows that the Department for International Development (DFID) has either met or is on track to meet all of the 2010 targets contained in the Paris Declaration on aid effectiveness.
Kenya: Overseas Aid
Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what (a) development and (b) humanitarian aid his Department has provided to Kenya via (i) bilateral programmes, (ii) multi-lateral agencies and (iii) non-governmental organisations in the last five years. [195633]
Gillian Merron: The Department for International Development (DFID) has provided the following support to Kenya over the last five years.
| Table 1: DFID Bilateral assistance to Kenya, 2002-03 to 2006-07 | |||
| £000 | |||
| Total humanitarian assistance to Kenya | Total DFID bilateral assistance to Kenya (excl. humanitarian assistance) | Total DFID bilateral assistance to Kenya | |
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