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31 Mar 2008 : Column 605W—continued
Departmental Information Officers
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) press and (b) communications officers her Department employed in each of the last 10 years. [182518]
Mr. Byrne: Press and Communications Officers in the Home Office are employed at the Information and Senior Information Officer grades. The following table provides information on the numbers of staff employed or managed by the Communication Directorate during the past 10 years. Data on staff numbers in earlier years and the rest of the department are not held centrally and could be collected only at disproportionate cost.
| Press Officers | Communication Officers | Total | |
| (1 )Prison Service and Core Home Office Press Office merged. (2 )The total number of Press officers for 2006 onwards includes two part timers, who are employed as a job share. (3) Machinery of Government changes May 2007, 11 Press Officer posts transferred to the Ministry of Justice. The total also includes 5 Borders and Immigration Agency Regional Press Officers, whose posts were created in 2007. | |||
Departmental Official Cars
Mr. Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what make and model of car (a) she and (b) each Minister in her Department selected as their official ministerial car; and what criteria were applied when making the decision in each case. [192380]
Mr. Byrne: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport my hon. Friend the Member for Poplar and Canning Town (Jim Fitzpatrick) gave to him on 10 March 2008, Official Report, column 8W.
Departmental Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff work in her Department’s parliamentary branch; and what proportion of their time is spent on dealing with (a) Parliamentary Questions and (b) correspondence from hon. Members and Peers. [174965]
Mr. McNulty: There are seven staff in the Parliamentary Team, three of whom deal exclusively with parliamentary questions, two other post holders deal with parliamentary questions as part of their duties equating to approximately one post. Staff in the Parliamentary Team do not deal with Members or Peers correspondence.
Departmental Written Questions
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether it is her Department’s practice to attach to Written Answers hard copies of earlier replies cited in such Answers where these were previously given to hon. Members other than the hon. Member to whom the Answer is addressed. [167791]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 26 November 2007]: It is now the practice of the Department to provide hon. Members with hard copies of earlier replies referred to in answers where that reply was sent to another Member.
Deportation: Zimbabwe
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many Zimbabwean nationals in detention pending deportation were detained because they were found to be working illegally; [196538]
(2) how many Zimbabwean nationals were in detention centres pending deportation at the most recent date for which figures are available. [196539]
Mr. Byrne: National statistics on persons detained solely under Immigration Act powers as at the last Saturday of each quarter are available from the Library of the House and the Home Office's Research, Development and Statistics website at:
The decision to detain is made on a case by case basis and may be appropriate in one or more of the follow circumstances: to effect removal; to establish a person's identity and claim; where a person presents a risk of abscond or where the application is capable of being considered quickly.
Information specifically on the number of those who are detained for the purpose of removal from the UK is not centrally collated and could be obtained through examination of individual records only at disproportionate cost.
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects to be able to deport Zimbabwean nationals in detention centres pending deportation. [196537]
Mr. Byrne: On 29 November 2007 the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) promulgated the determination that Zimbabweans who have claimed asylum in the United Kingdom (UK) and who return to Zimbabwe, voluntarily or otherwise, are not at risk of mistreatment just because they have claimed asylum in the UK or otherwise been in the UK for an extended period. The Border and Immigration Agency will continue to defer enforced returns until the application for permission to appeal the AIT's determination is disposed of.
Domestic Violence: Ethnic Groups
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to publish the step-by-step guide for women in black and minority ethnic communities who are victims of domestic violence. [196765]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 25 March 2008]: The step-by-step guide for women in black and minority ethnic (BME) communities who are victims of domestic violence, which will provide practical advice on steps which victims can take to protect themselves and their children, will be published in spring this year and made accessible to local agencies and community groups.
We recognise that more work needs to be done, and are currently developing a national BME Working Group of Government, statutory agencies and the third sector which will promote a partnership approach to issues such as domestic and sexual violence, forced marriage, so called ‘honour’ crimes and female genital mutilation. The group will identify and develop actions and practical tools to assist victims and potential victims.
Drinking Water
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department spent on bottled water in the latest year for which figures are available. [189807]
Mr. Byrne: There are no central records of spend on bottled water held by the Home Department. However our facilities supplier estimates that the cost of bottled water included in official hospitality supplied by them at the Home Office HQ in 2 Marsham Street was £16,125 during 2006-07.
Genetics: Databases
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether people who voluntarily present themselves at police stations routinely have their details added to the national DNA database. [192073]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 6 March 2008]: The police may, as part of their investigation of a crime, ask a participant in an intelligence-led screen, a victim, a witness, or some other person who has had legitimate access to a crime scene, to give a DNA sample voluntarily so that their DNA profile can be eliminated from those profiles found at the crime scene. Whether a person presenting themselves voluntarily at a police station is asked for a volunteer DNA sample will depend on the circumstances of the case.
Identity Cards
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the findings of the Crosby Review of identity assurance in respect of the Government’s identity card proposals; and what further consideration she has given to the Government’s policy on identity cards in the light of the Review. [193699]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 13 March 2008]: On 6 March I published the National Identity Scheme Delivery Plan 2008. This reflects the priorities I have set out—national security, public protection; convenience for the individual and cost-effectiveness.
In developing this plan the Government have benefited greatly from Sir James Crosby’s review.
Sir James Crosby strongly supports a universal identity scheme, including a role for identity cards, and makes a strong case for speedy and consumer-led introduction. He also argues that wherever possible the Government should use the market to deliver aspects of the scheme and this is reflected in our delivery plan.
Government will need to retain control of the overall quality and security of the scheme, as well as the ultimate decision on whether or not to issue an official identity document to any given individual.
But the private sector will be better placed to provide services relating to enrolment, such as fingerprint biometrics and digitized photographs, and the distribution of completed identity documents.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to Table 4 in the Identity Cards Scheme Cost report published in November 2007, (1) if she will provide a break down, by main budget heading of the costs which make up the £2,964 million in spending common to passports and ID cards; [182358]
(2) if she will provide a breakdown by main budget heading of the costs which make up the £1,005 million in spending specific to identity cards; [182366]
(3) if she will provide a breakdown by main budget headings of the costs which make up the £1,461 million in spending specific to passports. [182368]
Jacqui Smith: Providing a further breakdown of common, passport specific and identity card specific cost estimates set out in the Cost Report is commercially sensitive information.
The Identity and Passport Service is currently engaging in discussions with suppliers for the procurement of services required to operate the National Identity Scheme.
Many of these services are aligned to the same level of cost information that would need to be provided to answer these questions.
Illegal Immigrants: Compensation
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many claims for compensation were made by illegal immigrants held in immigration removal centres in England and Wales in each year between 2000 and 2007; and how much compensation was paid. [195545]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not collected centrally and could be obtained through examination of individual records only at disproportionate cost.
Immigration
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers were recorded as having made a claim for asylum to a police constable in each of the last five years, broken down by police area. [196675]
Mr. Byrne: The information requested is not collated centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her latest estimate is of the number of failed asylum seekers who are resident in the UK. [196698]
Mr. Byrne: No Government have ever been able to produce an accurate figure for the number of people who are in the country illegally and this includes failed asylum seekers. By its very nature it is impossible to quantify accurately and that remains the case.
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.
Immigration Controls: Working Holidays
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of people holding working holiday visas who wish to continue their current employment under the proposed points-based system. [196676]
Mr. Byrne:
Details on the number of working holiday makers granted leave to enter the UK are published annually within the Control of Immigration statistics. No record is kept of the employment of WHM during their stay nor their future employment
intentions. Copies of the Immigration statistics are in the Library of both houses and can also be found at:
Any person wishing to transfer from the Working Holiday Scheme into the Points Based System will be expected to return home to make their application.
Immigration: Biometrics
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when foreign nationals issued with biometric immigration documents will have their details entered on to the National Identity Register; [182354]
(2) whether foreign nationals already in possession of a biometric visa will be required to apply for an identity card. [182367]
Jacqui Smith: The Border and Immigration Agency will begin issuing identity cards in the form of biometric immigration documents to foreign nationals subject to immigration control later this year and this could include foreign nationals who already have had fingerprints recorded for the issue of a visa.
Foreign nationals details will not be recorded on the National Identity Register until biometric immigration documents are designated under the ID Cards Act 2006. This will take place when the National Identity Register is established.
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