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1 Apr 2008 : Column 756W—continued
Departmental Questions
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of questions tabled for answer on a named day to her Department received a substantive answer on the day due in the last year for which figures are available. [162615]
Mr. McNulty: Details of how many and what proportion of named day parliamentary questions the Home Office answered since 2006-07 is given in the following table:
Information prior to 2006-07 is not held in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Written Questions
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many and what proportion of written parliamentary questions her Department did not answer on the grounds of disproportionate cost, in each of the last five years; [193169]
(2) what proportion of named day written parliamentary questions her Department answered on the date named in the latest period for which figures are available; [193170]
(3) what the average length of time taken for her Department to answer written parliamentary questions was in the latest period for which figures are available; [193171]
(4) how many written parliamentary questions to her Department were answered within (a) one, (b) two,
(c) three, (d) four, (e) five and (f) six months in each of the last five years. [193172]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 12 March 2008]: Information on written parliamentary questions answered on grounds of disproportionate costs is not held centrally.
Information on the number of named day parliamentary questions answered on the date named since the 2006-07 session is given in the following table:
| Session | Named d ay questions received | Answere d substantively on the named day( 1) | Proportion answered substantively on the named day (percentage) |
| (1) All questions not answered substantively on the named day receive a holding answer. (2 )Data based on questions answered up to 12 March 2008 | |||
The average length of time taken for the Department to answer written parliamentary questions is not held centrally.
The number of parliamentary questions answered within one to six months since 2006-07 is given in the following table:
| Session | ||||
| 2006-07( 1) | 2007-08( 2) | |||
| Number of written parliamentary questions answered in months | Number | Percentage | Number | P ercentage |
| (1) Based on 5,964 questions answered in 2006-7. (2 )Data based on 1,874 questions answered in 2007-08 to 12 March 2008. | ||||
Information prior to 2006-07 is not held centrally in the format requested.
Dorset Police Authority: Olympic Games 2012
Mr. Walter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding is being made available to Dorset Police Authority in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2008-09, (c) 2009-10, (d) 2010-11 and (e) 2011-12 for security for the 2010 and 2011 Sailing World Championships and the 2012 Olympic Games and their preparatory events. [197004]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 27 March 2008]: The Home Office has made available £416,311 in 2007-08 to enable Dorset police to plan and prepare for security at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012. We are in discussion with Dorset police authority about funding for the remaining years. The Home Office has not made any additional funding available to Dorset police for the staging of the Sailing World Championships.
Mr. Walter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions she has had with the Chief Constable of Dorset police on the security requirements for the Olympic sailing events in Dorset up to and including 2012. [197005]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 27 March 2008]: The Home Secretary is the Minister accountable for the delivery of the wider security for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games. The security requirements for the events are part of the security strategy and operational planning which is being led by the multi-agency Olympic Security Directorate, including Dorset Police. The Director of Olympic Safety and Security in the Home Office and the Olympic Security Directorate are in discussion with Dorset police about their requirements.
Emergency Calls: Hoaxes and False Alarms
Mr. Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of emergency calls to the police were classified as prank calls in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [197266]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested is not centrally collected.
EU Immigration
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding was received by the UK in each year to date from the (a) European Refugee Fund, (b) External Borders Fund, (c) Integration Fund and (d) European Return Fund as part of the EU General Programme, Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows; and how much is expected to be received in each year up to 2013. [195787]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 20 March 2008]: The amount allocated to the UK for these funds in 2007 and 2008 is publicly available in the Committee General Programme Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows dated 20 July 2007.
The 2009-13 allocations are scheduled for announcement by the European Commission no later than 1 July of every preceding year.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many additional illegally residing foreign nationals she expects to be able to return to their home countries as a result of the European Return Fund in each year between 2008 and 2013. [195790]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 20 March 2008]: No firm estimates are available at this time as a result of the newly established European Return Fund.
Human Trafficking: Arrests
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been (a) arrested and (b) convicted of human trafficking offences as a result of operations by the Serious and Organised Crime Agency. [195541]
Jacqui Smith: The Serious Organised Crime Agency records data on organised immigration crime, including people trafficking and human smuggling. In the first six months of 2007-08, there were 55 arrests and 17 convictions in operations where organised immigration crime was the main threat.
In its 2006-07 annual report, SOCA reported 749 arrests flowing from SOCA casework in the United Kingdom. Of these, 128 were in operations where organised immigration crime was the main threat.
In its 2006-07 annual report, SOCA reported 271 convictions in UK courts. Of these, 31 were in operations where organised immigration crime was the main threat.
Immigration: EC Law
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what submissions the UK has made on the adoption of EC Decision No 575/2007/EC establishing the European Return Fund; and if she will make a statement. [196310]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 25 March 2008]: In line with other EU member states under the jurisdiction of the EU Commission’s Common Committee Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows, the UK submitted the appropriate Explanatory Memorandum under references 8690/05 and 9930/06.
Metropolitan Police: Recruitment
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were recruited to the Metropolitan Police in each year since 1997; and what proportion of them were recruited directly from other police forces in each of those years. [195616]
Mr. McNulty: The available data for the numbers of police officer standard direct recruits and police officer transfers to the Metropolitan Police, have been collected centrally from 2002-03 onwards and are given in the following table.
| Police officer standard direct recruits and transfers (FTE)( 1) for Metropolitan Police from 2002-03 to 2006-07 | ||
| Police standard direct recruits | Police transfers( 2) | |
| (1) Full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. (2) Between 2002-03 and 2006-07 1,594 police officers transferred to other forces from the Metropolitan Police. (3) Excludes Quarter 1, data are not available. | ||
Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many officers were recruited into the Metropolitan Police from the London Borough of Enfield in each of the last 10 years. [196844]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested is collected at the police force level only.
The deployment of police officers within the force is an operational matter for the Metropolitan Police Commissioner and the Metropolitan Police Authority.
Personation: Crime Prevention
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government have taken to reduce the number of offences related to identity theft since 1997. [197681]
Meg Hillier: We are involved in a variety of activity to reduce the incidence of offences related to identity theft. A public-private sector work programme, the Identity Fraud Steering Committee (IFSC), was set up in 2003 to co-ordinate this work.
We have 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.
Legislation has also been strengthened. 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.
More powers to share data to combat fraud have been enacted in the Serious Crime Act 2007, and most recently the Disclosure of Death Registration Information Scheme, under the Police and Justice Act 2006, was launched on 16 January 2008.
We have introduced systems to confirm the validity of UK passports presented to other organisations and interviews for first time passport applicants over 16-years-old now take place to verify the identity of individuals.
The IFSC produce a leaflet and a website www. identitytheft.org.uk to increase public awareness of the problem. The material advises on how to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of identity fraud, warning signs to look out for, and what someone should do if they do fall victim.
On 9 October 2007 the Attorney-General announced that funding had been approved for the proposals arising from the Government's Fraud Review. This includes the development of a National Fraud Strategic Authority, together with a National Fraud Reporting Centre, the establishment of the City of London Police as the lead force on fraud, and proposals for measurement of fraud. These measures will help to tackle fraud in general and increase our understanding of the nature and extent of the problem.
Finally, our plans for a National Identity Scheme will provide people with a highly secure means of protecting their identity and help citizens to prove their identities easily, quickly and with vastly improved security.
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