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23 Apr 2008 : Column 2155W—continued
Genetics: Databases
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people living in Romford were registered on the national DNA database at the most recent date for which figures are available. [186911]
Meg Hillier: It is not possible to provide figures for the number of people registered on the National DNA Database (NDNAD) who are resident in a particular area, as the NDNAD does not hold address details.
Heathrow Airport: Security
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason it was decided to take fingerprint impressions from domestic transfer passengers at Heathrow airport; and what use was to be made of the information gathered. [199173]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 21 April 2008]: In the building of Terminal 5 at Heathrow, the British Airports Authority (BAA) took the decision to introduce a Common Departure Lounge (CDL). BAA was required to ensure that any immigration risks arising from the mixing of domestic and international passengers were mitigated.
It is the intention that the admission of domestic passengers into the lounge will be controlled by means of biometric fingerprint enrolment together with a digital photograph, the details of which will then be validated at boarding. This system will ensure that only those individuals entitled to travel within the UK as a domestic passenger can do so. However, to ensure that the proposed system is fully validated by the Information Commissioner, it has been agreed that the system will operate using only digital photography until such validation is given.
BAA has undertaken that all data obtained will immediately be encrypted and destroyed within 24 hours in accordance with the Data Protection Act. They have confirmed that data stored do not include any personal details and are not cross referenced with any other database or organisation.
Illegal Immigrants: China
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Chinese people have been arrested during raids carried out under the stop illegal working campaign; how many of those were found to be (a) illegal workers and (b) employers of illegal workers; and, of those found to be illegal workers, how many have been (i) deported, (ii) detained and (iii) released on bail. [198529]
Mr. Byrne: From 14 January 2008 to 31 March 122 Chinese nationals were arrested following illegal working operations, all of whom were found to be working illegally. We do not record the nationality of employers of illegal workers arrested. This information is derived from provisional local management information which may be subject to change.
Information relating to questions (i) (ii) (iii) could be obtained only by the detailed examination of individual records at disproportionate cost.
Illegal Immigrants: Employment
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many of the raids conducted under the stop illegal working campaign were the illegal workers discovered of predominantly (a) Chinese, (b) Indian, (c) Pakistani and (d) Malaysian nationality. [198531]
Mr. Byrne: This information is not recorded.
Immigrants: Personal Records
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what data her Department collects from landing cards completed by migrants arriving in the UK; and if she will make a statement. [199714]
Mr. Byrne: All passengers who are citizens of countries outside of the European Economic Area and who arrive in the United Kingdom from outside of the Common Travel Area are required to complete their name, date of birth, nationality, gender, address in the United Kingdom and signature on a landing card.
In cases where a passenger has been granted leave to enter, immigration officers will place any conditions of entry and an admission category on the landing card. In certain circumstances immigration officers will make notes on the reverse of the landing card about a passenger’s intentions and duration of stay and will record details of their travel document. In cases such as these, landing cards are copied and retained on microfiche.
Immigration: Detainees
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance is issued to police forces on the holding of immigration detainees in police cells; and if she will place in the Library a copy of such guidance. [198501]
Mr. Byrne: The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) applies to all persons detained in police custody, including those detained under immigration legislation. Copies of PACE are available in the Library.
No additional guidance specifically for immigration detainees has been issued.
Immigration: Fees and Charges
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will amend the Fees Regulations for applications for indefinite leave to remain to allow for payment by instalments in exceptional circumstances. [199939]
Mr. Byrne: We do not have any plans to make changes to the fee regulations to allow payment by instalments.
Immigration: Forced Marriage
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what data her Department collects in respect of immigration applications arising from forced marriage. [198798]
Meg Munn: I have been asked to reply.
The joint Foreign and Commonwealth Office/Home Office Forced Marriage Unit records a variety of data on cases they handle where the sponsor of an immigration application informs the unit that they have been forced into marriage and are reluctantly sponsoring the application. Since 2006 the Forced Marriage Unit has handled the following numbers of reluctant sponsor cases:
2006: 92 cases (69 Pakistan, 12 India, 10 Bangladesh, 1 Sudan);
2007: 95 cases (63 Pakistan, 15 Bangladesh, 11 India, 1 United Arab Emirates, 1 Albania, 2 Yemen, 1 Jordan, 1 Turkey); and
2008: (to date) - 67 cases (63 Pakistan, 3 Bangladesh, 1 India).
Immigration: Forms
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what forms individuals seeking (a) indefinite leave to remain, (b) asylum, (c) visa entry to the UK and (d) UK citizenship are required by her Department to complete. [198993]
Mr. Byrne: The forms to be completed for each of the purposes requested are set out in the following table:
Further information as to which form should be used for a particular purpose can be found on the UK Border Agency website or, in the case of visa entry to the UK, is available from British Diplomatic posts abroad.
Karian and Box
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the value was of each contract awarded by her Department to Karian and Box since 1997. [199634]
Mr. Byrne: From best available records the Home Department inclusive of its executive agencies has not awarded contracts to Karian and Box.
Members: Correspondence
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when her Department expects to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Aylesbury of 27th October 2007 about the case of Mr J K of Aylesbury (reference B30208/7; \\\\\k1031482/3) about which the hon. Member wrote to the Border and Immigration Agency on 24th January. [198901]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 21 April 2008]: The UK Border Agency wrote to the hon. Member in relation to this matter on 27 February 2008. A further letter was sent on 4 April 2008.
Offensive Weapons
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences involving use of a knife there were in (a) each London borough and (b) England and Wales, broken down by type of offence, in the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement. [200370]
Mr. Coaker: It is not possible to identify those offences which are knife-related from the data centrally collected on recorded crime. However, since April 2007, police forces have been providing separate aggregate data on serious violence involving knives. Home Office statisticians will assess the quality of these data and it is planned that figures for 2007-08 will be published in the main crime bulletin in July 2008.
Available data from the Homicide Index relate to offences currently recorded as homicide where the apparent method of killing is ‘sharp instrument’. Between 1997-98 and 2006-07 police in England and Wales recorded 2,333 such homicides, 635 of which were recorded by the City of London or Metropolitan police forces. These data cannot be broken down to a more local level than police force area.
The Government fully recognise the importance of tackling knife crime. This is a complex issue and we are using a variety of measures, encompassing legislation, enforcement, education and prevention, to address it. On 18 February we published a new Tackling Violence Action Plan, outlining plans to tackle serious violence, including knife crime.
Press
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many press office staff were employed by (a) her Department, (b) its agencies and (c) its non-departmental public bodies (i) in each year since 1996-97 and (ii) at the latest date for which information is available. [189649]
Mr. Byrne: Media relations for the whole Department and agencies are handled by the Home Office Communication Directorate based press office. Press office staff who deal with the media 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 non-departmental bodies are not held centrally and could be collected only at disproportionate cost.
| Press officers | |
| (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 five Border and Immigration Agency regional press officers; whose posts were created in 2007. | |
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