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28 Apr 2008 : Column 83W—continued
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for which losses her Department was granted Treasury approval in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [200495]
Mr. Byrne: All losses incurred by the Home Office during the last five years have been managed by the Department within the scope of authorities delegated by the Treasury. Current thresholds for losses agreed with the Treasury are:
| Loss (£) | |
The overall level of losses incurred by the Home Office in any one year is reported in its Resource Accounts.
Departmental Written Questions
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many written parliamentary questions her Department took longer than 10 days to answer in each of the last three years. [200502]
Mr. McNulty: The available information is set out in the following table.
| Session | Total number of written parliamentary questions received | Total number of written parliamentary questions that took longer than 10 days to answer | Proportion of written parliamentary questions that took longer than 10 days to answer (Percentage) |
| (1) Data based on questions answered up to 22 April 2008. | |||
Discrimination
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many claims for discrimination, based on (a) sex, (b) race and (c) sexual orientation, were brought by members of her Department and settled (i) in and (ii) out of court in each of the last five years. [194982]
Mr. Byrne: Information on employment tribunals is only available for part of the period requested.
Records held centrally within Home Office headquarters, the Border and Immigration Agency, the Identity and Passport Service and the Criminal Records Bureau show that the number of settled employment tribunal claims brought under each category is as follows:
| Type of c ase | 2005( 1) | 2006( 2) | 2007( 3) | Total |
| (1) 2005 information includes Home Office HQ and the Criminal Records Bureau. (2) 2006 information includes Home Office HQ, the Border and Immigration Agency and the Criminal Records Bureau. (3) 2007 information includes Home Office HQ, the Border and Immigration Agency, the Identity and Passport Service and the Criminal Records Bureau. | ||||
Six of the claims brought in 2007 were settled out of court as follows:
| Claims settled out of court | 2007 |
Information on the settlement of the other seven cases is not held centrally and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
Entry Clearances: Olympic Games 2012
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she plans to facilitate attendance of overseas visitors to the 2012 Olympic Games through the visa system. [198820]
Mr. Byrne: We intend to facilitate attendance of overseas visitors to the 2012 Olympic Games. For those overseas nationals that require a visa to enter the UK, the UK Border Agency is considering whether value would be added by developing a major events visa—including to promote the 2012 Cultural Olympiad; the Olympic Games; and the Paralympic Games. This was included in recent consultation on visitor visas and we will discuss proposals further with appropriate stakeholders.
Entry Clearances: Overseas Students
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate her Department has made of the number of foreign nationals on student visas who worked more than the permitted 20 hours during term time in the last 12 months. [199858]
Mr. Byrne: There is no estimate of the number of foreign nationals on student visas who worked more than the permitted 20 hours during term time in the last 12 months.
Refusals of applications for variations of leave on this basis are not receded separately to refusals for other reasons and therefore cannot be identified, except at a disproportionate cost.
Genetics: Databases
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether any checks on the Dutch disk containing DNA samples of criminals remain to be completed; [196812]
(2) how many matches have been found between the Dutch disk containing the DNA samples of suspected criminals and (a) the national DNA database and (b) other records or databases checked; how many people whose profiles have been matched have been convicted of a criminal offence since January 2007; and what those offences were. [196813]
Jacqui Smith: As part of an initiative to exchange data between the UK and Holland, 2,159 DNA profiles from crime scenes in Holland were searched against the UK National DNA Database. The operational police response to the DNA crime scene data supplied by the Dutch is being led by a group chaired by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) on which the Serious Organised Crime Agency, the National Policing Improvement Agency, the National DNA Database (NDNAD) Custodian, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Home Office are represented.
This remains a continuing police operation in liaison with the Dutch authorities.
I am continuing to liaise with ACPO to be clear when a formal report to Parliament would be appropriate.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what estimate she has made of the number of adventitious matches expected to arise between crime scene DNA profiles submitted by law enforcement agencies elsewhere in the European Union and individuals' DNA profiles held on the national DNA databases in each of the next five years; [197981]
(2) what estimate she has made of the number of adventitious matches expected to arise between crime scene DNA profiles submitted by UK police and individuals' DNA profiles held on the national DNA database in each of the next five years. [197982]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 31 March 2008]: When the UK National DNA Database (NDNAD) was set up in 1995, the SGM profiling system was used. This looked at six areas of DNA, plus a gender marker. The probability of an adventitious (chance) match between full SGM DNA profiles of unrelated individuals is of the order of one in 50 million. As the NDNAD grew in size, instances did come to light where different individuals were found to have the same SGM profile, hence the decision to change to SGM Plus in 1999.
The quoted probability of a match between full SGM Plus DNA profiles of unrelated individuals is one in one billion (i.e. one in a thousand million).
The NDNAD Custodian carefully monitors replicate DMA profiles loaded to the Database, and a key reason for doing this is to identify potential adventitious matches between SGM Plus DMA profiles derived from unrelated individuals. To date, no such adventitious match has been found. This indicates the SGM Plus match probability to be significantly
lower than the figure quoted—it is probably better than one in one trillion (i.e. one in a million million).
Safeguards against possible miscarriages of justice arising from adventitious matches operate at two levels—firstly, further investigation of matches using the SGM Plus technique, and secondly, the fact that if a person is to be charged on the basis of a DNA match, the CPS require that there must be supporting non-DNA evidence available to be used in evidence. DNA evidence is one piece of the information that the courts would require for a successful prosecution.
Other EU states use different profiling systems and do not publish information on the likelihood of adventitious matches using these systems. However, the level of overlap between SGM Plus DNA profiles and those developed by other systems is that the discriminating power will typically be of the same order as the SGM (rather than the SGM Plus) level. It is thus extremely important that all possible opportunities are taken to improve the discriminating power associated with a match, for example by re-analysis of the sample to upgrade, the profile before any other information on the identity of a suspect nominated by a DNA match is disclosed to an overseas police authority.
Heathrow Airport: Security
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions she held with BAA in advance of the introduction of universal fingerprinting at Heathrow Terminal 5; and if she will make a statement. [198630]
Jacqui Smith: In the building of Terminal 5 at Heathrow, the British Airports Authority (BAA) took the decision to introduce a common departure lounge (CDL). BAA were required to ensure that any immigration risks arising from the mixing of domestic and international passengers were mitigated and a working group, which includes BAA, British Airways (BA), the Border and Immigration Agency (BIA) and other control agencies, has worked together since 2005 to consider appropriate mitigation measures. BAA presented a number of systems which they believed were capable of mitigating the risks to Border Security and following a number of trials, fingerprinting together with digital facial recognition comparison were identified as the most effective solution. 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.
HM Inspectorate of Constabulary: Public Appointments
David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times the contract of the Chief Inspector of Constabulary has been extended without a competitive process since the inception of the post. [199393]
Mr. McNulty:
The contracts of two HM Chief Inspectors of Constabulary (HMCIC) have been extended since 1962, when the first HMCIC was appointed. These appointments were made in
accordance with the principles of the Commissioner for Public Appointments' code of practice.
David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average length of service of Chief Inspectors of Constabulary has been since the inception of the post. [199394]
Mr. McNulty: The average (mean) length of service for HM Chief Inspectors of Constabulary (excluding the current HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary) since the first appointment in 1962 is two years and eight months.
Identity Cards: Foreigners
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what characteristics distinguish the identity cards to be issued to foreign nationals from the visas that are currently issued to them. [201235]
Mr. Byrne: The identity card for foreign nationals will be a highly secure polycarbonate card which will contain the holder’s biometric identifiers in a tamperproof embedded chip including a photograph and two fingerprints. The visas issued contain photographs but unlike the cards do not store the fingerprints that are enrolled when an application is made outside the UK. The biometric data collected as part of the visa application process are checked against immigration records in the UK.
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which categories of foreign nationals require visas; which categories will be issued with identity cards in future and from what date; and which categories will be required to obtain the relevant documentation (a) before and (b) after entry to the UK. [201236]
Mr. Byrne: The categories of foreign nationals requiring visas can be found on the following website: www.ukvisas.gov.uk along with the documentation required to support applications for entry clearance to the UK. Non-visa nationals from outside the EEA will normally only require entry clearance if visiting the UK for longer than six months. The rollout strategy document Introducing Compulsory Identity Cards for Foreign Nationals’ published on 6 March (a copy is available in the House Library) sets out the approach to issuing identity cards for foreign nationals. We will phase in the introduction of the card, starting with those applying for leave to remain as students. Within three years all new applicants will have to apply for an identity card alongside their immigration application.
Illegal Immigrants: Employment
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department's advertising campaign concerning the employment of illegal labour cost. [199430]
Mr. Byrne:
The total cost for running the Illegal Working Campaign was £913,608. The campaign was run in two phases, the first phase ran in October/November 2007 the second in January/February 2008.
The campaign comprised radio and press adverts in trade, national and regional publications.
Immigration
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) illegal immigrants and (b) failed asylum seekers detained by the police have been sent unaccompanied to immigration detention or removal centres in each of the last five years. [199010]
Mr. Byrne: Illegal immigrants and failed asylum seekers detained by the police are not sent unaccompanied to immigration detention or removal centres.
Immigration Controls
Mr. Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the proportion of immigrants who will be affected by the introduction of the proposed points-based system. [199161]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 21 April 2008]: The Office for National Statistics produces total international migration (TIM) estimates of the number of people legally entering and leaving the country each year. The TIM calculations are based largely from data from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) which gives both the reasons for entry to the UK and the citizenship of those arriving.
Once fully established, the points based system will cover non-EU work-related migrants, students and their dependants. We estimate this will cover close to six in 10 of the non-British inflow.
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