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30 Jun 2008 : Column 718W—continued
Departmental Written Questions
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many days it took on average to answer written parliamentary questions tabled by each hon. Member for answer by her in the last six months. [201751]
Mr. McNulty: The information for each member could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
However, a manual check of the parliamentary questions database showed that it took on average, seven days to answer written questions tabled by the hon. Member from the start of the 2007-08 Session to 23 June 2008.
Deportation
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many EU nationals deported from the UK were prohibited from return for a fixed period in each of the last five years. [213917]
Mr. Byrne: All nationals deported from the UK are prohibited from returning to the UK when a deportation order is in place. A deportation order will remain in place unless or until it is revoked.
Dungavel Immigration and Detention Centre
Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions the Children's Commissioner for Scotland has visited Dungavel Immigration and Detention Centre; when she last reported to her Department on the centre; and if she will make a statement. [212928]
Mr. Byrne: The Commissioner for Children and Young People in Scotland has visited Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre on two occasions—June 2004 and April this year.
No formal report was received following either visit.
Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the most recent report was received from HM Inspector of Prisons on the running of Dungavel Immigration and Detention Centre; and if she will make a statement. [212929]
Mr. Byrne: The most recent HM Inspector of Prisons' report on the running of Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre (IRC), which was described as the best run IRC ever inspected, was published on 16 May 2007.
Electronic Crime
Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how much funding was made available to tackle electronic crime in each of the past five years; [212697]
(2) how many businesses in England and Wales were estimated to have been victims of electronic crime in each of the last five years. [212698]
Mr. Coaker: The Home Office allocates core grants to police forces on an annual basis without stipulating where the grant should be spent.
The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) also receives a delegated budget for law enforcement. One of SOCA's precursor organisations, the National Crime Squad, received a budget for law enforcement as well as specific allocated funding for the National Hi-Tech Crime Team (NHTCU). At SOCA's inception, in 2006, £8.509 million, in respect of NHTCU, was baselined into SOCA's funding. SOCA has a dedicated e-crime unit and its budget is decided by the SOCA Board.
The SOCA budget also includes funding for the Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre (CEOP). In the financial year 2006-07 CEOP received a budget from SOCA of £5.110 million; this was increased to £5.657 million for 2007-08; and is £5.77 million for 2008-09.
The Government take this form of crime seriously, and are currently considering how best to tackle such crimes. No decision has been taken on the formation of an e-crime unit, but we are considering how we take an overall approach to issues such as electronic fraud, and are discussing these with a number of law enforcement agencies.
No estimate has been made of how many businesses in England and Wales were victims of electronic crime in each of the last five years.
Entry Clearances: EU Enlargement
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 10 December 2007, Official Report, column 82W, on entry clearances: EU enlargement, what her policy is on Case C-16/05 of the European Court of Justice, 2007/C269/09, with particular reference to the consequences of the judgment for policy formulation. [214152]
Mr. Byrne: The Secretary of State for the Home Department accepts that this judgment allows Turkish nationals to apply to establish in business under the requirements in force in 1973, including applying for entry clearance for this purpose. Entry clearance applications will be accepted under new guidelines by overseas missions starting in July 2008. This will be accompanied by the publication of revised policy.
Entry Clearances: Females
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate her Department has made of the number of women who, after initially coming to the United Kingdom on a spousal visa, returned to their country of origin after separating from their spouses following domestic violence in the latest period for which figures are available. [212757]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 23 June 2008]: The requested information is not available.
Entry Clearances: Russia
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 12 June 2008, Official Report, column 472W, on entry clearances, how many visits have been made to the UK by Russian citizens in the last 12 months; and how many visas had been issued at each of the visa application centres in Russia. [212824]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 20 June 2008]: The latest information on visits to the United Kingdom by Russian nationals is published in Table 2.3 in the Home Office Command Paper ‘Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2006’ which is available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at:
Data for 2007 are due to be published in August.
The total number of visas issued at our posts in Russia in the last 12 months (1 June 2007 to 31 May 2008) is as follows:
| Number | |
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what fee is charged at visa application centres in the Russian Federation to Russian citizens seeking to enter the UK for the purposes of marriage; and if she will review the charges made for marriage visas where the parties are both (a) of pensionable age and (b) previously widowed. [213254]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 23 June 2008]: The fee charged for an application to enter the UK for the purpose of marriage is £515. The UKBA do not intend to review the charges made for marriage visas where both parties are of pensionable age and where they have been previously widowed.
Entry Clearances: Students
Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what account is taken of students visiting the UK from outside the EU on a six month visitor visa for immigration statistics purposes; and if she will make a statement. [213996]
Mr. Byrne: Statistics on passengers given leave to enter the United Kingdom by category are published in table 2.2 in the Command Paper, “Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom”.
The latest published statistics are for 2006 and may be obtained from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website:
Statistics for 2007 are due to be published in August 2008.
Non EEA nationals visiting the UK as students on six month visitor conditions are categorised as follows:
Prior to 1 September 2007, short term students were categorised according to the category under which they sought leave to enter. Those intending not to work were granted leave to enter under the visitor category. Those intending to work part-time were granted leave to enter under the student category. Prior to September 2007, those entering under the visitor category were also permitted to study.
A new student visitor category was introduced from 1 September 2007. This provided for short term students who wished to study in the UK but who did not wish to take part-time employment or seek an extension to their student visitor leave. It is intended to include these within the student category in the 2007 published statistics.
Espionage
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to paragraph 4.66 of the National Security Strategy of the United Kingdom, Cm 7291, (1) which countries have been conducting covert non-military activity by foreign intelligence organisations against the UK; and what assessment she has made of trends in levels of this activity; [212403]
(2) how many attempts there have been by foreign intelligence groups to steal sensitive technology relevant to civilian and military projects in the last five years. [212404]
Mr. McNulty: As set out in the National Security Strategy, the intelligence and security agencies, with others, will continue to protect the UK against covert activity by foreign intelligence organisations.
However, it has been the consistent policy of successive governments not to comment on the detail of national security issues such as spying against the UK.
Hacking
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many technical attacks through the internet have been detected on Government computer systems in the last five years. [212405]
Mr. McNulty: It is not in the interests of the UK's national security for departments to confirm publicly whether they hold information about attacks against their IT systems. To do so would enable individuals to deduce how successful the UK is in detecting these attacks and so assist such persons in testing the effectiveness of the UK's IT defences. This is not in the public interest.
Heathrow Airport: Security
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2008, Official Report, column 676W, on Heathrow Airport: security, on what date the review of each of the events (a) began and (b) reported its findings. [213185]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 23 June 2008]: The reviews referred to in my previous reply were part of the normal security review process and as such had no formal commencement or completion date. Meetings to discuss the initial incidents (which occurred on 27 and 31 March) were held on 27 March and 1 April respectively and these meetings led to a significant change in the operation of the arrivals processes in this area.
Similar review meetings were held in the days immediately following each of the other three incidents to examine what had caused the incident and to consider any further precautionary measures that needed to be put in place to prevent further occurrences.
A follow up meeting was held on 11 June between UK Border Agency, BAA and British Airways to discuss these issues. As part of this meeting it was reiterated that British Airways staff have a legal requirement to ensure that all passengers are correctly dealt with.
The director of the UK Border Agency at Heathrow has also commissioned a review by a senior manager, independent of terminal 5. This will examine how airport terminals across the UK handling domestic and international flights deal with the additional risks that this might present. The review is expected to result in a formal report, which will highlight best practice and allow UK Border Agency managers to work more closely with airport authorities and airlines to ensure that such occurrences are minimised. This review is ongoing.
Immigration
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will grant indefinite leave to remain to Peter James Hardwick of Kingsbridge whose application was lodged on 12 November 2006, Home Office reference: H1174929. [212827]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 23 June 2008]: The UK Border Agency wrote to the right hon. Member on 19 June 2008.
Immigration Controls: Eurostar
Mr. Quentin Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of her officials have been stationed on the European terminals in (a) Paris and (b) Brussels since the arrangement commenced; how many of them have taken advantage of the facility available to them of learning a European language; how many have learned a language for an examination; at what level; and if she will make a statement. [212969]
Mr. Byrne: Full juxtaposed immigration controls were established at the Eurostar terminal at Paris in February 2004 and at the terminal in Brussels in October 2004. Since then, a total of 123 staff have been posted to these locations. Staff are posted from the UK for periods of between two and three years with their numbers being supplemented by staff who are posted on a short term basis.
It is not essential to the operation of the immigration control for staff to speak a second language; however staff are encouraged to learn to speak either French or Dutch and may receive departmental assistance towards this. Although an exact figure is not available, some 50 staff have already taken advantage of this assistance. There is no requirement at present for staff to take a formal examination although this is currently under review. About 40 staff already held a qualification in a second language, at ‘A level’ standard or above, at the time of their posting.
Mr. Quentin Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost to the public purse was incremental to the salaries they would otherwise be drawing in the UK of stationing officials of her Department in the Eurostar terminals in (a) Paris and (b) Brussels in the latest period for which figures are available. [212970]
Mr. Byrne: The Civil Service Management Code and the Overseas Compendium dictate that staff posted from the UK to work abroad are placed on the same salary scales as their equivalents working in central London, receive any applicable London allowances, as well as a ‘Cost of Living Allowance' (COLA) to provide for the increased cost of living at post. These allowances are regularly reviewed and fluctuate in line with exchange rates and cost of living movements.
Accommodation, utility bills (excluding private telephone calls), local taxes and transfer costs are also paid from public funds. A single immigration officer posted to Paris therefore costs about £31,000 per annum more than an immigration officer working in central London.
Prior to the introduction of juxtaposed controls on Eurostar routes there were an average of 700 inadequately documented arrivals (IDA's) and asylum applications seen per month at Waterloo. Since the introduction of the juxtaposed controls, such arrivals at UK Eurostar stations have now all but been eliminated. Many IDA's subsequently go on to claim asylum and so the cost savings resulting from having a juxtaposed control arrangement in place are substantial.
Mr. Quentin Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of her officials have been stationed in (a) Paris and (b) Brussels to examine passports of passengers taking the Eurostar to London since the arrangement commenced. [212971]
Mr. Byrne: Since full juxtaposed immigration controls were established at the Eurostar terminal at Paris in February 2004 and at Brussels in October 2004 a total of 123 staff have been posted to these locations. They are posted from the UK for periods of between two and three years, with their numbers being supplemented by staff posted on a short term basis.
Mr. Quentin Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many officials from her Department are stationed at the Eurostar terminals in (a) Paris and (b) Brussels. [212972]
Mr. Byrne: There are currently 57 staff posted for a minimum period of two years to Paris and 30 to Brussels, with their numbers being supplemented by staff posted on a short-term basis. These staff are responsible for operating a control on passengers boarding UK bound Eurostar services at Lille, as well as providing on-board controls on the daily service to London from Marne-la Valleé (EuroDisney), and seasonal services from Avignon and Bourg St. Maurice.
Mr. Quentin Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passengers intending to travel on the Eurostar have been denied entry to the United Kingdom by officials based at the terminals in (a) Paris and (b) Brussels since they have been based there. [212973]
Mr. Byrne: Full juxtaposed immigration controls were established at the Eurostar terminal at Paris in February 2004 and at Brussels in October 2004. Between then and 31 March 2008 a total of 11,922 passengers have been refused entry to the United Kingdom at these stations.
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