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14 July 2008 : Column 117W—continued
Passports: Lost Property
Mr. David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passports were reported (a) lost and (b) stolen in the last year for which figures are available. [217422]
Meg Hillier: In 2007, the Identity and Passport Service processed 303,572 reports of lost and stolen passports. There were 251,751 reports of lost passports, 41,393 stolen with the balance of 10,428 in the ‘other’ category. ‘Other’ includes passports reported as damaged or destroyed.
Schengen Agreement: Borders
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what obligations there are on the UK under the Schengen Borders Code. [217982]
Mr. Byrne: We do not participate in the immigration aspects of the Schengen Acquis. The Schengen Border Code does not therefore apply to the UK. We believe that maintaining our national frontier controls is the most effective way to maintain border security.
Terrorism: Travel Restrictions
Mr. Winnick:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make it her policy to
refuse entry to any foreign or Commonwealth citizen seeking to enter the UK who is known to have publicly praised one of the 7(th) July bombers for their actions in those attacks. [218010]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 10 July 2008]: Existing policy provides that those who engage in the glorification or justification of terrorist violence will normally be excluded from the UK on the basis that their presence here would not be conducive to the public good. Such activities fall within the scope of the list of “unacceptable behaviours” announced by the then Home Secretary in the wake of the July 2005 bombings. The unacceptable behaviours list made clear the sort of activities that are likely to lead to a person’s exclusion or deportation from the UK.
Travel Restrictions: al Qaeda
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions the EU flight ban on individuals associated with al-Qaeda has been invoked. [217985]
Mr. Byrne: We do not collect this information centrally. The details of those subject to the EU travel ban are placed on the relevant UK watch lists to prevent a named individual from travelling to, entering or transiting the UK.
Waterside Court
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment was made of the likely impact of the flood plain of the River Aire on Waterside Court short-term holding facility before it was built; and if she will make a statement. [218017]
Mr. Byrne: Waterside Court was originally a water mill built over the River Aire in the 17(th) century and is a grade II listed building. The Home Office only took up leased occupation of a refurbished Waterside Court on 19 May 2000 and our knowledge of any flood assessment(s) undertaken prior to our occupation is limited.
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department has taken to prevent the re-flooding of Waterside Court short-term holding facility on Kirkstall Road by the River Aire; and if she will make a statement. [218018]
Mr. Byrne: The Home Office acquired a demountable flood protection barrier system in 2001, and the building also has permanent waterproofing to cover areas not protected by the barrier. The Home Office has invested in the ongoing maintenance of these defences. The Home Office monitors the Environmental Agency website for flood warnings and operates the manual barrier on the basis of these. The barrier has been put in place once during the last 12 months.
Solicitor-General
Departmental Aviation
Mr. Maude: To ask the Solicitor-General how many individual domestic air flights were undertaken within Great Britain by representatives of the Attorney-General’s Office in the most recent year for which figures are available; and at what cost. [215565]
The Solicitor-General: In the last year, there have been 53 flights at a cost of £21,296.50 (excluding VAT).
Departmental ICT
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Solicitor-General what IT contracts the Law Officers’ Department and its agencies have entered into in the last two years. [215138]
The Solicitor-General: The Attorney-General’s Office, Serious Fraud Office and Revenue Customs and Prosecutions office have entered into contracts with Sungard Public Services.
The Treasury Solicitor’s Department have entered into 86 IT contracts:
22 contracts for the support and maintenance of hardware;
43 contracts for the support and maintenance of software; and
21 contracts for the support and maintenance of communication services.
The Crown Prosecution Service has entered into five IT contracts (HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate are also included under these contracts):
1 contract for the support of an HR and Payroll system;
1 contract for a web-based recruitment system; and
3 contracts under the Office for Government Commerce Framework Agreement for the provision of and electronic ordering system, an online tendering system and an intranet application.
Departmental Manpower
Mr. Maude: To ask the Solicitor General how many permanent staff within the Attorney-General’s Office are classed as (a) staff without posts and (b) part of a people action team. [215578]
Departmental Pay
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will review salary negotiations for public sector employees in organisations within her Department’s responsibility to reflect the rise in the consumer price index to a point above 3 per cent. [214542]
The Solicitor-General: The Government's pay policy is guided by the following principles.
Public sector pay settlements should be consistent with maintaining the necessary levels of recruitment, retention and staff engagement needed to support service delivery; ensuring that total pay bills represent value for money and are affordable within Departments' overall expenditure plans; and consistent with the achievement of the inflation target. Timing of pay decisions for a particular work force depends on pay-setting arrangements for that work force.
Departmental Press
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Solicitor General how much was spent by the Law Officers’ Departments on subscriptions for magazines, newspapers and other publications in each of the last 24 months. [215219]
The Solicitor-General: The figures are broken down by Department and year in the following table:
| 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |||||
| Magazines | Newspapers | Other publications | Magazines | Newspapers | Other publications | |
| (1) Figure includes other publications and could be broken down only at a disproportionate cost. (2) Figure could not be broken down into separate categories without incurring a disproportionate cost. | ||||||
Departmental Responsibilities
Mr. Maude: To ask the Solicitor-General how many reviews of regulation the Attorney-General’s Office has conducted or commenced since July 2007; and in which areas. [215618]
Departmental Security
Mr. Maude: To ask the Solicitor-General how many departmental identity cards or departmental passes have been reported lost or stolen by staff in the Attorney-General's Office in the last 24 months. [215615]
The Solicitor-General: None have been reported stolen, a small number have been lost but records are not kept.
Departmental Television
Mr. Maude:
To ask the Solicitor-General to what premium Sky, digital terrestrial or cable television channels the Attorney-General’s Office subscribes; and
at what yearly cost in the most recent period for which figures are available. [215654]
The Solicitor-General: The office subscribes to parliamentary television which does not incur any costs.
Fish
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Solicitor-General how much fish was procured by her Department and at what cost in each of the last five years, broken down by species; and what amount and value of such fish met the Marine Stewardship Council standard in each such year, broken down by species. [217893]
The Solicitor-General: Detailed records are not kept on the procurement of fish and the information could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
Harassment
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Solicitor-General how many cases of (a) sexual and (b) racial harassment have been brought against her Department in each year since 1997; and what sum of payments resulted from such cases in each year. [214216]
The Solicitor-General: There have been less than five sexual and racial harassment cases brought against the Law Officer's departments, therefore this information cannot be provided on grounds of confidentiality.
Lotfi Raissi
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Solicitor-General what steps are being taken by the Law Officers in response to the findings of misconduct by the Crown Prosecution Service in the Court of Appeal judgment in Raissi v Secretary of State for the Home Department; and if she will make a statement. [195634]
The Solicitor-General: The judgment of the Court of Appeal in the case of R (ex parte Lotfi Raissi) v. Secretary of State for the Home Department concerned three issues:
whether, as a matter of interpretation, the ex gratia scheme for the payment of compensation to persons who have lost their liberty as the result of a miscarriage of justice is capable of applying to detention in the context of extradition proceedings;
if it is, whether there is evidence of serious default on the part of the Metropolitan Police and/or the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) which the Secretary of State ought to consider; and
whether, if an application by Mr. Raissi for compensation failed under the serious default provision, the circumstances of the case are so exceptional that the Secretary of State ought to reconsider the application under the second paragraph of the scheme.
The Court of Appeal held that the scheme does apply to detention in the context of extradition proceedings. Further, it held that there was evidence to suggest that the Metropolitan Police and the CPS were responsible for serious defaults. The court made no findings of misconduct. Its judgment, on this point, was limited to considering whether there was evidence that the Secretary of State ought to consider; and it emphasised that it reached no firm conclusions on the issue of serious default, as neither the Metropolitan Police nor the CPS
was represented before the court and in any event, findings of fact in relation to any alleged serious default are for the Secretary of State.
The Attorney-General and I have discussed the Court of Appeal’s judgment with the Director of Public Prosecutions. We must await the outcome of any further litigation; but pending that, the Director has asked his Principal Legal Advisor to conduct an internal review of the matters raised by the Court of Appeal’s judgment and to advise him accordingly, with any such recommendations as he considers to be appropriate.
Morning Star
Mr. Maude: To ask the Solicitor-General how many copies of the Morning Star publication the Law Officer’s Department subscribes to each week; and at what cost. [215671]
The Solicitor-General: None of the Law Officer's departments subscribe to this publication.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Burma: Ethnic Groups
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Burmese government on the assassination of Padoh Mahn Sha, Secretary General of the Karen National Union. [217723]
Meg Munn: We have not formally discussed the assassination of Padoh Mahn Sha on 14 February 2008 with the Burmese regime. The case is still under investigation by the Thai police.
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