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22 July 2008 : Column 1338W—continued
Deportation
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost to her Department and its agencies was of employing private security firms to enforce deportation orders in each of the last five years. [220208]
Mr. Byrne: The UK Border Agency has approved four contractors to carry out enforcement of deportation. One of these companies operates the main contract and three are appointed from an approved list on a case by case basis in the event that the main contractor staff are fully deployed and additional capacity is required. The reason UK Border Agency outsources these services is because it does not have the expertise and staffing resources in-house.
The costs of employing private security firms to enforce deportation orders in each of the last five years are:
| £ million | |
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) complaints and (b) claims have been made against her Department and its agencies and contractors, as a result of alleged injuries and assaults sustained during the enforcement of deportation orders in each of the last five years, broken down by (i) sex, (ii) age, (iii) nationality and (iv) location of alleged incident. [220209]
Mr. Byrne: We do not differentiate between the enforcement of deportation orders and other removals under immigration powers. The information requested is not collated in this format, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which private security firms her Department has approved to carry out enforcement of deportation orders; which have been contracted to perform such duties; and what the financial value of each such contract will be in each of the next five years. [220268]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 21 July 2008]: The UK Border Agency has a current contract with G4S to carry out enforcement of deportation. Additional firms are approved and used as required on case by case basis to provide capacity over and above the contract. Owing to the commercial nature of these contracts, if we were to release the information requested on the financial value of each such contract, in each of the next five years this would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of both the UK Border Agency and those companies with whom the UK Border Agency enters into contracts. In view of the fact that the current contract with G4S is in the process of being re-tendered to release this information may prejudice the procurement process.
Deportation: Iran
David Heyes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will suspend the return to Iran of Iranian nationals who are converts to christianity and who have been denied asylum in the UK in light of the consideration by the Iranian Government of a mandatory death sentence for apostasy from Islam. [220170]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 21 July 2008]: We only enforce the return of individuals, including christian converts from Iran, whom we, and the independent immigration judges, are satisfied are not in need of protection.
Each case is carefully considered on its individual merits against the background of the 1951 UN refugee convention and the latest available country information. We do not accept that each and every asylum seeker who presents themselves as being from a particular country or religion, regardless of their individual circumstances, should automatically be afforded protection in the UK.
Detention Centres
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) families and (b) people in such families have been detained in immigration removal centres in (i) each year from 1997 to 2007 and (ii) each month in 2008 for which data is available. [219417]
Mr. Byrne: The historical information requested could be obtained only by the detailed examination of individual case records at disproportionate cost.
We can provide local management information on the number of family units taken into detention from 31 March 2006 to date:
| Period | Number of family units entering detention |
The figures may include families detained on more than one occasion, do not constitute part of the national statistics and are based solely on locally researched management information. This information has not been quality assured under national statistics protocols and should be treated as provisional.
We do not hold local management information on the number of family members entering detention.
Quarterly data are published in the asylum statistics United Kingdom quarterly publications, showing the number of people detained solely under Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 powers on the last Saturday of each quarter. Statistics on the total number of persons recorded as being removed from the UK upon leaving detention each quarter are also published.
Copies of the aforementioned publications are available from the Library of the House and the Home Office research, development and statistics directorate website at:
Domestic Violence
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will publish the minutes of the ministerial action group on domestic violence on a regular basis. [218911]
Mr. Coaker: We do not publish the minutes of the inter-ministerial group on domestic violence (set up in 2003). This is because the minutes often record the considerations made when formulating and developing Government policy. Any premature disclosure may result in closing off alternative decisions or courses of action.
A report on the progress made against the national domestic violence delivery plan, which the IMG oversees, is published annually. The annual reports for 2005-06 and 2006-07 are on the website and the report for 2007-08 will be published shortly.
Driving Offences: Fines
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drivers were fined for speeding in England and Wales in each year since 1997, broken down by police force area; and how much was received in fines in each area in each year. [219057]
Mr. Coaker: Information on the total revenue from speed limit convictions is not collected centrally.
Available information relates to the number of fixed penalties issued and the number of fines imposed by the courts. This information is given in the following tables. The fixed penalty level is £60, the maximum fine is Level three (£1000)
Not all fines and fixed penalties will have been paid.
2007 data will be available later this year.
| Table A: Number of fines( 1, 2) imposed at magistrates courts for speed limit( 3) offences by police force area, England and Wales, 1997-2006 | |||||
| Number of offences | |||||
| Police force area | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2007 |
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