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1 Sep 2008 : Column 1532W—continued
Borders: Personal Records
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department had spent on the e-borders project in total by 31 January 2008. [195136]
Mr. Byrne: By 31 January 2008, £133.5 million had been invested in the e-Borders programme.
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the global roll-out of fingerprint visas under the e-Borders programme. [203940]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 7 May 2008]: We delivered global roll out of our visa biometric programme in December, three months early and several million pounds under budget. To date, over 2.5 million enrolments have generated over 19,000 matches to data recorded in connection with a previous immigration or asylum matter in the United Kingdom and bringing to notice over 3,100 applications which have been lodged in a different identity.
UK Border Agency are now averaging 1,200 matches a month to visa applicants who have previously been fingerprinted in the United Kingdom in association with an immigration or asylum matter.
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what percentage of UK passenger movements she expects will utilise passenger name record data in 2013; [215515]
(2) when her Department expects to complete the risk assessment for the routes which will capture other passenger information (OPI); and what plans she has to announce which routes will utilise OPI. [218412]
Mr. Byrne: The e-Borders Programme will check and screen against watch lists 60 per cent., of all passenger and crew movements in and out of the UK by December 2009, 95 per cent., by December 2010 and 100 per cent., by 2014.
We do not intend to publish details of those routes for which Passenger Name Record data will be captured as this is operationally sensitive.
British Crime Survey
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the annual cost of conducting the British Crime Survey was in each of the last five years. [220690]
Mr. Coaker: The Home Office commission an external survey research company to carry out the British Crime Survey on its behalf. The contract for this work is let every three years following a competitive tendering exercise. The cost of this contract in each of the years asked about was £3.1 million in 2003-04, £4.5 million in 2004-05, £4.6 million in 2005-06, £4.8 million in 2006-07 and £4.6 million in 2007-08.
British Nationality
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the granting of full citizenship would be delayed for those granted probationary citizenship should (a) a family member be found guilty of an offence and (b) the individual lose a case in the civil courts. [190144]
Mr. Byrne: In the Government response to the consultation on the Green Paper ‘the path to citizenship’ we set out that we believe there is some value in supporting, and where necessary, challenging parents whose children offend. We recognise that there are sensitive issues which we need to consider carefully before proceeding and will establish a cross-Government working group to determine how to connect our proposals with other Government sanctions on youth crime.
British Nationality: Gurkhas
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the three routes to citizenship and three stages in the journey outlined in The Path to Citizenship, will apply to Gurkha soldiers who completed their service (a) before and (b) after 1 July 1997. [195404]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 19 March 2008]: The objective behind the proposals outlined by the Green Paper is to create a new clear framework for the journey to citizenship and clarify the routes to British citizenship/permanent residence via probationary citizenship.
The consultation period ended on 14 May and we published the Government’s response document on 14 July.
We are continuing to assess how existing routes to settlement may fall within these proposals. As part of this work we will be considering in what way the new requirements might apply to all those non-EEA nationals who have obtained indefinite leave following their discharge from the armed forces.
We are also continuing in our discussions with the Ministry of Defence on various matters affecting the
position of the armed forces with regard to immigration and citizenship issues. Although these considerations are ongoing there is no intention at this time to confer additional routes to citizenship for Gurkha soldiers discharged prior to 1 July 1997. The lawfulness of the immigration rules as they apply to Gurkha soldiers discharged prior to 1 July 1997 is subject to judicial review in September 2008 and it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.
I am however pleased to have been able to agree to a number of important measures as part of the wider package of commitments across government to better support serving personnel, their families and veterans. Details of these can be found in the MOD Command Paper “The Nation’s Commitment: Cross-Government Support to our Armed Forces, their Families and Veterans” (Cm 7424).
Burglary
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of reported house burglaries were investigated by each police force in each of the last 10 years. [220719]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested is not collected centrally. The Home Office collects statistics on the number of offences recorded and detected by the police but not on the number of offences investigated.
Citizenship
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which benefits the Government considers to be mainstream benefits, as referred to in her Department’s Green Paper, A Pathway to Citizenship. [190178]
Mr. Byrne: In the Government response to the consultation on the Green Paper ‘the path to citizenship’, we set out that migrants in the temporary residence and probationary citizenship categories will have no access to non-contributory benefits, social assistance, local authority housing or homelessness assistance.
Limited exceptions to this will be where we are meeting our obligations under international agreements and international law. Temporary residents and probationary citizens will have access to a limited number of national insurance based benefits but only once they have paid for them.
Refugees will continue to have access to benefits at all stages of the process.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how her Department plans to verify claims of active citizenship on the part of migrants granted probationary citizenship; and what discussions officials in her Department have had with (a) representatives of the voluntary sector, (b) local authorities and (c) other bodies on their roles in the verification process. [190182]
Mr. Byrne:
At paragraph 178 of the Green Paper we have proposed that we will verify activities by written evidence from a referee. This would build on the current application process for citizenship, which
requires applicants to submit details of two referees who have known the applicant personally for three years. Knowingly making a false declaration can lead to a penalty of up to three months’ imprisonment or a fine not exceeding £5,000.
Migrants who have contributed to their community would be required to provide a third referee to confirm personally the evidence of active citizenship provided by the applicant, with the same potential penalties applying. We consider that this represents a cost effective and ‘light touch’ regime, which nonetheless provides a clear deterrent for anyone seeking to abuse the process.
We will continue to discuss these proposals with relevant bodies including representatives from local government and the third sector to help us identify the most effective and practical way of implementing this proposal.
Crime
Mr. Ruffley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage and how many
violent incidences according to the British Crime Survey resulted in the victim needing (a) medical attention from a doctor, (b) some form of medical attention and (c) a hospital stay in England and Wales in each year since 1997. [220922]
Mr. Coaker: The percentage of violent incidents resulting in the victim needing (a) medical attention from a doctor, (b) some form of medical attention and (c) a hospital stay in England and Wales are published annually in the Home Office statistical bulletin Crime in England and Wales (copies of which are available in the House of Commons Library) and are included in the following table.
Comparable figures prior to 2001-02 are not available due to changes to question wording introduced in 2001-02.
Analysis of the number of violent incidents broken down as requested is not routinely produced and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Copies of the BCS datasets are made publicly available for secondary analysis at the UK Data Archive.
| Medical attention in violent incidents( 1) , 2001-02 to 2007-08, BCS | |||||||
| Percentage | |||||||
| 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
| (1) From 1997 to 2005-06, 'All violence' included wounding, robbery, snatch theft, assault with minor injury and assault with no injury. In 2006-07 there were revisions to the BCS violence category and snatch theft was excluded. 'All violence' now includes wounding, robbery, assault with minor injury and assault with no injury. (2) Asked of victims where force or violence was threatened or used. (3) This question asks whether the victim stayed in hospital for at least one night and is asked of those who sought medical attention (excluding dentists); base is victims of all violent incidents. | |||||||
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many and what percentage of violent incidents occurred, according to the British Crime Survey, where the victim was classified by ACORN as (a) wealthy achievers, (b) in urban prosperity, (c) comfortably off, (d) moderate means and (e) in hard pressed in England and Wales in each year since 1997; [220930]
(2) how many and what percentage of (a) violent incidents, (b) burglaries, (c) vehicle-related thefts, (d) vandalism and (e) theft from the person occurred, according to the British Crime Survey, where the victim lived in (i) a semi-detached house, (ii) a detached house, (iii) a terraced house, (iv) a flat or maisonette and (v) other accommodation in England and Wales in each year since 1997; [220929]
(3) how many and what percentage of (a) violent incidents, (b) burglaries, (c) vehicle related thefts, (d) vandalism and (e) theft from the person occurred, according to the British Crime Survey, where the victim was a (i) owner-occupier, (ii) social renter and (iii) private renter in England and Wales in each year since 1997; [220928]
(4) how many and what percentage of (a) violent incidents, (b) burglaries and (c) vehicle related thefts occurred, according to the British Crime Survey, where the victim was (i) unemployed, (ii) employed, (iii) a student, (iv) looking after a family home, (v) long-term or temporarily sick, (vi) retired and (vii) other unclassified in England and Wales in each year since 1997; [220927]
(5) how many and what percentage of (a) violent incidents, (b) burglaries, (c) vehicle related thefts, (d) vandalism and (e) theft from the person occurred, according to the British Crime Survey, to a victim whose yearly income was (i) less than £10,000, (ii) between £10,000 and £20,000, (iii) between £20,000 and £30,000, (iv) between £30,000 and £40,000, (v) between £40,000 and £50,000 and (vi) £50,000 and above in England and Wales in each year since 1997; [220926]
(6) what percentage and how many (a) victims of burglary and (b) non-victims of burglary according to the British Crime Survey owned (i) a burglar alarm, (ii) a deadlock, (iii) an outdoor sensor, (iv) an indoor sensor, (v) window locks, (vi) window bars and (vii) a security chain on the door in England and Wales in each year since 1997; [220921]
(7) what percentage and how many (a) violent incidents and (b) burglaries occurred according to the British Crime Survey where the victim had (i) a long-standing illness or disability which limits activities, (ii) a long-standing illness which does not limit activity and (iii) no long-standing illness in England and Wales in each year since 1997. [220920]
Mr. Coaker:
The annual Home Office Statistical Bulletin Crime in England and Wales routinely presents analyses of the British Crime Survey (BCS) showing the risk of being a victim of crime by the
various socio-demographic characteristics requested. Copies of these publications are available in the House of Commons Library (the most recent publication is Crime in England and Wales 2007-08).
Information on the number and proportion of incidents broken down as requested are not routinely produced could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Copies of the BCS datasets are made publicly available for secondary analysis at the UK Data Archive.
Crime: Computers
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many phishing incidents were (a) reported to and (b) investigated by police forces in each of the last five years. [220716]
Mr. Coaker: The Home Office does not keep of record of this information. However, figures from the Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS) show that while the number of phishing attacks has increased, the overall losses are falling.
Phishing is an attempt to commit fraud and is therefore recorded as such. The public are encouraged to report phishing e-mail attacks to their bank by going to the website
banksafeonline.org
Crime: Per Capita Costs
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what studies her Department has undertaken to establish the per capita cost of crimes in the last three years. [218213]
Mr. Coaker: The Home Office first published estimates of the costs of crime in England and Wales in 2000. A partial update of these estimates, covering crime against individuals and households only, was published in 2005. Both reports are available for download from the Home Office publications website. The Economic and Social Costs of Crime Against Individuals and Households (Home Office Online Report 30/05) can be found at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/rdsolr3005.pdf and The Economic and Social Costs of Crime (Home Office Research Study 217) can be found at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/hors217.pdf.
The Department has not published any estimates of the costs of crime per capita.
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