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1 Sep 2008 : Column 1572W—continued
Figures for 2003-07 have been provided previously in response to PQ 193127 which is given above but additionally includes figures from 1 January 2008 to 30 June 2008.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many immigration officers were assaulted while on duty in each of the last five years. [193127]
Mr. Byrne: The figures for the number of immigration officers who have been assaulted while on duty for the last five calendar years are shown in the following table. The data have been obtained from the BIA Accident Reporting Database which records all accidents and other health and other safety related incidents.
| Physical assaults | Verbal abuse | |
Immigration: Detainees
Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent, including on legal fees and compensation, in connection with the recent settlement of the case of the detainee who suffered a mental breakdown while at Yarl’s Wood Detention and Removal Centre during 2005, the subject of previous correspondence with the hon. Member for North East Bedfordshire. [213662]
Mr. Byrne: I wrote to the hon. Member on 18 July 2008.
Immigration: Manpower
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there were for employing a person aged 16 years and above subject to immigration control contrary to sections (8) and (6) of the Asylum and Immigration Control in each quarter since 1 January 2002. [177371]
Mr. Byrne: The latest information on persons proceeded against and found guilty of offences under Immigration Acts in England and Wales in each year from 2003 to 2007 will be available from Table 6.7 of the Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2007 publication on 21 August 2008; information for 2006 and 2007 will be provisional. Information relating to 2002 has been published in Table 7.5 of the Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2002 publication.
Copies of the 2002 publication are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at:
Copies of the 2007 publication will be available from 21 August 2008.
The UK Border Agency have implemented measures contained in the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 to tackle illegal migrant working, which provide a wider and more effective range of tools with which to tackle non-compliance. The 2006 Act introduced a system of civil penalties for employers who employ illegal migrants through less than diligent practices, alongside a tough new offence for those who knowingly employ illegal migrants, which will carry a maximum two year prison sentence and/or an unlimited fine. These new measures came into force on 29 February 2008.
Immigration: Skilled Workers
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of migrants on the highly skilled migrant programme given the right to remain in the UK following the High Court decision of 8 April 2008; how many migrants were subject to the points requirements dealt with in that decision; how many of them had had their cases considered; how many failed the requirement; and if she will give a breakdown by nationality of (a) those subject to the requirement, (b) those whose cases have already been considered and (c) those who have failed. [201157]
Mr. Byrne [h olding answer 24 April 2008]: We estimate that the judgment will affect some 1,300 people.
Immigration: Tribunals
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many presenting officers for asylum and immigration tribunal cases were employed by her Department on 1st April 2008. [209078]
Mr. Byrne: On 1 April 2008 the Home Department employed the full-time equivalent of 271.5 presenting officers for Asylum and Immigration Tribunal cases.
Independent Police Complaints Commission: Complaints
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which body handles complaints against the Independent Police Complaints Commission. [221380]
Mr. McNulty: The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is an independent body. All complaints against the IPCC are initially managed internally. Any further complaint or challenge to a decision must be made through a court of law.
Members: Correspondence
Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Minister of State will reply to the hon. Member for Spelthorne's letter of 13 May 2008, on the planning application to convert 203-211 London Road, Staines into an administration and interview centre for the UK Border Agency. [216818]
Mr. Byrne: I wrote to the hon. Member on 23 July 2008.
Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to reply to the letter of 22 May 2008 from the hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood, regarding Amadou Wuri Jallow, Home Office reference J1162190, acknowledgement reference B18399/8. [221671]
Mr. Byrne: The UK Border Agency wrote to my right hon. Friend on 21 July 2008.
Metropolitan Police: Forensic Science
Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the future role of forensic medical examiners in the Metropolitan Police; and if she will make a statement. [219373]
Mr. McNulty: The future role of forensic medical examiners in the Metropolitan Police is a matter for the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.
National Identity Scheme Commissioner: Finance
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the budget for the Office of the National Identity Scheme Commissioner will be in each of the first three years of its operation. [219767]
Meg Hillier: The National Identity Scheme Commissioner, a key independent role established under the Identity Cards Act 2006, will provide oversight of the operations of those parts of the scheme defined in the Act and will report at least annually on his or her findings.
The precise definition of the role of his or her office is still being finalised and, as a result, the budget has yet to be finalised.
Offences Against Children: Internet
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the trends in the number of prosecutions for possession of child abuse images arising from (a) websites and (b) peer to peer networks. [218821]
Mr. Coaker: The number of prosecutions for possession of child abuse images does not indicate the method used to obtain those images.
However the Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre (CEOP) have observed that in the past year the use of peer to peer networks by offenders to share and distribute images of child abuse has increased. Other more “traditional” methods of obtaining such images, including downloading from websites, are still continued to be used by offenders.
The Government are committed to the removal of all images containing child abuse images from the internet. We work closely with CEOP, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and industry in order to achieve this.
Offenders: Deportation
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign offenders who received a community sentence were (a) deported and (b) subject to administrative removal in each of the last five years. [181847]
Mr. Byrne: The information requested can be obtained only through the detailed examination of individual casefiles at disproportionate cost. The chief executive of the UK Border Agency advised the Home Affairs Committee during her appearance of 15 January that, in most cases involving community sentences, the Agency would look to use administrative removal as the method of expulsion rather than deportation.
Offensive Weapons
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government plans to take to assist local communities to reduce knife crime. [220627]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 21 July 2008]: The Government take the problem of knife crime seriously and we are using a variety of measures encompassing legislation, enforcement, education and prevention to address it.
The Home Secretary announced on 13 July tough measures to deal with those involved in knife crime through greater police enforcement, targeted action and earlier intervention and support for parents. These new measures complement the Government’s launch of the new £100 million Youth Crime Action Plan. The clampdown on knives reflects a triple-track approach of tough enforcement, intensive support and better prevention.
The Tackling Knives Action Programme is a targeted approach to addressing knife crime in specific areas: Metropolitan Police Service, West Midlands police, Greater Manchester police, Merseyside police, Lancashire police, Essex police, West Yorkshire, Thames Valley police, Nottinghamshire police and South Wales police. The
programme will build upon the Tackling Gangs Action Programme that helped deliver a 50 per cent. reduction in gun injuries in hotspot areas in four areas across the country. The Government have asked Deputy Assistant Commissioner Alf Hitchcock, the ACPO lead on knives, to take on the role of head of the Tackling Knives Action Programme alongside his existing role as Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.
This programme will include youth forums to encourage young people to stay on the right track in the first place; knife referral projects to ensure that people convicted of carrying a knife are confronted with the dangers of carrying knives; support for parents who are concerned about their children carrying knives by encouraging them to call parenting organisations such as ‘Parentline Plus’ to receive confidential advice; encouraging local authorities to provide Safer School Partnership officers to any school that needs one; Trading Standards prioritising test purchasing for the underage sales of knives; working with the Department of Health and local health partners to see what more we can do on knife crime in hotspot areas and supporting licensing authorities to crack down heavily on any establishment that allows underage drinking.
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences of (a) possessing a bladed article, (b) possessing an offensive weapon, (c) robbery involving the use of a knife, (d) wounding with intent involving the use of a knife, (e) causing grievous bodily harm involving the use of a knife, (f) attempted murder involving the use of a knife and (g) homicide involving use of a knife were committed per 100,000 people in each (i) London borough and (ii) police force area in England and Wales in each year since 1997. [221204]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 22 July 2008]: Information on (a) possessing a bladed article has not previously been available centrally. From April 2008, police forces have been using a new classification for possession of article with blade or point. Figures for 2008-09 are due to be published in July 2009. The (b) possession of offensive weapons can be recorded by the police in more than one offence category, so definitive figures cannot be given. Ministry of Justice collates figures for convictions of knife possession.
Statistics on certain serious violent offences involving the use of a knife or sharp instrument have been collected since April 2007. Figures are available for 2007-08. These offences include (c) robbery, (d) wounding with intent to do GBH, (e) wounding or inflicting GBH (i.e. without intent) and (f) attempted murder. These figures are at the police force area level.
Homicide data using a knife or sharp instrument are given in the following table. Figures are shown as per million population due to the low figures reported. The latest available figures are for 2006-07. Data for 2007-08 are scheduled for publication in January 2009.
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