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9 Oct 2008 : Column 770W—continued
Asylum
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date her Department was informed of the decision of the High Court regarding the asylum claim of Mr. A. U. of Aylesbury (ref: U 1030958/2); on what date the case was allocated to a case worker for resolution; what the reasons are for the time taken in issuing a visa to Mr. A. U.; and when she expects such a visa to be issued. [224518]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 6 October 2008]: The UK Border Agency wrote to the hon. Member on 2 October 2008.
Asylum: Employment
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will bring forward proposals to allow asylum seekers to work while their status is being determined; and if she will make a statement. [224552]
Mr. Woolas: We have no current plans to change the position whereby asylum seekers are only allowed to work if they have not had a decision on their asylum application within 12 months of the date of their application and the delay is not attributable to them.
Closed Circuit Television
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will place in the Library a copy of the latest guidance from the Office of Surveillance Commissioners on the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and the use of local authority CCTV systems for directed surveillance by a law enforcement agency. [222692]
Mr. Coaker: The Information Commissioner published in January 2008 revised guidance on the use of CCTV in line with the Data Protection Act 1998. No separate guidance has been published by the Office of Surveillance Commissioners, although in his recent annual report, for 2007-08, the Chief Surveillance Commissioner welcomed the dialogue between local authorities and the police on this matter.
Departmental Data Protection
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many notifications (a) her Department and (b) its agencies made to the Information Commissioner following the loss or mishandling of personal information or data in each of the last three years; and what was notified in each case. [222904]
Mr. Woolas: The Home Office has published details of the protected personal data related incidents notified to the Information Commissioner's Office in 2007-08 in its Resource Accounts published on 8 August 2008. In the first half of 2008-09 (April to September) a notification was made to the Information Commissioner regarding the PA consulting data loss incident.
In 2008-09, the UK Border Agency contacted the Information Commissioner about a potential incident involving the loss of a data stick on UKBA premises. The data stick was subsequently found at an internal location so this was not in fact a notifiable incident.
The Identity and Passport Service has published details of the personal data related incidents notified to the Information Commissioner's Office in 2007-08 in its Annual Report and Accounts published on 26 June 2008. In the first half of 2008-09 no notifications were made to the Information Commissioner.
The Criminal Records Bureau, in accordance with Cabinet Office guidance, did not report any notification of loss or mishandling of any personal data to the Information Commissioner's Office for the period 2007-08. In the first half of 2008-09 no notifications were made to the Information Commissioner.
Before November 2007 the Information Commissioner's Office did not specifically keep records of instances of information security losses or breaches.
I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 25 June 2008, providing the final report on measures for data handling procedures in government.
Deportation
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many Bassetlaw residents were deported from the UK in each of the last five years; [224611]
(2) how many UK residents have been deported to Australia in the last five years. [224827]
Mr. Woolas: The information regarding how many Bassetlaw residents have been deported from the UK in each of the last five years is not available at the geographical level requested and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The following table shows the number of removals and voluntary departures from the UK to Australia, which includes those subject to a deportation order, from 2004 to 2007. These figures exclude persons refused entry at port and subsequently removed (including cases dealt with at juxtaposed controls) since they were not resident in the UK at the time.
Destination data have only been recorded since 2004, so information on persons removed to Australia during 2003 is not available.
Further National Statistics on removals from the UK are available from the Library of the House and the Home Office’s Research, Development and Statistics website at:
| Removals and voluntary departures( 1,2 ) from the UK to Australia, 2004 to 2007( 3) | |
| Number of removals | |
| (1) Includes enforced removals, persons departing voluntarily after enforcement action had been initiated against them, persons leaving under the Assisted Voluntary Return Programme run by the International Organisation for Migration since January 2005, persons who it has been established have left the UK without informing the immigration authorities. (2) Excludes persons refused entry at port and subsequently removed (including cases dealt with at juxtaposed controls). (3) Figures rounded to the nearest five and may not sum to the total shown because of independent rounding. (4) Provisional figures. | |
Extradition
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made by the working group initiated under the then Prime Minister's 12 point plan of August 2005 in order to deal with extradition requests to the UK; how many times the group met in each of the last three years; and if she will make a statement. [224879]
Meg Hillier: Since August 2005, 13 people have been extradited by the UK for terrorism-related offences; five people have been discharged by UK courts; five cases are ongoing and one case was withdrawn by the requesting state.
The steering group established in 2005 to explore the issue of establishing a maximum time limit for extradition cases involving terrorism met on a monthly basis between September 2005 and November 2006. The original focus was to consult stakeholders on maximum time-limits. The group has continued to meet on a bi-monthly basis since November 2006 to discuss other extradition related issues and to maintain a watching brief on all ongoing terrorist-related extradition cases.
Immigration: Children
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many days children who were British citizens were in immigration detention in the last 12 months. [225202]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 7 October 2008]: The information requested on the number of days children with British citizenship have been detained in immigration detention is not centrally collated and could be provided only by examining individual cases in disparate locations (local enforcement offices) at disproportionate cost.
Information on the number of persons detained is published in the Quarterly Asylum Bulletin, on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
Metropolitan Police: Finance
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was of the Metropolitan Police Service's CBI3 unit and its successor organisation in each of the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement. [224709]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested is not held centrally.
Costs associated with individual force units and decisions on the distribution of resources are an operational matter for the Commissioner and the Metropolitan Police Authority.
Offenders: Deportation
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the breakdown by nationality is of the 250 sentence-expired foreign nationals held in detention under immigration powers. [223148]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 10 September 2008]: In her letter of 18 February, the chief executive of the UK Border Agency referred the Home Affairs Committee to her appearance before them on 15 January, where she advised that the countries relevant in this respect were Jamaica, Nigeria, China and Vietnam.
The chief executive also advised the committee in her most recent letter of 23 July of the improvements being made to sustain and develop the agency's capability for returning foreign prisoners.
Offensive Weapons: Hampshire
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people aged (a) 16 and under, (b) between 17 and 18, (c) between 18 and 21 and (d) 21 years were arrested for carrying (i) knives and (ii) firearms in the non-metropolitan county of Hampshire in each of the last five years, broken down by district or borough. [222994]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Passports: Ex-servicemen
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many war veterans in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK received a free passport in each year since the scheme's inception. [224561]
Meg Hillier: The then Home Secretary announced the introduction of free passports on 19 May 2004 as a special concession for the second world war generation, to recognise all those who had contributed to the national effort during the war years, whether in the armed services or on the home front. Those who qualify are British nationals born on or before 2 September 1929 and therefore were old enough by the end of the war to have made a substantial contribution to the national effort.
The number of free passports issued under the scheme, by financial year, is as follows:
| Free passports issued | |
Information on numbers issued by constituency could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Passports: Pensioners
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many free passports were issued to pensioners in 2007; [224828]
(2) how many free passports have been issued to pensioners in Bassetlaw constituency in the last two years. [224833]
Meg Hillier: The introduction of free passports was announced on 19 May 2004 as a special concession for the second world war generation. Those who qualify are British nationals born on or before 2 September 1929 and therefore were old enough by the end of the war to have made a substantial contribution to the national effort. From January to December 2007, 118,723 free passports were issued. Information on numbers issued by constituency could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Personation: Internet
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to address online identity fraud. [225760]
Meg Hillier: The Government have a number of ongoing work programmes, many operating in partnership with public and private sector stakeholders, to seek to combat all forms of fraud, including where computer systems are a factor in enabling fraudulent activity.
Government have allocated £29 million over three years to implement the recommendations of the Fraud Review. This includes the creation of a National Fraud Strategic Authority, launched earlier this month; a new national lead force role for the city of London police; and a National Fraud Reporting Centre (NFRC), expected to go live in 2009, which will radically streamline the way that the public report fraud, including fraud committed over the internet, to the police. The NFRC will also equip law enforcement agencies with a powerful intelligence tool and help form the basis of better prevention advice and alerts to fraud threats for business and the public.
To help people and organisations protect themselves from crime which may involve an online element, the website www.getsafeonline.org was developed by the Government, police and industry. The website gives advice on how to stay safe online when shopping, banking or doing business over the internet, and how to protect computers and the personal information they contain. More general advice regarding identity fraud can be found on the website www.identitytheft.org.uk which was developed in partnership between Government,
law enforcement and industry to provide advice to the public and business around combating identity theft and fraud.
The Government are providing £3.5 million over three years to create the Police Central e-crime Unit (PCeU). This will provide support to the police service in developing a structured response to online crime, and its initial focus will be on the area of fraud-related electronic crime, working with the NFRC to develop a response to reports on such matters. The PCeU will act as the central unit for the police on promotion of standards for training, procedure and response to e-crime. It will bring together forces, the National Police Improvement Agency and other groups to develop training and to coordinate activity to build up the skill levels within policing. Outside of this the Serious Organised Crime Agency will continue its ongoing work to tackle the international and serious organised crime groups operating on the internet, supporting the NFRC and PCeU where appropriate.
Government continue to review and revise legislation to ensure that it is adequate to deal with modern ways of committing offences. The Fraud Act 2006 revised and updated legislation on fraud, including introducing an offence of fraud by false representation. This makes it an offence to commit any fraud by false representation in any form; it makes no difference if the representation is made to a machine or to a person, and there does not have to be any actual loss to a victim, it is merely enough to expose another to a risk of loss.
Ministers continue to have regular contact with the banking industry about crime reduction, including issues around online frauds.
Police: Notting Hill Carnival
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what the cost of policing the 2008 Notting Hill Carnival was; [224681]
(2) how much was paid to the police by Notting Hill Carnival Ltd to cover the cost of policing the 2008 event. [224682]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested is not held centrally.
This is an operational matter for the Metropolitan Police Authority and the Commissioner, who are responsible for assessing local needs.
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