| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
9 Oct 2008 : Column 774W—continued
Police: Nottinghamshire
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there were in Nottinghamshire in each of the last seven years. [224819]
Mr. Coaker: The available data are given in the following table.
Police: Standards
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make it her policy to include statistics on prosecution of (a) drink drivers and (b) disqualified drivers as part of the police national performance data. [225515]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The headline Statutory Performance Indicators within the policing performance framework are focused on a small number of key outcomes. The Assessments of Policing and Community Safety (APACS) framework for 2008-09 therefore contains an indicator on the number of people killed or seriously injured in road traffic collisions. This indicator is also one of the priorities for local government, as set out in the National Indicator Set for Local Government in England. More detailed information on issues relating to the objective of reducing road traffic casualties is collected, but it is outside of the national indicators list.
Sexual Offences: Victim Support Schemes
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what freephone 24-hour telephone lines exist for victims of rape and sexual assault in England and Wales. [225140]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 8 October 2008]: The Government fund a matrix of helplines for victims of domestic violence across the country including the free 24-hour national domestic violence helpline. We are currently exploring options for expanding these to cover a 24-hour sexual violence helpline. In addition, the Government provide funding to help develop new sexual assault referral centres and support existing ones. Sexual assault referral centres are available 24 hours a day to provide support to victims of sexual violence.
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to increase the number of sexual assault referral centres in England and Wales over the next five years. [225141]
Mr. Alan Campbell
[holding answer 8 October 2008]: The Government have a commitment in the Action Plan for Tackling Violence 2008 to 2011 to double the number of sexual assault referral centres (SARCs) from
19 to 38 by 2011. The Government are making good progress towards this target as there are already 22 SARCs in England and Wales. The Home Secretary's announcement on 7 October 2008 of the availability of £1.6 million to help develop new SARCs and support existing ones will contribute further to the expansion of SARCs.
Theft: Metals
John Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate she has made of (a) the incidence of metal theft and (b) the cost of such theft to (i) Government, (ii) local authorities and (iii) other public bodies; and if she will make a statement. [224901]
Mr. Alan Campbell: We are supporting the Association of Chief Police Officers-led Conductive Metal Theft working group to address the problem of metal theft and will be working closely with all stakeholders and Government Departments to establish effective responses to the problem.
The ACPO working group has produced an analysis which included an assessment of the overall cost of metal theft but this is not broken down into individual costs to Government and other public bodies. The analysis is being used as the basis for the development of the working group's strategy to address the issue
It is clear that the consequences of metal theft can be significant for local communities, businesses and the national infrastructure.
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her most recent estimate is of the (a) number and (b) monetary value of (i) aluminium and (ii) stainless steel beer barrels stolen in 2007. [225520]
Mr. Alan Campbell: We have made no estimation of the monetary value of aluminium or stainless steel barrels stolen in 2007.
We are working closely with the Association of Chief Police Officers-led Conductive Metals Working Group to establish an effective response to the problem of metal theft.
We are aware that each year the brewing industry loses a considerable amount of money from the theft and misappropriation of barrels, kegs, and gas cylinders. Action to address the problem will be part of the ACPO working group strategy to tackle metal theft.
Work Permits
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) work permit holders and (b) dependants of work permit holders were given leave to enter the UK in each quarter since 1 January 2007. [225139]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 8 October 2008]: The latest available data are for 2007 and shown in the following table.
Annual statistics on work permit holders and their dependants given leave to enter the United Kingdom are published in Table 2.5 of the Home Office Statistical
Bulletin ‘Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2007’ which is available in the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at:
| Passengers given leave to enter the United Kingdom as work permit holders and dependants, excluding EEA nationals, 2007( 1,2) | ||
| Number of persons | ||
| Period | Work permit holders( 3) | Dependants of work permit holders |
| (1) Provisional. (2) Data rounded to the nearest five. (3) Includes work permit trainees. | ||
Work Permits: Overseas Students
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many overseas students have been granted visas to work in the United Kingdom in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) nationality, (b) age and (c) sex; what the average time taken by her Department to process such visa requests is; what recent representations she has received on work visas for overseas students; what steps she has (i) recently taken and (ii) plans to take to reduce the time taken to process such visa requests; how many such applications have been rejected in the last three years; on what grounds; and if she will make a statement; [216202]
(2) how many students from (a) Colombia and (b) the Maldives studying at UK universities have been granted visas to work in the United Kingdom in each of the last five years, broken down by (i) age and (ii) sex; what the average time taken by her Department to process such visa applications is; how many such applications were outstanding at the latest date for which figures are available; how many such applications have been rejected in the last three years; on what grounds; what steps she has (A) taken and (B) plans to take to reduce the time taken to process such visa applications; and if she will make a statement. [216203]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested is as follows:
To accurately identify those who switched from student to employment status would involve reviewing each case individually which would result in disproportional costs.
The current performance against service standards can be found on the UKBA website. The current service standards were introduced in 2005. Performances against the work permits and HSMP service standards are illustrated in Annex A. New services standards will be introduced as the Points Based System is fully rolled out.
Further information on service standards can be found in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin: Control of Immigration: Statistics UK—ISSN 1358-51 OX.
Section 4 of the publication details the official statistics relating to after-entry control (please see following table).
| Annex A: Highly skilled migrant programme and work permits service standards | |||
| Percentage | |||
| Target | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 |
Youth Mobility Scheme
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which countries have expressed interest in participating in her Department's Youth Mobility Scheme; and in respect of each, whether her Department has (a) accepted it into the scheme, (b) rejected it as unsuitable and (c) still to take a decision. [224473]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 6 October 2008]: We have agreed with our counterparts that discussions need to remain confidential in order for countries to feel able to explore their possible involvement and make any appropriate adjustments to fulfil all the criteria for inclusion in the scheme before any public statements about their involvement are made. No final decision has yet been taken on the inclusion of any countries on the Youth Mobility Scheme but a list of participating countries will be published in the Immigration Rules before the scheme is launched at the end of November and this list will continue to be updated as and when countries join or leave the scheme.
House of Commons Commission
Members’ Centre
Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what estimate has been made of the (a) administrative and (b) maintenance costs of the Members' Centre in Portcullis House in its first year of operation. [225257]
Nick Harvey:
The centre opened on 1 July. Staff costs to date have been £32,070. Staff costs for a full year to 30 June 2009 are estimated to be £134,100. Only £7,070 of the staff costs to date, and £34,100 of the full year costs, represents a net increase in spending because the remainder of the staff costs have been met by redeploying staff within the Department of Information Services. Full year maintenance costs, based on an average cost
per square metre in Portcullis House, are estimated to be £4,000. It is not possible to distinguish other administrative costs. Most of these would have arisen in any case if the centre had not existed.
Innovation, Universities and Skills
Apprentices
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps the Government has taken to assist apprentices with the costs of the apprenticeship scheme. [225335]
Mr. Simon: There is no cost to apprentices for the delivery of their apprenticeship. The Department funds training providers or employers directly for the cost of delivering an apprenticeship framework. Apprentices are waged or receive an allowance from their employer like other employees. Apprentices bear the normal costs associated with employment such as travelling and meals.
Higher Education: Asylum
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what procedures are in place to allow (a) asylum seekers under the age of 18 years and (b) asylum seekers who are 18 years old or over to obtain education and training; what guidance is given to universities; and if he will make a statement. [224553]
Mr. Lammy: The children of asylum seekers have the same rights as all other children in the United Kingdom during the period of compulsory education. All 16 to 18-year-old asylum seekers are eligible for Learning and Skills Council (LSC) funding in respect of their attendance on a further education course in the same way as UK students.
Asylum seekers aged 19 or over are treated as UK students for the purpose of fees for further education where they have been legally in the UK for longer than six months pending consideration of their application for asylum or where they have failed in their claim but have been granted support under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. This follows the granting of concessions to enable asylum seekers to access LSC funding in certain circumstances, for example for courses teaching English for speakers of other languages. Otherwise they are treated as international students, and may be required to cover the full cost of their course. However an FE college or provider has discretion over the level of fee that they actually charge.
Asylum seekers access higher education courses as international students and can expect to be charged the full cost of their course by the university concerned. However, universities have discretion over the level of fee that they actually charge. The Higher Education Refugees and Asylum Seekers network provides guidance on the detailed rules which apply.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |