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21 Oct 2008 : Column 260W—continued
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many staff in (a) her Department and (b) its agencies have been seconded to public relations or public affairs firms or consultancies in each of the last five years; [222210]
(2) how many staff from public relations or public affairs firms or consultancies were seconded to (a) her Department and (b) its agencies in each of the last five years. [222211]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested is not collated or held centrally by the Home Office or its agencies, and, where available, could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Domestic Violence
Mr. Neil Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of domestic violence were recorded in each local authority area in (a) 2004-05, (b) 2005-06 and (c) 2006-07, broken down by (i) sex and (ii) ethnicity of alleged offender. [226141]
Mr. Alan Campbell: From the information collected centrally on recorded crime, it is not possible to identify recorded cases of domestic violence. Such offences are not specifically defined by law and details of the individual circumstances of offences are not collected.
The British Crime Survey (BCS) routinely provides information on the number of incidents of domestic violence in England and Wales but it is not possible to break the statistics down by local authority area.
Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many overstayers are held in Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre; and for how long each has been detained. [221811]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 6 October 2008]: This statistical information is not available in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
EDF Energy
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what contracts (a) her Department and (b) its agencies have with EDF; and how much (i) her Department and (ii) its agencies paid to EDF in each of the last 10 years, broken down by the purpose of the payment. [221845]
Mr. Woolas: The (a) Home Department and, of (b) its agencies, the Identity and Passport Service have contracts with EDF Energy using the OGC Buying Solutions managed services framework for electricity supply.
The available information held by the (i) Home Department and (ii) the Identity and Passport Service on spend on electricity for each year since 2005-2006 is as follows:
| £ million | ||
| Home Office HQ | Identity and Passport Service | |
Earlier data are not held centrally and could be collected only at disproportionate cost. The data include payments to London Electricity who have now been taken over by EDF. The figures exclude expenditure by the National Offender Management Service which became part of the Ministry of Justice in May 2007.
Entry Clearances
Colin Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department from which countries nationals are required to secure a visitor visa to visit the UK. [222957]
Mr. Woolas: At present, nationals of over 100 countries or territorial entities are visa nationals and require entry clearance (a visa) to enter the UK in any circumstances, including for a visit of up to six months. The countries are set out in the following list, Appendix 1 to the immigration rules.
Appendix 1: Visa requirements for the United Kingdom
1. Subject to paragraph 2 the following persons need a visa for the United Kingdom:
(a) Nationals or citizens of the following countries or territorial entities:
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Angola
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belarus
Benin
Bhutan
Bosnia Herzegovina
Burkina Faso
Burma
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
People's Republic of China (except those referred to in sub-paragraphs 2(d) and (e) of this Appendix)
Colombia
Comoros
Congo
Cuba
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Djibouti
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Fiji
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ivory Coast
Jamaica
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Korea (North)
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Lebanon
Liberia
Libya
Macedonia
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
Moldova
Mongolia
Morocco
Mozambique
Nepal
Niger
Nigeria
Oman
Pakistan
Peru
Philippines
Qatar
Russia
Rwanda
Sao Tome e Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Somalia
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Surinam
Syria
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
Uzbekistan
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe
The territories formerly comprising the socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
(b) Persons who hold passports or travel documents issued by the former Soviet Union or by the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
(d) Persons who hold non-national documents.
2. The following persons do not need a visa for the United Kingdom:
(a) those who qualify for admission to the United Kingdom as returning residents in accordance with paragraph 18;
(b) those who seek leave to enter the United Kingdom within the period of their earlier leave and for the same purpose as that for which that leave was granted, unless it
(i) was for a period of six months or less; or
(ii) was extended by statutory instrument or by section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 (inserted by section 3 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999);
(d) those nationals or citizens of the People's Republic of China holding passports issued by Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; or
(e) those nationals or citizens of the People's Republic of China holding passports issued by Macao Special Administrative Region.
(f) those who arrive in the United Kingdom with leave to enter which is in force but which was given before arrival so long as those in question arrive within the period of their earlier leave and for the same purpose as that for which leave was granted, unless that leave
(i) was for a period of six months or less, or
(ii) was extended by statutory instrument or by section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 (inserted by section 3 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999).
Entry Clearances: Biometrics
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many biometric visas have been issued to children under the age of 16 years, broken down by age. [226399]
Jacqui Smith: Up to 30 September 2008, a total of 178,230 biometric visas have been issued to children under the age of 16. A breakdown of this figure by age is not readily available from our records and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, the following table shows the total number of visa applications received from children under 16 who have provided their biometric data, broken down by age group, which I hope is helpful.
| Visa applications from children under the age of 16 where biometric data provided: 1 January 2006 to 30 September 2008 | |
| Age | Applications |
| Notes: 1. Children under the age of five are not required to provide their biometric data. The figure for the 0 to five-year-old group therefore relates to five-year-olds only. 2. These figure are unpublished and should be treated as provisional. | |
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children under the age of 16 years have been issued with biometric visas after supplying their fingerprints. [226408]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 13 October 2008]: The rollout of the biometric visas programme began on 1 January 2006 and was completed at the end of 2007. By 30 September 2008, a total of 178,230 children under the age of 16 years had been issued with visas after supplying their fingerprints.
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