| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
23 Oct 2008 : Column 508W—continued
Cannabis: Crime
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of (a) murders, (b) assaults, (c) robberies and (d) other crimes committed while under the influence of skunk cannabis in (i) Lancashire and (ii) England and Wales in each of the last five years. [229072]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 22 October 2008]: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Departmental Civil Service Agencies
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many agencies were sponsored by her Department in (a) 2007-08 and (b) 1997-98. [228514]
Mr. Woolas: The "Next Steps Report 1997" (Cm3889) provides information on all Executive agencies as at 31 December 1997. Copies are available from the Library of the House. The most up-to-date list of Executive agencies is published in the Cabinet Office publication "The List of Ministerial Responsibilities". The latest version, incorporating recent ministerial changes, will be published shortly. Copies will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Departmental Official Visits
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent on overnight accommodation by her Department's civil servants in the last 12 months. [228772]
Mr. Woolas: Expenditure figures for the Home Office on overnight accommodation by civil servants and all Ministers for the financial year 2007-08 (the last 12 months for which audited figures are available) was £5.79 million.
Information on civil servant overnight accommodation expenditure separately could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Expenditure figures on overnight accommodation for the Home Office includes information for the core Home Office and UK Border Agency.
When travelling on departmental business officials are expected to make efficient and cost-effective accommodation arrangements. Departments have authority to reimburse the expenses incurred by their own staff in connection with their employment, subject to the conditions set out in the Civil Service Management Code.
Departmental Public Participation
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much (a) her Department and (b) the UK Border Agency and its predecessors spent on polling and focus groups in each of the last five years. [226058]
Mr. Woolas: During the past five years, spend on opinion polling by the Home Office and the UK Border Agency and predecessors has been as follows (IND and BIA were the UKBA predecessors):
| Spend on opinion polling (£) | |
We are unable to answer the question relating to focus groups on the grounds of disproportionate cost.
Departmental Public Relations
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was of (a) entertainment, (b) advertising and promotion and (c) public relations consultancy to her Department in 2007-08. [228149]
Mr. Woolas: Home Office spend on entertainment and advertising and promotion is set out in the following table. The Department's accounting systems do not identify separately the costs of public relations consultancy and these can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
| £000 | |
All Home Office expenditure conforms to departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, which complies with the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.
Drugs: Afghanistan
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the proportion of Class A drugs sold on the streets of the UK which had originated in Afghanistan in the most recent period for which figures are available. [227930]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Afghanistan produces at least 90 per cent. of the identified heroin and opium supplied to the UK. The size of the UK's heroin street market has been estimated at £1.2 billion out of a total £4 billion for all Class A drugs. On that basis, drugs originating from Afghanistan represent between 25 and 30 per cent. of the value of the UK's Class A market.
Entry Clearances
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons UK nationals acting as sponsors for overseas applicants applying for a UK visa are required to send personal financial information abroad for presentation by the applicant to Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials at the appropriate overseas embassy; what consideration has been given to enabling such sponsors to present information to officials in the UK; and if she will make a statement. [228476]
Mr. Woolas: One of the requirements for entry in most immigration categories is that the applicant will either (a) be able to adequately maintain and accommodate himself/herself without recourse to public funds, or (b) be adequately maintained and accommodated without recourse to public funds by their sponsor, during their stay in the UK. Applicants are advised to provide evidence either of their own or their sponsor's ability to meet this requirement. Such evidence is submitted by the applicant not the sponsor. It is up to the sponsor whether to disclose the information.
UKvisas has become part of the UK Border Agency since 1 April and we shall look carefully at all the business processes to ensure they are as efficient and customer-friendly as possible.
Genetics: Databases
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals who were (a) under 13 and (b) between (i) 13 and 15, (ii) 16 and 18 and (iii) 19 and 21 years of age had their DNA profiles added to the National DNA Database in each financial year for which records are available. [214981]
Meg Hillier:
The following table shows the number of subject profiles loaded to the National DNA Database (NDNAD) in each of the last five years and the current
year to date, as at 16 September 2008, for English and Welsh police forces, relating to persons who were (a) under 13 and (b) between (i) 13 and 15, (ii) 16 and 18 and (iii) 19 and 21 at the time the DNA sample was taken; and the estimated number of individuals to which these relate.
The number of subject profiles held is not the same as the number of individuals with a profile on the NDNAD. As it is possible for a person's profile to be loaded onto the NDNAD on more than one occasion, some profiles held on the NDNAD are replicates. This can occur, for example, if the person provided different names, or different versions of their name, on separate arrests, or because profiles are upgraded. Therefore, the number of individuals on the NDNAD is the number of subject profiles reduced by the replication rate, which at present is 13.3 per cent. for the whole NDNAD.
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 1 April to 1 6 September 2008 | |
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was of adding DNA samples to the National DNA database in each year since 1995. [215821]
Meg Hillier: The process for adding information to the National DNA Database (NDNAD) has a number of elements, the costs of which fall to different parties. The process initially involves police taking a sample of a person’s cells (usually by means of a swab of the inside of the cheek), following which the sample is sent to a forensic supplier who processes it to produce a profile. This is a numerical sequence representing a small part of the person’s DNA. The profile is then added to the NDNAD, which operates to match profiles taken from individuals with those found at crime scenes.
The costs of taking and processing the sample fall to individual police forces. They vary depending on the contractual relationship between the force and the forensic supplier, which is commercially confidential.
The costs of operating the NDNAD and accrediting forensic suppliers fell, between 1995 and 2005 to the Forensic Science Service, between December 2005 and March 2007 to the Home Office, and since April 2007, to the National Policing Improvement Agency. For information on these costs, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Pendle (Mr. Prentice) on 1 September 2008, Official Report, columns 1566-67W.
Human Trafficking
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of those (a) arrested for and (b) convicted of human trafficking offences in the UK were (i) male and (ii) female in each of the last five years. [228299]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Of the 253 people arrested since the inception of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 for human trafficking 79 were female and 174 male. Of these nine females have been convicted of human trafficking along with 81 males.
There have been a total of 90 convictions for human trafficking under the Sexual Offences Act. Of these 27 were female and 63 male.
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the nationalities were of those (a) arrested and (b) convicted of human trafficking offences in the UK in each of the last five years. [228408]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The nationalities of those arrested and convicted are varied and include people from east Europe, south east Europe, south Asia, China and the far east, and Britain.
More detailed breakdowns of nationality are not yet available. However, work is underway by the UK Human Trafficking Centre to make details including case outcomes, age, gender and nationality of defendants available in due course.
Immigration: Bexley
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for leave to remain have been received from addresses in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency and (b) the London Borough of Bexley in the last six months. [228239]
Mr. Woolas: The following table shows the number of leave to remain applications received from addresses in Bexleyheath, Crayford and the London Borough of Bexley between 1 April 2008 and 30 September 2008.
| Leave to remain applications received for Bexleyheath and Crayford 1 April 2008 to 30 September 2008 | |
| Number of applications | |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |