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27 Oct 2008 : Column 679W—continued
| Table 2 | |||
| Ethnic Appearance | Subject Profiles | Estimated individuals | Percentage |
Identity Cards: Young People
Mr. David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department has taken to encourage the use of forms of age verification other than passports; and if she will make it her policy to introduce a national proof of age scheme. [221909]
Meg Hillier: The Government's intention to begin offering identity cards to young people in 2010 was announced in the National Identity Scheme Delivery Plan published in March this year. Holders will be able to use identity cards as proof of age, as well as using them to prove their identity when opening bank accounts, taking out student loans or starting employment. There are no plans to discourage the use of passports as evidence of identity including age; these are secure documents issued only after the applicant's identity has been carefully checked.
Oakington Immigration Centre
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many detainees have escaped from Oakington Immigration Centre in Cambridgeshire in the last five years; how many have since been recaptured; how many are still missing as whereabouts unknown; how many of these were illegal immigrants and suspected illegal immigrants; and if she will make a statement. [227808]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 20 October 2008]: The number of detainees who have escaped Oakington Immigration Removal Centre in the last five years is as follows:
| Number | |
| (1) To date | |
The numbers of detainees who are re-captured are not collated centrally. Each escape is recorded and the case owner notified, should the individual be subsequently re-detained.
The police are informed immediately when a detainee has escaped and the individuals' details are recorded on the Police National Computer should the individual be apprehended at a later date.
Passports: Fraud
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of (a) fraudulent and (b) stolen (i) passports and (ii) driving licences in circulation. [227561]
Meg Hillier: The information is as follows:
(a) (i) The term "fraudulent passport" can refer to a number of categories of document, e.g. forgery, counterfeit and fraudulently obtained genuine documents, and can be either UK or foreign. There is no estimate for the number of such documents in circulation.
(b) (i) The total number of passports reported by holders and recorded by IPS as stolen from 2004 to 2007 is 179,669.
No estimate has been made of the number of fraudulent or stolen driving licences in circulation.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passports were issued by the Home Office in (a) 2007 and (b) 1997 that later transpired to have been fraudulently applied for. [227563]
Meg Hillier: The Identity and Passport Service does not routinely collate information on the year of issue of passports found later to have been issued as result of fraudulent applications. Further, IPS is not always informed when fraudulent passports are identified, seized and taken out of circulation by other agencies in the UK and abroad.
Passports: Northern Ireland
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passports were issued to residents of Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years, broken down by (a) constituency, (b) district council area and (c) primary postcode. [221797]
Meg Hillier: As we do not hold the volume of passports issued broken down in the form requested, we are unable to provide these data.
Personation
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to combat the use of fraudulent identity documents. [227562]
Meg Hillier: The use of false identity documentation is a problem which we take very seriously. Our response is led by the UK Border Agency National Document Fraud Unit (NDFU) based at Status Park near Heathrow which is recognised both at home and abroad as the leader in its field. NDFU devises and conducts forgery detection training for all UK Border Agency personnel, ranging from basic training for new entrants, through intermediate to expert level. NDFU also delivers training to the police, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, and the Department for Work and Pensions. This in turn leads to substantial numbers of falsified documents being discovered within the United Kingdom and inhibits the ability of people to adopt false identities.
The Government are keen to ensure that there are effective deterrents in place for those who use false identity documents. On 7 June 2006 we brought into force section 25 of the Identity Cards Act 2006 which created new criminal offences of being in possession or control of false identity documents. Law enforcement agencies continue to use these and other legislative provisions to undertake investigations and prosecutions against those who manufacture, sell and utilise false identity documents for a variety of criminal purposes.
In addition, the Passport Validation Service provided by the Identity and Passport Service allows organisations to validate the status of a UK passport that has been presented to them as evidence of identity, and has been operational since July 2006.
Government are aware that it can be difficult for organisations in the public and private sector to recognise fraudulent identification documents. The implementation of the National Identity Scheme will provide people with a highly secure means of protecting their identity and help citizens to prove their identities easily, quickly and with vastly improved security.
Police Authorities: Bank Services
Mr. Amess:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was held by each police authority in England and Wales in foreign bank
accounts (a) in each year since 2001 and (b) at the latest date for which information is available. [229507]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested is not held centrally.
This is an operational matter for each police authority and chief constable.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much is held by each police authority in England and Wales in (a) UK and (b) foreign bank accounts. [229037]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested is not held centrally.
This is an operational matter for each police authority and chief constable.
Police: Disciplinary Proceedings
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many homes of serving police officers were searched by investigation teams on 27 January 1998; how many police officers were subsequently suspended from duty; how many of these were (a) reinstated and (b) prosecuted; and if she will make a statement. [227344]
Mr. Coaker: This information is not held by the Home Office. These questions are related to operational matters which are the responsibility of the chief constable of the force concerned.
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers (a) below superintendent rank and (b) of superintendent rank and above were suspended in each police force area in each year since 1997. [228975]
Mr. Coaker: The requested data have been collected centrally since 2002-03 and are given in the following tables.
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