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3 Nov 2008 : Column 28W—continued
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many laboratories were licensed under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 in 2007. [228912]
Meg Hillier: As at 31 December 2007 there were 200 designated establishments licensed under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
Crimes of Violence: Homosexuality
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps police services in England have taken to use social networking sites to encourage reporting of homophobic hate crimes and incidents; and if she will make a statement. [227416]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Association of Police Officers are reviewing the use of third party reporting mechanisms. The Minister of State for Security, Counter-Terrorism and Policing discussed the matter at a bi-lateral meeting with the Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police on 21 October 2008 both parties stated their desire to see a service provided and the Minister has asked Superintendent Paul Giannasi, the project lead for Race for Justice to urgently meet with Metropolitan Police officials to establish the feasibility and cost of a solution. The first meeting has taken place and a report will be considered by the Minister and the Commissioner when the work is complete. The service will then be reviewed and developed to allow links into ‘social networking' and other internet schemes.
Departmental Computers
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of (a) the number of computer devices left on overnight in her Department when not in use and (b) the cost per year of leaving computer devices on overnight when not in use in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [217863]
Mr. Woolas: The Home Office does not monitor or track how many devices have been left on overnight, so statistics for the past five years are not available.
We are initiating a project to implement technology that will ensure that all desktop devices automatically turn off overnight. This technology will also provide us with monitoring and reporting capabilities. The project is expected to implement this financial year and will cover the majority of the IT estate.
Departmental ICT
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the value of her Department's computer systems (a) was at the time of purchase and (b) is now. [214714]
Mr. Woolas: This response refers only to systems managed by Home Office IT Shared Services.
Under the PFI contracts, the Department does not “purchase” computer systems. For the main POISE and INDIGO systems, they have a nominal asset value of £1 each.
Information on UKBA system assets (excluding POISE and INDIGO) are shown here, as at 1 April 2008.
| System name | Asset value (as at 1 April 2008) (£000) |
Initial purchase values for the above systems are not available.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether her Department’s IT (a) systems and (b) services conform to the ISO 27001 standard. [216055]
Mr. Woolas: Nearly all in-service IT systems and managed services within Home Office IT Shared Services are designed and constructed to take full account of the Department’s policies and procedures for information security management which have been confirmed to be fully compliant with the controls in ISO 27001. As part of the normal departmental review of procedures, these are continually checked against existing and new controls contained in ISO 27001.
The Home Office’s priority is to conform to the new standards as laid out in the data handling report by the Cabinet Secretary published on 25 June 2008. The new standards build on recognised good practice and international standards for information security such as ISO 27001 and are tailored to the particular circumstances of UK central Government.
Work is under way to address the very few non-conformant systems.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of her Department's staff have access to the Department's IT infrastructure at home. [216376]
Mr. Woolas: The Home Office does not monitor the number of people who access IT systems from home. We provide for remote access through mobile working but we cannot state where these are used (home or office). The decision on whether or not people work from home is one for line managers and business units.
Departmental Trade Unions
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many civil servants in her Department were seconded to work for (a) trade unions and (b) the Trades Union Congress in each year since 2003. [229097]
Mr. Woolas: The following table gives a breakdown of secondments from the Home Office to trade unions for each year since 2003. The table reflects formal secondments out of the Home Office.
No Home Office staff were seconded to the Trades Union Congress during the period for which data have been requested.
| Civil servants seconded from the Home Office to work for trade unions, 2003 to 2008 | |||||
| Home Office HQ | UK Border Agency | Identity and Passport Service | HM Prison Service | Criminal Records Bureau | |
Foreign Workers: Care Homes
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what factors were considered by the Migrant Advisory Committee when making its recommendation that NVQ Level three qualified staff from outside the European Union in care homes should be paid a minimum of £8.50 per hour. [230852]
Mr. Woolas: The methodology used by the Migration Advisory Committee, when making the recommendation that skilled senior care workers should be regarded as skilled only if they are paid at least £8.80 per hour, is fully set out in its September 2008 report "Skilled, Shortage, Sensible: The Recommended Shortage Occupation Lists for Scotland and the UK". A copy has been placed in the House Library.
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the recommendation of the Migrant Advisory Committee that NVQ Level 3 qualified staff from outside the European Union in care homes should be paid a minimum of £8.50 per hour; and if she will make a statement. [230870]
Mr. Woolas: The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) was asked to provide independent, transparent and evidence-based advice to the Government on where skilled labour market shortages exist that can sensibly be filled by migration.
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) included senior care workers with a formal qualification at National Qualification Framework (NQF) level 3 in Scotland or Wales, or paid an hourly salary of at least £8.80 on their recommended shortage occupation list.
Government have given careful consideration to the report and advice, and will decide whether to accept their recommendations or not, before publishing our shortage occupation list ahead of the launch of tier 2 of the points-based system in November.
Immigration
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will break down by nationality the asylum applicants dealt with under the legacy exercise who have been (a) granted and (b) refused indefinite leave to remain. [194674]
Mr. Woolas: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill (Mr. Byrne) on 29 September 2008, Official Report, column 2349W.
The requested information is not collated centrally and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost through the examination of individual cases.
Immigration: English Language
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of spouses of each sex who entered the UK for settlement purposes in 2007 from (a) India, (b) Pakistan and (c) Bangladesh who did not have conversational English. [230086]
Mr. Woolas: The number of visas issued for entry as a spouse for settlement purposes in 2007 at our posts in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh were as follows:
| Number | |
These figures include a small number who qualified for Indefinite Leave to Enter (ILE), as follows:
| Number | |
The remainder would have been admitted for an initial period of two years, at the end of which they may apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR).
Since 2 April 2007, anyone applying for ILE or ILR has had to show, among other things, that they have a sufficient knowledge of the English language and of life in the UK. It is not possible to determine from our records how many of the above applicants who were granted (a) limited leave to enter, or (b) ILE before 2 April 2007, did not have conversational English.
Lancashire Constabulary: Special Constables
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many special constables there were in Lancashire Constabulary in each year since 2004, broken down by police division. [230088]
Mr. Coaker: The available data are given in the following table.
| Special constable strength( 1,2 ) Lancashire | |||||
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
| (1) Figures given as headcount values. (2) Figures correct as at 31 March in each given year. | |||||
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