| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
12 Jan 2009 : Column 268W—continued
Animal Experiments: Primates
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether her Department has (a) approved and (b) inspected a breeding centre operated by Vanny Bio-Research at Prek Eng in Cambodia as an overseas primate supply and breeding facility to export primates to the UK for the purposes of scientific research; and what recent representations she has received on breeding of long-tailed macaques for research in Cambodia, with particular reference to the Vanny Bio-Research Centre. [246174]
Meg Hillier: The Home Office has no remit to approve or accredit overseas primate breeding centres. However, the use of any non-human primate under the authority of project licences issued under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 from an overseas source requires prior approval which is given only if the conditions at the breeding centre are acceptable to the Home Office at that time. The Home Office has not visited any primate supply and breeding facility in Cambodia.
We have received no formal representations on breeding of long-tailed macaques for research in Cambodia, with particular reference to the Vanny Bio-Research Centre. In my reply to your question of 17 December 2008, Official Report, column 857W, I advised you that we had previously considered the suitability of a laboratory primate breeding centre in Cambodia, and are reviewing its potential suitability in the light of additional documentation recently received. No approval for requests for the import of non-human primates will be considered until the centre in Cambodia has been visited by the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Inspectorate.
Antisocial Behaviour Orders
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders have (a) been issued and (b) been breached in each of the last five years. [243324]
Jacqui Smith: Data on the number of antisocial Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) issued and breached in England and Wales are available up 31 December 2006. The available published information is shown in the following table.
| Number of Antis ocial Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) issued and the number proven in court to have been breached at least once at all courts in England and Wales in each year, 2000( 1) -06 | |||||
| England and Wales | 2000- 02( 1) | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 |
| (1 )From 1 June 2000. (2 )ASBOs breached are counted based on the year the first breach was proven in court. Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: As reported to the Home Office by the Court Service. Prepared by OCJR Evidence and Analysis Unit. | |||||
Antisocial Behaviour Orders: Hampshire
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders were (a) issued and (b) breached in (i) Southampton, (ii) Test Valley Borough and (iii) the ceremonial county of Hampshire in (A) 2006, (B) 2007 and (C) 2008. [243916]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The number of ASBOs issued at all courts in the Hampshire Criminal Justice System (CJS) area in 2006 was 66 and number proven in court to have been breached in 2006 was 67. ASBOs became available from April 1999, the majority of the 67 ASBOs which were breached in 2006 will have been issued prior to 2006.
Centrally collected data on the number of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) issued and the number proven in court to have been breached are available up to 31 December 2006 and are not compiled below CJS area level.
Antisocial Behaviour: Young People
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many acceptable behaviour contracts have been issued to young people found drinking and behaving anti-socially in public in each of the last five years. [244191]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The information requested is not available.
Acceptable behaviour contracts (ABCs) are voluntary agreements and therefore not suitable for central data collection. However, surveys carried out by the Home Office of the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) indicated that over 30,000 ABCs have been made since October 2003. The Home Office has issued updated and comprehensive guidance for practitioners on the use of ABCs.
Asylum
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what basis the asylum support benefit rates are set; and whether that basis will apply to their next uprating. [244199]
Mr. Woolas: The statutory basis of asylum support is to meet the essential living needs of asylum seekers and their dependants who would otherwise be destitute. No decision has been taken on the uprating of asylum support rates for 2009.
Asylum: Children
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum-seeking children below the age of 18 years old are without parents or guardians. [245286]
Mr. Woolas:
An unaccompanied asylum seeking child (UASC) is defined as a person who at the time of making an asylum application is under 18, or who, in the absence of documentary evidence establishing age, appears to be under that age; is applying for asylum in his or her own right and; is separated from both parents
and is not being cared for by an adult who by law or custom has responsibility to do so.
Information is published in table 2.3 of the annual publication, which gives details of UASCs aged 17 or under, who applied for asylum by country of nationality. Annual Statistics on UASCs, 2005-07, are available in the latest annual publication Asylum Statistics United Kingdom 2007, which is held in the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
Asylum: Finance
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many unsuccessful asylum seekers were in receipt of section 4 support on 1 November 2008. [243119]
Mr. Woolas: Information on the numbers in receipt of section 4 support is published on a quarterly basis in the Control of Immigration Quarterly statistical bulletin. The latest published information shows that as at the end of September 2008, 10,220 applicants, excluding dependants, were in receipt of Section 4 support.
Further National Statistics on asylum and immigration are available in the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at:
Asylum: Iraq
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) Iraqi and (b) Afghan nationals have (i) applied for and (ii) been granted asylum in the United Kingdom in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement. [243672]
Mr. Woolas: The Home Office publishes statistics on the number of applications received for asylum, and grants of asylum at initial decision, broken down by nationality. Initial decisions do not necessarily relate to applications made in the same year.
The information is published in Table 2.1 (Applications received) and Table 3.1 (Cases granted asylum) of Asylum Statistics United Kingdom 2007 bulletin which is available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
Asylum: North Korea
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people claiming to be North Korean citizens have applied for asylum in each of the last five years. [243614]
Mr. Woolas: The following table shows principal asylum applications for nationals of North Korea in each of the last five years.
Information on asylum is published annually and quarterly. Annual statistics for 2007 and quarterly statistics for 2008 are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
| Asylum applications( 1) received in the United Kingdom, excluding dependants, 2003-2007, nationals of Korea (North) | |||
| Applications | |||
| Total | Port | In country | |
| (1) Figures rounded to nearest five, (- = 0, * = one or two). (2) Provisional figures. | |||
Bookmakers: Burglary
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many betting shop robberies there were in (a) England and Wales, (b) the North East, (c) Tees Valley district and (d) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in each of the last five years. [244892]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The information requested is not collected centrally. The Home Office collects statistics on offences of robbery recorded by the police but no information is available on the type of premises robbed.
Bookmakers: Crimes of Violence
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many reported incidents of violence there were against (a) male and (b) female betting shop workers in (i) England and Wales, (ii) the North East, (iii) Tees Valley district and (iv) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in the last two years. [244889]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The information requested is not collected centrally. The Home Office collects statistics on offences of violence against the person recorded by the police but no information is available on the sex or occupation of the victims.
Borders: Personal Records
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the likelihood of compliance by 2009 of charter and leisure operators which serve popular tourist destinations with requirements set under the e-Borders scheme for inbound travel documents. [243273]
Jacqui Smith: The requirements of e-Borders have been presented to all carriers operating to and from the UK. No distinction is made between ‘charter and leisure operators’ and scheduled carriers and indeed the majority of carriers operate a mix of both scheduled and charter services.
In some instances, carriers have stated that they are likely to be unable to discharge their full obligations for data capture and transmission to e-Borders from the
planned roll out date. Consequently e-Borders has invested in the creation of a series of transitional technical solutions (valid until the end of 2009) allowing carriers to supply data in a flexible manner that satisfies the requirements of the programme.
e-Borders is confident that by continuing to work in partnership with the industry and by offering transitional technical solutions the overall compliance rate will be very high.
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects the projected benefits to the leisure and charter industry from the e-Borders scheme to begin to flow. [243294]
Jacqui Smith: The creation of a safe and secure border is a benefit that will be felt by all of those involved in the travel industry including the travelling public.
The experience of project Semaphore has clearly demonstrated the value that advance capture and processing of passenger information adds to the safety and security of the United Kingdom by permitting the authorities to intervene in a timely and proportionate manner on those who would seek to do us harm.
The early capture of such information will be a key enabler for efficient processing of passengers and crew at the UK border and in turn benefit carriers and their passengers in maintaining smooth flow through their ports.
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what deadlines have been set under the e-Borders scheme in respect of (a) outbound and (b) inbound travel document information for (i) leisure aviation, (ii) scheduled aviation, (iii) ferries, (iv) international rail, (v) boats, (vi) light aviation and (vii) other sectors. [243295]
Jacqui Smith: e-Borders does not distinguish between inbound and outbound data, but rather focuses on individual routes where all carriers operating that route are required to submit data from a specific date, inbound and outbound.
Regarding the specific modes detailed in the question I can say that the full e-Borders roll out will commence from March 2009 for scheduled aviation and thereafter will be receiving data from all other sectors from 2010. This process will be rolled out across the industry in accordance with the country based roll out plan, with 95 per cent. of the totality of inbound and outbound passengers.
Cannabis: Crime
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when warnings for cannabis possession will be recorded on the Police National Computer. [241603]
Jacqui Smith:
The recording of cannabis warnings on the Police National Computer (PNC) has been considered but is not currently being pursued pending the availability of PentiP. The new PentiP 24-hour national fixed penalty database which is due to be available from 2010 will be developed to include a facility to record cannabis warnings.
The recording of cannabis warnings is currently a matter for individual police forces at a local level this will remain so until the availability of PentiP. ACPO have undertaken to ensure that all forces are fully aware of the importance of accurately recording cannabis warnings locally.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |