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10 Feb 2009 : Column 1826W—continued
Departmental Redundancy
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer of 26 November 2008, Official Report, columns 2292-3W, on redundancy, what estimate has she made of the annual payroll savings resulting from staff exit schemes in (a) 2005-06, (b) 2006-07, (c) 2007-08 and (d) 2008-09 excluding the cost of severance packages; and what estimate she has made of the equivalent figures for 2009-10. [254459]
Mr. Woolas: The savings resulting from staff exit schemes could only be calculated following examination of individual records and this would incur disproportionate cost.
Departmental Temporary Employment
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent by her Department on (a) agency and (b) temporary staff in each financial year since 2005-06. [251358]
Mr. Woolas: The following table details total annual salary costs to the Department for casual and fee paid employees who are paid on the Department's payroll system. The data cover Home Office headquarters, UK Border Agency (UKBA), Identity and Passport Service (IPS) and Criminal Records Bureau (CRB).
The Department employs agency staff and consultants who are paid from individual business unit budgets. Salary costs are not held centrally for these employees and to obtain the information would incur disproportionate cost.
| £ | |
| Total annual salary costs of casual and fee paid staff in HQ, UKBA, IPS and CRB | |
Departmental Travel
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what expenditure her Department has incurred in providing transport for Ministers between Parliament and departmental premises in each of the last five years. [251875]
Mr. Woolas: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport (Mr. Hoon) on 26 January 2009, Official Report, column 5W. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code.
Departmental Written Questions
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in the last 12 months Ministers in her Department have used their discretion to rule that a parliamentary question for written answer should be answered because it would be in the public interest to do so, even though to do so would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold of £700. [249142]
Mr. Woolas: This information is not held centrally.
Deportation: Offenders
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign national prisoners are subject to deportation notices. [252821]
Mr. Woolas: The chief executive of the UK Border Agency has regularly written to the Home Affairs Committee in order to provide all of the most robust and accurate information on the deportation of foreign national prisoners. Copies of these letters are available in the Library of the House.
Those who meet the published criteria for deportation will be considered for deportation action. Additionally any non-EEA foreign national prisoners who receive a custodial sentence of 12 months or more, as well as any non-EEA national convicted of a drug or gun offence irrespective of the length of their sentence, will face automatic deportation and, in many cases, will not receive a right of appeal within the United Kingdom. According to the Agency’s own provisional internal management information, which is subject to change, over 5,000 foreign national prisoners were deported in 2008. This means that the UK Border Agency yet again exceeded its target for the year as well as exceeding the previous year’s record number of removals and deportations of foreign national prisoners.
Domestic Violence: Refuges
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many refuges for victims of domestic violence there were in each year since 1997. [254907]
Mr. Iain Wright: I have been asked to reply.
The Department does not record these figures.
There is a range of support for victims of domestic violence. Some victims will be accommodated in refuges, but sanctuary schemes and mainstream local authority accommodation may be an option for others, while some victims will pursue independent solutions with help and advice from support schemes as necessary.
A national survey of refuge places in 1998 showed that there were 409 domestic violence refuge properties in England with approximately 7,269 bed-spaces.
The Department have recently commissioned new research that will identify the current housing options available to households at risk of domestic violence, and to assess whether this provision meets current need. It will involve establishing the extent and type of temporary and settled accommodation available for households at risk of domestic violence in England, including the provision of housing related support services delivered to both temporary and settled accommodation, and to households’ own homes.
In 2003 the Government announced major investment in refuge provision in England in 2003 to 2006. A total of £34 million capital was allocated and 511 units of accommodation were refurbished or newly built. More recently the Hostels Capital Improvement programme (2005 to 2007) funded six new and refurbished refuges at a cost of £4 million.
The Department for Communities and Local Government provides essential revenue support for victims of domestic violence through the Supporting People Programme—£64.5 million in 2007-08 up from £61.6 million in 2006-07.
Entry Clearances
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects a decision to be made on the application for a family reunion visa in Pretoria, South Africa by the relatives of the hon. Member for West Lancashire's constituent Mr. Katona: Loyce Gaka, visa reference number VFS-ZA-01-011915-X and Amanda Katona, visa reference number VFS-ZA-01-011916-X. [254577]
Mr. Woolas: These applications were resolved on 26 January 2009.
Foreign Workers
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the definition is of a temporary worker under Mode 4 of the General Agreement on Trade in Services; how such workers will be identified; and how their departure from the UK at the end of their contract will be enforced. [253507]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 2 February 2009]: The definition of a temporary worker under Mode 4 of the General Agreement on Trade in Services can be found in the current European Union services offer in the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations on the World Trade Organisation website:
Intra company transferees coming to the United Kingdom under Mode 4 of the General Agreement on Trade in Services will be required to qualify under the Tier 2 (Intra Company Transfers) category of the Points-Based System. Contractual Service Suppliers coming to the United Kingdom under Mode 4 of the General Agreement on Trade in Services will be required to qualify under Tier 5 (Temporary Workers)—International Exchange sub-category of the Points-Based System.
Freedom of Information
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department spent on responding to requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in (a) 2006, (b) 2007 and (c) January to July 2008. [251759]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
An assessment of the cost of freedom of information within Government can be found in Frontier Economics 2006 report “Independent Review of the Freedom of Information Act”. A copy of this report is available in the House of Commons Library.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff of her Department are specifically employed to manage freedom of information requests. [251761]
Mr. Woolas: Across the Home Office and its agencies, 10 staff deal exclusively with freedom of information requests, four of whom are employed on a part-time basis. A further 17 staff have managed freedom of information requests as a substantial part of their role. Overall, the equivalent of 19.6 full-time posts manage freedom of information requests.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 her Department (a) fulfilled and (b) refused in (i) 2006, (ii) 2007 and (iii) up to July 2008. [251762]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested has been published in the Ministry of Justice’s annual reports on the operation of the FOI Act in central Government. These can be found at:
for requests received in 2006,
Information on cases received between January and July 2008 can be found at:
these are also available in the Library.
House of Commons: Right of Search
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether (a) her Department and (b) Metropolitan police have received a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for the release of the report of the review conducted by Chief Constable Ian Johnston of the arrest and investigation of the hon. Member for Ashford; [254562]
(2) if she will obtain a copy of the final report of the review conducted by Chief Constable Ian Johnston of the British Transport Police of the arrest and investigation of the hon. Member for Ashford; and if she will place a copy of the report in the Library. [254734]
Mr. Coaker [holding answers 5 and 9 February 2009]: No request has been made to my Department. The review of the handling of the investigation by the Metropolitan police was made at the request of the then Acting Commissioner. The report of the review is a matter for the Commissioner of the Metropolitan police and I have no plans to call for a copy of the report.
Immigration: Deportation
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals who were normally resident in Peterborough constituency and had no legal basis to remain in the UK have been removed since May 2007; and if she will make a statement. [250807]
Mr. Woolas:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 13 January 2009, Official Report, column
702W, in which he asked a similar question. The information requested could be obtained by the detailed examination of individual records only at disproportionate cost.
Immigration: Detainees
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what compensation payments have been made by (a) her Department and (b) private contractors working for her Department to immigration detainees in (i) response to allegations of unlawful detention, (ii) response to allegations of assault and (iii) total in the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement. [253316]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested is not collected centrally and could be obtained only through examination of individual records at disproportionate cost.
Immigration: Marriage
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will review the application of the two-year rule to the right of a spouse to apply to remain in the UK. [253495]
Mr. Woolas: In April 2003 the probationary period for those seeking settlement on the basis of marriage was increased from one to two years. The two year probationary period is intended to protect the system against abuse. This probationary period allows the UK Border Agency to assess that the relationship is subsisting and acts as a safeguard against those who might enter into a sham marriage solely for immigration purposes.
The UK Border Agency keeps its policies under continuous review to ensure that they operate effectively and meet the Government’s wider immigration objectives.
Luton Borough Council
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what grants her Department has made in respect of the Luton borough council area in each year since 1997. [252647]
Mr. Woolas: The Department’s accounting systems show the following specific area grant payments to Luton borough council, Luton Primary Care Trust and Safer Luton Partnership.
| £ | |
An analysis by individual grants, payments made before 2004-05, and other related payments, could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mass Media
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of her Department’s contracts with press monitoring services was in each of the last five years. [251220]
Mr. Woolas: The total cost of the Department’s contracts with press monitoring services in the last four financial years (2004-05 to 2007-08) is provided in the following table. The information for 2003-04 is no longer readily available and could not be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
| Total (£) | |
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