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11 Feb 2009 : Column 2038W—continued
Asylum: Zimbabwe
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration she has given to changing the criteria applied to Zimbabwean nations seeking asylum in the UK. [255560]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 10 February 2009]: All asylum and human rights claims are considered on their individual merits in accordance with our obligations under the refugee convention and the European convention on human rights. Decisions take account of the individual facts of the case, up-to-date objective country information and any relevant case law.
The “Operational Guidance Note” providing policy advice for case owners considering asylum claims from Zimbabweans was last updated on 1 December 2008 and is kept under continual review.
British Nationality: Northern Ireland
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for British naturalisation there were from people resident in Northern Ireland in 2007; and how many were successful. [253275]
Mr. Woolas: There were 485 naturalisation applications from people who submitted their applications to the Northern Ireland Local Authority in 2007. Of this number received, 450 have been approved.
The information has been provided from local management information and is not a national statistic. As such, it should be treated as provisional and therefore subject to change.
China
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of the security operation for the visit to the UK of the Chinese Prime Minister was; and if she will make a statement. [254574]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 9 February 2009]: This information is not held centrally. The cost of the security operations for the visit to the UK of the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, is a matter for the Metropolitan Police Commissioner and the Metropolitan Police Authority and for the chief constable and police authority for each of the other forces involved in the visit.
Crime Prevention
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what data her Department hold on the performance of Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships. [254480]
Jacqui Smith: We do not have a rolling programme for collecting data on the performance of Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs). Following a review of the partnerships provisions of the Crime and Disorder 1998 Act, the duties on CDRPs to produce three yearly audits and to report annually to the Secretary of State on a partnership’s work and progress were repealed in 2007. They were replaced by new statutory requirements in 2007 to introduce minimum standards for partnership working based on six Hallmarks of Effective Partnerships. These include a duty on CDRPs to produce a strategic assessment identifying local community safety priorities and a partnership plan which sets out the approach for addressing these priorities.
Crime: Statistics
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2009, Official Report, columns 1483-86W, on crime: statistics, whether the National Policing Improvement Agency categorises data it collects on incidents of anti-social behaviour by type. [254338]
Jacqui Smith: The National Incident Category List (NICL) sets out an agreed framework for the recording of incidents that do not amount to notifiable crime. NICL sits within the National Standard for Incident Recording. NICL provides national definitions for a range of incident types, including those amounting to antisocial behaviour.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2009, Official Report, columns 1483W, on crime: statistics, for what reason the data on anti-social behaviour are only available for 2007-08. [254339]
Jacqui Smith: Returns of antisocial behaviour incident data were first included in the Police Annual Data Requirement with effect from 1 April 2007 which was the date on which the National Standard for Incident Recording (incorporating the National Incident Category List) came into full effect nationally.
Departmental Cost Effectiveness
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what Gershon savings were achieved by her Department in the last three years; and which of those were cash savings. [254866]
Jacqui Smith: My Department reported performance against the 2004 Value for Money Spending Review target in the 2008 Home Office Autumn Performance Report (column 7512). By the end of 2007-08, the Department had achieved gains worth £2,855 million per annum, of which £1,552 million per annum was cashable, compared with its target in the 2004 spending review to achieve improvements worth £1,970 million per annum of which £1,060 million per annum would be cashable.
Departmental Plants
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department has spent on (a) pot plants and (b) flowers in each of the last three years. [254879]
Mr. Woolas: Figures on the cost of pot plants and flowers are not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Public Appointments
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which of the public appointments for which her Department is responsible are due to be (a) renewed and (b) filled in the next 24 months; what the (i) remit, (ii) salary, (iii) political restriction, (iv) eligibility requirement and (v) timetable for each appointment is; and what records her Department keeps in respect of such appointments. [254230]
Mr. Woolas: Information on appointments made by the Department is published in the Department’s Annual Report and is available on the Department's website:
The process for making a public appointment, including guidance on political activity and eligibility criteria, follows the Cabinet Office publication “Making and Managing Public Appointments”.
For appointments regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments, the appointments process also complies with the “Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies”. Copies are in the Libraries of the House.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the running costs of her Department's Senior Appointments Panel. [254824]
Jacqui Smith: The cost of the new Senior Appointments Panel is estimated at £500,000 per annum. This includes the salary costs of four staff, fees and expenses for the independent chair and panel members, and research to support the workings of the panel. The cost of the panel will be absorbed by the Home Office.
Departmental Security
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2009, Official Report, column 284W, on departmental security, how many lost or stolen security passes have since been recovered. [254553]
Mr. Woolas: The Departmental Security Unit do not keep records of Home Office HQ passes found or recovered as lost or stolen passes are deactivated as soon as they are reported missing/stolen and are deleted from the system, thereby preventing access to Home Office buildings.
In the calendar year 2008, UK Border Agency reported that 26 UKBA passes had been found (warrant cards are included in this figures, as for some business areas they are the same document).
Departmental Translation Services
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department and its agencies have spent on translation services in each of the last 60 months. [254596]
Jacqui Smith: The Department's expenditure on translation and interpretation services is set out in the following table, 2007-08 being the most recent period for which there are audited figures.
| £000 | |||||
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
The figures cannot be analysed by month without incurring disproportionate cost.
The Home Office figures in the table, for the financial years 2004-05 to 2007-08, do not include those for the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) and the Office of Criminal Justice and Reform (OCJR), which transferred to Ministry of Justice on 1 April 2007: figures for NOMS and OCJR for 2003-04 could not be deducted from the Home Office total without incurring disproportionate cost.
For the Identity and Passport Service, the offer of interpreter services was introduced when interviews for first time adults became compulsory in 2007-08. Face-to-face interviews for first time applicants are designed to help tackle fraud and ensure the British passport remains among the most secure in the world.
Interviews are tailored to the individual in order to securely establish identity and it is possible that some interviews could require the assistance of an interpreter to help IPS staff satisfy themselves that the person attending is the legitimate passport applicant.
Deportation
Mr. Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether bonuses are paid to those employed to supervise the transportation of deportees to airports, on the removal of such deportees. [255637]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 9 February 2009]: The contract for the escorting of individuals being removed or deported from the UK is operated by Group 4 Securicor (G4S).
The contractors employ detainee custody officers (DCOs) to carry out the duties of escorting those people being removed from the UK.
Under the contract, the UK Border Agency does not make any bonus payment to G4S for effecting removals or deportations. G4S have said that they do not pay bonuses to their staff that carry out these duties.
Deportation: Sri Lanka
Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent changes have been made to her Department's policy on the removal of Sri Lankan Tamils from the UK; and if she will make a statement. [254536]
Mr. Woolas: It remains our policy that enforced returns to Sri Lanka, or any other country, will only be undertaken where the UK Border Agency is satisfied that to do so is in accordance with our international protection obligations.
The UK Border Agency carefully considers all asylum claims and human rights claims, including those from Tamils, on their individual merits against the background of the latest available country information drawn from a wide range of publicly recognised sources and relevant case law. If their application is refused, they have a right of appeal to the Asylum Immigration Tribunal or an opportunity to seek judicial review through the higher courts. In this way we ensure that we provide protection to those asylum seekers who need it.
The 2008 European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case of NA endorsed existing Asylum and Immigration Tribunal country guidance case law on risk to Tamils in Sri Lanka. The ECtHR considered that there was no general risk of mistreatment to Tamils in Sri Lanka.
Detention Centres: Translation Services
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent on interpretation and translation services within the immigration detention estate in 2008; how much was spent at each detention centre; and if she will make a statement. [254447]
Mr. Woolas: In 2008 the UK Border Agency detention service spent £30,590 on interpretation and translation services at the Immigration Removal Centres.
The following table shows the spend for each of the 10 Immigration Removal Centres for 2008.
| Spend | |
Emergency Calls
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average length of time from the receipt of a 999 call to a police officer’s arrival at an accident or a crime scene was in each police force area are each of the last 10 years. [254594]
Jacqui Smith: This information is not held centrally.
Entry Clearances
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average waiting time for responses to visa applications has been in each of the last five years. [252320]
Mr. Woolas: Public service agreement (PSA) target times for processing visa applications during FY 2004-05 to FY 2007-08 were as follows:
PSA 1: 90 per cent. of straightforward non-settlement applications processed in 24 hours;
PSA 2: 90 per cent. of non-settlement applications requiring further inquires to be processed within 15 working days;
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