| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
11 Feb 2009 : Column 2043W—continued
PSA 3: 90 per cent. of applicants for settlement visas to be assessed or interviewed within in 50 working days.
The UK Border Agency retained the same targets for visa processing from April 2008. Our performance against these targets is shown in the following table.
Data for years prior to FY 2006-07 are not available.
| Percentage | |||
| FY 2008-09(Apr-Dec) | FY 2007-08 | FY 2006-07 | |
| Note: The data for 2007/08 and 2008/09 are unpublished and should be treated as provisional. Source: Central Reference System, 29 January 2009 | |||
New customer service standards for visa processing times were introduced in January 2009 and are published on the Border Agency's Visa Services website, together with actual monthly processing times for each visa-issuing post.
These are end-to-end processing times which include processing at Visa Application Centres (run by our commercial partners) as well as processing at Visa Sections.
Frontex
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what (a) contracts and (b) other obligations her Department has with Frontex; whether her Department has plans to enter into any further such obligations; and if she will make a statement. [254443]
Mr. Woolas: The Home Office does not have any contract with the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (Frontex). The UK is excluded from the Frontex Regulation on Schengen building grounds. Our exclusion means that in practice we do not have the same level of influence as the other member states. We play an active role at the Frontex Management Board but we do not have a vote. Our officers participate in Frontex joint operations and other activities with the agreement of the management board on a case-by-case basis in an observational/advisory role.
We have demonstrated our commitment to Frontex by making an annual financial contribution to Frontex, seconding staff to Frontex's headquarters, participating in a variety of Frontex activities and operations as well as offering Frontex access to a range of technical equipment. We see the improved coordination of border management of Schengen States as having a direct impact to the United Kingdom, and play as full a part as possible in operations, and should commit resources to them for this purpose.
Illegal Immigrants
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many undocumented immigrants have been (a) repatriated, (b) held in detention and (c) released after being arrested in raids by the UK Border Agency and its predecessors in each year since 2001. [246241]
Jacqui Smith: There are no circumstances where an undocumented individual can be removed. Where an individual has no valid travel document, the UK Border Agency will obtain an Emergency Travel Document (ETD) through the relevant embassy, high commission or consulate of the country in question or where possible arrange removal using a European Union Letter (EUL).
Information on how many undocumented migrants have been held in detention and released after being arrested following operational visits by the UK Border Agency could be obtained by the detailed examination of individual case records only at disproportionate cost.
Published statistics on immigration and asylum, including removals, are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate web site at:
Illegal Immigrants: Employment
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what businesses the UK Border Agency and its predecessors has raided on suspicion that they were employing illegal immigrants in each of the last six years; and what businesses (a) were fined and (b) had a civil penalty imposed on them for employing such immigrants in each of those years; [246240]
(2) how many raids upon businesses the UK Border Agency and its predecessors undertook in each year since 2004; and how many undocumented immigrants were arrested in those raids. [246242]
Jacqui Smith: The number of UK Border Agency enforcement visits to UK businesses suspected of employing illegal workers and the numbers arrested during these visits in each year since April 2005 is attached at Annex A. Details prior to 2005 are not available. Information on how many of the individuals arrested were undocumented and could be obtained by the detailed examination of individual case records only at disproportionate cost.
All data are sourced from the National Operations Database (NOD) which was launched in April 2005. NOD is a management information tool and data from it are not quality assured under national statistics protocols. Figures provided from NOD do not constitute part of national statistics and should be treated as provisional.
Details of businesses prosecuted and fined for employing illegal migrant workers under section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 are published in the Control of Immigration Statistics United Kingdom 2007 which is available in the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate web site at:
Details of Civil Penalties issued to employers under the Immigration Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 can be found on the UK Border Agency website at:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/employersandsponsors/listemployerspenalties/
| The number of UK Border Agency enforcement visits to UK businesses and numbers arrested | ||||
| April 2005 to March 06 | April 06 to March 07 | April 07 to March 08 | April 08 to November 08 | |
| Source: All data are sourced from the National Operations Database (NOD). NOD is a management information tool and data from it is not quality assured under National Statistics protocols. Figures provided from the NOD do not constitute part of National Statistics and should be treated as provisional. | ||||
Immigration
Mr. Drew:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps she has taken to reduce the time taken to determine applications for
indefinite leave to remain; and if she will make a statement. [250960]
Mr. Woolas: In order to drive improvements throughout 2009-10 new processes are being introduced with initial focus on clearing older cases and improving overall throughput. A new performance monitoring mechanism to enable the agency to keep a tight grip on performance is due to be introduced in April.
Members: Correspondence
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to answer Question 243298, on identity cards and foreign nationals, tabled on 9 December 2008. [250488]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 27 January 2009]: I replied to the hon. Member on 29 January 2009, Official Report, column 810W.
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to answer Question 243515, on identity card verification across Government, tabled on 9 December 2008. [250489]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 27 January 2009]: I replied to the hon. Member on 19 January 2009, Official Report, column 1228W.
Offenders: Deportation
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offenders who had previously been deported have been convicted since 2001; and how many were (a) EU citizens and (b) non-EU citizens. [253445]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 3 February 2009]: The information requested can be obtained only through the detailed examination of individual case files at disproportionate cost. Those who are subject to deportation orders are prevented from re-entering the United Kingdom. Where it is found that an individual has attempted to enter in breach of a deportation order, the UK Border Agency will remove them at the earliest opportunity.
The chief executive of the UK Border Agency has regularly written to the Home Affairs Select Committee and provided all of the most robust and accurate information available on the deportation of foreign national prisoners. Copies of her letters are available in the Library of the House.
Police: Finance
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) cash grants and (b) overall budget her Department has provided for each police force in each of the last 10 years. [254823]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested is set out in the following table.
| Total grants and budget requirements for police authorities in England and Wales 1998-99 to 2008-09 | ||||||||
| £ million | ||||||||
| 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | |||||
| Police authority | Total grants( 1) | Budget requirement( 2) | Total grants( 1) | Budget requirement( 2) | Total grants( 1) | Budget requirement( 2) | Total grants( 1) | Budget requirement( 2) |
| (1) Total grants comprises: General Grant and specific resource grants and capital provision. (2) Source: Communities and Local Government - English Police Authorities/ Welsh Assembly Government—Welsh police authorities Note: Adjusted for comparison purposes following the transfer of pensions and security funding from general grant to specific grants | ||||||||
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |