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26 Mar 2009 : Column 640W—continued
Crime
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been arrested on suspicion of the offence of conspiracy to cause misconduct in public office in each of the last three years. [244234]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 16 December 2008]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Justice (Mr. Straw), to the hon. and learned Member for Beaconsfield (Mr. Grieve) on 15 December 2008, Official Report, column 478W.
Damian Green
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to her contribution on 4 December 2008, Official Report, column 151, consequent upon the Point of Order raised by the hon. Member for Ashford, if she will place in the Library a copy of the statement made by the Metropolitan police to which she referred; what discussions she has had with the Metropolitan police on the description of the alleged offence for which the hon. Member for Ashford was arrested; what explanation the Metropolitan police have offered for the discrepancy between her statement at column 135 and the contents of the warrant issued for the arrest of the hon. Member for Ashford; what communications she has made to the hon. Member for Ashford since her statement; and if she will make a statement. [242300]
Mr. Coaker [ h olding answer 10 December 2008] : I have placed in the Library a copy of the statement made by the Metropolitan police from which my right hon. Friend, the Home Secretary, was quoting when she referred to the alleged offence for which the hon. Member for Ashford (Damian Green) was arrested. In response to the hon. Member for Ashford’s suggestion that my right hon. Friend’s statement contained a factual inaccuracy my right hon. Friend sought clarification from Bob Quick, Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan police. He confirmed that the press lines from which she quoted were correct and that it is not unusual for a person to be given the abridged form of an offence as an explanation for the grounds of arrest. My right hon. Friend shared this explanation with the hon. Member for Ashford and placed a copy of Assistant Commissioner Quick’s letter in the House Library.
Mr. Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to make the Metropolitan police's report on its investigation regarding the hon. Member for Ashford (Damian Green) available to all hon. Members. [244099]
Mr. Coaker: The publication of the report is a matter for the Metropolitan police.
Departmental Data Protection
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many civil servants in her Department have been (a) investigated, (b) suspended and (c) dismissed for (i) losing and (ii) deliberately disclosing (A) data stored on departmental equipment and (B) confidential information in each year since 1997. [242930]
Mr. Woolas: The information is not available in the form requested, but it is normal practice to investigate all significant losses and leaks of information and, if appropriate, to take disciplinary or other action against any individual found to have acted improperly or unlawfully.
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what scanning for vulnerabilities her Department conducts of each of its IT devices; what method is used for IT device scans; and how many vulnerabilities have been detected as a result of such scans in the last 12 months. [259807]
Mr. Woolas: The Security Policy Framework, the Data Handling Report and the National Information Assurance Strategy produced by the Cabinet Office provide a strategic framework for protecting information that Government handle and put in place a set of mandatory measures which Departments must adhere to.
It is not in the interest of the security of the Department, or that of the public, to disclose detailed information pertaining to electronic breaches of security of Department’s IT systems. Disclosing such information would enable criminals and those who would attempt to cause disruptive threats to the Department to deduce how to conduct attacks and therefore potentially enhance their capability to carry out such attacks.
Departmental Disclosure of Information
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will publish a list of the systematic leaks from her Department referred to in her statement of 4 December 2008, Official Report, columns 134-36, as having led to her to approve referring the matter to the police; and whether any of the leaks listed concerned issues of national security. [241406]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 9 December 2008]: I refer the hon. Member to the statement my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary made on 4 December 2008, Official Report, column 134WS.
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many internal Home Office leak inquiries there have been in each of the last three years; and how many leakers were identified. [241410]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 9 December 2008]: 20 formal investigations into alleged unauthorised disclosures of information from the Home Office have taken place between 15 September 2005 and 15 September 2008. We do not release details of disciplinary actions following leak investigations, but as was explained to the Home Affairs Select Committee in their evidence session on 20 January, it was the failure to identify the source of these leaks which lead to the matter being referred to the police.
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost has been of the investigation into the leaking of documents from her Department. [243870]
Mr. Coaker: The cost of the ongoing investigation into unauthorised disclosures is a matter for the Metropolitan police.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on which occasions since June 2007 her Department has recorded an unauthorised disclosure of information; whether a leak inquiry was established in each case; and whether any person was subsequently disciplined. [247789]
Mr. Woolas: From June 2007 to 1 January 2009 there have been 12 investigations into alleged unauthorised disclosures. The outcome of those investigations has now been handed over to the police and is the subject of current investigations.
Departmental Electricity Generation
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what (a) capital and (b) maintenance expenditure her Department has incurred on standby diesel generators for back-up electricity supply of her Department's estate in each year since March 1997. [266412]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 25 March 2009]: My Department does not contract directly for the provision of standby diesel generators but procures building maintenance services through wider facilities management or operational service contractors.
Departmental Public Consultation
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many public consultations her Department has conducted in the last 12 months; how long each consultation was open for; how many responses were received in each case; and what the cost of conducting each consultation was. [259696]
Mr. Woolas: Public consultation exercises run by the Home Office follow the Government’s Code of Practice on Consultation which sets out the basic principles for conducting effective formal written consultations. As reported in the Home Office Departmental Report 2008 during 2007-08 we published 17 public consultations. Out of these, 15 met the minimum 12-week consultation period and two lasted longer than 12 weeks. The departmental report for 2009 which will be published in the near future will set out the position for consultations published in 2008-09. The costs of running consultation exercises are met from within existing departmental resources. It would not be possible retrospectively to separate out the costs which could be attributed to a consultation from the normal day-to-day departmental business. All public consultation documents that have been initiated by the Home Office and related response documents, which normally include details of the number of responses received, can be found at the following websites listed:
Departmental Temporary Employment
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her Department’s policy is on the renewal of the contracts of (a) temporary and (b) agency staff. [264308]
Mr. Woolas:
Temporary and agency workers should be used only as a short-term solution to fill a particular need that cannot be met by permanent staff. Unless there are exceptional circumstances supported by a compelling business case, all temporary and agency
staff should have their booking ended by the time they have worked for the Department for 11 months, or have accrued 11 months continuous service within the Home Office and other Government Departments. The policy to restrict to 11 months has been promulgated by the Cabinet Office and is now departmental policy.
Deportation
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many scheduled deportations were cancelled within (a) one month and (b) one week of the deportation date in 2008. [263201]
Mr. Woolas: The system used by the UK Border Agency to record details of removal directions (RDs) records the date and reason for any cancellation. However, it is not possible to cross-reference the date for which the RDs were set with the date they were subsequently cancelled. The information requested could only be obtained by the detailed examination of individual case records at disproportionate cost
Domestic Violence
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many (a) women and (b) teenage girls have reported being victims of domestic violence in (i) England and Wales, (ii) the North East, (iii) Tees Valley district and (iv) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in the last 12 months; [265342]
(2) how many (a) men and (b) teenage boys have reported being victims of domestic violence in (i) England and Wales, (ii) the North East, (iii) Tees Valley district and (iv) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in the last 12 months. [265343]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The information requested is not centrally available except that relating to adults aged 16 and over resident in England and Wales.
From the information collected centrally on police recorded crime, it is not possible to identify the number of cases of domestic violence reported to the police. Such offences are not specifically defined by law and details of the individual circumstances of offences are not collected.
However, the British Crime Survey (BCS), which includes crimes not reported to the police, routinely provides information on the number of incidents of domestic violence in England and Wales. Latest estimates from the 2007-08 BCS show that 288,000 incidents of domestic violence were committed against women and 52,000 incidents against men in England and Wales. The BCS sample is insufficient to provide robust estimates broken down by age or sex at regional or lower geographical levels. It should also be noted that the BCS estimates relate to adults aged 16 years and over and it is not possible to provide separate estimates for teenagers.
It should be noted that BCS estimates are known to understate the true extent of domestic violence due to the fact that some respondents may be unwilling to reveal such experiences in the context of a face-to-face interview in their own homes.
Entry Clearances: Families
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications were (a) received and (b) granted for family visit visas in each of the last six years. [264751]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested is given in the following table. Reliable data for years prior to 2004 are not available from our global visa database.
| Applications | Issued | |
| Notes: 1. Data are by calendar year. 2. This information is unpublished and should be treated as provisional. Source: Central Reference System | ||
Entry Clearances: Iraq
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms are in place for processing visa applications from Iraqi nationals seeking to visit the UK. [265608]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 23 March 2009]: Currently Iraqi nationals can lodge all categories of visa application at several designated posts. These are currently Amman (Jordan), Beirut (Lebanon), and Damascus (Syria). A limited visa application service is available in Baghdad for certain designated categories of applicant. This limited service was extended to Erbil on a trial basis commencing 9 March.
The UK Border Agency, working closely with the FCO, continues to keep provision of visa services to Iraqi nationals under review taking into account ongoing security, logistical and financial considerations.
Entry Clearances: Overseas Students
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether international graduates will continue to be able to apply to stay in the UK for up to two years after graduation under post-study work arrangements for the academic year 2009-10. [265955]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 23 March 2009]: The Immigration Rules currently provide for those qualifying in the Tier 1 (Post Study) category to be granted leave to enter or remain for up to a maximum period of two years. This will continue to be the case when the Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules laid before Parliament on 9 March come into force on 31 March.
House of Commons: Right of Search
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when an application was made to a magistrate for a search warrant to search the office of the hon. Member for Ashford within the parliamentary precincts; what response was made to that application; and if she will make a statement. [240502]
Mr. Coaker: This is a matter for the Metropolitan police and the House authorities have placed in the Library of the House a letter from the Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan police, giving his account of the circumstances in which the police entered the House of Commons.
Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the letter to her of 3 December 2008 from Assistant Commissioner Robert Quick, from whom the police obtained the information which led them to understand that the Serjeant at Arms had obtained legal advice in the period between their meetings of 26 and 27 November with her. [241389]
Mr. Coaker: This is a matter for the Metropolitan police.
Mr. Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will ask the Acting Commissioner of the Metropolitan police service to explain the reasons which underlay the decision to search the parliamentary office of the hon. Member for Ashford on a day on which the House was prorogued. [241563]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 9 December 2008]: This is a matter for the Metropolitan police.
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what meetings she has attended with Mr. Speaker on the arrest of the hon. Member for Ashford (Damian Green) and the search of his office; what was discussed; if she will place in the Library a copy of records held by her Department of such meetings; and whether she has received a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 from the hon. Member for North Essex for this information. [250886]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 26 January 2009]: No such meetings occurred. The hon. Member's request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 has been received and he will receive a reply shortly.
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