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30 Mar 2009 : Column 946W—continued
Detainees: Women
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) women and (b) children held in immigration removal centres have identified themselves as being subject to (i) sexual assault, (ii) rape and (iii) gender-based violence in their country of origin. [264522]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not collected centrally and could be obtained through examination of individual records only at disproportionate cost.
Dogs
Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many dogs for the detection of (a) drugs, (b) foodstuffs and (c) other illegal imports are in use at (i) sea, (ii) air and (iii) rail points of entry to the UK. [266379]
Mr. Woolas: The UK Border Agency currently has 48 dogs trained to detect drugs, six trained to detect meat and other animal products and 34 to detect other illegal imports. Some of these dogs are trained to detect more than one product.
Detector dogs are a flexible mobile resource, deployed on a risk-assessed, intelligence-led basis. They may be used at any port, airport or other point of entry into the UK.
Eddie Gilfoyle
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what (a) inquiries and (b) disciplinary measures have been taken following the response of Merseyside Police to (i) the Police Complaints Authority in 1994 and (ii) freedom of information requests made by T he Times newspaper on police notes from the crime scene in the case of Mr. Eddie Gilfoyle. [260695]
Jacqui Smith: The PCA supervised two separate investigations carried out by Detective Superintendent Gooch of Lancashire police, and Detective Superintendent Mellor of Cheshire police, into complaints made by members of the Gilfoyle family. As a result of Detective Superintendent Gooch's report, two Merseyside officers faced discipline charges. Following a five-day panel hearing in May 1998, all charges were dismissed. No disciplinary action was taken as a result of Superintendent Mellor's report.
I understand that the Merseyside Police is currently conducting an internal review of their handling of the recent FOI request from T he Times. This is an operational matter for the Chief Constable.
Emergency Calls
Mr. Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of hoax 999 calls made to the police. [265878]
Mr. Coaker:
Hoax 999 calls to the police cause the wasteful misdirection of their resources which are better used in serving the public. There are a range of measures available to the police including prosecution under the
Communications Act 2003 and the Criminal Law Act 1967, the issue of fixed penalty notice for disorder and the issue of antisocial behaviour orders. Police forces can and do make use of these measures. Nationally, the National Policing Improvement Agency provides central advice and guidance to the police.
Entry Clearances: Business
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how the UK Border Agency will check that a foreign national entering the country as a business visitor does not work whilst in the UK. [241609]
Mr. Woolas: Visa nationals seeking to enter the United Kingdom as business visitors need to satisfy the entry clearance officer and, along with non-visa nationals, the immigration officer that they meet the requirements for business visitors in the immigration rules. The rules include a requirement that the person is intending to undertake a permissible business visitor activity in the UK.
The UK Border Agency is committed to tackling illegal migrant working and will act on any intelligence it receives that a business is employing illegal workers. Those individuals who are found to be working in breach of their granted leave may be subject to appropriate enforcement action.
Equally, if an employer is found to be employing an illegal migrant worker and they have not ensured that the person has full entitlement to work in the UK, then they may be subject to a civil penalty of up to £10,000 or, in more serious cases, criminal prosecution. If convicted on indictment, the employer may face an unlimited fine and in some cases, imprisonment for up to two years.
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what records UK Border Agency will keep of the companies that receive individuals who have entered the UK as a business visitor to act as advisers, consultants, trainers or trouble shooters for those companies. [241610]
Mr. Woolas: The UK Border Agency does not keep records of companies that have received persons who have entered the UK as a business visitor.
Identity Cards: Foreigners
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether foreign nationals applying overseas for visas to remain in the UK for a period greater than three months will also be required to apply for an identity card prior to their arrival in the UK. [241656]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 9 December 2008 ] : Under current plans, from 2011 there will be complete coverage for all new applicants, which includes those coming to the UK on visas valid for more than six months. Those applying for leave for six months or less will not be required to apply for an identity card.
This is set out in detail in the Government's report on its roll-out strategy for identity cards for foreign nationals, ‘Introducing Compulsory Identity Cards For Foreign Nationals’, published in March 2008
A hard copy of the report was placed in the Library of the House of Commons.
Immigration Controls: Foreign Workers
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a resident labour market test will apply to the movement of workers to the UK under Mode 4 of the General Agreement on Trade in Services. [253506]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 2 February 2009]: A resident labour market test will not apply to the movement of workers to the United Kingdom under Mode 4 of the General Agreement on Trade in Services.
Immigration Controls: Overseas Students
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions her Department had with educational institutions in its preparation of the requirements placed upon higher and further education institutions under Tier 4 of the 2008 changes to immigration rules. [267776]
Mr. Woolas: The phased implementation of Tier 4 of the Points Based System, which has been agreed with the education sector and DIUS, commenced on 28 July 2008, when the UK Border Agency started accepting sponsor licence applications from educational institutions that wish to bring students from outside the European Economic Area to the UK for study. The Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules (HC 314) laid before the House on 9 March 2009 marks the start of the second phase: from 31 March 2009, only UK Border Agency licensed institutions will be able to bring students to the UK, and student applicants will need to meet the Tier 4 points test before being granted leave to enter or remain.
The Joint Education Taskforce (JET) is the UK Border Agency's principal mechanism for consultation with the education sector and has been running since 2005. The JET comprises senior figures and representative bodies from all parts of the education sector, including higher and further education, and it and its sub-groups meet on a regular basis.
The UK Border Agency has engaged intensively with the education sector, through sector-wide forums to meetings with individual educational institutions. In addition, the UK Border Agency ran a series of events across the UK, specific to the education sector, during November and December 2008 and will continue to run targeted communications and events throughout 2009.
Mosques
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints were received by the police alleging corporal punishment in mosques in England and Wales in 2008. [262892]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested is not collected centrally.
National DNA Database: Children
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children's DNA records have been removed from the national DNA database since the database was established. [264013]
Jacqui Smith: Following my announcement on 16 December 2008 that children's profiles would no longer be retained on the NDNAD, a total of 96 profiles belonging to children under 10 have been deleted from the NDNAD. At 5 March 2009, none of the profiles stored on the NDNAD by police forces in England and Wales were of children aged under 10 years old.
Olympic Games 2012: Security
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the implications of the recent terrorist attacks in Lahore for the security of the London 2012 Olympics. [265563]
Mr. Coaker: The impact of the tragic events in Pakistan will be considered as a part of our planning for the security of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and we will continue to monitor our position between now and 2012; but this is exactly why our planning approach is based on information, intelligence and risk and remains flexible.
Performing Arts
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether her Department has engaged any (a) actors, (b) musicians and (c) other performers to support its initiatives over the last five years. [264058]
Mr. Woolas: The Home Office use a considerable number of actors who appear in TV commercials, provide voiceovers on radio adverts, appear on online adverts, or appear in street theatre (experiential marketing); however, the Department's record/financial systems are not able to identify this information within the disproportionate cost threshold.
Police: Electronic Equipment
Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many hand-held devices have been issued to police officers and police community support officers by South Yorkshire Police Authority. [264555]
Mr. Coaker: As at 12 March 2009, the number of devices issued in South Yorkshire was 354.
Police: Marketing
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent on the advertising and marketing of the Policing Pledge in England and Wales. [265488]
Jacqui Smith: The Home Office are currently running a campaign to raise awareness and understanding of the Policing Pledge in order to help people feel safe in their communities by building public confidence in the police service.
This includes a text-back service where the public text “pledge” and their postcode to 66101 in order to receive contact details for their local Neighbourhood Policing Team.
The Home Office media spend on the advertising and marketing of the Policing Pledge in England and Wales in the 2008-09 financial year is £3,427,521.00.
Prisoners: Foreigners
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) adult and (b) young offender foreign national prisoners were held in prison under immigration powers beyond the expiration of their sentence in each of the last 10 years. [266597]
Mr. Woolas: Historical annual figures on the numbers of adult and young offender foreign national prisoners who are detained in prisons beyond the expiration of their sentence are not centrally collated. This information can be obtained only through the detailed examination of individual records at disproportionate cost.
The chief executive of the UK Border Agency has regularly written to the Home Affairs Select Committee in order to provide all of the most robust and accurate information on the detention and deportation of foreign national prisoners. She has advised the committee that the majority of individuals who are subject to deportation action are transferred into the UK Border Agency detention estate in order to facilitate their removal/deportation. Such transfers take place on a regular basis. In her letter of 23 July 2008 she advised that there was, at the time, a total of 1,650 foreign national prisoners detained for that purpose in both the agency's detention estate and the prison estate.
Security Guards: Licensing
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether applicants for a Security Industry Authority licence (a) are required and (b) have previously been required to have a health and safety at work qualification in order to be granted a licence. [257049]
Jacqui Smith: The training and qualifications that applicants must obtain in order for the Security Industry Authority to grant a licence include an appropriate health and safety content. However, there is not, nor has there been in the past, a requirement for applicants to hold a specific health and safety at work qualification.
Further information on the requirements for training and qualifications is on the SIA’s website at:
Written Questions: Government Responses
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to answer question 251383, tabled on 22 January 2009, on ICT projects; and if she will make a statement. [264173]
Mr. Woolas: I replied to the hon. Member on 24 March 2009, Official Report, column 299W.
Young People: Police Custody
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many juveniles were detained in police cells overnight in (a) Eastbourne and (b) East Sussex in each year of the last five years. [267213]
Mr. Coaker: Information on persons detained in police cells overnight is not collected centrally.
Duchy of Lancaster
Alastair Campbell
Mr. Hands: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when Alastair Campbell's security pass for 10 Downing Street was withdrawn. [267292]
Kevin Brennan: It has been the practice of successive Governments not to comment on security matters.
Childbirth
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what estimate the Office for National Statistics has made of the number of births in each of the years from 2008 to 2031 inclusive; and what estimate it has made of the number of those accounted for by net migration. [267778]
Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated March 2009:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question regarding what estimate the Office for National Statistics has made of the number of births in each of the years from 2008 to 2031, inclusive; and what estimate it has made of the number of those accounted for by net migration. [267778]
The attached table shows the projected number of births in the UK for each year from mid-2008 to mid-2031 according to the 2006-based principal national population projection.
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