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20 Apr 2009 : Column 148W—continued
Asylum
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases the UK Border Agency's Case Resolution Directorate plans to resolve in each quarter of (a) 2009, (b) 2010 and (c) 2011. [242838]
Mr. Woolas: We have ramped up performance in dealing with the asylum legacy cases and are now resolving several thousand every month, however, we have not set quarterly targets because the mix of case types means that some will take very little time to resolve while others will take longer. We are confident that we will be able to conclude the cases by summer 2011, and are on track to do so.
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many unresolved cases the UK Border Agency's Case Resolution Directorate has identified that were not taken into account in setting its initial target for resolution in each quarter since it was established. [242839]
Mr. Woolas: The then Home Secretary made clear when he announced the programme of work in July 2006 that the case-load of legacy asylum cases was estimated to be around 400,000 to 450,000 cases. This remains the estimate. We continue to be on track to complete all those categorised as older legacy cases by the summer of 2011. Up to 9 January 2009 we had concluded 155,500 cases.
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers have been waiting more than six months for a final decision on their claim; and how many of these applicants have dependants aged over 16 years. [254614]
Mr. Woolas: An asylum seeker may make further representations at any stage in the application process which may, in certain circumstances, be treated as a fresh asylum application.
The United Kingdom Border Agency’s asylum targets are based on case conclusion times and the agency is on target to fully conclude 90 per cent. of new asylum applications within six months by 2011.
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers have been waiting more than 12 months for an initial decision on their claim; and how many of these applicants have dependants aged over 16 years. [254615]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested in this question could be obtained only at disproportionate cost by undertaking an examination of individual case records.
The United Kingdom Border Agency's asylum targets are based on case conclusion times and the agency is on target to fully conclude 90 per cent. of new asylum applications within six months by 2011.
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers who waited more than 12 months for an initial decision on their claim are now at the appeal stage; and how many of these applicants have dependants aged over 16 years. [254616]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested in this question could be obtained only at disproportionate cost by undertaking an examination of individual case records.
The United Kingdom Border Agency's asylum targets are based on case conclusion times and the agency is on target to fully conclude 90 per cent. of new asylum applications within six months by 2011.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many files under the asylum legacy cases programme have been archived because the individual could not be traced within six months. [269170]
Mr. Woolas:
The chief executive of the UK Border Agency has undertaken to update the Home Affairs Committee every six months on progress within the Case Resolution Directorate. She confirmed in her last update, on 8 December 2008, that the legacy cohort contains cases that the agency struggles to trace, including those where the applicant has died or left the country
voluntarily. The agency makes every effort to trace such cases, checking a number of internal and external databases. If such tracing fails, the case is placed into a controlled archive. As of the end of November 2008 we reported that there were 1,850 cases in the controlled archive older than six months. This figure will be updated in the next letter to the Home Affairs Committee in the summer.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Asylum Application Registration Cards were issued in (a) 2008 and (b) each month of 2009. [269177]
Mr. Woolas: The number of Asylum Application Registration Cards issued was: 26,022 in 2008; and 7,233 in the first 13 weeks of 2009. The information is not collated on a monthly basis. These figures are not provided under national statistics protocols and have been derived from management information which is provisional and subject to change.
Asylum: Children
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she plans to take in response to the recommendation by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child that the UK should provide disaggregated statistical data on the number of children seeking asylum; and when she plans to take those steps. [242365]
Mr. Woolas: Statistics on numbers of children seeking asylum are published on an annual basis in the Asylum Statistics United Kingdom bulletin.
Information on the number of asylum applications and initial decisions broken down by age and the number of unaccompanied asylum seeking children is available in this publication. Information on the number of persons held in detention solely under immigration Act powers for those recorded as being under the age of 18 as at the last Saturday of the quarter are also available from the Control of Immigration Quarterly statistical bulletin.
These publications are available in the Library of the House and from the Home Office research, development and statistics website at:
Binyam Mohamed
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether Binyam Mohamed applied for asylum on his arrival to the UK on 23 February 2009; and if she will make a statement. [259395]
Mr. Woolas: It is the policy of successive Governments not to discuss the immigration status of individuals. However, as with any foreign national, consideration will be given as to whether their presence in the United Kingdom is conducive to the public good and, as always, all appropriate steps will be taken to protect national security.
Biometrics
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many IRIS pilot schemes were operational on 28 February 2009. [263197]
Mr. Woolas: The IRIS scheme was operational at 10 locations on 28 February 2009.
Borders: Personal records
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how the e-Borders system will apply to the land border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. [268001]
Mr. Woolas: The e-Borders system will not apply to the land border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
We will continue to work closely with the Republic of Ireland to tackle the major issues that face us today, from trafficking and terrorism to illegal immigration and drug smuggling.
The UK Border Agency, Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Garda National Immigration Bureau work collaboratively and run regular intelligence led operations to counter potential risks to the intra Common Travel Area (CTA) borders. These joint operations have successfully prevented foreign nationals attempting to cross the boundary illegally in both directions.
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to launch a consultation on the introduction of an authority to carry scheme. [250066]
Mr. Woolas: The Government have committed to a full consultation period on the introduction of an authority to carry scheme. This consultation period will be launched in due course following the completion of on-going development work and initial discussions with stakeholders.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects to launch her Department's consultation on authority to carry under the e-Borders scheme. [251686]
Mr. Woolas: The Government have committed to a full consultation period on the introduction of an authority to carry scheme. This consultation period will be launched in due course following the completion of ongoing development work and initial discussions with stakeholders
The introduction of an authority to carry scheme will only be brought forward for parliamentary approval, once the full 12-week consultation period with all stakeholders has taken place.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent meetings her Department has had with coach operators on the effect of the e-Borders scheme; and if she will make a statement. [251687]
Mr. Woolas: The e-Borders Programme has engaged directly with several of the large coach operators involved in international coach travel. We recognise that their inclusion in the solution and the development of operational models, will support a more efficient implementation of e-Borders.
The programme is in regular contact with the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT), the industry trade association, and articles on e-Borders have appeared in their journal, Route One. The programme has also delivered presentations on e-Borders to the 2007 and 2008 coaching conferences.
Furthermore, e-Borders was represented at the 2008 Eurobus Expo at the NEC.
British Nationality
Mr. Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many citizenship ceremonies have been conducted in each region in England in the last five years. [268382]
Mr. Woolas: The available data regarding persons attending a British citizenship ceremony for 2005, 2006 and 2007 by English Government region are given in the following table. Data for 2008 are scheduled for publication in May 2009.
Statistics on persons attending a British citizenship ceremony by region of the United Kingdom and authority are published in table 8 of the Home Office statistical bulletin “Persons Granted British Citizenship United Kingdom”. This publication may be obtained from the Library of the House and from the Home Office research, development and statistics website at:
| Persons attending a British citizenship ceremony by English G overnment office region, 2005 - 07 | |||
| Ceremony a ttended( 1, 2) | |||
| English G overnment office region | 2005 | 2006 | 2007( 3) |
| (1 )A ceremony organised by county or local authorities for successful applicants over 18 years of age as the final stage in the process of attaining British citizenship. (2) Data are rounded to the nearest five so may not sum to the totals. (3) Provisional data. | |||
Cannabis
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of cannabis seizures in each of the last 10 years was analysed by the Forensic Science Service. [265318]
Jacqui Smith:
The Forensic Science Service (FSS) Ltd. is only one of a number of commercial forensic suppliers involved in cannabis testing. By no means all
cannabis seizures are forensically tested. The Home Office publishes annual figures for the volume of cannabis seizures in the annual National Statistics bulletin “Drug Seizures England and Wales”. The latest one covering 2006-07 was published on-line at:
the 2007-08 edition will be published on 7 May. The Home Office does not collect figures on the percentage of seizures analysed by individual suppliers. However, as the FSS is the largest forensic supplier, it is likely that it tests around two thirds of the total seizures referred for forensic analysis.
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of cannabis seizures by (a) number and (b) weight or volume analysed by the Forensic Science Service contained significant quantities of cannabidiol in each of the last 10 years. [265319]
Jacqui Smith: Cannabis seizures made by law enforcement agencies are usually submitted to the Forensic Science Service (FSS) Ltd. to provide only a confirmed identification and weight. Only a small proportion of cannabis seizures are further examined to determine the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content, as a result of a customer request; customer requests for cannabidiol content are extremely unusual.
The table sets out the number of records and total weight of herbal cannabis and cannabis resin examined in the last 10 years by FSS.
Data derived from the Home Office Cannabis Potency Study 2008, show that when measured, the cannabidiol content of herbal cannabis has consistently been found to be less than 0.1 per cent. The cannabidiol content of cannabis resin varied between 0.1 to 7.3 per cent., with a mean content of 3.5 per cent. In today’s market, seizures of cannabis resin are comparatively rare compared to herbal cannabis.
| Herbal Cannabis | Cannabis Resin | Plant( 1) | ||
| (1 )Prior to quarter three 2003 cannabis plants were mainly recorded as herbal cannabis. (2 )A record approximately equates to an individual item or exhibit. A seizure of cannabis or cannabis resin made by a law enforcement agency can consist of one item, a few items, several items or occasionally more. | ||||
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