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29 Apr 2009 : Column 1354W—continued
| 2008 | |
| Visas issued | |
| Source: Central Reference System | |
Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long on average it took for a tier 5 creative and sporting visa to be processed; and if she will make a statement. [270409]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 23 April 2009]: For visa applications assessed under the points-based system, including tier 5, we aim to process 90 per cent. in not more than three weeks, 98 per cent. in not more than six weeks and 100 per cent. in not more than 12 weeks. Our customer service standards and actual turnaround times in individual locations are published on our website at:
These are more helpful than average times.
House of Commons: Right of Search
Mr. Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who authorised the covert recording of discussions between police officers and the hon. Member for Ashford at and around the time of his arrest on 27 November 2008; and what the basis in law for such authorisation was. [255837]
Mr. Coaker: Matters of this sort are operational policing issues and not for the Secretary of State.
Where the police wish to carry out covert recording as part of an operation and the covert recording is likely to result in the obtaining of private information it would require a directed surveillance authorisation under Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.
This must be authorised by a superintendent. Where the covert recording occurs in domestic premises or a private vehicle, it is intrusive surveillance and would require an authorisation by a chief constable and prior approval by an independent Surveillance Commissioner.
Illegal Immigrants: Amnesties
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the merits of an amnesty for illegal immigrants. [271083]
Mr. Woolas: The Government have ruled out an amnesty and this remains our position. An amnesty would be unfair to those who are here legally; it would act as a pull factor for even more attempts at illegal immigration; and it would counter the achievements of the UK Border Agency in toughening up our border and immigration system.
Immigration
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many orders have been made under section 2A of the Immigration Act 1971 in each year since 2006. [270934]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 24 April 2009]: One individual was deprived of their right of abode in the United Kingdom in 2006 under section 2A of the Immigration Act 1971.
Immigration Controls: Eurostar
Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many unaccompanied child passengers intending to travel on Eurostar services to the UK have been denied boarding at the terminals in (a) Paris and (b) Brussels by UK immigration officials since the introduction of juxtaposed controls. [268711]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 20 April 2009]: The number of unaccompanied child passengers who have been refused entry at the juxtaposed controls since their introduction in 2004 are as follows:
(a) Paris—a total of 75 unaccompanied child passengers were formally refused entry.
(b) Brussels—a total of 29 unaccompanied child passengers were formally refused entry.
These figures have been sourced from locally collated management information and do not represent National Statistics.
Immigration Controls: Overseas Students
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 12 March 2009, Official Report, columns 636-7, on immigration controls: educational institutions, what criteria were applied in respect of the decision to require overseas students applying for courses to demonstrate that they have maintenance of £800 for each month of the course if studying in London, or £600 for each month of the course if studying outside London; and what assessment she has made of the appropriateness of this figure as a reflection of student spending. [271295]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 27 April 2009]: The maintenance requirement set for students studying in or outside London under Tier 4 uses the figures contained in the British Council's report “Welcome to the UK—Studying and Living in the United Kingdom 2007-08”. These figures were based on 2004 prices, and include the cost of accommodation, heating, lighting, food, clothing, books and daily travel for one person for a nine month academic year.
Immigration: Biometrics
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding her Department has allocated in respect of the (a) capital and (b) running costs of the Iris Recognition Immigration System. [271367]
Mr. Woolas: To date, the Department has allocated a total of (a) £4.9 million in capital and (b) £2.9 million in running costs in respect of the Iris Recognition Immigration System (IRIS).
Immigration: Manpower
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 4 March 2009, Official Report, column 1638W, on immigration: manpower, how much her Department spent on (a) salaries and (b) operational costs for front-line immigration staff based in France in the latest period for which figures are available. [263263]
Mr. Woolas: The figures for (a) salaries and (b) operational costs for front-line immigration staff based in France for 2007-08 were as follows:
| £ million | |
This is the latest period for which financial accounts are available.
Personal Records: Borders
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanism is in place to ensure that the e-Borders system recognises whether individuals who hold dual nationality have overstayed their visas in cases where only the foreign passport is stored on the e-Borders system and the holder does not travel out of the UK on that passport for more than six months. [270148]
Jacqui Smith: Travel histories stored in the system will be person-centric, rather than travel document-centric and the use of more than one passport by an individual will be identified at the primary arrivals control, and captured within the system.
It could happen that a person has two foreign passports, with a visa on the passport with which they entered the UK. If they subsequently leave the UK on a different passport, the e-Borders system will receive the passport data from the carrier and will associate the passports as belonging to the same individual. This will ensure that the conditions of entry are closely monitored for those who are subject to immigration control.
Mr. Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 10 March 2009, Official Report, column 305W, on police: Greater Manchester, what estimate has been made of the cost of policing the new electronic borders operations centre in Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester; and whether additional resources will be made available for the policing of this facility. [270256]
Mr. Woolas: The National Border Targeting Centre (NBTC) is scheduled to open in late 2009 and is a multi agency centre staffed with UK Border Agency (UKBA) and police officers. It is operated by UKBA, and managed by Trusted Borders, the service provider, who is responsible for providing 24 hour security as part of the e-Borders service contract.
The impact upon local policing resources of the NBTC being in Manchester is considered to be negligible, and it is not expected that specific funding to the Greater Manchester Police Authority will be needed to pay for policing the new centre.
Police: Disclosure of Information
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) for what reasons the internal Merseyside Police review of the treatment of Paula Gilfoyle’s death scene, compiled by Detective Superintendent Edward Humphreys was not disclosed to the defence prior to Mr. Eddie Gilfoyle’s trial; [270583]
(2) where the (a) report of the review, (b) draft report and (c) notes of interviews with police officers were between the end of Mr. Eddie Gilfoyle’s trial and the time they were disclosed to the defence for Mr. Gilfoyle’s appeal in 1995; [270584]
(3) for what reasons Detective Superintendent Gooch of Lancashire Police in his investigation of the case of Mr. Eddie Gilfoyle on behalf of the Police Complaints Commission was told that the notes of interviews with officers compiled for the Humphreys Review had been destroyed; and who had possession of those notes at the time when Detective Superintendent Gooch was told that. [270586]
Jacqui Smith: This information is not held by the Home Office. This is a matter for the chief constable of Merseyside police.
Prisoners: Foreigners
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 20 April 2009, Official Report, columns 170-1W, on detainees: offenders, how many of those held on the immigration detention estate are of each nationality. [271255]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested is not centrally collated nor is it readily possible to obtain due to the rapidly changing situation as a large number of foreign criminals are removed on a daily basis as evidenced by the record 5,395 deportations and removals of foreign criminals that took place in 2008. In order to obtain this information it would be necessary to obtain a snapshot of the number of individuals who are detained at any one point then examine individual case files in order to identify their nationality, which would incur a disproportionate cost.
The chief executive of the UK Border Agency has written to the Home Affairs Select Committee on a regular basis in order to provide all of the most robust and accurate information available on the detention and deportation of foreign national prisoners. She will continue to do so as required.
Theft: Heavy Goods Vehicles
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many heavy goods vehicles carrying (a) gas, (b) oil and (c) petroleum were reported stolen in each of the last five years. [270931]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not collected centrally. These offences are recorded under the classification of ‘theft or unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle’, however the recorded crime statistics are based on an aggregate count and it is therefore not possible to separately identify types of vehicle stolen or their contents.
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Balance of Trade
Mr. Walker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the UK trade deficit in each category, not including invisible earnings, was in each year since 1997. [271196]
Mr. Thomas: The data requested are shown in the following table
| £ billion | ||
| Trade in goods balance | Trade in services balance | |
More detailed figures are published by the Office for National Statistics in its Monthly Review of External Trade Statistics, quarterly Balance of Payments first release and annual UK Balance of Payments Pink Book.
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