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12 May 2009 : Column 664W—continued
Departmental Buildings
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department spent on building maintenance in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [274560]
Mr. Woolas: I refer the hon. Member to my answer given to the hon. Member for Ilford, North (Mr. Scott) on 27 January 2009, Official Report, column 282W.
Departmental Furniture
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department's agencies spent on furniture in each of the last five years. [273767]
Mr. Woolas: The Department's expenditure on furniture and fittings can be found in Note 14 (Tangible Fixed Assets) to the Home Office Resource Accounts which are published annually. The latest published figures are for the year 2007-08 which can be found at the Department's website:
The Stationery Office publication references for the Resource Accounts for previous years are:
Home Office Resource Accounts 2006/07 (HC 1006);
Home Office Resource Accounts 2005/06 (HC 124);
Home Office Resource Accounts 2004/05 (HC 826).
The Home Office 2008-09 Resource Accounts will be available in July.
The expenditure incurred by Criminal Records Bureau and Identity and Passport Service can be found in their published annual reports and accounts which can be obtained from the Stationery Office.
Departmental Stationery
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department has spent on branded stationery and gifts for (a) internal and (b) external promotional use in each of the last five years. [273787]
Mr. Woolas: The requested information is not held centrally in the Home Office and cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
Detainees: Children
Sir Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children of asylum seekers (a) had and (b) had not begun to receive a standard programme of child immunisation before entering immigration removal centres in the last 12 months; and how many of those who had not begun to receive immunisations have subsequently started a programme of immunisations at an immigration removal centre. [272840]
Mr. Woolas:
Health care at all three immigration removal centres where children can be detained includes an undertaking to continue with childhood vaccination programmes already commenced in the UK until they
leave the centre. The specific information is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost by examining each individual record.
Entry Clearances
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent reports her Department has received on allegations that persons have been obliged to sign applications for leave to remain under duress by their spouses; and if she will make a statement. [273047]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested could be obtained only by the detailed examination of individual case records at disproportionate cost, all relevant information, including an allegation of duress if made would be considered prior to any decision being taken on an application.
Food
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make an estimate of the (a) monetary value and (b) quantity of waste food disposed of from her Department's premises in the last 12 months. [273436]
Mr. Woolas: This specific information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Nevertheless my Department records its total waste arisings as required for the annual Sustainable Development in Government Report, and is working to reduce total waste from its premises.
Fuels: Transport
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign-registered heavy goods vehicles carrying (a) gas, (b) oil, (c) liquified petroleum gas and (d) petroleum have entered the UK in each of the last 12 months; and what checks the UK Border Agency carries out on the drivers of these vehicles. [273271]
Jacqui Smith: The Department for Transport are responsible for monitoring the movement of goods across the UK border. This information is not centrally available.
UKBA conducts freight searching operations at each of the Juxtaposed locations in Northern France, as well as ports of entry around the country. Drivers and their passengers are required to present documentation in the form of either a passport, or an ID card to an immigration officer to verify their identity and this applies to everyone seeking entry to the UK without exception.
Once the immigration officer is satisfied with the passenger they are allowed to proceed to the freight search area where their vehicle may be subject to further checks relating to their load as well as a physical search of the vehicle by trained search teams.
Gateway Group
Chris Grayling:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects the Gateway Group established to oversee all requests from her
Department and its agencies for the collection of data outside its annual data requirement processes to begin its work. [273017]
Jacqui Smith: The Gateway Group met for the first time on 28 April. It is chaired by the Home Office’s permanent secretary and includes representatives from ACPO, APA, HMIC and NPIA and the independent reducing bureaucracy advocate Jan Berry.
The Gateway Group will meet quarterly.
Identity Cards: Finance
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the sums to be allocated to the introduction of identity cards in each of the next six financial years. [271774]
Mr. Malik: The latest projected estimates for the cost of issuing identity cards are published in the sixth National Identity Service cost report presented to Parliament on 6 May 2009. A copy of the report may also be found at:
http://www.ips.gov.uk/identity/downloads/docA_IPS_cost_ reportpercent202009_v11_BM.pdf
I would refer the hon. Member to that report.
Immigration
Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when a decision will be made in the case with Home Office reference G1082747; and if she will make a statement. [274727]
Mr. Woolas: I wrote to the hon. Member on 27 April with the latest position on the case of G1082747 and this remains the position.
Immigration Controls
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent proposals on improving existing collaborative arrangements between (a) forces at the UK border and (b) police forces and the UK Border Agency have been (i) made and (ii) agreed to; and what timetable has been established for implementation of the proposals agreed to. [273027]
Jacqui Smith: The creation of the UK Border Agency allows us to establish a single and strong border force bringing together immigration and customs controls at our ports.
The role of the police and of other agencies in contributing to border security continues to be a high priority for us.
This year we will build on the high level Memorandum of Understanding between the UK Border Agency and the police published in 2008, in order to improve, strengthen and better coordinate border security arrangements. This will include increased opportunities for joint working including joint threat assessments and operations as well as secondments of UK Border Agency and police staff.
The National Coordinator (Protect), on behalf of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), is closely
involved in the planning for the border and setting consistent practices across port-based staff in forces across England and Wales.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 28 April 2009, Official Report, column 1187W, on immigration controls, when she expects the information on the resources required by the UK Border Agency to be finalised. [274170]
Mr. Woolas: The resource required to deliver the points based system which has five tiers, four of which are currently in operation includes both internal and commercial costs. It is not possible to disaggregate the resources required to operate individual tiers. The commercial costs of implementing PBS costs as a whole will not be known until spring 2010.
International Police Assistance Board
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what timetable has been set for the establishment of the International Police Assistance Board; and what goals she plans to set for the board. [273029]
Jacqui Smith: The International Police Assistance Board was established in July 2008. It is a senior cross-departmental and senior police service advisory body, chaired by the Association of Chief Police Officers. Its aims are to better co-ordinate delivery of HMG cross-departmental initiatives and police service professional interest overseas and to develop a strategic overview of UK aims in international police assistance.
Metropolitan Police: Information and Communications Technology
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the IT resources provided to Metropolitan Police officers in policing fraud. [273253]
Jacqui Smith: The Government allocate funding to police authorities as a whole. The allocation of resources is a matter for the Metropolitan Commissioner and the Metropolitan Police Authority, who are responsible for assessing local needs.
The Government have also specifically allocated £3.5 million to the Police Central e-crime Unit (PCeU) over three years from 2008-09, with the Metropolitan Police Service contributing £3.9 million over the same three year period. One of the main areas of work for the PCeU will be to support the National Fraud Reporting Centre in tackling electronic fraud.
Police: Disclosure of Information
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what reports she has received of allegations of information about environmental campaign organisations being passed by the police to energy companies. [273278]
Jacqui Smith: The Home Office has received no such reports.
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether any members of the police have met (a) representatives of EDF Energy, (b) representatives of other energy companies, (c) Thierry Lorho and (d) representatives of Kargus to discuss (i) Greenpeace and (ii) other environmental campaign organisations. [273279]
Jacqui Smith: The Home Office do not hold this information. Meetings held by the police with organisations are operational matters for the police force concerned. The police may provide protective security advice to any organisation where necessary.
Police: Procurement
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to ensure that police force procurement processes are coordinated nationally; and what timetable has been set for achieving such coordination. [273022]
Jacqui Smith: The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), with support from the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA), has recently completed a detailed analysis of the police service’s spending on goods and services across all 43 forces in England and Wales and the British Transport Police. This is the first review of its kind in the public sector.
As a result of the review, ACPO and the NPIA are taking forward two areas of improvement:
Working with suppliers to increase standardisation of policy, processes and cost drivers (such as the removal of onerous terms and conditions).
Identifying areas of spend that are interchangeable with other providers/suppliers that show the greatest potential benefit from further collaboration and standardisation.
The NPIA and ACPO are finalising the plan for implementation of these improvement areas to capture the most significant efficiency improvements at both a national and regional level.
Vetting: Scotland
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in respect of how many people each police force in England and Wales has provided information to assist with basic disclosure checks being undertaken by Disclosure Scotland. [273255]
Jacqui Smith: This information is not held centrally.
Vetting: Voluntary Work
Mr. Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the effect of the introduction of the Independent Safeguarding Authority on trends in the levels of volunteering in sport; and if she will make a statement. [272405]
Mr. Malik:
There is no reason to believe that the work of the ISA will have an adverse impact on volunteering. A single form will be available for applications to the new Vetting and Barring Scheme and for Criminal Records Bureau disclosures, and a single fee charged
where applications are made at the same time. Applications will be free of charge to unpaid volunteers.
The regulatory impact assessment for the Scheme indicated that there would be some additional cost to volunteer organisers arising from the processing of applications by CRB-registered or umbrella bodies, some of whom charge a fee, but this is mitigated by the availability of a free on-line check to employers and users of volunteers once an individual is registered with the scheme.
Government recognise the vital role volunteers have in delivering sports activities. The Home Office, Department for Children, Schools and Families and Department of Health have been working with stakeholders, including sports and voluntary sector bodies and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to ensure that their interests and concerns are reflected within the new scheme.
Part of this work will include issuing sector specific guidance.
Innovation, Universities and Skills
Apprentices
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many persons who completed apprenticeships were unemployed one year after the end of the apprenticeship in each of the last three years. [274058]
Mr. Simon [holding answer 8 May 2009]: An apprenticeship is a work-based programme and apprentices must have a job or a work placement as a condition of completing their apprenticeship framework. Many will already be in permanent employment prior to the end of their apprenticeship.
Information on the immediate destinations of apprenticeships upon completion of their apprenticeship is not readily available. This type of information will in future be collected using the framework for excellence learner destination survey with the first results for all FE colleges and work based learning providers available in spring 2009. The survey will be conducted nine months after the end of the academic year and so will not relate exactly to 12 months after the completion of the apprenticeship.
The Government are committed to rebuilding apprenticeships. Since 1997 we have witnessed a renaissance in apprenticeships from a low point of 65,000 to a record 225,000 apprenticeship starts in 2007/08. Completion rates are also at a record high with 64 per cent. successfully completing an apprenticeship—up from 37 per cent. in 2004/05.
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many apprenticeships were terminated by an employer on economic grounds in each of the last 12 months. [274059]
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