| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
18 May 2009 : Column 1163W—continued
Immigration
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects to make a decision on the immigration case of Mrs Mohinder Kaur. [271298]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 27 April 2009]: The UK Border Agency is currently seeking further information in order to be able to decide this case.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when she plans to reply to the letter of 22 December 2008 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Folake Surat Odetunde; [253871]
(2) when she plans to reply to the letter of 22 December 2008 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, on Folake Surat Odetunde; [271023]
(3) when she plans to reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton of 22 December 2008, regarding Folake Surat Odetunde. [259873]
Jacqui Smith: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 11 May 2009.
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to reply to the letter of 23 March 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs N. Akhtar. [275150]
Jacqui Smith: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 6 April 2009.
Passports: Overseas Residence
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost is to British nationals resident overseas of renewing their British passports. [270236]
Gillian Merron: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested is as follows:
Adult passport: £124
Child passport: £79.
Police: Bureaucracy
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what the current status is of the information reduction pilots in Surrey, Staffordshire, West Midlands and Leicestershire police forces; what assessment has been made of the time each pilot will take to achieve its targets; what analysis has been undertaken of the resultant savings in police officer time; and what plans she has for further roll-out of such schemes; [272986]
(2) whether the target date set for national roll out of the shortened crime recording and stop and account procedures has been met. [272987]
Jacqui Smith: The proportionate crime recording pilots are now complete, and the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) expects to complete their evaluation next month. The interim findings have highlighted the potential benefits, with Staffordshire police reporting a reduction of up to 80 per cent. of the time it takes to record 80 per cent. of incidents.
I announced on 22 December 2008 that, following the pilots, all forces in England and Wales should now be working to replicate these significant savings by streamlining their crime recording processes, and we are supporting forces in their efforts to do so.
On 1 January 2009 PACE Code A was amended in respect of recording Stop and Account, to remove the requirement to record data other than on ethnicity.
Police: Complaints
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if she will bring forward proposals to require individual police forces to (a) accept, (b) respond to and (c) implement in full recommendations made by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC); and what (i) representations she has received from and (ii) discussions she has had with (A) police forces, (B) the IPCC and (C) members of the public on this issue; [273868]
(2) if she will bring forward proposals to monitor the responses of police forces to the findings of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) which affect them; what recent discussions she has had with the IPCC on this issue; and if she will make a statement; [273882]
(3) if she will bring forward proposals to require the Independent Police Complaints Commission to inform her Department of the number of recommendations made by the Commission which have been (a) rejected and (b) implemented by the police force to which they are addressed; and if she will make a statement; [274052]
(4) how long on average police authorities have taken to make a response to recommendations of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) in each of the last three years; what recent discussions she has had with (a) the IPCC and (b) police authorities on this issue; and if she will make a statement. [273883]
Mr. Coaker: The information sought is not currently collected or held by the Home Office or the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).
The Public Accounts Committee’s 15th report on the Independent Police Complaints Commission published on 31 March 2009, recommended that the Home Office should clarify who is responsible for monitoring the implementation of IPCC recommendations. We are working with the IPCC to take the recommendation forward.
Police: Standards
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what practical steps are being taken to align the performance targets of police forces and the Crown Prosecution Service; and what timetable has been set for such changes. [273032]
Jacqui Smith: The Home Office no longer sets top down numerical targets for the police (with the exception of a single target to raise public confidence) and local target setting is therefore a matter for local criminal justice boards (LCJBs). The Police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), along with other partners, are members of LCJBs which co-ordinate criminal justice planning and activity at the local level. LCJBs are required to agree local targets to improve their efficiency and effectiveness in bringing crime, in particular the most serious acquisitive, sexual and violent offences to justice.
Powers of Entry
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether Lord West’s review of powers of entry will extend to reviewing the existing powers of entry of bailiffs. [271281]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The review covers powers of entry provided for by statute and aims to establish a framework of powers to ensure that the right balance is achieved between the statutory investigative and enforcement functions of relevant organisations and safeguards and protections for the public. Existing powers of entry and associated provisions and safeguards can be found at:
The review is expected to report in autumn 2009.
Details on the role of bailiffs can be found at:
Racially Aggravated Offences: Young People
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many racist incidents involving persons under the age of 18 years were reported to the police in each of the last five years; [273575]
(2) how many reports police forces received of racist incidents in schools in each of the last five years. [273576]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The information requested is not collected centrally. The Ministry of Justice collect and publish statistics of racist incidents by police force area. However, no information is available on the age of either the victim or the alleged offender or on the location of the incident.
Retail Trade: Crime
Mr. Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress her Department has made towards the introduction of a specific measurement of commercial (a) robbery and (b) burglary. [274956]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 12 May 2009]: The Commercial Victimisation Survey (CVS) has been conducted by the Home Office on two occasions—once in 1994 and again in 2002. The Home Office have recently commissioned a study to consider and make recommendations about the coverage and methodology of a further survey of crime against commercial victims. This will report later in the year and inform decisions about the scope of another survey.
Serious Organised Crime Agency: Manpower
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff of the Serious and Organised Crime Agency are based overseas. [274004]
Mr. Alan Campbell: As of 30 April 2009, there were 140 staff employed by the Serious Organised Crime Agency based overseas.
Defence
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department is taking to ensure that detention facilities run by international military forces in Afghanistan meet the standards required under international law in the treatment of women and children. [275861]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Ministry of Defence can only answer this question in respect of UK run facilities.
The UK takes its human rights obligations very seriously and has policy and procedures in place regarding the standards within military detention facilities. All our facilities are regularly inspected to ensure that they meet our obligations under international law. The ICRC and the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission have access to all the UK’s operational detention facilities in Afghanistan.
When any females or juveniles are detained they are separated from male prisoners and/or adult prisoners, unless they are housed with family members. All persons, especially those under 18 are only detained if absolutely essential and in Afghanistan, detainees are held for a maximum of 96 hours before being released or transferred to the Afghan authorities.
Armed Forces: Aviation
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many charter flights to theatres of operation have taken place in each year since 2003, broken down by (a) location, (b) type of aircraft and (c) reason for flight. [275054]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Charter flights to theatres of operation in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003 are:
| Op Telic IRAQ | ||
| Type of Aircraft used | Flights | |
|
AN124,A330, B737, B747, B757, B767, DCIO, DC8, IL76, LI0-11, MD11 | ||
| (1) 1 January to 30 April | ||
All flights are for the carriage of either passengers or freight or a combination of both.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has spent on charter flights to each destination in each theatre of operation in each year since 2003. [275055]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The spend on charter flights to Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003 is:
| £ | ||||||
| Theatre of operation | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |