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19 May 2009 : Column 1292W—continued
Entry Clearances
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) highly-skilled migrants and (b) dependants of highly-skilled migrants have been given leave to enter the UK under (i) the highly-skilled migrants programme and (ii) Tier 1 of the points-based system in each of the last eight quarters for which figures are available. [254492]
Mr. Woolas: The number of people given leave to enter (a) under the Highly Skilled Migrant programme (b) under Tier 1 of the Points Based System, and (c) as dependents of the above, in each quarter of 2007 and 2008, is shown in the following table.
| 2007 | 2008 | |||||||
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | |
The data are unpublished and should be treated as provisional.
Entry Clearances: Agriculture
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many temporary visas were issued for migrant agricultural workers in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08; and what estimate she has made of the number of such migrants who have overstayed their visas. [269159]
Mr. Woolas: Work cards allocated to seasonal agricultural workers scheme Operators by UKBA were:
April 2006 to March 2007: 16,404
April 2007 to March 2008: 16,732
The figures quoted are not provided under National Statistics and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.
The scheme is restricted to Bulgarian and Romanian nationals only from 1 January 2008. Since 1 January 2007, Bulgarian and Romanian nationals have freedom of movement rights and are not required to leave the UK when their work card expires but must generally obtain further permission if they wish to recommence work.
Entry Clearances: Married People
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what differences exist between her Department’s methods of treatment of visa applications from spouses of British passport holders who hold dual nationality with Pakistan and spouses of those who hold only a British passport; and if she will make a statement. [267692]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 30 March 2009]: There is no difference in treatment of visa applications from spouses of British passport holders who hold dual nationality with Pakistan and spouses of those who only hold a British passport. The requirements for entry as a spouse are set out in Paragraph 281 of the Immigration Rules.
Entry Clearances: Overseas Students
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 29 April 2009, Official Report, column 1355W, on immigration controls: overseas students, whether students who pay for their accommodation, including bills, before attending the academic institution will be required to demonstrate they have the required monthly maintenance funds set under the new Tier 4 rules on immigration. [274164]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 11 May 2009]: Where students have paid for accommodation in advance of applying for a visa, this amount will be deducted from the total amount of funds they will need to demonstrate in order to meet the Tier 4 maintenance requirement. For accommodation, this only applies if the student is staying in university or college arranged accommodation. This information is set out in paragraph 96 of the Tier 4 policy guidance, which is available in the House of Commons Library and has also been published on the UK Border Agency website.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 23 April 2009, Official Report, column 856W, on immigration controls: educational institutions, what criteria the objective test includes; and how many times an academic institution is required to assess students according to this test during an academic year. [274329]
Mr. Woolas
[holding answer 11 May 2009]: The points test, integral to all parts of the Points Based System, is the objective test used by the UK Border Agency to assess applications for leave to enter or remain. The specific criteria that must be met are detailed
in the Immigration Rules, following changes contained in the Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules (HC 314) laid before the House on 9 March 2009, and which came into force on 31 March 2009.
It is the responsibility of the education provider, as licensed sponsor, to assess their students’ progress throughout the duration of their studies. The UK Border Agency does not define the method nor the frequency of such assessments throughout an academic year.
Entry Clearances: Zimbabwe
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will review her policy on determining visa applications from Zimbabwean nationals to take account of changes in the political situation in Zimbabwe. [257758]
Mr. Woolas: All applications for UK visas are determined in accordance with the UK’s Immigration Rules, regardless of an applicant’s nationality. When assessing an application, it is normal to take account of an applicant’s individual circumstances and, where relevant, the prevailing economic, political or security situation in their country.
Foreign Workers
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answers of 10 February 2009, Official Report, column 1829W, and 23 April 2009, Official Report, column 856W, on foreign workers, which pages of the copy of the EC Services Offer placed in the Library contain a definition of a temporary worker under Mode 4 of the General Agreement on Trade in Services in the context of admission to the UK. [274432]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 11 May 2009]: The definition of temporary workers under Mode 4 of the General Agreement on Trade in Services can be found between pages 21 and 41 of the revised EC Services offer, placed in the Library.
Foreign Workers: EU Nationals
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many nationals of the A8 states have completed a year on the Worker Registration Scheme and are entitled to full access to benefits. [263737]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 16 March 2009]: Data on the number of nationals of the A8 states that have completed 12 months continuous employment in the UK and have consequently ceased to be subject to the registration requirement are not available. The effect of the registration requirement is to restrict access to tax-funded, income related benefits subject to a habitual residence test, including income support and income-based jobseeker’s allowance.
Identity Cards
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what timetable has been set for the distribution of identity card readers to (a) police stations, (b) border entry points, (c) local authorities and (d) job centres. [269932]
Mr. Woolas: The UK Border Agency is continuing to increase the number of identity cards issued to foreign nationals granted further permission to stay in the country. In time, card readers will be made available so that the cardholder’s biometric and biographical features can be checked against the card, although a timetable for their introduction has not been established. At present, cards may currently be verified using the card verification phone line and as the volume of cards in circulation increases other forms of verification will be introduced.
Identity cards issued to British citizens under the Identity Cards Act 2006 will be valid for travel in Europe and so will have the capability for facial image biometrics to be read at border control in the same way as biometric passports. Any wider introduction of readers would be linked to the incremental rollout of the National Identity Service as detailed in the National Identity Service Delivery Update 2009 published on 6 May 2009.
Immigration
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent meetings she has had with the chief executive of the UK Border Agency on backlogs in processing immigration casework. [276374]
Mr. Woolas: The chief executive of the UK Border Agency regularly updates the Home Secretary on the progress made by the Agency on processing immigration case work.
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when a decision will be made in the case of the hon. Member for Billericay's constituent Mr W. Mlangeni, with reference to the hon. Member's letters of 1 September 2008 and 28 January 2009. [276425]
Mr. Woolas: The UK Border Agency wrote to the hon. Member on 2 March 2009 with the latest position on Mr. Mlangeni's case.
Immigration Controls
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether there will be a charge for each certificate of acceptance for studies issued under the new Tier 4 immigration rules. [274328]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 11 May 2009]: The Immigration and Nationality (Cost Recovery Fees) Regulations 2009, which came into force on 6 April 2009, make provision for the UK Border Agency to charge £10 for each certificate of sponsorship issued to Tier 4 migrants. The certificate of sponsorship is known as a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies under Tier 4. This fee will apply once the sponsorship management system for Tier 4 sponsors commences its roll-out from autumn 2009.
Internet: Monitoring
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what further plans her Department has to monitor internet use and telephone calls. [274070]
Mr. Coaker: There are no plans to amend the legal framework for interception in the UK.
Separately the Government have launched a consultation, “Protecting the Public in a changing Communications Environment”. This consultation relates to communications data (information about a communication but not its content) and is seeking the public's view on how to ensure that communications data continue to be retained in and made available lawfully, on a case by case basis, to public authorities.
Offenders: Deportation
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many people arrested (a) in England and Wales and (b) in each police force area in England and Wales had been the subject of a deportation order in each of the last five years; [273531]
(2) how many people subject to a deportation order have been arrested in (a) England and Wales and (b) each police force in England and Wales in each of the last five years. [273532]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested can be obtained only through the detailed examination of individual case files and cross-referencing that information with records held by the police, which would incur a disproportionate cost. The UK Border Agency is advised of when a foreign national has been convicted of a crime within the UK in order to take appropriate action, including deportation action. The UK Border Agency will consider deportation action against any foreign national who has been convicted of a crime committed in the UK and meets the relevant criteria.
Those who have a deportation order signed against them are removed from the UK and prevented from re-entering as long as the order is in force. In 2008 the Agency exceeded its Government target by deporting or removing a record 5,395 foreign national criminals. 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 deportation of foreign national criminals and will continue to do so as required. Copies of her letters are available in the Library of the House.
Police: Complaints
Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints have been made against the South Yorkshire police force in each of the last five years. [275820]
Mr. Coaker: The Home Office does not hold the information requested. This is a matter primarily for the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) in fulfilling its statutory functions under the Police Reform Act 2002. The IPCC will respond to the hon. Member direct.
Police: Essex
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many officers of each rank in Essex Police have voluntarily ceased employment, excluding redundancy, since March 2008; [275587]
(2) how many officials of each grade have voluntarily ceased employment, other than through redundancy, in Essex Police Authority since June 2007. [275606]
Mr. Coaker: Data for the financial year 2008-09 are unavailable until headline figures are published in July.
The available data for the financial year 2007-08 are given in the table.
| Voluntary resignations and transfers (FTE) for Essex p olice 2007-08 | ||
| Transfers | Voluntary resignations( 1) | |
| (1) Including probationers Note: Full time equivalent figures provided that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. Source: Data validated with Essex Police Force | ||
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