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20 May 2009 : Column 1458W—continued
| 2005/06( 3) | 2006/07( 3) | |||||
| Primary( 1) | Secondary( 1,6) | Special | Primary( 1) | Secondary( 1,2) | Special( 7) | |
| ‘n/a’ = not available ‘x’ = less than five (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Information on fixed period exclusions has been derived from the Termly Exclusions Survey. (3) Information on fixed period exclusions has been derived from the School Census. (4) Excludes city technology colleges and academies. (5) Includes maintained special schools only. (6) Includes city technology colleges and academies. (7) Includes both maintained and non-maintained special schools. (8) Number of fixed period exclusions where the reason for exclusion was racist abuse. (9) Number of fixed period exclusions where the reason for exclusion was racist abuse as a proportion of all fixed period exclusions by area and phase. Note: Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10, Source: Termly Exclusions Survey and School Census | ||||||
Home Department
Asylum
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications within the Legacy Directorate programme have yet to be processed; and what her latest assessment is of performance under the programme. [276161]
Mr. Woolas: As of 9 January the UK Border Agency had concluded 155,500 older asylum cases. The previous Home Secretary informed Parliament in July 2006 of "the Immigration and Nationality Directorate's case load of around 400,000 to 450,000 electronic and paper records". These documents are riddled with duplication and errors, and include cases of individuals who have since died or left the country, or are now EU citizens. It is, therefore, not possible to provide an accurate assessment of how many cases are yet to be processed. The Chief Executive of the Agency will update the Home Affairs Select Committee on case conclusion performance in the summer.
Asylum: Bahrain
Mr. Purchase: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 23 April 2009, Official Report, column 850W, on asylum: Bahrain, what sources of information about Bahrain were used in assessing the applications for asylum of (a) Abdul Raouf Shayeb and (b) Musa Abd Ali Mohammed, in the absence of UK Border Agency country specific guidance. [273800]
Mr. Woolas: Information from individual records is confidential and cannot be disclosed to a third party without the authority of the individuals concerned. In the absence of specific country guidance, UK Border Agency case owners have access to country of origin (COI) information produced by the Home Office COI Service from a wide range of reliable external information sources including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, human rights organisations, inter-governmental organisations, non-governmental organisations such as Amnesty International, news media and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
Borders: Security
Mr. Plaskitt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many IRIS machines are installed at UK borders; how many were working throughout the first three months of 2009; how many instances of equipment failure have been recorded since the installation of these machines; and how many people have registered on the IRIS system. [274297]
Mr. Woolas: There are 12 IRIS machines in operation at 10 airport terminals: Heathrow terminals 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5; Manchester terminals 1 and 2; Birmingham terminal 1 and Gatwick North and South.
The recorded barrier availability figures for the first three months of 2009 are:
| Percentage availability | |
It is not possible to isolate the number of instances of equipment failure from other faults. However, between January 2008 and March 2009, the overall availability of the IRIS system has been 95.36 per cent.
The number of passenger crossings has now reached the 2 million milestone. To date, 299,975 people have enrolled on the IRIS system.
Crime Prevention
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what timetable she has set for introduction of public service agreements on (a) making communities safer and (b) reducing the harm caused by alcohol and drugs. [273030]
Jacqui Smith: The delivery agreements for the public service agreements (PSA) for the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 were published by HM Treasury in October 2007 and came into effect in March 2008. This included a PSA for making communities safer and reducing the harm caused by alcohol and drugs.
Progress towards delivery is reported annually in the Departmental Annual Report and the Autumn Performance Report.
Departmental Pay
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff employed in London on work contracted out by her Department earn less than £7.45 per hour. [275177]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 13 May 2009]: We do not hold the information requested. The pay received by temporary staff and other contractors engaged in London and elsewhere through supply agencies is a matter between the suppliers and their employees, subject to employment laws.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much (a) her Department and (b) its agencies paid in end-of-year performance bonuses to (i) all staff and (ii) senior Civil Service staff in 2008-09; and how many such payments were made. [275253]
Mr. Woolas: In the Home Office HQ and the UK Border Agency, non-consolidated performance related payments are awarded to individuals at Grade 6 and below who have made an exceptional contribution throughout the year. Under the current arrangements up to 35 per cent. of staff in these grades may receive a non-consolidated performance related payment. The total amount paid to staff in 2008-09 was £3,486,925 and the number of payments made was 6,036 (relating to staff performance for the year 2007-08). The total pay bill was c.£750 million, of which 0.5 per cent. was used for non-consolidated performance payments to staff.
Staff in the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) can receive end of year corporate non-consolidated performance related payments and change agent payments (for Grade 6 and 7’s only). The total amount paid to staff in 2008-09 was £1,537,113 and the number of payments made was 4,054 (relating to staff performance for the year 2007-08). The total pay bill was £103,690,330 of which 1.48 per cent. was used for non-consolidated performance payments.
Staff in the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) do not receive end of year performance related payments.
The criteria for awarding senior civil servants with end of year non-consolidated performance payments are set by the Prime Minister following independent advice from the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB). The level of these payments takes into account a number of factors including individual performance against agreed priority business objectives and targets. The total amount paid to SCS staff in the Home Office and its Agencies in 2008-09 was £1,264,000 and the number of payments made was 128 (relating to staff performance for the year 2007-08). The total pay bill was £14,330,946 of which 8.6 per cent. was used for non-consolidated performance payments. The Government have responded to current economic conditions by freezing the size of the SCS non-consolidated pot (for 2008-09).
All such non-consolidated performance related payments in the Home Office and its agencies are funded within existing pay bill controls, have to be re-earned each year against pre-determined performance standards and targets and, as such, do not add to future pay bill costs.
Departmental Stationery
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department spent on the purchase of (a) recycled office supplies in the last 12 months and (b) printer ink cartridges in each of the last five years. [274577]
Mr. Woolas: The information is as follows.
(a) All available information for the last 12 months is set out as follows:
| Product type | Cost (£) |
(b) The requested information is not held centrally in the Home Office and cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
Deportation
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her policy is on the deportation of women to countries where forced genital mutilation is practised. [274003]
Mr. Woolas: UKBA may enforce the removal of any individual whose claim to remain in the UK has failed.
An individual makes a claim to remain in the UK, setting out the reasons for their claim, including any fear of genital mutilation. That claim is considered in full and a decision is made as to whether the individual
would qualify for refugee status or humanitarian protection because of a well-founded fear that she will be subjected to female genital mutilation on her return to the country of origin, and there is evidence that this practice is knowingly tolerated by the authorities or they are unable to offer effective protection, and that there is no reasonable possibility that she would be able to avoid the threat by moving elsewhere within the country.
If this claim is refused and the courts do not uphold any appeal against such a decision the individual will be expected to leave the United Kingdom. If she does not do so voluntarily we will seek to enforce return.
Detection Rates
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date her Department's public service agreement target in relation to detections will be amended to provide that minor crimes will no longer count towards the target. [272991]
Jacqui Smith: There is no public service agreement target on police detections.
Public Service Agreement 24, that came into effect in March 2008, seeks the efficiency and effectiveness of the Criminal Justice System in bringing offences to justice by improving Criminal Justice System performance in bringing serious violent, serious sexual and serious acquisitive offences to justice.
Dual Nationality
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many British passport holders also hold Pakistani nationality. [272916]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested is not available.
Although applicants for British passports who have registered or naturalised are required to send in a registration or naturalisation certificate with their application, including any foreign passports held, these are returned after identity has been confirmed and no statistical record is kept of their country of origin or previous nationality.
Foreign Workers: Health Services
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the effects of the implementation of the points-based immigration system on the employment of foreign nationals as nurses in the NHS. [275060]
Mr. Woolas: The UK Border Agency has worked closely with the Department of Health and external stakeholders in the sector, including NHS Employers, throughout the development of the Points Based System (PBS). Where vacancies for nurses exist which cannot be filled by workers from within the European economic area (EEA), NHS trusts that are licensed sponsors under Tier 2 of the PBS are able to bring nurses to the UK to fill these posts. Some specialist nursing posts have been included on the Government’s shortage occupation list.
Human Trafficking
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions she has had with the airline industry on responsibility for the cost of returning to their country of origin persons trafficked by air into the UK. [275296]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 14 May 2009]: There are no specific arrangements for assigning responsibility of the costs of returning trafficking victims to their country of origin. I am not aware that this has been raised as an issue by the airline industry. It is our policy to encourage voluntary returns wherever possible, which in most cases would not result in a cost being incurred by a carrier.
Identity Cards: Foreigners
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many identity cards had been issued to non-EEA foreign nationals who are subject to immigration control on the latest date for which figures are available. [269226]
Jacqui Smith: As of the end of April 2009, the UK Border Agency had issued over 34,120 identity cards for foreign nationals.
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