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2 Jun 2009 : Column 362W—continued
The figures do not include the number of UK nationals extradited to the USA who were arrested in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Female Genital Mutilation
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what account her Department takes of the risk of female genital mutilation in women’s country of origin when assessing their asylum claims. [276648]
Mr. Woolas: All asylum and human rights claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with the UK’s obligations under the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The consideration of a claim includes where relevant, any fear of genital mutilation that may be raised by the applicant.
When fear of genital mutilation forms part of the claim, consideration is given to whether there is evidence that this practice is knowingly tolerated by the authorities in the country of origin, or whether they are unable to offer protection, and whether there is a reasonable possibility of the applicant avoiding the threat for example by moving elsewhere in the country.
Foreign Workers: Health Services
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign national (a) doctors and (b) nurses from each country of origin have been granted residency in the UK for each of the last three years. [275059]
Mr. Woolas:
A foreign national is deemed to have been granted residency when he or she has been granted Leave to Enter (LTE) the UK for more than six months. Prior entry clearance is mandatory for all persons seeking LTE for such a period. Before the phased introduction of the Points Based System in 2008, foreign national
doctors and nurses who were qualified to practise in the UK were required to apply for entry clearance as work permit holders. Data held centrally about such entry clearance applications do not include the applicant's profession. We could therefore only provide the information requested by searching individual records, which would be at disproportionate cost.
House of Commons: Right of Search
Mr. Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for North Essex of 10 February 2009, Official Report, column 1830W, on the House of Commons: right of search, what consideration she has given to (a) obtaining and (b) placing in the Library a copy of the final report of the review conducted by Chief Constable Ian Johnston of the British Transport Police on the arrest and investigation of the hon. Member for Ashford since the decision of the Crown Prosecution Service not to bring charges in the case; and if she will make a statement. [276943]
Mr. Coaker: The report is a matter for the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and I have no plans to call for a copy of it.
Human Trafficking
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of those arrested in relation to Operation Greensea in respect of whom legal proceedings have been completed were (a) convicted and (b) deported. [276007]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The information is as follows:
(a) On 31 January 2008, 12 individuals were arrested on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration into the United Kingdom as a result of Operation Greensea. Of these 12, six have been convicted, three are currently on trial, and the others have been released or have been charged with separate offences.
Subsequently, three additional men were arrested in relation to Operation Greensea, and are also on trial.
(b) The UK Border Agency is committed to ensuring that it removes those foreign nationals who pose a risk of harm to our society. Our objective is that foreign national prisoners should face deportation when they meet the relevant criteria and that deportation should happen as early as possible in their sentence.
In 2008, the agency deported or removed 5,395 foreign national prisoners, exceeding the Government set target. As confirmed in its 2009-10 business plan, the UK Border Agency will continue to deport or remove record numbers of foreign criminals.
Identity Cards
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the outstanding cost to the public purse of the introduction of the National Identity Card Scheme. [276687]
Mr. Woolas: The May 2009 Cost Report details our current estimated costs for the National Identity Service at:
The estimated total resource costs for providing passports and identity cards to British and Irish citizens resident in the UK for the time period April 2009 to April 2019 is £4,945 million. This figure includes the current costs of operating the passport service, the incremental costs of improving the integrity of the passport and the costs of identity cards. It does not reflect the fee income which will be generated from both passports and identity cards to fund the operational cost of the National Identity Service.
Illegal Immigrants
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the factual basis is for the Minister for Borders and Immigration's statement in his answer on 18 May 2009, Official Report, column 1192, on illegal immigrants, that the trend of removals is significantly up. [277069]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 1 June 2009]: The following table shows the total number of removals and voluntary departures in each year between 2005 and 2008:
| Removals and voluntary departures( 1, 2, ) January 2005 to December 2008 | ||||
| Number( 3) | ||||
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007( 4) | 2008( 4) | |
| (1) Figures are rounded to the nearest 5. (2 )Includes persons departing voluntarily after notifying the UK Border Agency of their intention to leave prior to their departure, persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes run by the International Organization for Migration and since January 2005 persons who it has been established left the UK without informing the immigration authorities. Statistics from 2005 onwards are not directly comparable with earlier years. (3) Removals and voluntary departures recorded on the system as at the dates on which the data extracts were taken. Figures will under record due to data cleansing and data matching exercises that take place after the extracts are taken. (4) Provisional figures. | ||||
Published statistics on immigration and asylum are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many illegal immigrants were detained at their point of entry to the UK in the last month for which figures are available; and how many of them admitted they were entering the country illegally. [277130]
Mr. Woolas: In April 2009, 767 people were recorded at ports as having illegally entered the UK. In such cases, passengers are initially detained at the Point of Entry.
The data provided are based on locally-collated management information, which may be subject to change and do not represent published national statistics.
The UK Border Agency does not routinely record whether an illegal entrant admits they were attempting to enter the UK illegally.
Immigration
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time taken by the UK Border Agency to process an application for indefinite leave to remain was in the latest period for which information is available. [276372]
Mr. Woolas: The average time taken by the UK Border Agency to process an application for indefinite leave to remain for the period 1 April-30 April 2009 was three months.
Data relate to lead applicants only.
The figures quoted are not provided under National Statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information. They therefore provisional and subject to change.
Source:
UKBA Case Information Database.
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the letter of 14 January 2009 from the Chief Executive of the UK Border Agency to the hon. Member for Wellingborough regarding Mr. Nicholas Mazordze, what steps were taken to resolve the case within 14 days of the date of that letter; and with reference to the letter of 5 May 2009 from the Minister of State to the hon. Member for Wellingborough also regarding Mr. Mazordze, what steps were taken to resolve the case within two weeks of the date of that letter. [276938]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 1 June 2009]: The Chief Executive of the UK Border Agency provides regularly updates on the progress taken in deporting foreign national criminals. However, she is unable to comment on individual cases raised in a parliamentary question.
Immigration: Children
Mr. Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether her Department plans to develop community-based alternatives to detention for children subject to immigration control. [276131]
Mr. Woolas: The Government are exploring alternative options to detention of children to ensure the removal of those families who refuse to leave the country voluntarily when they no longer have a legal right to be here.
A new pilot project to encourage refused asylum seeker families in Glasgow to return voluntarily to their home country is to start at the beginning of June. The pilot is a partnership between Glasgow City Council, the UK Border Agency and the Scottish Government.
Independent Police Complaints Commission: Manpower
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what the turnover rate of staff of each grade employed by the Independent Police Complaints Commission was in each year since its creation; [277139]
(2) how many employees of each (a) sex and (b) age (i) entered and (ii) left employment of the Independent Police Complaints Commission in each year since its creation. [277140]
Mr. Coaker: The Home Office does not hold the information requested as these are matters 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.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton of 11 February 2009, with regard to Ms A. Dar. [269338]
Jacqui Smith: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 20 April 2009.
Olympic Games 2012: Security
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her most recent estimate is of the number of police officers required to police the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. [273246]
Mr. Coaker: The Home Office is committed to making the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games safe and secure. On 25 February the Government approved a 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Safety and Security Strategy and accompanying 2012 National Concept of Operations.
Delivering the strategy will require the deployment of substantial numbers of police officers additional to normal day to day requirements. We are working with police forces and the Association of Chief Police Officers to refine this requirement. We cannot give a definitive estimate at this stage in the planning, which will always also need to remain flexible to changes in the risks the games face. At peak times of the games we currently anticipate deployment to be broadly similar to events such as the Notting Hill Carnival, which last year involved some 11,000 tours of duty by Metropolitan Police officers over the bank holiday weekend.
Planning decisions on police numbers will need to take into account both the operational requirement and the need to demonstrate affordability and value for money within the overall £600 million funding envelope. These decisions will be consistent with the risk-based and intelligence-led approach set out in our strategy.
Police Community Support Officers: Costs
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much police community support officers cost in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [273266]
Mr. Coaker:
The Home Office does not collect this information but makes an annual contribution towards the cost of Police Community Support Officer (PCSOs) as part of the specific grant payable to police authorities in England and Wales for Neighbourhood Policing. For
2009-10 the grant will amount to £332 million in total, of which £294 million is specifically provided to support the costs of PCSOs.
Information gathered independently of the Home Office and published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) indicates that for 2007-08, the cost of salaries, allowances and national insurance for PCSOs in England and Wales was £417 million.
Police: Complaints
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Independent Police Complaints Commission has the power to investigate complaints about alleged unlawful conduct by serving police officers. [276910]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 1 June 2009]: I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 17 December 2008, Official Report, column 863W.
Police: Databases
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements are in place to validate the accuracy of data entered on the (a) Police National Computer and (b) PentiP computer system. [276905]
Mr. Coaker: Data are entered on to the Police National Computer (PNC) by the police service and a number of other authorised agencies for specific purposes relating to law enforcement. Data quality are managed via:
A statutory code of practice, ‘The Police National Computer’
PNC Code of Connection
PNC Manual
In addition, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary inspects police forces’ use of the PNC.
The PentiP system has yet to be delivered.
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