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1 July 2009 : Column 277W—continued
Entry Clearances
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visa applicants from (a) India, (b) Sri Lanka and (c) Zimbabwe have had their applications refused in each of the last three years; of those how many have appealed; how many such appeals have succeeded; how many decisions have been withdrawn prior to determination of the appeal; and if he will make a statement. [253862]
Mr. Woolas: The number of UK visa applications refused in India and Sri Lanka in each of the calendar years 2006-08 is shown in the following table, together with the number of appeals received and appeals allowed. The same information is shown in the table for Zimbabwe, but this is based on applications made globally by Zimbabwe nationals rather than just those lodged in Zimbabwe as those data are not available.
We are unable to readily separate applications where a decision has been revoked following receipt of an appeal from those where a decision has been revoked following an Asylum and Immigration Tribunal determination. This information could be provided only by checking individual applications and therefore at disproportionate cost.
| 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| Note: These data are unpublished and should be treated as provisional. Source: Central Reference System | |||
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will include medical qualifications in the criteria for awarding a Tier 1 visa. [280857]
Mr. Woolas: On 23 February the Home Secretary asked the Migration Advisory Committee what further changes to the criteria for Tier 1 there should be in 2010-11, given the changing economic circumstances. The Committee are due to report back to the Government in October. There are no plans to amend the Tier 1 points criteria before that time.
However, this is not to say that overseas doctors are unable to work in the UK. It is open for them to do so through Tier 2. Where they are a postgraduate doctor who has studied in the UK the UK Border Agency will, exceptionally, allow the NHS and others to recruit graduates of UK medical schools from overseas under Tier 2 of the points based system without first testing the resident labour market. This concession, which we will apply to the current round of recruitment, will allow these doctors open access to jobs in the UK's health sector, allowing them to continue their careers here.
Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for the UK Border Agency’s Tier 1 (General) Category Visa Programme have been (a) denied and (b) subsequently upheld at appeal since the introduction of new rules on 29 February 2008; and if he will make a statement. [282217]
Mr. Woolas: As of 31 May 2009, 7,279 overseas visa applications under Tier 1 (general) of the points based system had been refused. There is no right of appeal on immigration grounds against decisions to refuse visa applications under the points based system, including Tier 1.
Entry Clearances: Overseas Students
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long on average it took for an overseas student to extend a visa in the last 12 months. [281390]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 19 June 2009]: During the last 12 months the average time taken to decide an application for extension of leave for an overseas student was 44 days.
Immigration
Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 12 May 2009, Official Report, column 667W, on immigration, if he will take steps to expedite his decision in the case with his Department’s reference G1082747; and if he will make a statement. [282802]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 29 June 2009]: I wrote to the hon. Member on 27 April 2009 with the latest position on the case of G1082747 and this remains the position.
Immigration: Bicester
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has received on the proposed immigration removal centre in Bicester; and if he will make a statement. [283226]
Mr. Woolas: The leader of Cherwell district council wrote to the chief executive of the UK Border Agency on 18 May to highlight his council’s hope that we would proceed with the site at Bullingdon as a first preference. The chief executive replied on 28 May explaining that as we had secured planning permission for a centre at both Bullingdon and Bedford, we are considering which site to develop first, and that a decision will be announced in the autumn.
Immigration: Zimbabwe
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of Zimbabwean nationals (a) resident and (b) who have applied for residency in England in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [282924]
Mr. Woolas
[holding answer 29 June 2009]: The Office for National Statistics collects data on nationality from the Annual Population Survey which covers residents of the UK. For the 12 month period from October 2007 to September 2008, I understand that it is estimated that the number of people with Zimbabwean nationality
resident in England was 63,000. The margin of error around this estimate is +/-11,000. These are the latest estimates available.
Information relating to the number of Zimbabwean nationals who have applied for residency in England in the last 12 months is not held centrally by UKBA.
Serious Organised Crime Agency
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff were recruited by the Serious and Organised Crime Agency in (a) 2006-07, (b) 2007-08 and (c) 2008-09. [281967]
Alan Johnson: The total number of permanent staff recruited by the Serious Organised Crime Agency in each of the last three financial years was:
| Number | |
Serious Organised Crime Agency: Pay
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was paid in bonuses to (a) directors, (b) senior managers, (c) specialist and delivery managers and (d) executive support and administration staff in the Serious Organised Crime Agency in each of the last five years. [280323]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Serious Organised Crime Agency was established on 1 April 2006. Only staff at grades equivalent to the senior civil service are contractually entitled to be considered for bonus payments. The payments made relate to performance during the previous financial year and the total figures for all such payments were:
| £ | |||
| 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
Wildlife: Crime
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convictions for offences related to wildlife crime there were in each of the last 10 years. [280362]
Claire Ward: I have been asked to reply.
Information on the number of defendants found guilty at all courts for offences under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, Protection of Badgers Act 1992, Deer Act 1991, Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulation 1997, and the Conservation of Seals Act 1970, in England and Wales from 1998 to 2007 (latest available) is shown in the following table.
The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for
which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
Data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
| N umber of defendants found guilty at all courts for offences under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, Protection of Badgers Act 1992, Deer Act 1991, Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulation 1997, and the Conservation of Seals Act 1970, in England and Wales for the years 1998 to 2007( 1, 2, 3, 4) | |
| Found guilty | |
| (1) These data are on the principal offence basis. (2 )Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3 )Includes the following Statutes: Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Protection of Badgers Act 1992 Deer Act 1991 Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulation 1997 Conservation of Seals Act 1970 (4 )Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table. Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit—Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Ministry of Justice | |
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Burma: Ethnic Groups
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what representations he has made to the government of Burma on the military offensive against the Karen ethnic group; and if he will make a statement; [282491]
(2) what discussions he has had at the United Nations on the Burmese offensive against the Karen ethnic group. [282492]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: We are deeply concerned about the situation in Karen State and reports of renewed fighting between the Karen National Union and the Democratic Karen Buddhist army, who are supported by the Burmese army. Attacks carried out by the Burmese army and their Karen client organisations on civilians in Karen State have been particularly intense over the past two years. We hope to highlight our concerns in a UN Security Council discussion on the protection of civilians in armed conflict on 26 June 2009.
We have repeatedly called for a halt to such offensives and have urged both the military regime and the Karen National Union to intensify their efforts to find a peaceful settlement that will bring about a permanent end to the conflict. Most recently at meetings between our ambassador and Burmese Ministers on 18 and 19 June 2009. In response to the recent upsurge in violence and reports of large numbers of civilians fleeing over the Thai border, the Czech presidency of the EU, with our strong support, issued a statement on 11 June 2009 calling for an end to the hostilities. It expressed particular concern about the humanitarian impact of the ongoing conflict. We fully support this call and our embassy in Rangoon continues to monitor the situation closely.
Colombia
Mr. Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what criteria are used in assessing the merits of negotiating trade agreements with Colombia; and what consideration is given to the application of EU policy on human rights in relation to such negotiations. [282624]
Chris Bryant: The key economic criteria for the EU’s free-trade agreement partners should be market potential (economic size and growth) and the level of protection against EU export interests (tariffs and non-tariff barriers). This was set out in the 2006 Global Europe Paper. The UK is working within the EU to ensure that any free trade agreement with the Andean countries takes account of the EU stance on human rights in Colombia in this context.
Mr. Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had at EU level on the conditions relating to the (a) labour rights and (b) human rights policies of the Colombian government to which negotiation of the proposed free trade agreement between the EU and Colombia is subject. [282625]
Chris Bryant: The UK remains deeply concerned about the human rights situation in Colombia. The UK is working within the EU to ensure that any free trade agreement with Colombia includes a link to a human rights clause as an essential element.
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