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7 July 2009 : Column 730W—continued
Forensic Science
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the cost of staff (a) training and (b) recruitment at each forensic science site in each of the next three years. [283019]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The budget allocated for training and for recruitment in the Forensic Science Service has not been divided by site, but has been planned for nationally. Technical training spend in the coming year is currently forecast at £447,000. Figures for the following two years have not yet been agreed.
Recruitment spend over the coming years is currently estimated as follows:
| Recruitment spend (£) | |
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department operates an in-house forensic science laboratory. [283573]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Home Office does not operate an in-house forensic science laboratory but does have a branch—the Home Office Science and Development Branch—which is involved in the research and development of forensic techniques.
Forensic Science Regulator
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the budget for the Forensic Science Regulator was in 2008-09; and what it is for (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11. [283867]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 3 July 2009]: The information is as follows:
The budget for 2008-09 was £1.3 million
The budget for 2009-10 is £1.3 million
The budget for 2010-11 has not been set but is expected to remain as that for the previous year.
Forensic Science Regulator: Manpower
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff at each Civil Service payband are employed by the Forensic Science Regulator. [283868]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 3 July 2009]: The Forensic Science Regulator is a public appointment who is supported by a small team of civil servants employed by the Home Office. The team consist of:
Grade 7: two
SEO/SSO: three
EO: one
PS/Admin: one
Forensic Science Service
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which company has been appointed as a consultant on human relations in the Forensic Science Service. [284503]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The only major consultancy services have been obtained from Deloitte (who assisted the Forensic Science Service (FSS) in 2008 with its preliminary thinking on business transformation). Deloitte have also been FSS's pension advisers for some time. FSS has used a number of specialist providers in a smaller way to support the design of the business transformation programme. The transformation team itself has also been staffed by a number of agency and interim specialists to work alongside and train in-house resources.
Forensic Science Service: Chorley
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the reasons were for proposing the closure of the Forensic Science Services (FSS) Chorley laboratory as part of the consultation to reduce national FSS staff numbers. [282949]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Forensic Science Service (FSS) has embarked on a consultation on its plans to transform, to move to a new national delivery model based around four primary sites, instead of the current seven main locations. It is not a consultation to cut staff numbers.
The company’s preferred model does not envisage the long-term continued use of Chorley as a main laboratory. No final decision has been taken ahead of completion of the consultation.
In selecting those sites proposed as suitable for inclusion, a number of factors were carefully considered.
A main building block of the proposed operational delivery model is the co-location of body fluid search examination with DNA analytical facilities to meet the challenging customer timeliness requirements and improvements in success rates (i.e. providing a useful DNA profile from a body fluid stain). This is significantly different to how the current services operate and a key enabler to any estate footprint.
Current DNA analytical facilities are located at Huntingdon, London, Trident Court and Wetherby.
The start up cost and time lag of introducing DNA facilities into sites where DNA is not currently delivered has had a significant impact on the choice of proposed retained locations.
Among other key factors considered were:
Available laboratory space, as well as type of space;
Lowest risk on customer disengagement;
Maintaining geographical spread across England & Wales;
Overall execution risk and cost/benefit analysis;
Response to scenes;
Current mix of skills at each site and their alignment, as far as possible, to the proposed national business streams.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with coroners based in the North West on the proposed closure of the e laboratory in Chorley. [284501]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Forensic Science Service (FSS) has a pathology laboratory in Sheffield which services the north-west. Staff at this facility have held discussions on the transformation of the FSS with local coroners.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has consulted the police force of (a) Lancashire, (b) Merseyside, (c) Greater Manchester, (d) Cumbria and (e) Cheshire on the proposed closure of the Forensic Science Service laboratory in Chorley. [284502]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Forensic Science Service (FSS) has communicated with all its law enforcement customers as part of the consultation process, in order to develop a proposed new structure that will best serve the needs of the Criminal Justice Service.
The FSS will continue to communicate with its law enforcement customers throughout the process.
Forensic Science Service: Redundancy
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information his Department provided to staff at Forensic Science Service laboratories at (a) Chepstow, (b) Birmingham and (c) Chorley on the closure and redundancy programme on 24 June 2009. [283603]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 2 July 2009]: On 24 June, the Forensic Science Service shared proposals about the approach to redundancy and operational site deployment with both Trade Union and Employee Forum representatives and copies of these proposals were made available to all FSS staff.
The approach to redundancy proposal covers:
Individual consultation
Appeals process
Maximising redeployment opportunities
Trial periods
Notice periods
Support and outplacement
Redundancy package
Voluntary redundancy
The operational site deployment proposal covers the approach, rationale and proposed site deployment based on the proposed move to national business streams. It provides details about:
the options considered;
the criteria against which the proposed option was selected (e.g. co-location of body fluid/DNA casework;
available laboratory space;
delivery of the national framework products/services and quality;
lowest risk to customer disengagement;
the operational considerations and impacts.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the likely number of redundancies at each Forensic Science Service laboratory in the next 12 months. [283566]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Forensic Science Service (FSS) has stated that it anticipates a maximum of 800 redundancies across the company but at this formative stage of collective consultation the FSS cannot be definitive about the actual locations impacted or number of staff affected. Clear proposals around these will be shared as a part of the consultation process when the detail is available.
Forensic Science Service: Isle of Man
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from (a) the police, (b) coroners and (c) the Government of the Isle of Man as part of his Department’s consultation on the Forensic Science Service. [284500]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The consultation on the future structure of the Forensic Science Service (FSS) Ltd. is being conducted by the company, not by the Home Office.
The Home Office has received no representations from these parties, nor has the company itself.
The FSS continues to carry out work for the police service in the Isle of Man under a service level agreement.
The FSS has communicated with all its law enforcement customers as part of the transformation process, in order to develop a proposed new structure that will best serve the needs of the Criminal Justice Service.
Illegal Immigrants
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 2 June 2009, Official Report, column 364W, on illegal immigrants, how many (a) removals and (b) voluntary departures there were in each year since 2005. [279622]
Alan Johnson: The Home Office publishes statistics on removals and voluntary departures from the UK broken down by type on a quarterly and annual basis. The latest published information for the last four years can be found in Table 7c of the quarterly Control of Immigration: Quarterly statistical summary United Kingdom Q4 2008:
Immigrants: Somalia
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of Somali nationals in the UK who do not have leave to remain. [282735]
Mr. Woolas: Since the phasing out of embarkation controls in 1994 no Government have ever been able to produce an accurate figure for the number of people who are in the country illegally or who have overstayed their leave to remain. By its very nature it is impossible to quantify accurately and that remains the case.
As part of the Government’s 10-point plan for delivery, by 2010 over 95 per cent. of non-EEA foreign nationals will be counted in and out of the country, rising to 100 per cent. by 2014. This is part of a sweeping programme of border protection which also includes the global roll-out of fingerprint visas, watch-list checks for all travellers before they arrive or depart from the UK and ID cards for foreign nationals.
Immigration Controls
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) highly-skilled migrants and (b) dependents of highly-skilled migrants were given leave to enter the UK under (i) the highly-skilled migrants programme and (ii) tier 1 of the points-based system in the first quarter of 2009. [280797]
Mr. Woolas: The Highly Skilled Migrant Programme was subsumed under Tier 1 of the Points Based System on 30 June 2008.
In the first quarter of 2009, 7,803 non-EEA nationals were issued with visas to enter the UK as highly skilled migrants under Tier 1 of the Points Based System, and 3,468 non-EEA nationals were issued with visas to enter as their dependents (i.e. partner or child).
Immigration Officers: Training
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many days' training has been given on average to a front line immigration officer on the introduction of the points-based immigration system. [282987]
Mr. Woolas: On average front line Border Force officers complete at least three-quarters of a day dedicated to training on the points-based system.
Immobilisation of Vehicles
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of companies offering vehicle clamping services on private land to individuals and businesses. [284162]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 3 July 2009]: The Security Industry Authority estimates that there are between 100 and 200 businesses in this sector.
Norman Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department
has made of the merits of regulating the activity of companies offering vehicle-clamping sources on private land in the same manner as the regulation by local authorities of parking companies. [284163]
Mr. Alan Campbell [h old ing answer 3 July 2009]: The Home Office launched a public consultation on 30 April 2009 on proposals for regulation of vehicle immobilisation businesses. The consultation document can be found at:
Many local authorities employ contractors to carry out enforcement of on-street parking regulations but they do not in that context regulate the businesses themselves.
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