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16 July 2009 : Column 696W—continued
Departmental Data Protection
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many attempts were made to gain unauthorised access to each (a) database and (b) ICT system run by his Department in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement; [286554]
(2) how many successful attempts were made to gain unauthorised access to each (a) database and (b) ICT system run by his Department in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [286555]
Mr. Woolas: The security policy framework, the data handling report and the national information assurance Strategy produced by the Cabinet Office provide a strategic framework for protecting information that Government handles and put in place a set of mandatory measures to which Departments must adhere.
It is not in the interest of the security of the department, or that of the public, to disclose detailed information relating to electronic breaches of security of departmental IT systems. Disclosing such information would carry a significant risk of enabling criminals and those who would attempt to cause disruptive threats to the department to deduce how to conduct attacks and therefore potentially enhance their capability to carry out such attacks.
To help defend against electronic attack, it is standard good information security practice not to comment on such incidents.
Departmental Databases
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information databases his Department (a) maintains and (b) uses which do not contain personal information. [284391]
Mr. Woolas: In line with the Hannigan recommendations, the Home Office holds a register of information assets. Any Home Office information asset register/database which contains personal data adheres to the Data Protection Act.
The information requested would require contacting each information asset owner and asking them to provide any relevant information as appropriate. To identify accurately all Home Office information databases and their uses which do not contain personal information would take significant resource time to undertake and complete. This information can therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what categories of personal information on members of the public are contained on each database which contains such data managed by his Department and its agencies; when each category of information was first collected; and if he will make a statement; [284897]
(2) what databases managed by his Department and its agencies hold personal information on members of the public; on what date each such database became operational; and if he will make a statement; [285973]
(3) which of the planned databases that will be managed by his Department or one of its agencies and which will hold personal information on members of the public are expected to become operational in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement; [286146]
(4) what categories of personal information on members of the public will be held on each of his Department's and its agency's databases expected to become operational in the next five years; what estimate he has made of the likely number of individuals' details each such database will hold when fully operational; and if he will make a statement. [286497]
Mr. Woolas: In line with the Hannigan recommendations, the Home Office holds a register of information assets. Any Home Office information asset register/database which contains personal data adheres to the Data Protection Act.
The information requested would require contacting each information asset owner and asking them to provide any relevant information as appropriate. To identify accurately all Home Office databases and categories of personal information would take significant resource time to undertake and complete. The information requested can therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Electronic Equipment
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) photocopiers, (b) scanning devices and (c) fax machines, excluding multi-function devices, there are in his Department; how many there were in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [286171]
Mr. Woolas: There is not a central register of these items as they are purchased by local business units and to provide an answer to this question would incur costs in excess of the threshold.
Departmental Internet
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department plans to update its web browsers from Internet Explorer 6. [285013]
Mr. Woolas: For Home Office core, the United Kingdom Border Agency and the Criminal Records Bureau, there is a project under way that includes the upgrade from Internet Explorer 6; the current timing for this part of the project is February 2010.
IPS has recently signed a 10-year application and enrolment contract with Computer Science Corporation for the provision of IT services including desktop. As part of this contract, there is an 18-month programme called "Technical Transformation" within which there are several components including the roll-out of a new standard desktop.
Deployment of this new desktop, which includes Internet Explorer 7, is due to take place in a phased approach around the middle of 2010. A precise date for the start of this new desktop roll-out has not yet been agreed.
Departmental Lost Property
Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many laptop computers belonging to (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have been lost or stolen in the last five years. [281056]
Mr. Woolas: The Home Office can provide information on lost and stolen laptops only from 2005 onwards. In 2005, 14 laptops were lost/stolen but it has not been possible to provide a breakdown of this figure by Department/agency. The remaining information requested is set out in the following table:
| Lost/stolen laptops | ||||
| Home Office core | UKBA | IPS | CRB | |
Departmental Mobile Phones
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) BlackBerry devices and (b) mobile telephones have been lost by (i) Ministers, (ii) special advisers and (iii) civil servants in his Department in each year since 2005. [274458]
Mr. Woolas: Reports of losses by civil servants and special advisers are not recorded separately.
| Blackberries | ||||
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| Mobiles | |||
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | |
| (1) Less then 5. Where there have been less then five such cases it is the policy of the Home Office to suppress this information on grounds of confidentiality. | |||
The figures for lost mobile telephones in 2008 are currently unavailable and we will inform the hon. Member when available.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of his Department's capital underspend in 2009-10; and how much of that sum he proposes to return to the Exchequer. [284324]
Mr. Woolas: The Home Office, as with other Departments, has regular discussions with the Treasury about its financial needs. These discussions cover the financial challenges facing the Department and include the resources associated with major programmes and whether there may be the risk of either over or underspending.
Departmental Work Experience
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) paid and (b) unpaid graduate internships his Department has awarded in each of the last six months. [281519]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested on paid and unpaid graduate internships is not currently recorded centrally in the Home Office or its agencies. Internships are authorised and organised locally by managers in business units.
The Home Office provides around 30 placements annually, during July through September, to graduates and undergraduates who are from a minority ethnic background and/or have a registered disability, through the civil service fast stream summer placement schemes. They are paid an allowance at executive officer minimum rate.
Deportation: Bexley
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals resident in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency and (b) the London borough of Bexley were deported in each of the last five years; and how many of those had committed a crime in the UK. [286695]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The chief executive of the UK Border Agency has regularly written to Home Affairs Select Committee in order to provide them with all the robust and accurate information available relating to foreign national criminals. Copies of these letters are available in the Library of the House.
Deportation: Democratic Republic of Congo
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what reports his Department has received on the safety of deportees removed to the Democratic Republic of Congo in the last two years. [286763]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 14 July 2009]: The UK Border Agency continually monitors the situation in asylum claimants' countries of origin by making reference to a wide range of authoritative, publicly available sources.
In addition, the UK Border Agency works closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to ensure that it has the best available information. The British embassy in Kinshasa speaks regularly with a network of local contacts about the treatment of failed asylum seekers on return to the Democratic Republic of Congo and will make inquiries about any specific allegations that arise. This network includes Congolese non-governmental organisations, Congolese civil servants and Government Ministers, and colleagues from other embassies in Kinshasa.
Entry Clearances
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the visa enquiry section of the British Consulate in Cairo plans to reply to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Edinburgh, West of 11 June 2009 on Manal Mohmed Abdalla. [282941]
Mr. Woolas: Visa staff at our visa section in Cairo have no record of receiving a letter from the hon. Member concerning Miss Abdalla. The only letter from the hon. Member visa staff have seen was part of an appeal bundle received from the applicant, addressed to the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal in the UK. The AIT is independent of the UK Border Agency and handles its own correspondence.
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what explanation his Department has received from the British High Commission in Delhi on its refusal to issue a visa to Harvinder Singh Bhandal, ref 2572710; and whether his Department has issued further guidance to the High Commission on this case subsequent to the initial approval of the application. [284306]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 3 July 2009]: I have seen the reasons for refusal as set out in the refusal notice, which in my view is comprehensive.
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will review the decision to refuse entry clearance to Mr McDonald Adolphus Lewis, ref GV100/145918; and if he will make a statement. [285664]
Mr. Woolas: I regret to inform the hon. Member that any information contained in applications to the Home Office is treated as being confidential and is not normally disclosed to third parties. This is, of course, unless they are authorised representatives of the applicant. I hope that you will understand that this is not a question of secrecy for its own sake, but simply a matter of protecting the privacy of the individual.
My Department is writing in confidence separately to the hon. Member.
Entry Clearances: Applications
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visa applications were (a) received, (b) issued and (c) refused in each year from 1997 to 2008. [267773]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 30 March 2009]: I refer the hon. Member to the visa statistics published in UK Visas' annual reports for the financial years 2004-05 to 2007-08, available on our Visa Services website at:
Reliable data are not held for previous years.
Entry Clearances: Overseas Students
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for overseas student visas from people of each nationality were refused in each month (a) since 31 March 2009 and (b) between 31 March 2008 and 30 March 2009. [280661]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 18 June 2009]: The following table details how many applications for overseas student visas from people of each nationality were refused in each month (a) since 31 March 2009 and (b) between 31 March 2008 and 30 March 2009.
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