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20 July 2009 : Column 926W—continued
Human Trafficking
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 26 January 2009, Official Report, columns 94-5W, on human trafficking, what guidance has been issued by his Department to the agencies involved in the national referral mechanism on systematic identification of victims of human trafficking. [277244]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Specialist teams within the UK Human Trafficking Centre and the UK Border Agency have been set up to act as decision making competent authorities within the multi-agency national referral mechanism.
Comprehensive guidance and training, utilising expertise from within and outside Government, has been provided to these teams. Staff within these teams have been instructed to engage with external agencies to assist in the identification process.
In addition, myself and the Association of Chief Police Officers lead for human trafficking wrote to all
chief officers to direct them to the Home Office website which holds information about the national referral mechanism:
http://www.crimereduction.homeoffice.gov.uk/human trafficking005.htm
All other relevant agencies have also been directed to this information.
Identity Cards
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) fake and (b) fraudulently obtained national identity cards have been seized in each month since the introduction of the national identity card scheme. [285940]
Alan Johnson: As part of the national identity card scheme we began issuing identity cards to foreign nationals on 25 November 2008. To date we have not identified or recovered any cards found to be fake or to have been obtained fraudulently.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many national identity cards have been withdrawn, recalled or returned as a result of errors in the data (a) displayed on the card and (b) contained on the chip since the introduction of the scheme. [285941]
Alan Johnson: Since November 2008, over 50,000 identity cards have been issued to foreign nationals by the UK Border Agency. Of these, four cards have been withdrawn, recalled or returned as a result of errors in the data either displayed on the card or contained on the chip since the introduction of the scheme.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many records checks have been made against the national identity card database by (a) police forces and (b) other agencies in each month since the introduction of the national identity card scheme. [285943]
Alan Johnson: The National Identity Register, which will hold the identity information of everyone issued with a national identity card, will not begin operation until later this year when we start to issue voluntary ID cards to airside workers at Manchester and London city airports as well as to British citizens living in the Greater Manchester area.
There have, therefore not yet been any checks made on the National Identity Register.
Identity Cards: Expenditure
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent on the National Identity Card Scheme; and what proportion of this expenditure has been on identity cards alone. [279615]
Alan Johnson: The Identity Cards are paid for by customer fees.
Between the financial years 2003-04 and 2005-06, £41.1 million was spent by the Home Office Identity Cards Programme in total in development. Since the
merger of the Home Office Identity Cards Programme and the UK Passport Service to create the Identity and Passport Service on 1 April 2006, projects to deliver passports including facial images and fingerprints, identity cards and other improvements have been necessarily combined. As much of the technology and operational processes needed to implement identity cards are also required for the implementation of these new passports, this is the most cost-effective way to deliver these initiatives.
Much of the work conducted by Identity and Passport Service cannot be categorised, both financially and operationally, as contributing towards either the introduction of passports with facial images and fingerprints or identity cards alone. The work is accounted for as future development projects which in the 2006-07 financial year amounted to £30.9 million, in 2007-08 £61.7 million and 2008-9 £81.5 million (subject to finalisation of the 2008-09 accounts process).
Identity Cards: Police
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance his Department has issued to police (a) forces and (b) officers on the use of identity cards in policing. [285942]
Alan Johnson: In addition to the general guidance published on the Identity Card for Foreign Nationals, the UK Border Agency has engaged with representatives from police forces and produced guidance about the use of identity cards. This guidance is reviewed regularly and updates will be issued whenever necessary.
In respect of identity cards issued to British citizens, the Identity and Passport Service has yet to produce any guidance on identity cards and will be producing guidance on the security features to be incorporated in the identity cards issued to later this year.
Illegal Immigrants
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons the publication of his Department's report on Understanding the market for facilitated illegal entry in the UK has been delayed; and when he intends to publish it. [247896]
Alan Johnson [holding answer 20 January 2009]: The normal process for publishing research is that such reports must undergo a rigorous quality assurance process including external peer review and only research that meets our high quality standards is published by the Department. Once this process has been completed in this case, we expect to be able to publish the report in summer 2009.
Immigrants: Social Security Benefits
Mr. Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date the UK Border Agency or its predecessor informed Jobcentre Plus that Khadra Ali Hassan of Sheffield was no longer entitled to income support and related benefits arising out of her previous temporary leave to remain. [278876]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 10 June 2009]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary wrote to my right hon. Friend on 15 July 2009.
Immigration
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many people had awaited determination of their application for (a) leave to remain and (b) indefinite leave to remain under the immigration rules for more than (i) one, (ii) two, (iii) three and (iv) four years; [250959]
(2) when he plans to answer question 250959, tabled on 21 January 2009, on the timescale for processing immigration cases. [286588]
Mr. Woolas: The data my hon. Friend requires are provided in the following table.
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
The above data are not provided under the National Statistics protocols. They have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.
Data for some of these periods are not available. This is because there was a major change in our IT systems in 2002. Data on cases lodged in or before 2002 will therefore not be complete. This means we are unable to supply reliable information on some of the cases you requested. The data could now be reliably gathered only by the examination of individual files for historic information and this could be achieved only at disproportionate cost to the organisation.
LTR and ILR outstanding applications are generally complex cases involving ECHR and those overstaying existing leave granted.
We are improving migration workstreams, as new processes are introduced with initial focus on clearing older cases, then improving overall throughput.
Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to announce his decision on the application for a residence permit submitted by Mrs Tatiana Stebel-Nowakowska. [284423]
Mr. Woolas: I wrote to my hon. Friend on 17 July 2009.
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 18 May 2009, Official Report, column 1163W, on immigration, whether the UK Border Agency has obtained the further information needed in order to be able to decide the immigration case of Mrs Mohinder Kaur. [286710]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 14 July 2009]: It is anticipated that the decision will be notified to Mrs. Kaur shortly.
Immigration Controls: Abuse
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many organisations purporting to be education and training providers have been closed for abuse of the immigration system in each of the last five years. [279320]
Alan Johnson: This information is not recorded centrally either by the UK Border Agency or the previous Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Immigration: Gurkhas
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what (a) legal status and (b) residency rights Gurkhas who do not qualify to settle in the UK but who are not subject to immediate deportation have. [273542]
Mr. Woolas: On 21 May 2009 the Home Secretary announced a revised policy for former members of the Brigade of Gurkhas who had been discharged prior to 1 July 1997. Under the terms of this policy any former Gurkha with more than four years' service who had been discharged from the Brigade of Gurkhas before 1 July 1997 would be eligible for settlement in the UK.
All Gurkhas who meet the criteria and who wish to settle in the United Kingdom will be eligible to do so unless there are particular reasons for excluding an individual from settlement, for example criminality. We therefore cannot foresee circumstances in which ex Gurkhas in the UK do not meet the criteria but are not subject to immediate administrative removal or deportation. If this unlikely situation did arise the legal status and residency rights of the individual would be considered on a case by case basis.
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what potentially analogous categories of immigrant his Department considered when formulating its policy on the rights of residence of Gurkhas; and what elements of the Government's policy on such rights of residence would apply to each such category. [276908]
Mr. Woolas: When formulating the policy on the settlement rights of former Gurkhas it was important to find a package which met the needs of the Gurkhas, which was affordable and was consistent with our broader immigration policies. This included consideration of the settlement rules for Commonwealth soldiers, the policies on other immigration categories that provide a route to settlement, the time limits on applications, dependants and the UK Government's wider responsibilities under the Human Rights Act.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to reply to the letter to him dated 5 January 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mr. Paul Cookson. [260327]
Alan Johnson: The UK Border Agency is meeting with the Centre for Social Justice in September and a reply to my right hon. Friend's letter will be sent out shortly.
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to reply to the letter of 12 February 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Ms K Billington. [266372]
Alan Johnson: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 9 July 2009.
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when he plans to reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton of 25 February 2009, with regard to Mr. M Rashid; [269341]
(2) when he plans to reply to the letter of 25 February 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, on Mr. M Rashid. [271024]
Alan Johnson: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 9 July 2009.
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to reply to the letter dated 7 April 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Ms Yewande Augustina Adeleke. [278840]
Alan Johnson: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 15 July 2009.
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to reply to the letter to his predecessor of 18 May 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. D Albubasinmwin. [283357]
Alan Johnson: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 2 July 2009.
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to reply to the letter to his predecessor of 22 May 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Fawzia Izat and Hilla Akhterzi. [284722]
Alan Johnson: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 10 July 2009.
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when he plans to reply to the letter to his predecessor of 18 May 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton on Ms Sujla Afrin Suma; [286794]
(2) when he plans to reply to the letter to his predecessor of 18 May 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Ms Sajia Afrin Suma. [284726]
Alan Johnson: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 10 July 2009.
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