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20 July 2009 : Column 947W—continued


These costs were incurred necessarily in the delivery of the agency's functions. During the three years 2006-07 to 2008-09, SOCA had approximately 4,000 members of staff of whom approximately 140 were based overseas.

Terrorism: Arrests

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people arrested under the Terrorism Act 2006 have subsequently been deported. [272197]

Mr. Woolas [holding answer 1 May 2009]: None. There is no power of arrest under the Terrorism Act 2006. Any arrest for terrorism offences would be under either the Terrorism Act 2000 or other legislation.

Details of the number of arrests for terrorism offences between 11 September 2001 and 31 March 2008 are contained in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin:

Details of the numbers of people arrested for a terrorism offence who have subsequently been deported are not available.

Travel Restrictions

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 17 June 2009, Official Report, column 321W, on travel restrictions, what the outcome of the discussions on the Government's policy on exclusion with US officials was. [281930]

Mr. Woolas [holding answer 25 June 2009]: Following the bi-lateral meeting between UK and US officials, UK officials agreed in principle to provide further information to their US counterparts about the operation of the Government's policy on exclusion in the event of future inquiries.

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 17 June 2009, Official Report, column 321W, on travel restrictions, whether he received any representations from US officials about the inclusion on the list of foreign nationals barred from entry to the UK of (a) Michael Savage and (b) any other US citizen. [282340]

Mr. Woolas [ holding answer 29 June 2009]: A bi-lateral meeting was held between UK and US officials following the publication of the list on 5 May 2009 to discuss the Government's policy on exclusion on the grounds of unacceptable behaviour. Officials set out the background to the policy and Michael Savage's inclusion on the list.


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UK Border Agency: Correspondence

Mr. Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will require the Chief Executive of the UK Border Agency (UKBA) to report on when a response will be sent to the hon. Member for Sunderland South's letter of 24 April 2009, regarding his constituent, Mrs Louise Chambers, Home Office reference U1062508; and for what reasons no response to the correspondence has been provided to the hon. Member through the hon. Members' hotline. [282896]

Mr. Woolas: The Deputy Director, Operations, of the London and South East Region wrote on 26 June regarding Mrs. Umber's application. The MPs' Hotline was unavailable for technical reasons which have now been addressed.

UK Border Agency: Manpower

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals are employed by the UK Border Agency. [282994]

Mr. Woolas: All candidates are subject to the same pre-appointment checks regardless of nationality. Our pre-appointment checks ensure that we only select those that pass eligibility in accordance with the Cabinet Office nationality requirements:

UK Border Agency: Passports

Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the average time taken by the UK Border Agency and its predecessors to check a passport at each (a) airport and (b) port in each of the last 10 years. [285793]

Alan Johnson: The time taken to check a passport at each port is not routinely recorded.

All new passports issued within the EU and in many countries across the world are now chip enabled and current policy is to scan 100 per cent. of passports at border control. The embedded chips from different countries have different reading rates, varying from three to 15 seconds depending on the detail of information stored on the chip.

Thereafter, the further checks made by border force officers will depend on a range of other factors as the passenger presents themselves at the desk, including eligibility for entry to the UK, prior concerns as flagged by e-borders, suspicious behaviour or unusual circumstances and alerts from other law enforcement agencies.

New automated iris recognition gate arrangements, now rolling out to a further eight arrivals halls over the next two months will further reduce queuing and speed the passenger flow.

Alongside our Automated Clearance System trials, UKBA are already facilitating the journey of other legitimate passengers through our Iris Recognition Immigration System (IRIS). IRIS combines speed and maximum security to let positively vetted passengers travel faster. The scheme was launched in January 2006 and is available at 10 airport terminals throughout the UK.


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UK Border Agency: Training

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many UK Border Agency staff have been on training courses abroad in each country in each of the last five years. [282946]

Mr. Woolas: Data are not collected centrally on the number of UK Border Agency staff who have attended training courses abroad in the last five years, and could be only provided at disproportionate cost.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Arabic Language

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to increase the number of Arabic speakers in his Department. [287013]

Chris Bryant: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) places a great deal of importance on improving the language skills for its staff. It currently has over 40 active Arabic speaker slots (jobs with an operational language requirement). The number of these jobs, and level of language proficiency necessary, are regularly reviewed in the light of requirements.

The FCO offers a mix of full-time and part-time language training, in-country training, and on-the-job training to officers selected for these jobs. In addition, it assesses the level of Arabic language proficiency of the jobholders, through exams accredited to the Chartered Institute of Linguists.

Australia: Diplomatic Service

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what criteria in respect of fair and open competition apply to appointments to the post of High Commissioner to Australia; and on how many occasions an appointment to this post has been made through open competition within the Diplomatic Service in the last 10 years. [287400]

Chris Bryant: No one has been appointed as high commissioner to Australia through Diplomatic Service open competition for the last 10 years.

High commissioners can be appointed either through the civil service recruitment process or by Diplomatic Service Order in Council.

Cybercrime

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his US counterpart on cyber security; and what assessment he has made of the merits of taking steps in co-operation with the US administration to prevent cyber attacks. [286948]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: There have been no recent discussions between my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and his US counterpart on cyber security.


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The Cabinet Office currently provides the lead for policy on cyber security and has, supported by representatives from across Government, continued to engage closely with the US administration during the development of the UK's recently published Cyber Security Strategy which, in addition to other key areas, addresses the importance of cyber attack prevention. As the strategy explains, the security of cyber space is a transnational issue and, as such, working with international partners, including the US, is essential to achieving the UK's strategic cyber security objectives.

Cyprus: Land

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Cypriot Government on the effects on British citizens of title deed trap fraud perpetrated in Cyprus. [286965]

Chris Bryant: Our high commissioner in Nicosia has made a number of representations to the Cypriot authorities to make clear our concerns, most recently on 27 April 2009. We have been assured that the Cyprus Government will introduce legislation to speed up the issuing of title deeds. Our high commission in Cyprus will remain engaged in supporting British citizens on this issue and regularly meets with action groups formed by British nationals such as the Cypriot Property Action Group to listen to their concerns. Arrangements for the issuing of title deeds are a matter of national competence. However, we will continue to make our concerns clear to the authorities.

Deen International

Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer to Baroness Warsi of 2 June 2009, House of Lords, Official Report, column WA70, on Deen International, when he expects the University of Islamabad to publish its independent report; when he expects the evaluation reports commissioned by his Department in (a) Islamabad and (b) London to be completed; and if he will place in the Library copies of any of these reports which have already been completed. [287728]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: "I am Muslim I am British", a project conducted by Deen International with Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) funding, concluded as scheduled on 2 May 2009. FCO guidance requires evaluation reports to be completed within three months of the end of project delivery. The university of Islamabad's evaluation, which is based on over 600 detailed interviews, is currently being finalised and is due to be shortly signed off by the head researcher. The further evaluations in London and Islamabad will be informed by the university's detailed report.

The evaluations are internal FCO documents and we have no plans to place them in the Library of the House.

Departmental Contracts

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what (a) institutions supported by the Higher Education Funding Councils
20 July 2009 : Column 951W
and (b) other organisations and bodies have been awarded contracts by his Department's (i) research analysts and (ii) policy planning staff in each financial year since 2003. [282666]

Chris Bryant: The following institutions supported by the Higher Education Funding Councils have been awarded contracts by Research Analysts since 2003:

No contracts were awarded by Strategy Unit (formerly Policy Planners) to institutions supported by the Higher Education Funding Councils in financial year 2008-09 (the only year for which figures are available for Strategy Unit in its current form).

The following organisations or bodies were awarded contracts for services by Research Analysts in the years from 2003 (contracts for the supply of goods such as office equipment are not included):

The following organisations or bodies were awarded contracts for services (contracts for the supply of goods such as office equipment are not included) by the Strategy Unit (formerly Policy Planners) in financial year 2008-09 (the only year for which figures are available for Strategy Unit in its current form):

Departmental Data Protection

Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many successful attempts were made to gain unauthorised access to each (a) database and (b) ICT system run by his Department in each year since 2006; and if he will make a statement. [286560]


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Chris Bryant: It is not in the interests of the UK's national security for Departments to confirm information on the number of attempts, successful or otherwise, to gain unauthorised access to departmental systems or databases. Such disclosure could undermine the integrity and security of departmental systems and thereby expose them to potential threats.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office complies with the mandatory requirements of the Security Policy Framework in relation to information security including managing the risk of unauthorised access to information and communications technology systems.

Departmental Internet

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 9 July 2009, Official Report, column 947W, on departmental internet, which web browser his Department has chosen to replace Internet Explorer 6; what proportion of computers in his Department have been updated; and when he expects the update process to be completed. [287023]

Chris Bryant: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is updating its web browsers to Internet Explorer 7 as part of the deployment of its replacement desktop infrastructure. By the end of June 2009, some 57 per cent. of its networked computers had been updated. Completion is scheduled for the end of May 2010.

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