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21 July 2009 : Column 1496W—continued
Drugs
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate his Department has made of the volume of (a) heroin, (b) cocaine and (c) cannabis to have entered the UK without detection at the point of entry in each of the last five years. [285948]
Alan Johnson: Estimates published in 2003 placed imports of cocaine powder to supply the UK cocaine markets at 35-45 tonnes and heroin at 25-35 tonnes.
There are no agreed estimates of cannabis imported into the UK.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate his Department has made of the volume of (a) heroin and (b) cocaine to have been smuggled into the UK by each method of importation in the most recent period for which figures are available. [285949]
Alan Johnson: The most recent estimates of illicit drugs smuggled into the United Kingdom are contained within the 2008-09 UK Threat Assessment published by the Serious Organised Crime Agency. There are no precise estimates of the methods of importation.
The following table shows the proportion of heroin and cocaine seized by HM Revenue and Customs and UK Border Agency officers during the financial year 2007-08, broken down by mode of transport.
| Percentage | ||
| Heroin | Cocaine | |
Emergency Services: Standards
Mr. Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the name is of each Category 1 Responder under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 whose emergency procedures the Department has checked since January 2008; what the nature of the checks made was; and if he will make a statement. [287276]
Mr. Hanson: The Audit Commission works with partner inspectorates (i.e. HM Inspectorate for Constabularies, the Care Quality Inspectorate, HM Inspectorate of Prisons; HM Inspectorate of Probation and Ofsted) to assess the performance of local services in England through the comprehensive area assessment. HMIC carried out an inspection of 21 (of 43 English and Welsh) police forces between September 2008 and April 2009, examining three subjects: civil contingency planning; critical incident handling; and public order response. A consolidated report with the thematic findings of these inspections will be published in three to four weeks time.
Entry Clearance Officers
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many entry clearance officers based in (a) Pakistan and (b) the Abu Dhabi visa hub are fluent in the (i) Punjabi and (ii) Pashto language. [285951]
Alan Johnson: In Pakistan, one entry clearance officer is fluent in Punjabi and none are fluent in Pashto.
Twenty-four locally engaged staff members are fluent in Punjabi and two are fluent in Pashto.
Eighty-two members of Gerry's staff are fluent in Punjabi and seven are fluent in Pashto.
In Abu Dhabi, four entry clearance officers are fluent in Punjabi and none are fluent in Pashto.
Two locally engaged staff members are fluent in Punjabi and none are fluent in Pashto.
One VFS staff member is fluent in Punjabi and none are fluent in Pashto.
Applicants are required to provide certified translations of any documents that are not in English. Visa application forms have to be submitted in English. As a result, there is only a limited requirement for interpretation into local languages which can be satisfied through our locally-engaged staff.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many translators work in support of entry clearance officers in (a) Pakistan and (b) Abu Dhabi. [285952]
Alan Johnson: We do not require translators as all local documents are accompanied by a certified English translation. Our administrative support staff across the two locations speak Urdu, Punjabi, Pushto, Potohari, Saraiki, Sindi, Arabic, Persian, French, German, Swahili, Luganda, Lunyankole, Kinyarwanda, Pahari, Hindko and Dari, Arabic, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Mandarin, French Nepali, Filipino, Amharic, Russian and Polish. They assist with any translation needs.
Entry Clearances
Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people in (a) the London Borough of Hillingdon, (b) Greater London and (c) England applied for leave to remain in the UK outside of immigration rules in each of the last five years; and how many did not have valid leave to remain at the time of their application. [250774]
Mr. Woolas: The UK Border Agency is only able to provide the total number of applications received outside of the immigration rules over the past five years.
To further breakdown the information as requested UKBA would have to:
(a) accurately determine the applicant's geographical location. This would involve trawling each application, validating the applicant's postcode, and cross-matching this with a list of postcodes for the London borough of Hillingdon.
(b) review the applicant's previous immigration history, including determining if the individual had valid leave to remain at the time of application(s). This would involve trawling each application,
reviewing any previous applications made to the Home Office to determine if the applicant's leave to remain was valid at the time of application(s).
The reasons above demonstrate why the further breakdown of information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
| Leave to remain (LTR): Number of applications received in the UK by UKBA outside of the immigration rules | |
| Number | |
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many face-to-face interviews with visa applicants from (a) Afghanistan and (b) Pakistan have been conducted by entry clearance officers based in Islamabad since 27 October 2008. [280126]
Alan Johnson: All applicants must submit their applications in person to our commercial partner Gerry's, where they are also required to give biometrics (electronic fingerprints), which are checked against immigration and criminal databases.
Supporting documents are checked by the visa section at the high commission in Islamabad for fraud and forgery. Approximately 29 visa applicants have been called in on the basis of risk assessment for face-to-face interviews in Islamabad since 27 October 2008.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many UK Border Agency visa risk assessment officers in Abu Dhabi are working in (a) Canada, (b) Nigeria, (c) Kazakhstan and (d) New Zealand. [282945]
Mr. Woolas: Risk assessment officers based in Abu Dhabi are responsible for assessing applications from Pakistan, UAE and other Gulf posts.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether an academic institution is required to register as a sponsor under the new tier 4 immigration rules if all the courses they offer for overseas students are for a period of less than six months. [285105]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 8 July 2009]: Students who enter the UK for a period of less than six months can choose whether to apply to enter under Tier 4 of the points based system or under the student visitor category.
For students entering the UK under Tier 4, the education provider must be on the register of Tier 4 sponsors.
The student visitor category is a distinct category separate from the points based system. In addition to meeting the requirements of the visitor rules the student visitor must be able to demonstrate that he has been accepted on a course of study at an institution which is:
the holder of a Sponsor Licence for Tier 4 of the Points Based System, or
accredited by a UKBA approved accreditation body, or
an overseas higher education institution offering only part of their programmes in the United Kingdom , holding their own national accreditation and offering programmes that are of an equivalent level to a United Kingdom degree.
Further information on the student visitor route is available at:
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many decisions by entry clearance officers have been overturned by a Minister in each year since 1997. [285932]
Mr. Woolas: I refer to the answer my hon. Friend gave to the hon. Member for Bury St. Edmunds (Mr. Ruffley) on 22 March 2001, Official Report, column 317W, and to the answer given to my hon. Friend on 2 November 2001, Official Report, column 910W.
We have no records from this date until December 2008. Since December 2008, four decisions to refuse entry clearance to the United Kingdom have been overturned following the exercise of ministerial discretion.
Entry Clearances: Complaints
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints each visa hub has received on the issue of visas to applicants in each of the last three years. [272749]
Alan Johnson: The UK Border Agency and its predecessor UKvisas received and recorded 1,623 complaints globally relating to visa matters in 2008. UK visas did not centrally collate this information before 2008.
To obtain further information would be at disproportionate cost. Due to the reduction of visa issuing posts during this time, it is not possible to break figures down by post.
Entry Clearances: Kosovo
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration he has given to the merits of allowing visa applications to be made at the British Embassy in Pristina. [281217]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 19 June 2009]: Nationals of Kosovo who wish to apply for UK visas are currently required to lodge their applications at our visa section in Skopje. We are, however, looking into the feasibility of opening a visa office in Pristina but have not yet reached a conclusion.
Entry Clearances: Overseas Students
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate he has made of the number of foreign students enrolled at colleges not listed on the UK Border Agency's accreditation list; and what assessment he has made of how this affects their immigration status. [269747]
Mr. Woolas: Information on the number of foreign students currently enrolled at colleges which have not been granted a sponsorship licence is not held centrally and could be obtained only by investigating individual case files.
Students may continue to study at colleges which have not been granted a sponsorship licence until their current period of leave lapses. Their immigration status will be affected if they wish to seek further leave as a student. To qualify they will be required to meet the full requirements of the new rules including providing evidence that they are sponsored by a college which has been granted a licence by the UK Border Agency. Details of the new rules can be found at:
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many overseas students of each (a) age, (b) sex and (c) nationality have been granted visas to study in the UK in each of the last five years. [279317]
Alan Johnson: Please see the following table in relation to how many overseas students of each (a) age, (b) sex and (c) nationality have been granted visas to study in the United Kingdom in each of the last five years.
| Sum of student visas issued | |||||
| Nationality | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
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