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21 July 2009 : Column 1504W—continued
This information will be published in the statistical bulletin in August 2009.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether regulations under Tier 4 of the points-based immigration system apply in the case of students who enter the UK for a study period of less than six months. [284583]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 6 July 2009]: Those wishing to come to the UK to study 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. If they choose to apply under Tier 4 of the points-based system they must be intending to study at an institution which is registered with the UKBA as a licensed Tier 4 sponsor. In addition they must be enrolled on a course which leads at least to an approved qualification at level 3 or above of the National Qualifications Framework.
Those wishing to come to study for a period of less than six months on a course which is below level 3 NVQ, can apply under the student visitor category. Short-term students (i.e. those studying on courses of six months duration or less) who do not intend to take part-time employment or undertake a paid or unpaid work placement as part of their course can also benefit from these provisions. The college at which the student intends to study must either be accredited by a UKBA approved accreditation body, or be an overseas higher education institution offering only part of their programmes in the United Kingdom, holding its own national accreditation and offering programmes that are of an equivalent level to a United Kingdom degree. These requirements prove the necessary assurance that the prospective student is coming to study at a bona fide educational establishment.
Further information on the student visitor route is available at:
Extra-curricular Activities
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps his Department has taken to provide after-school activities for young people. [287549]
Mr. Hanson [holding answer 20 July 2009]: £1 million funding was provided to the Tackling Knives Action Programme areas to deliver extra positive activities on Friday and Saturday nights in areas where crime, criminal gangs and antisocial behaviour are a concern. Monitoring information from these local areas shows that to the end of March more than 14,000 young people had benefited.
Through the Open drive, Government are challenging local areas to provide activities when young people and the community want them, particularly on a Friday and Saturday night. In 2009-10 an additional £28 million has been provided to all local authorities through the Positive Activities for Young People programme with an emphasis on providing activities at these times.
Foreign Workers
Mr. Clappison:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many (a) highly-skilled migrants and (b) dependants of highly-skilled migrants
of each nationality were given leave to enter the UK under (i) the highly-skilled migrants programme and (ii) Tier 1 of the points-based immigration system in each of the last eight quarters for which figures are available; [286457]
(2) how many (a) migrants and (b) dependants of migrants were given leave to enter the UK under Tier 1 of the points-based immigration system in the second quarter of 2009. [286462]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested by the hon. Member is summarised in the following table:
| HSMP | Tier 1 | |||||
| Calendar year | Main applicant | Dependant | All | Main applicant | Dependant | All |
| Note: The data are unpublished and should be treated as provisional. Source: CRS 14.7.09 | ||||||
Forensic Science Service
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many historic crimes were solved at each Forensic Science Service site in each of the last 10 years. [288242]
Mr. Alan Campbell: It is not the role of the Forensic Science Service to solve crime. Its job is to assist the police in providing intelligence that will assist with the investigation. It is a matter for police and the Crown Prosecution Service to decide the value of the intelligence, and for the courts to determine its weight as evidence.
The FSS does not maintain records of the results of cases in which they have been involved.
Forensic Science: Police
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's paper on the risk modelling of in-house forensic services provided by police forces. [283869]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 3 July 2009]: The Forensic Science Regulator has published for consultation a set of quality standards that should equally apply to any police in-house forensic work. He has also commissioned a survey to assess the nature and extent of police in-house forensic provision and is currently assessing the outcome of that.
Freedom of Information
Dan Rogerson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in respect of which requests for information received by his Department in 2008 under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000
it has received permission to extend the deadline for a response by more than 40 days; and what the reason for the request for an extension was in each case. [286158]
Mr. Woolas: The Freedom of Information Act 2000 obliges public authorities to respond to requests for information within 20 working days. The exception is where an exemption is being considered that engages the public interest test. In these cases the period for response can be extended. In a small number of instances responses have taken longer. There were 50 such cases in 2008.
Explanations for the delay in each case could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Glasgow
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he plans to visit Glasgow on official business during the summer adjournment. [288914]
Mr. Woolas: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has no plans at this time to visit Glasgow on official business during the summer adjournment.
Government Departments: Cybercrime
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what recent reports he has received on cyber attacks on Government websites in (a) South Korea and (b) the US; [286949]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of cyber attacks against Government IT systems in each of the last three years; and how many such attacks originated outside the UK; [286937]
(3) what his most recent assessment is of the likelihood of cyber-attack on the UK by another state; and if he will make a statement. [287000]
Mr. Hanson: The Government consider a range of information on such issues and takes appropriate steps where necessary. It would not be in the interests of national security to provide information about specified threats an attacks, either n terms of the type of threat, the method or the target, as this could aid potential adversaries.
Home Office Property Group: Manpower
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are employed in the Home Office Property Group; and what the staffing costs of the group were in the last 12 months. [288376]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 20 July 2009]: In October 2006 the Home Office restructured its estates management functions and created two internal shared service organisations which by October 2007 had reduced estates staff by just over 45 per cent. with a £5 million per year saving on staff costs. At the end of last financial year in March 2009 HO General Property in the Department's shared services directorate had 136 staff including 18 direct delivery staff, with a net cost to the Department of pay/non-pay expenditure of £4.4 million. Services to the Departments custodial estate are delivered by the Ministry of Justice.
Human Trafficking
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Inter Departmental Ministerial Group last met to discuss human trafficking; and how many times the group has met to discuss human trafficking in the last two years. [287930]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 20 July 2009]: The Inter Departmental Ministerial Group (IDMG) last met in March and will meet again in the near future.
The IDMG meets on a quarterly basis and has done so over the past two years.
ICT
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of his Department's computers were compromised by malicious software in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [286996]
Mr. Woolas: It is not in the interests of the UK's national security for Departments to confirm information on the number of malicious attacks against their IT systems.
The Home Office complies with mandatory requirement 39 of the Security Policy Framework which requires a policy on managing risks posed by all forms of malicious software ('malware').
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many trojan computer programmes have been detected on (a) Home Office, (b) UK Border Agency and (c) Immigration and Passport Service computers in each of the last five years; [288553]
(2) how many (a) alien key logging devices and (b) items of alien key logging software have been detected on (i) Home Office, (ii) UK Border Agency and (iii) Immigration and Passport Service computers in each of the last five years. [288554]
Alan Johnson: It is not in the interests of the UK's national security for Departments to confirm information on the number of malicious attacks against their IT systems.
The Home Office complies with mandatory requirement 39 of the Security Policy Framework which requires a policy on managing risks posed by all forms of malicious software ('malware').
Immigration
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average waiting time for processing (a) immigration and (b) citizenship applications was in the latest period for which figures are available. [264628]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 19 March 2009]: Information showing turnaround performance on immigration applications for the period April 2006-March 2007 is published on the UKBA website.
The average process time for citizenship applications at the end of June 2009 was under three months compared to a published service standard of six months. Process times are driven by the volume of applications received.
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals are awaiting decisions on their immigration status while present in the UK from each country of origin. [264629]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 19 June 2009]: The requested information is not collated in this way across the range of workstreams and could be produced only at disproportionate cost.
The chief executive of the UK Border Agency, Lin Homer, updates the Home Affairs Select Committee twice a year on work to clear the historic backlog of unresolved asylum cases by summer 2011. A copy of Ms Homer's letter of 7 July 2009 is in the Library.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with his French counterpart on immigration matters; and if he will make a statement. [285931]
Mr. Woolas: The Secretary of State for the Home Department has not yet had any discussions with his French counterpart on immigration matters. I have met with Eric Besson the French Minister for Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Co-Development on four occasions:
11 February 2009-Bilateral meeting, London, UK
23 June 2009-Bilateral meeting, Paris, France
6 July 2009-Meeting at the Anglo-French summit, Evian, France
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