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9 Sep 2009 : Column 1912W—continued
Entry Clearances
Mr. Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many residence applications from EEA nationals are awaiting assessment. [287791]
Mr. Woolas: As of 15 July there were 71,428 EEA residence applications of all categories awaiting assessment.
Mr. Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many outstanding residence applications from EEA nationals have exceeded the six month time limit set out in the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006. [287792]
Mr. Woolas: As of 15 July there were 27,120 EEA residence applications that have been outstanding for more than six months. This does not include applications made by EEA nationals for registration certificates, which are not subject to the same time scales.
Foreigners: Crime
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) murders, (b) attempted murders, (c) rapes, (d) other offences of violence against the person and (e) other offences were committed by foreign nationals who had served at least one custodial sentence in the UK in each of the last 12 years for which figures are available. [290755]
Maria Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
The requested information is not available. The recording by the police on the Police National Computer of the nationality of offenders in England and Wales is optional as there is no legislative obligation on individuals to provide this information. For this reason reliable statistics on the nationality of offenders cannot be compiled.
Overseas Students: Entry Clearances
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long on average elapsed between the receipt by the Charging Unit of an application for a student visa extension and the receipt by the applicant of an IDFN form between January and June (a) 2008 and (b) 2009; and in what proportion of cases the time elapsed was more than three months in each period. [287901]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 20 July 2009]: The information is not available in the precise format requested. Available information is as follows:
| Average time (days) taken to deal with an in country application for leave to remain as a student (a) | Percentage of cases where turnaround time was more than 90 days (b) | |
| (1) 1,288 applications (2 )4,056 applications Note: All figures quoted are not provided under national statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. | ||
Time taken to deal with in country applications for leave to remain as a student
All figures quoted are not provided under national statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.
The figures in column (a) are calculated from the date of receipt by the Charging Unit to the date of despatch of the decision.
A requirement that applicants applying in country for leave to remain as a student must have an identity card was introduced on 25 November 2008. The target time for issue of a card is three working days. This time begins on the date the request to issue the card is received.
Passports
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the unit cost of printing a (a) new and (b) replacement British passport was in the latest period for which figures are available. [287533]
Mr. Woolas: The unit cost of printing a new and replacement British passport is the same. Due to commercial sensitivities it is not possible to disclose the exact printing charges.
Prisoners: Deportation
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign national prisoners the Government sought to deport when they left prison but were unable to because they were nationals of other EU member states in the last five years. [287741]
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.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Agriculture: Subsidies
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farmers are awaiting single payments; and what estimate his Department has made of the total monetary value of outstanding single payments. [290866]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The following table gives the number and estimated value of outstanding payments under the Single Payment Scheme for those yet to receive any payment. It includes claims which may eventually prove to be invalid for payment, often because of probate issues or invalid bank details.
| £ | ||
| Single payment scheme year | Number of claims outstanding as at 3 September 2009 | Estimated value of outstanding claims |
Air Pollution: Prosecutions
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many organisations have been (a) prosecuted, (b) fined and (c) convicted under environmental legislation for air pollution offences in each year since 2005; what the total cost was of fines imposed for such offences; and if he will make a statement. [290899]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The following table has been produced by the Environment Agency's National Enforcement Database and shows the number of organisations that have been (a) prosecuted, (b) fined and (c) convicted for air pollution category 1-3 incidents(1) since 2005, and the total cost of fines imposed for such offences.
| Prosecuted | Convicted | Fined | Total of fines (£) | |
| (1) Category 1-major, persistent, extensive or serious impact or damage to the environment (air, land and/or water), people and/or property. Category 2-significant impact or effect on the environment, people and/or property. Category 3-minor or minimal impact or effect on the environment, people and/or property. (2) To 12 August 2009 | ||||
Circuses: Animal Welfare
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects the Chairman of the Circus Working Group to provide a further report on wild animals in travelling circuses. [290937]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The Circus Working Group reported its findings in 2007. A feasibility study is currently under way looking at the possibility of regulating wild animal acts in circuses. The feasibility study is still in progress but we are expecting it to be finalised by the end of the year.
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions the Circus Working Group has had about the welfare of elephants in circuses in the last 12 months. [290938]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The Circus Working Group reported its findings in 2007. A feasibility study has been under way since last year and is expected to be finalised by the end of this year. The use of elephants in circuses will be considered as part of this study.
Dairy Farming
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate his Department has made of the number of farmers who have left in (a) 2006, (b) 2007, (c) 2008 and (d) 2009 to date. [290867]
Huw Irranca-Davies: DEFRA does not collect figures on the number of farmers who leave the dairy sector each year. Figures from the June Survey of Agriculture only indicate activity on registered holdings in England at June each year and therefore show net change only.
The number of farmers on holdings where dairy is the predominant activity (as indicated from Cattle Tracing System data) are shown in the table below for 2006-08. Figures for 2009 are not yet available.
| Number of farmers on dairy type holdings | Number of dairy holdings( 1) | ||
| (1) Based on predominant farming activity. Note: Farmers includes full- and part-time farmers, partners, directors and spouses if working on the holding. Sources: June Survey of Agriculture Cattle Tracing System | |||
Dairy Farming: Government Assistance
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assistance his Department is providing to the dairy farm industry in response to the reduction in the wholesale price of milk in 2009. [290868]
Huw Irranca-Davies: We believe that the market must determine prices. The setting of milk prices is a commercial matter to be resolved by private negotiation which should take place within the parameters set by competition law.
Through the Dairy Supply Chain Forum, we are working with industry to highlight challenges currently facing the sector. To this end, DEFRA will be chairing a new Horizon Scanning working group where we will work in collaboration with industry to address these challenges.
Dogs: Tagging
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will bring forward proposals for (a) the compulsory microchipping of dogs and (b) the establishment of a central database of dog owners in the United Kingdom; what recent representations he has received on the issue; what discussions he has had with stakeholders on the issue since July 2008; and if he will make a statement. [290629]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The Dog Identification Group (DIG) recommended in its 2000 report that a voluntary scheme for the permanent identification of dogs be introduced. Since the DIG report, there has been an increase in voluntary dog registration. At the forefront of this is Petlog which is the largest pet reunification service in the UK. It manages a database of over 3,500,000 records. This is on hand 24 hours a day to authorised bodies such as animal wardens or animal welfare centres, who can scan the chips in found animals and trace their owners via the Petlog database. Today up to 40-50 per cent. of dogs are registered on the Petlog system.
We have no plans to make microchipping compulsory. We have received around 20 letters so far in 2009 on the subject of microchipping, and microchipping was discussed with representatives of the Dogs Trust in July this year.
Fishing Vessels: Decommissioning
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has to introduce a fishing vessel decommissioning scheme; and if he will make a statement. [290682]
Huw Irranca-Davies: There are currently no plans to introduce a fishing vessel decommissioning scheme.
Gangmasters
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the Government are taking to protect the employment rights of vulnerable workers employed through gangmasters. [290948]
Huw Irranca-Davies:
The Government set up the Gangmasters Licensing Authority in 2005 to safeguard the welfare and rights of vulnerable workers employed in the agriculture, food processing and shellfish sectors, where gangmasters traditionally operate. The Gangmasters Licensing Act introduced compulsory licensing for anyone who supplies workers to do work in these sectors, and makes it an offence to operate as an unlicensed gangmaster or knowingly to enter into an arrangement with an unlicensed gangmaster. In order to obtain a gangmasters licence, a gangmaster must be considered to act in a fit and proper manner and must meet strict conditions,
such as meeting correct payments for minimum wage, tax, national insurance, and health and safety requirements.
Following the recommendations of the Vulnerable Worker Forum in 2008, the Government have also put together a package of key measures to protect all vulnerable workers, including those employed by gangmasters. These measures include:
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