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12 Oct 2009 : Column 554W—continued
Identity Cards
Martin Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps his Department has taken to deter the sale of false identity cards on the internet. [291691]
Mr. Woolas: The Identity Cards Act 2006 created new criminal offences covering the possession, control and intent to use false identity cards, including a genuine document that relates to someone else. It is also an offence to make a false identity card or to have apparatus for making false cards. These offences came into force on 7 June 2006 and apply to other official identity documents, including passports, immigration documents and driving licences, as well as driving licences, passports and identity cards issued by other countries.
Identity cards to be issued under the Identity Cards Act later in the year, as well as those already being issued to foreign nationals, are highly secure and protected by a combination of physical and electronic security features designed to prevent forgery and tampering.
Identity Cards: Scotland
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many record checks have been made against the National Identity Card register by (a) the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency and (b) other Scottish agencies since the introduction of the scheme. [291640]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The National Identity Register will not be in place until the first identity cards are issued to British citizens later in the year. Accordingly, there have yet to be any requests for the provision of information from the register to the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency or to any other Scottish agencies.
Illegal Immigrants: Employment
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many employers have been (a) detected and (b) found employing illegal immigrants under the civil penalty system under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006; and how much has been imposed in fines under that system. [291206]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 16 September 2009]: The Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 has, since it came into force on 29 February 2008, allowed the UK Border Agency to issue civil penalties of up to £10,000 per worker to employers who are found to be liable for employing illegal migrant workers.
Internal management information shows that for the period 29 February 2008 to 31 August 2009, 3509 notices of potential liability were issued to employers
following enforcement visits by UK Border Agency officials of which, 2731 have so far led to notices of actual liability being served against employers, with a potential value of over £27 million in fines.
These figures do not constitute part of National Statistics as they are based on internal management information. The information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols, should be treated as provisional and is subject to change.
Illegal Immigrants: France
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to improve conditions for illegal immigrants in the holding area in the UK Border Agency jurisdiction in Calais. [291625]
Mr. Woolas: Both the UK and French Governments remain committed to further joint action to achieve our common goals under the strong UK-French partnership on migration.
Discussions are ongoing for the construction of a secure facility in the UK control zone to replace our existing facility. This will hold and process illegal immigrants found by UK Border Agency officials and their contractors, for short periods, until they can be handed over to the French border police and processed under French law. All details, including financing, are still under discussion between officials.
We continue to develop a package of measures to target, dismantle and prosecute the networks of facilitators and traffickers who exploit illegal immigrants. These measures include world leading technology, enhanced intelligence and closer working between all agencies.
We are concerned about the humanitarian situation faced by individuals in the Calais region and will provide support to those in genuine need. However, the message is clear-the only way to live and work in France and the UK is by legal routes.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many illegal immigrants have been detected trying to enter Dover by ferry from Calais in each month since January 2009. [291627]
Mr. Woolas: From 1 January to 31 August 2009 a total of 15,753 individual attempts to enter the UK illegally were detected at the freight and tourist controls at the ferry port in Calais. The totals for each month were as follows:
| Total | |
| Note: These figures have been sourced from locally collated management information held within locally accessed computer systems and do not represent National Statistics. They have not been the subject of National Statistics protocols and verification and should therefore be treated as provisional and subject to change. | |
Illegal Immigration
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with his (a) Afghani and (b) Iraqi counterpart on illegal immigration in to the UK from those countries. [291626]
Mr. Woolas: My Noble Friend, Lord West met with the Iraqi Interior Minister when he visited the UK in May and migration was one of the matters they discussed. Officials are in regular contact with the authorities of both countries to discuss migration issues.
Immigration
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many overstayers have (a) been granted (i) leave to remain and (ii) settlement and (b) been deported or otherwise removed from the UK in each year since 1997. [291300]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 16 September 2009]: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost by undertaking a search of individual case records.
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases dealt with under the legacy exercise in which leave to remain in the UK has been granted concerned individuals who (a) had been refused asylum and (b) had been refused leave to remain under the October 2003 family indefinite leave to remain exercise. [291302]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 16 September 2009]: The information requested is not reported on by the Case Resolution Directorate and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost through the examination of individual case files.
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for indefinite leave to remain from those with (a) 10 years' lawful residence, (b) 14 years' lawful residence or (c) 14 years' unlawful residence are awaiting determination by the UK Border Agency. [291735]
Mr. Woolas: The number of applications awaiting conclusion are:
(1) 3,136 for those with 10 years continuous lawful residence;
(2) 6,900 for those with either 14 years continued residence, lawful or unlawful.
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for indefinite leave to remain from those with 14 years' unlawful residence are awaiting allocation to a caseworker by the UK Border Agency. [291736]
Mr. Woolas: UKBA Management Information records applications from those with over 14 years continuous residence and does not differentiate between residence applications from lawful and unlawful applicants. To ascertain the number would therefore require examination of each application at disproportionate expense.
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have immigrated to the UK who were not British citizens or citizens of another EU member state in each year since 1989. [291837]
Angela E. Smith: I have been asked to reply.
This information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked them to reply.
Letter from Jil Matheson, dated September 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question concerning how many people have immigrated to the UK who were not British citizens or citizens of another EU member state in each year since 1989. (291837)
Table 1, attached, gives estimates of international immigration of those who were not British citizens or citizens of another EU member state between 1989 and 2007. The estimates for 1989 and 1990 are derived from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) only. The estimates for 1991 to 2007 are IPS-based but have also been adjusted to account for asylum seekers, people migrating to and from the Republic of Ireland, and people whose intended length of stay has changed from their original intentions. The information required to make these adjustments is not available prior to 1991. Estimates of the number of immigrants by citizenship are published and can be found on the ONS website at:
| Table 1: International immigration: United Kingdom: Estimates 1989 to 2007, non-EU citizens | |
| Thousand | |
| (1) Estimates from 1989 and 1990 are based on the International Passenger Survey (IPS) only. (2) Estimates from 1991 to 2007 are based on the IPS and adjusted for asylum seekers, people migrating to and from the Republic of Ireland, and people whose intended length of stay has changed from their original intentions | |
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) employment-related grants of settlement, (b) family formation and reunion grants of settlement and (c) other grants of settlement on a discretionary basis have been made in (i) each quarter since 1 January 2006 and (ii) each year since 1992. [291838]
Mr. Woolas:
The latest quarterly figures were published in table 14 in the "Control of Immigration: Quarterly Statistical Summary, United Kingdom-Second Quarter
2009". A copy of the table is as follows. Data for quarter three are scheduled for publication on 26 November 2009.
Home Office statistical publications are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at:
The latest annual figures from 1997 are given in table 1. It is not possible to provide information in the format requested prior to 1997 as this would incur disproportionate cost.
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