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2 Nov 2009 : Column 690W—continued
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions have taken place between officials of his Department, the Forensic Science Service (FSS) and the private sector on private sector involvement in the FSS in (a) the North West and (b) England and Wales since July 2009. [296913]
Mr. Alan Campbell: No discussions have taken place between officials, the Forensic Science Service and the private sector about private sector involvement in the FSS in the North West or England and Wales since July 2009.
Illegal Immigrants: EC Law
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department (a) has taken to reduce the length of time immigrants spend in administrative detention and (b) plans to take to implement the EU Returns Directive. [295628]
Mr. Woolas: The decision on whether to detain or not is made very carefully on a case by case basis. While the UK Border Agency always aims to detain immigration offenders for the shortest period of time possible, the likely duration of detention is dependent on a range of factors, such as the relative difficulty of obtaining the appropriate travel document with which a person's removal can be effected, or where there is reason to believe that the person will fail to comply with the conditions attached to a grant of temporary admission or release.
As an alternative to detention, the introduction of better contact management through the use of physical reporting at reporting centres and police stations together with the use of electronic monitoring (tagging and voice recognition) has allowed the UK Border Agency to maintain contact with individuals at all stages of the asylum process and with those who have breached immigration law.
The UK has not participated in and has no plans to implement the EU Returns Directive 2008/115/EC. We agree that a collective approach to removal can have advantages. However, we are not persuaded that this Directive delivers the strong returns regime that is required for dealing with irregular migration. Our current practices on the return of illegal third country nationals are broadly in line with the terms of the Directive, but we prefer to formulate our own policy, in line with our stated position on retaining control over conditions of entry and stay.
Immigration
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many applications the UK Border Agency has granted for indefinite leave to remain to individuals because they are dependants of EU nationals who are resident in the UK in the last three years; [296406]
(2) how many applications the UK Border Agency has granted for indefinite leave to remain to individuals because they are living with or related to EU nationals who are resident in the UK in the last three years. [296407]
Mr. Woolas: This information is not available as the UK Border Agency's case information database records all family members of European Economic Area nationals who apply for permanent residence in one category (EEA4).
National Security
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the potential (a) risk to and (b) effect on critical infrastructure of an electromagnetic pulse caused by a (i) nuclear and (ii) non-nuclear device. [289834]
Mr. Hanson [holding answer 12 October 2009]: The Government's Cyber Security Strategy of the United Kingdom, published alongside and reflected in the National Security Strategy update, considers a number of methods of cyber attack, including those that generate high levels of power that can damage or disrupt unprotected electronics. It also outlines the new governance structures and work streams which will build on existing work to take forward the Government's plan for reducing the impact on and vulnerability of the UK's interests from cyber attacks
The Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) provides advice on electronic or cyber protective security measures to the businesses and organisations that comprise the UK's critical national infrastructure, including public utilities, companies and banks CPNI also runs a CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) service which responds to reported attacks on private sector networks. In addition, CESG, provides government departments with advice and guidance on how to protect against, detect and mitigate various types of cyber attack.
It would not be in the interests of national security to provide information about specific protective measures relating to electromagnetic pulse attack.
Neighbourhood Policing: Birmingham
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding has been made available for neighbourhood policing in (a) Birmingham, Northfield constituency and (b) Birmingham in (i) 2008-09 and (ii) 2009-10. [296268]
Mr. Hanson: Neighbourhood policing is central to providing a police service that is responsive to local crime and antisocial behaviour (ASB) concerns. Since 2002, we have invested heavily to ensure that there is now a neighbourhood policing team in every neighbourhood, including in total more than 13,500 officers and 16,000 Police Community Support Officers. The latest British crime survey (BCS) figures released in October 2009 show an improving trend, that, nationally, 50 per cent. of the public now agree that the antisocial behaviour and crime issues that matter locally are being dealt with.
Funding is made available to police authorities, and it is for each police authority and each police force to allocate resources within the local force area. We provided
£15.17 million to West Midlands police authority in 2008-09. The 2009-10 funding is £15.58 million, an increase of 2.7 per cent.
Offences Against Children: Internet
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has received on the blocking of websites identified as containing illegal images of child pornography; and if he will make a statement. [296655]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Government regularly receives representations relating to blocking, from different sections of society. The Government discusses issues relating to child protection, including blocking of websites containing illegal images, with a wide range of stakeholders.
The Government are clear that the use of blocking to prevent access to such images is something that internet service providers should do, and the Government have been very pleased with the response from the internet industry. The internet industry, and the Internet Watch Foundation which they support, have worked closely with law enforcement to tackle websites hosted in the UK.
This has led to less than 1 per cent. of the total number of such sites being hosted in the UK.
Ofcom has recently published figures showing that 98.6 per cent. of consumer broadband lines are now covered by blocking based on the IWF list. It remains the Government's hope that the target of 100 per cent. of consumer-facing ISPs operating a blocking list will be achieved on a voluntary basis. However, the Government do not rule out legislation at some point in the future if it is not, and will keep progress on the target under review.
Police Community Support Officers: Manpower
Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police community support officers have been recruited in (a) Gwent and (b) Newport East constituency since 2003. [295930]
Mr. Hanson: The available data are provided in the following table. Data are not collected centrally at constituency level.
| Numbers of police community officers (FTE1) recruited in Gwent, 2002-03 to 2008-09( 2,3) | |
| Gwent | |
| (1) Full time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. (2) Financial year runs from 1 April to 31 March inclusive. (3) Recruits include those officers joining as Police Staff Standard Direct Recruits and those who were previously Special Constables. This excludes police community support officers on transfers from other forces and those rejoining. | |
Police: Bank Services
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of services lost by each police authority as a result of the collapse of Icelandic banks in 2008; and if he will make a statement. [296402]
Mr. Hanson: It is for the police authority and chief constable to decide on how best to allocate resources to meet local needs.
I am advised that none of the police authorities that held investments with the Icelandic banks face cash flow pressures as a consequence of those investments.
Police: Equal Opportunities
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many ethnic groups are represented in the population of each police force area in (a) England, (b) the Tees Valley and (c) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland. [296397]
Mr. Hanson: Police personnel data are collected centrally on the following ethnic groups:
White;
Mixed;
Black or Black British;
Asian or Asian British;
Chinese or Other; and
Not Stated
at national and police force area level. Further breakdowns are not collected centrally.
Data are not collected for Tees Valley or at constituency level. The available data as at 31 March 2009 are provided in the following table.
This and other related data are published annually as part of the annual Police Service Strength Home Office Statistical Bulletin. The latest bulletin can be found at:
and bulletins for this and previous years are deposited in the Library of the House.
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many ethnic minority police officers were employed in (a) England, (b) the Tees Valley and (c) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland in each of the last 10 years. [296398]
Mr. Hanson: Data are not collected for Tees Valley or at constituency level. The available data are provided in the following table.
| Minority ethnic officer strength in England( 1) and Cleveland, as at 31 March, 2000 to 2009( 2, 3) | ||
| Full-time equivalent( 4) | ||
| Cleveland | England( 1) | |
| (1) This is the total figure for the 39 police forces in England. (2) Figures are as the same as in the published "Race Equality-The Home Secretary's Employment Targets" reports. (3) Figures prior to 2003 are not directly comparable with figures from 2003 onwards, since figures prior to 2003 exclude staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave, whereas figures from 2003 onwards include them. (4) This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. | ||
This and other related data are published annually as part of the annual Police Service Strength Home Office Statistical Bulletin. The latest bulletin can be found at:
and bulletins for this and previous years are deposited in the Library of the House.
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