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11 Nov 2009 : Column 430W—continued
Fraud: Direct Selling
Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration he has given to the development of a password system to reduce the number of crimes which involve bogus doorstep callers. [298691]
Mr. Alan Campbell: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 26 October 2009, Official Report, column 176W.
Identity Cards
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many identity card readers had been issued as at 1 October 2009. [297621]
Mr. Woolas: Identity cards issued to British citizens and foreign nationals can be read, in the same way as machine-readable passports, at border controls at all significant points of entry to the United Kingdom. Additionally, 12 specialist card readers have to date been issued for use by Home Office staff, for use at major ports and enforcement operations. These readers have been issued as part of a pilot to allow more sophisticated card reading checks.
Mr. Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate he has made of the number of applications for an identity card required for the scheme to be wholly funded from application fees; what methodology was used to make that estimate; and how many and what proportion of people in Manchester have applied to participate in the scheme. [298800]
Meg Hillier: Fees have yet to be agreed for 2011 and beyond and will need to be agreed with HM Treasury during 2010. However, over time, we expect national identity service costs to be recovered through fees.
As published in the October 2009 national identity service cost report, over the time period October 2009 to October 2019, we expect to have issued approximately 88 million products.
These are total product volumes, including transactions associated with the replacement of lost or damaged items (but excludes transactions that do not require product issuance, such as changes of address). In many cases the same application will result in the issuance of both a passport and identity card.
Up to and including 2 November, almost 12,000 people have registered their interest in the national identity service. So far 17 per cent. of those registered are from the Greater Manchester area.
Illegal Immigrants: Ports
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many illegal immigrants were detected at the (a) Hull, (b) Dover, (c) Portsmouth and (d) Southampton port of entry in the last six months for which figures are available. [297614]
Mr. Woolas:
In the period April 2009 to September 2009 inclusive, the UK Border Agency border force north region served illegal entry papers to 1,866 entrants,
of which 571 were clandestine entrants. This answer relates to illegal immigrants detected within the north region of the UKBA border force, which includes Hull.
In the same period, the UKBA border force south region served illegal entry papers to 2,957 entrants, of which 2,715 were clandestine entrants. This answer relates to illegal immigrants detected within the south region which includes Dover, Portsmouth and Southampton.
Immigration
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether Ministers in his Department approved the issue of the UK immigration service's operational instruction 01/2704, dated 7 July 2004; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the instruction. [297023]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 2 November 2009]: There is no legal requirement for Ministers to clear operational instructions of this nature. It is not possible, from the information currently available, to confirm whether operational instruction 01/2704 was approved by Ministers in the Home Department. The instruction is no longer extant and has been surpassed by chapter 4 of the border force operational manual. The current instruction was reviewed and authorised by a UK Border Agency director, on behalf of the Secretary of State.
All operational instructions are electronically archived on the UK Border Agency database for a fixed period and are not routinely forwarded to the House of Commons Library. However, in this instance, I can confirm that a copy of operational instruction 01/2704 will be placed in the House of Commons Library.
Immigration: Young People
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what requirements there are on travellers below a given age to carry a letter of permission to travel alone; and what steps are taken to verify such letters. [294589]
Mr. Woolas: The UK Government have no specific requirements for travellers below a certain age to carry a letter of permission to travel alone. However, most carriers have their own policy on children travelling unaccompanied and published Government guidelines advise parents to check with the relevant carrier prior to booking a ticket.
Where a child arrives in the UK unaccompanied, the UK Border Agency will only allow them entry/admission once they are satisfied that suitable arrangements are in place for their care.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to reply to the letter of 22 September 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. Jonathan Roche. [297635]
Alan Johnson: We have checked our records and have no record of receiving this letter. However, I understand that my right hon. Friend had in fact written to my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Hemel Hempstead dated 13 May 2009 on employment policy and visas. [298720]
Mr. Woolas: I wrote to the hon. Member on 10 November 2009.
Offenders: Deportation
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals in the UK who at the time of being sentenced to a term of imprisonment were ordered at the end of that term to be deported and who have completed their term of imprisonment and have yet to leave the UK. [296405]
Mr. Woolas: The UK Border Agency continues to build upon the success we have made with the deportation and removal of foreign national prisoners. In 2008 we deported or removed a record 5,395 foreign national prisoners. The process of deportation can be delayed in a number of ways through last minute legal barriers and the documentation process is often lengthy for some nationalities.
As at 1 August 2009 there were approximately 1,800 foreign national offenders detained under immigration powers who had completed their sentence and were awaiting deportation.
Passports: Northern Ireland
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff are employed at the Passport Office in Belfast; and what the operational cost of that office was in the last 12 month period for which figures are available. [297648]
Meg Hillier: There were 141 members of staff employed in the Belfast Passport Office in September 2009. The operational cost of the office was £12.4 million for the last 12 month period.
Police Cautions
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have received police cautions in the last 12 months. [298212]
Mr. Hanson: As reported to the Ministry of Justice, the number of persons cautioned in England and Wales in 2007 (latest available) is 362,889. Cautions and court proceedings data for 2008 are planned for publication on 28 January 2010.
Police: Doncaster
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) police officers and (b) police community support officers were in post in Doncaster on the most recent date for which figures are available; and how many (i) police officers were in post in each year since 1997 and (ii) police community support officers were in post in each year since 2002 in Doncaster. [298639]
Mr. Hanson: The available data are provided in the table. This information has been collected at basic command unit level since April 2002 for police officers and since June 2004 for police community support officers.
| Police officers and PCSOs in Doncaster Basic Command Unit, as at 31 March( 1, 2) | ||
| Police officers | PCSOs( 3) | |
| (1) These figures are based on full-time equivalents that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. (2) Data on police officer strength by police basic command unit was collected centrally for the first time for the period beginning April 2002. Therefore, data broken down by BCU are not available prior to that. (3 )PCSO figures in 2005 and 2006 are as at 30 June. No data are available for PCSOs prior to 2005. | ||
Prisoners: Foreigners
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals are serving prison sentences in England and Wales. [298899]
Mr. Woolas: Figures published by the Ministry of Justice confirm that at June 2009 there were 11,400 foreign nationals held. This figure includes those in the immigration removal centres Dover, Haslar and Lindholme as well as those held on remand or serving custodial sentences.
Statistics on the number of foreign nationals held in the individual prisons and immigration removal centres can be found at the Ministry of Justice's website at:
Proceeds of Crime
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will bring forward proposals to enable proceeds of crime recovered in individual police force areas to be used for local community organisations in those areas. [298658]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Last month the Government announced details of local projects to be funded under the £4 million Community Cashback scheme, which gave communities a say on how recovered criminal assets are spent. Eight local projects are being supported under the scheme in the south Yorkshire area with total funding of £98,000. In addition many police forces use a portion of the money they receive under the asset recovery incentive scheme to support local projects in the community.
Terrorism: Crime Prevention
Harry Cohen:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 26 October 2009, Official Report, column 9, on Prevent, what his most recent assessment is of the operation of the Prevent strand of his Department's counter-terrorism strategy
in the Waltham Forest area; and if he will make a statement. [296828]
Mr. Hanson: Waltham Forest is one of the strongest performing boroughs in east London on Prevent. It is also a beacon borough for 'cohesive and resilient communities', which is in part a reflection of its good work on Prevent. Waltham Forest contributes positively to the national Prevent agenda and has a strong multi agency partnership, which is delivering a wide range of Prevent projects.
Vetting
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) standard and (b) enhanced checks from the Criminal Records Bureau were outstanding on the latest date for which figures are available; and how many such checks were outstanding on the same date in each year since 1997. [290143]
Alan Johnson [holding answer 12 October 2009]: Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding. Data are not fully available in the format requested. Total applications in progress for the last four years on the latest date for which figures are available are:
| As at 30 September each year: | Total applications in progress |
These figures represent the total number of applications that were being processed as at 30 September in the last four years but do not show the length of time each individual application has been in the system.
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate he has made of the number of people seeking registration with the Independent Safeguarding Authority under the vetting and barring scheme in the next five years. [298491]
Meg Hillier: It is estimated that up to 11.3 million people will join the vetting and barring scheme over five years.
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long on average he expects it to take for an application for registration under the vetting and barring scheme to be processed by the Independent Safeguarding Authority. [298492]
Meg Hillier: Applications for registration under the vetting and barring scheme (VBS) are processed by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). The target date for all applications for registration to be processed by the CRB is within seven days of receipt.
The Independent Safeguarding Authority is involved only if the registration process indicates that criminal records or other information must be considered.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of those convicted of (a) killing and (b) abusing children who were (i) known and (ii) not known to the victim had been subject to an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau check in each of the last five years. [298771]
Meg Hillier [holding answer 9 November 2009]: The Criminal Records Bureau does not hold this information.
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