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14 Dec 2009 : Column 713W—continued
Asylum: Democratic Republic of Congo
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 25 November 2009, Official Report, column 206W, on asylum: Democratic Republic of Congo, how many investigations arising from specific allegations have taken place in each of the last four years. [303556]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 1 December 2009]: Since December 2006, UKBA has undertaken three investigations arising from allegations about the treatment of returned failed asylum seekers to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Asylum: Scotland
Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers were supported in accommodation in each parliamentary constituency in Scotland on the latest date for which figures are available. [301730]
Mr. Woolas: The following table shows the number of asylum seekers who were supported in accommodation, in Scotland by parliamentary constituency, as at end of September 2009. These figures exclude unaccompanied asylum-seeking children supported by local authorities and those in initial accommodation.
The breakdown of immigration statistics by parliamentary constituency is available from the Library of the House. Information on asylum is published annually and quarterly. Annual statistics for 2008 and the latest statistics for Q3 2009 are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
Capita
Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether any contracts between Capita Group plc and his Department have been cancelled before completion since 1997; and whether Capita Group plc has been liable for any penalties arising from failings in the administration of contracts since 1997. [303087]
Mr. Woolas: A search of records for instances since 1997 where contracts between Capita Group plc or its subsidiaries and the Home Department have been cancelled would incur disproportionate cost. However, from best available records within the last five years no contract has been cancelled before completion. Capita Business Services provides the Criminal Records Bureau's disclosure processing service under a public-private partnership agreement. Contract schedules set out service levels and the service credits that apply should Capita Business Services fail to meet the agreed service levels. Liquidated damages are charged in the event of late delivery to agreed changes in the service. From 2001-02, the values of service credits and liquidated damages received from Capita Business Services are:
| £ | |
Christmas
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have spent on Christmas (i) cards, (ii) parties and (iii) decorations in the last 12 months. [303846]
Mr. Woolas: To date, the Department has not paid for any Christmas cards.
No official funds are used for Christmas parties.
Christmas decorations are donated by Ecovert FM, the Department's facilities management services provider.
Information concerning the cost of cards and decorations to UK Border Agency, Identity and Passport Service, and Criminal Records Bureau cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
All Home Office expenditure on rewards and recognition, including staff entertainment, conforms to the principles of regularity, propriety and value for money, and any other guidance as applicable contained within Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.
Crimes of Violence: Females
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to his Department's Together we can end violence against women and girls strategy, how much his Department plans to spend on (a) launching an award scheme to celebrate the achievements of local areas delivering excellence, (b) funding the POPPY project and (c) funding National Offender Management Service perpetrator programmes in (i) 2009-10, (ii) 2010-11 and (iii) each of the subsequent three years; and from what budgets such funding will be drawn. [305313]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The cross-Government strategy 'Together We Can End Violence Against Women and Girls' was launched on 25 November 2009.
(a) The departmental spend on an award scheme for local areas delivering excellence in their response to violence against women and girls will be finalised in spring 2010 by a cross-departmental delivery board. The board will have oversight of all actions in the strategy.
(b) Across Government, we have invested £5.8 million in the POPPY project over the last six years to provide high-level specialist support for victims trafficked into sexual exploitation. A further £3.7 million investment will be made in the period 2009-10 to 2010-11 to the POPPY project for specialist victim services for victims of sexual exploitation and domestic servitude.
(c) Probation boards fund the cost of delivering accredited perpetrator programmes including for domestic and sexual violence perpetrators through their main grant, and funding for the delivery of accredited offending behaviour programmes in custody is built into prison baselines.
Departmental Assets
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assets of his Department are planned to be sold in each year from 2009-10 to 2013-14; what the (a) description and (b) book value of each such asset is; what the expected revenue from each such sale is; and if he will make a statement. [300203]
Mr. Woolas: My Department rents rather than owns most of its estate and so is focusing more on limiting and where possible reducing its rent liabilities. There is currently one asset for sale. This is the former Official Residence at 62 South Eaton Place whose current book value is £1.7 million. The indicated guide price is £4 million.
Departmental ICT
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Putney of 3 November 2009, Official Report, column 856W, on IT systems, (1) on what projects under what budget headings the £86 million on the Next Generation IST Transformation Programme will be spent; and what timetable has been set for that expenditure. [303787]
(2) on what projects under what budget headings the £3.12 million on the Next Generation IST Transformation Programme has been spent. [303788]
Alan Johnson: Since answering the question from the hon. Member for Putney (Justine Greening) Official Report, columns 852-56W, on IT systems, I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given to a previous question from the hon. Member for Hornchurch (James Brokenshire) on 12 November 2009, Official Report, columns 935-36W.
Departmental Information Officers
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many full-time equivalent press officers (a) are employed by and (b) work for his Department. [303601]
Mr. Woolas: As of 30 November 2009, the total number of full-time equivalent press officers employed by the Department is 51.89 full-time equivalents. This includes 14 who are employed (by UKBA) regionally, who undertake work for UKBA which includes tasks which transferred through machinery of government changes from HMRC.
Departmental Manpower
Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff of his Department were in its redeployment pool on 1 (a) January, (b) April, (c) July and (d) October 2009. [306733]
Mr. Woolas: The number of staff within the Home Office and its agencies that were in a redeployment network on 1 (a) January (b) April (c) July and (d) October 2009 is shown in table 1.
Staff that are in a redeployment network continue to undertake work for the Department while a new post is actively sought, either within the Home Office and its agencies, or in another Government Department.
| Table 1: Home Office staff in a redeployment network | ||
| 2009 | Number of staff | Percentage of total Home Office work force |
Departmental Pay
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was claimed in reimbursable expenses by press officers in his Department in each of the last three financial years. [303767]
Mr. Woolas: Our systems do not collate the press office travel and subsistence budget to distinguish between reimbursable expenses and other costs.
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was claimed in reimbursable expenses by press officers in his Department in 2008-09. [306901]
Mr. Woolas: I am unable to answer the question as our systems do not collate the press office travel and subsistence budget to distinguish between reimbursable expenses and other costs.
Departmental Research
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research his Department has commissioned on public attitudes to migrant populations in the last five years. [300561]
Mr. Woolas: The UK Border Agency does not conduct research into public attitudes specifically to migrant populations. Details of the results on Home Office and UK Border Agency polling on public attitudes to immigration are, however, available on the respective public websites.
Departmental Security
Angela Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what security requirements are made by his Department in respect of (a) people employed to provide audio transcription services to his Department from home, (b) the premises in which work to provide such services is carried out and (c) arrangements for the transfer of data between such premises and his Department. [302694]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 30 November 2009]: The Department does not currently have in place contracts for the provision of home-working-based audio transcription services.
Departmental Written Questions
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many questions tabled for answer on a named day his Department received in each of the last 12 months; and to how many such questions his Department provided a substantive answer on the day named. [305374]
Mr. Alan Campbell: 887 parliamentary questions for named day response were tabled to the Home Office between 1 December 2008 and 30 November 2009. 133 of these questions received a substantive answer on the day named. The following table shows the months in which these questions were tabled. Central guidance on answering parliamentary questions is now available in the "Guide to Parliamentary Work", at:
In the response to the Procedure Committee Report on written parliamentary questions, the Government accepted the Committee's recommendation that Departments be required to provide the Procedure Committee with sessional statistics in a standard format on the time taken to respond to written parliamentary
questions, accompanied by an explanatory memorandum setting out any factors affecting their performance. This will be taken forward as soon as possible.
| Written parliamentary questions tabled for named day response, December 2008 to November 2009 | ||
| Month in which question was tabled | Number of questions | Number responded to on the named day |
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