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15 Dec 2009 : Column 1106W—continued
Departmental Meetings
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which (a) individuals other than ministerial colleagues and officials of his Department and (b) organisations he met in an official capacity in the week commencing 9 November 2009. [301168]
Mr. Woolas: In their response to a Report by the Public Administration Select Committee Lobbying: Access and influence in Whitehall, the Government agreed to publish online, on a quarterly basis, information about ministerial meetings with outside interest groups. Information for the period 1 October to 31 December 2009 will be published by Departments as soon as the information is ready.
Departmental Official Cars
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of providing official cars for the use of (a) Ministers and (b) officials in the last 12 months. [301176]
Mr. Woolas: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement about the cost of ministerial cars made by the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Gillingham (Paul Clark), on 16 July 2009, Official Report, columns 79-80WS.
For the cost of cars to officials, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Gillingham (Paul Clark) on 2 December 2009, Official Report, column 762W.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost to his Department was of provision of office facilities to (a) special advisers and (b) press officers in the 2008-09 financial year. [302970]
Mr. Woolas: Although the costs of providing accommodation to press offices and special advisers is not separately attributed in our accounts, for two Marsham street the estimated outturn figure for financial year 2008-09 was in the order of £450,000.
Departmental Publicity
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department has spent on (a) Ministerial photoshoots and (b) production of videos in which Ministers appear in the last three years for which figures are available. [305519]
Alan Johnson: Information relating to costs to the Department on (a) ministerial photoshoots and (b) production of videos in which Ministers appear in the last three years could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Security
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many security passes his Department has issued to contractors providing consultancy services in the last 12 months. [303944]
Mr. Woolas: It is not possible to provide detailed figures for security passes issued by the Home Office to contractors providing consultancy services over the past 12 months for the following reasons:
The security pass database is regularly refreshed and details of expired passes issued are not retained.
Application forms and pass records for contractors passes do not differentiate between the type of contractor and it is not therefore possible to distinguish from records which of those contractors were providing consultancy services and those that were delivering non-consultancy services (e.g. catering).
Departmental Taxis
Ian Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what contracts his Department has with private hire taxi companies; and what expenditure his Department has incurred against each such contract in each of the last three years. [300829]
Mr. Woolas: The Home Department held a contract with Black Cabs/Radio Taxi/A2B Radio Cars/Matrix which expired in November 2008. The Department currently has an agreement with the Government Car and Despatch Agency's Green Car service for the provision of cars and drivers. Available expenditure data are as follows:
| £ | ||
| Taxi company | ||
| Financial year | Black Cabs/Radio Taxi/A2B Radio Cars/Matrix | GCDA's Green Cars |
| (1) Only available at disproportionate cost. (2) Contract expired. | ||
Departmental Telephone Services
Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many telephone lines with the prefix (a) 0870, (b) 0845 and (c) 0800 his Department (i) operates and (ii) sponsors; how many calls were received to each number in the last 12 months; and whether alternative numbers charged at the BT local rate are available in each case. [305206]
Mr. Woolas: A number of Home Office business areas operate directly, fund or contribute to the running of telephone lines using 0870, 0845 and 0800 numbers via third sector partners and external groups.
Details of the operation of these telephone lines are not kept centrally. It is therefore not possible to provide information requested about the number of calls received in the last 12 months.
A breakdown of telephone lines is as follows:
Home Office headquarters does not operate any telephone lines directly.
There are currently five Identity and Passport Service (IPS) telephone lines which all use 0300 numbers.
The UK Border Agency has a total of 12 telephone lines, six of which operate on 0870, 0845 or 0800 and the remaining six operate on local or 0300 numbers.
The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) has six telephone lines which use 0870 numbers.
The Home Office has undergone an exercise to rationalise its telephone line numbers. Many of its current telephone lines use the 03 prefix where the cost of the call, including those made from a mobile phone, is the same as a standard landline with an 01 or 02 code but not linked to a specific geographic area.
Until January 2009, all calls to 0845 numbers were charged at the local rate by all providers. BT announced that calls from BT lines to these numbers are now free. Ofcom has also ruled that from one August 2009 the cost of 0870 must be the same as an 0300 call.
Departmental Training
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) date, (b) location and (c) cost was of each of the last four away days held by his Department's Departmental Board. [305464]
Meg Hillier: The date, location and cost of the last four Home Office Board away days are listed in the following table.
| Location | Total cost( 1) (£) | Number of attendees | Cost per head (£) | |
| (1) Costs include hire of room, facilities and refreshments throughout the day. (2) Bramshill Police Training Centre is owned and operated by National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) which is funded by the Home Office. Therefore, this figure represents the internal cross-charging for the use of our own facilities. (3) This away day included an overnight stay for all attendees. | ||||
Deportation
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost to the public purse has been of legal proceedings relating to the deportation of foreign nationals in each year since 1997. [305466]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested is not centrally collated and could be obtained only by examination of individual case files which would incur a disproportionate cost.
The type of legal costs incurred by the UK Border Agency in pursuing the deportation of foreign national offenders are those associated with judicial reviews, private law claims and the cost of defending deportation decisions before the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal and the High Court.
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 30 November 2009, Official Report, column 474W, on deportation, from what budget the cost of legal proceedings relating to the deportation of foreign nationals on grounds of national security are met; and how much such proceedings have cost in each year since 1997. [305479]
Mr. Woolas: The cost of the legal proceedings relating to the deportation of foreign nationals on grounds of national security are met from either the Special Cases Directorate of the UK Border Agency or from the Office for Security and Counter Terrorism based in the Home Office (or from another directorate of UK Border Agency which may have an interest).
With regard to the cost of proceedings in each year since 1997, the information requested is not centrally collated and could be obtained only by examination of individual case files which would incur a disproportionate cost.
The type of legal costs incurred by the UK Border Agency in pursuing the deportation of foreign national offenders are those associated with judicial reviews, private law claims and the cost of defending deportation decisions before the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal and the High Court.
Entry Clearances: Iran
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visas were issued to Iranian nationals by posts in (a) Dubai and (b) Tehran in each of the last 10 years. [304654]
Mr. Woolas: The number of visas issued to Iranian nationals in (a) Dubai and (b) Tehran in each year since 2004 is shown in the following table. UKBA does not hold data prior to 2004.
| Report year | Nationality | Post Name | Issued |
| Source: CRS 7 December 2009. These data are based on management information. It is provisional and subject to change. | |||
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