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18 Jan 2010 : Column 32W—continued
Departmental Sick Leave
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many working days were lost due to (a) illness and (b) stress of employees in his Department in each of the last three years. [309916]
Mr. Woolas: Sick absence within the Home Office is reported using Cabinet Office standards and definitions, which were introduced with effect from 1 April 2007. Sick absence is defined as the absence of a civil servant due to their illness or injury. No distinction is made on recording systems between "illnesses" and "injuries"; the information provided therefore covers both illnesses and injuries. The data provided for 2006-07 include the Prison Service which was part of the Home Office before machinery of government changes in May 2007.
(a) Total working days lost due to illness/injury of paid civil servants:
| Total working days lost | |
| Number | |
(b) Absence due to stress is reported within the category "Mental Disorders", in line with Cabinet Office guidance to report absences using the World Health Organisation (WHO) International Classification of Diseases (ICD) version 10. Unfortunately, it is not possible to provide consistent information below this group as it covers anxiety, depression, and stress, as well as other more severe mental health conditions.
| Total working days lost of paid civil servants due to mental disorders | |
| Number | |
Detention Centres: Children
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his assessment is of progress made in improving provision for families with children at immigration removal centres; and how much has been spent on making such improvements in the last 12 months. [310109]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 12 January 2010]: We take the welfare of children in our care very seriously and are proud of the investment made to improve services at Yarl's Wood over the last couple of years, the main centre for holding families with children. These include:
A dedicated Ofsted inspected school delivering 30 hours per week of tuition by qualified teachers for children aged five-16 years.
A crèche staffed seven days a week from nine-five by appropriately qualified child care professionals for children under school age.
Professional supervision and support for teaching staff, in the form of oversight from the head teacher of another establishment.
Establishment of a softer and more child-focused reception area and further provision of age-appropriate activities such as a bouncy castle, and a library of games and toys for use in the children's rooms.
Relocation of the youth club to a larger room with access to grassed outside play area.
The introduction of a fortnightly children's forum and development of dedicated children's complaints forms.
The provision of a midwife, healthcare visitor, paediatric nurse and child counselling services.
The improvements we have made have been considered and acknowledged by the likes of the Children's Commissioner for England, the Independent Monitoring Board and HM Chief Inspector of Prisons.
At the same time, we have recently conducted an internal review of the services provided at other centres where children may be detained. This highlighted a number of areas where improvements need to be made at Tinsley House. A programme of improvement has commenced, and while this is being undertaken, we have taken the decision to reduce the maximum period of stay for families with children from 72 hours to 24 hours.
Services provided for children are funded within the operating contracts for centres, the value of which is commercially confidential. It is therefore not possible to provide a figure on how much has been spent on improvements in the last 12 months.
Entry Clearances
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many time-limited visas of each type have been issued in each year since 1997; [307632]
(2) how many time-limited visas of each type have been issued in each year since 1997. [306002]
Alan Johnson [holding answer 10 December 2009]: The following table shows the number of time limited visas issued to applicants from 2004. Data prior to 2004 are not considered accurate and reliable; therefore they have not been included in the table.
| Endorsement category | Issued | |
| Note: Information above is provisional and subject to change. | ||
Entry Clearances: Overseas Students
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to issue his response to the recent consultation on proposed changes to Tier 4 student visa arrangements. [310366]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 12 January 2010]: The outcome of the review of tier 4 announced by the Prime Minister on 12 November will be announced shortly.
Foreign Workers: Immigration Controls
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will require the Migration Advisory Committee in formulating its advice on the level of immigrant labour needed to complete the (a) London Olympics and (b) Crossrail construction work to obtain information on whether jobs on these projects are first advertised through Jobcentre Plus. [310657]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 14 January 2010]: The Government have no plans at present to ask the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) for specific advice relating to the London Olympics or Crossrail.
It is possible that the MAC may review jobs relating to these projects independently as part of their regular work on the Shortage Occupation List.
Unless a job is on the Shortage Occupation List, it must be advertised through Jobcentre Plus before it can be offered to a migrant worker under tier 2.
Illegal Immigrants
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were (a) prosecuted and (b) found guilty of employing illegal immigrants in each month of (i) 2007, (ii) 2008 and (iii) 2009. [306001]
Alan Johnson [holding answer 10 December 2009]: The "prosecution" of an individual employer for an offence relating to employing illegal migrant workers formerly occurred through the courts under section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996. The prosecution offences in 1996 were replaced by the introduction of civil penalties for employers in the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 in February 2008. An individual employer who has received a civil penalty for offences related to illegal working under the 2006 Act does not undergo prosecution through the courts.
Between 29 February 2008 and 30 November 2009 a total of 3,376 Notices of Liability for a Civil Penalty were issued to employers of illegal migrant workers. These data are derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and liable to change.
An employer may still be prosecuted under section 21 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 where it can be established that the employer "knowingly" employed an illegal migrant worker after 29 February 2008.
Data on the number of defendants proceeded against and found guilty in 2007 and 2008 of offences relating to employing a person subject to immigration control are published by the Home Office in table 3.4 of the Control of Immigration.
Statistics United Kingdom 2008, which is available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
Data for 2008 remain provisional and subject to change. Data for 2009 will be published in summer 2010.
The following tables from the Ministry of Justice provide a monthly breakdown of the overall figures set out in the above publication.
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