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22 Feb 2010 : Column 370W—continued
(1) All figures quoted are internal management information only and are subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many powers relating to immigration have been (a) created and (b) amended by legislation sponsored by his Department since 1997. [317666]
Alan Johnson: Since 1997 there have been a number of Acts of Parliament relating to immigration as follows:
The Special Immigration Appeals Commission Act 1997
The Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
The British Overseas Territories Act 2002
The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002
The Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants etc) Act 2004
The Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006
The UK Borders Act 2007
The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008
The Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009
These Acts have created various immigration powers for a range of public bodies including the Secretary of State, immigration officers and the courts. These statutes also make amendments to Acts pre-dating them, not least the Immigration Act 1971.
Immigration: Fees and Charges
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms are in place to assist those who are unable to afford the fee required for an extension to a UK visa. [316782]
Mr. Woolas: There are no mechanisms in place to assist those who are unable to afford the application fee.
An applicant who makes an application under a category not covered by an exemption set out in the fee regulations must pay the appropriate fee for that application for it to be considered. Any application made that is not accompanied by the correct fee is invalid.
Immigration: Yemen
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many citizens of Yemen have been refused entry to the UK on grounds of links to terrorism in each of the last five years. [315928]
Mr. Woolas: In the last five years, a total of two Yemeni nationals have been refused entry to the UK on the basis that their presence in the UK would not be conducive to the public good. This category of refusal includes, but is not limited to, those nationals suspected of having links to terrorism.
Both of these refusals took place in 2009 and resulted in the individuals being removed from the UK.
Iraq Committee of Inquiry
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) documents and (b) other items of information in electronic format provided by his Department to the Iraq Inquiry that Inquiry has sought to publish under the procedure set out in the protocol on documents and other written and electronic information; and if he will make a statement. [314544]
Mr. Hanson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to her by, my right hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Tessa Jowell), the minister of State for the Cabinet Office on 9 February 2010, Official Report, columns 893-894W.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 22 October 2009, Official Report, column 1645W, on local government finance, what data sets not contained in the national indicator set local authorities are required to submit to his Department. [314951]
Mr. Woolas: The Home Office does not place any statutory obligations on local authorities to submit any data sets to the Department, other than the national indicator set.
Mephedrone
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration he has given to the inclusion of a question on mephedrone use in the British Crime Survey. [317556]
Mr. Alan Campbell: A question on mephedrone use will be added to the British Crime Survey from April 2010.
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has received from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in respect of mephedrone use. [317558]
Mr. Alan Campbell:
The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) advised me of its concerns regarding the potential harms associated with the
cathinones, including mephedrone, in correspondence sent on 22 December 2009. The council's commitment to review these compounds as a matter of urgency was reinforced at a meeting between myself and the interim Chair of the Council on 2 February 2010. The council are progressing this at a meeting to be held on the 22 February 2010, and will report to Ministers as soon as is practicable.
Milngavie Reservoir: Security
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent (a) discussions and (b) correspondence he has had with (i) Ministers in the Scottish Executive and (ii) representatives of Scottish Water on the public security issues concerning the erection of fences around Milngavie reservoir; what security threat the fences are intended to address; what recent assessment he has made of the requirement for such security fencing; and if he will make a statement. [315445]
Mr. Hanson [holding answer 4 February 2010]: There have been no recent discussions or correspondence between Home Office Ministers and Scottish Ministers or representatives of Scottish Water on public security issues concerning the erection of fences around Milngavie reservoir.
In line with our long-standing policy, we do not comment on matters of national security.
Offenders: Deportation
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many time-served foreign prisoners held in the UK border Agency's detention estate (a) went missing without permission and (b) re-offended whilst being held in each year since 1998. [317662]
Alan Johnson: The following table shows the number of time-served foreign prisoners held in the UK Border Agency's detention estate who went missing without permission between 2007 and 2009.
| Time-served foreign prisoners missing without permission from a detention centre | |
| Number | |
These data relate only to those time-served foreign prisoners being held pending deportation.
These data are based on management information only and have not been subject to the detailed checks that apply for National Statistics publications. These figures are provisional and are subject to change.
The information requested for the number of time-served foreign prisoners held in the UK Border Agency's detention estate who went missing without permission between 1998 and 2007 and the number of time-served foreign prisoners held in the UK Border Agency's detention estate who re-offended while being held in each year since 1998, can only be obtained by the detailed examination of individual record at disproportionate cost.
Passports
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will estimate the effect on expenditure as classified in the (a) common passport and identity card and (b) passport-specific section of the most recent identity cards scheme cost report of issuing passports without fingerprint data in each year from 2010-11 to 2018-19. [310383]
Alan Johnson [holding answer 12 January 2010]: It is intended that passports incorporating fingerprints will be introduced from 2012 onwards and applicants for such passports will be enrolled on the National Identity Register. From that point, common business processes and technology infrastructure will be used to register applicants on the National Identity Register and issue them with an identity card and/or a passport.
Passports: Fees and Charges
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the differences are between the fee structures for passport applications for British citizens resident overseas and those resident in the UK. [316079]
Alan Johnson: The Identity and Passport Service sets the passport fee for British citizens following an annual review with HM Treasury to ensure passport fee levels are set to recover the costs of the service provided.
The passport fee for British citizens resident overseas is set by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he plans to increase the UK passport application fee in 2010. [316171]
Meg Hillier: Passport fees are set in order to recover the full cost of providing the service including an element for non fee bearing consular services abroad. Fee levels are reviewed annually with HM Treasury.
The passport fee review for 2010 has not yet been concluded.
Passports: Lost Property
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many dispatched passports have been reported lost since November 2007; and what estimate he has made of the number of such lost passports that may have been stolen. [316794]
Meg Hillier: During the period November 2007 to September 2009, the latest date for which information is available, 1,135 passports, 0.01 per cent. of those produced, were recorded as lost during the delivery process.
Of these, 115 are recorded as lost as a result of theft from a courier or courier's vehicle, and 16 as misplaced within the delivery process.
The remainder are recorded as lost due to misposting by couriers.
Police
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers in each police force in England were on each category of restricted duties in each reporting period from 1997 to 2010; and if he will make a statement. [316717]
Mr. Hanson: Data on officers on recuperative and restricted duties are available centrally from 2003. Force level figures for each year from 2003-09, the latest available reporting period, are shown in the following tables. Figures for 2010 will be available later this year.
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