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Departmental Internet

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many designs for its website his Department has commissioned since 2005. [318649]

Mr. Woolas: The Home Office has commissioned two redesigns since 2005.

Departmental Telephone Services

Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) average time to answer a call, (b) average waiting time for members of the public during a call, (c) percentage of calls dropped or not answered and (d) average length of calls was in call centres run by his Department and each of its agencies in the latest period for which figures are available. [312376]

Mr. Woolas: The Core Home Office does not run any call centres. Please see the information requested in the following table in respect of the Home Office Executive Agencies:


4 Mar 2010 : Column 1375W

4 Mar 2010 : Column 1376W

 United Kingdom Border Agency Criminal Records Bureau Identity and Passport Service

Average time to answer a call

5 minutes 45 seconds

9 seconds

Calls are answered on second ring by automated response

Average waiting time for members of the public during a call

6 minutes 54 seconds

7 seconds

10 seconds to speak to agency after selecting from automated response

Percentage of calls dropped or not answered

26.7 per cent.

0.80 per cent.

1.5 per cent.

Average length of calls

4 minutes 02 seconds

2 minutes 45 seconds

4 minutes 30 seconds


The figures provided in the above table for UKBA and CRB are based on monthly figures available for December 2009. Figures for IPS provided are based on averages from monthly returns for Authentication. By Interview (ABI) and Adviceline calls.

UKBA have made improvements to their procedures for answering calls over the past six months. There is an action plan in place to deliver further improvements.

Deportation: Commonwealth

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people from each Commonwealth country have been deported in (a) each of the last three years and (b) 2010 to date. [319580]

Mr. Woolas: The following table shows the number of nationals of each Commonwealth country removed or departed voluntarily, 2007 to 2009. Figures for 2010 are not currently available. Statistics for the first quarter of 2010 will be published on the 27 May 2010.

The Home Office publishes statistics on the number of persons removed or departed voluntarily from the UK on a quarterly and annual basis, which are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office's Research, Development and Statistics website at:

Removals and voluntary departures of Commonwealth nationals from the United Kingdom( 1,2) , by country of nationality( 3) , 2007 to 2009( 4,7)
Number of departures
Country of nationality 2007 2008( 7) 2009( 7)

Antigua and Barbuda

65

35

40

Australia

655

680

670

Bahamas

10

10

10

Bangladesh

1,310

1,850

1,200

Barbados

75

95

80

Belize

15

15

10

Botswana

80

55

70

Brunei

5

10

10

Cameroon

365

235

235

Canada

795

845

785

Cyprus

10

5

*

Dominica

60

50

50

Fiji(5)

20

20

20

Gambia

230

185

150

Ghana

1,040

1,350

980

Grenada

90

85

85

Guyana

60

55

50

India

3,965

5,320

5,740

Jamaica

1,570

1,625

1,105

Kenya

330

360

365

Kiribati

-

-

5

Lesotho

15

25

15

Malawi

300

375

495

Malaysia

2,065

2,040

1,410

Maldives

10

10

15

Malta

*

*

*

Mauritius

660

760

665

Mozambique

10

15

15

Namibia

250

170

150

Nauru

5

-

*

New Zealand

225

260

260

Nigeria

3,500

3,660

2,890

Pakistan

3,895

3,160

2,990

Papua New Guinea

5

*

5

Rwanda(6)

35

30

30

Samoa

*

*

5

Seychelles

75

40

40

Sierra Leone

255

190

120

Singapore

115

120

100

Solomon Islands

5

-

-

South Africa

1,900

1,645

1,290

Sri Lanka

775

705

695

St. Kitts and Nevis

30

20

20

St. Lucia

165

160

115

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

90

80

75

Swaziland

40

45

30

Tanzania

155

165

170

Tonga

10

10

10

Trinidad and Tobago

350

310

270

Tuvalu

-

-

*

Uganda

425

455

390

Vanuatu

5

-

-

Zambia

120

140

140

Commonwealth total

26,230

27,480

24,080

(1) Includes enforced removals, persons departing voluntarily after notifying the UK Border Agency of their intention to leave prior to their departure, persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes run by the International Organization for Migration, persons who it has been established left the UK without informing the immigration authorities and non-asylum cases refused entry at port and subsequently removed.
(2) Figures include dependants.
(3) Includes Commonwealth member states as at 25 February 2010. the full list is available from the Commonwealth Secretariat website at:
www.thecommonwealth.org
(4) Figures rounded to the nearest five (- = 0, * = one or two) and may not sum to the totals shown because of independent rounding.
(5) Following the decisions taken by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group on 31 July 2009, Fiji Islands was suspended from membership of the Commonwealth on 1 September 2009.
(6) Rwanda joined the Commonwealth in November 2009.
(7) Provisional figures. Removals and voluntary departures recorded on the system as at the dates on which the data extracts were taken. Figures will under record due to data cleansing and data matching exercises that take place after the extracts are taken.
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