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8 Mar 2010 : Column 109W—continued
Asylum: Finance
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations have been received by (a) his Department and (b) the UK Border Agency from local authorities on funding in respect of asylum seekers. [319731]
Mr. Woolas: We have regular meetings and correspondence with local authorities and the Local Government Association about the funding of support arrangements for unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC), former UASC and other asylum seekers or failed asylum seekers supported by local authorities.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding the UK Border Agency allocated to each local authority in respect of asylum seekers in 2008-09. [319732]
Mr. Woolas: UK Border Agency funds local authorities for caring for unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) or, in certain circumstances, the same children once they reach 18 years of age. The funding paid to local authorities in respect of UASC and former UASC in 2008-09 is set out as follows:
| £ | |
The full terms of this year's grant and the eligibility criteria can be found at:
Automatic Number Plate Recognition
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what legislative arrangements apply to the capture, storage and use of number plate recognition images by law enforcement agencies; [320273]
(2) how many number plate recognition images were stored by (a) the police force, (b) national police agencies and (c) his Department on the latest date for which figures are available. [320274]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 4 March 2010]: Data derived from the use of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) are subject to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. Practice Advice on the Management and Use of ANPR is issued to chief officers by the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) on behalf of the Association of Chief Police Officers. A copy of the Practice Advice is available at:
The National ANPR Programme Board is currently examining the benefits of any further regulatory framework and is expected to report later this year.
On 2 March 2010, 10,674,058 ANPR reads by the police service were registered with the National ANPR Data Centre. The centre is managed by the NPIA on behalf of police forces.
Biometrics
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department has plans to open new biometric enrolment centres. [318769]
Alan Johnson [holding answer 25 February 2010]: The contract which the UK Border Agency has with Post Office Ltd. allows for eight post offices to be added to the pilot in the financial year 2010-11. No decision has yet been taken on whether to take up this option.
The Identity and Passport Service's (IPS) current planning assumptions allow for the provision of biometric enrolment centres during 2012. These will be delivered
both through IPS offices as in-house services, and also by third party concession arrangements with one or more partners.
In the meantime the system currently in use by IPS for identity card enrolment for British citizens will continue to be incrementally rolled out, taking account of public demand and how we can achieve maximum benefit for the UK and its residents.
Counter-Terrorism: Expenditure
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information his Department collects on expenditure by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) on work on counter-terrorism, with particular reference to expenditure by ACPO's Terrorism and Allied Matters Committee on the provision of accommodation in London for use by members of ACPO. [319425]
Mr. Hanson: ACPO (TAM) advises Government on how to tackle serious and ongoing terrorist threats, coordinating the strategic policing response and providing leadership to police forces on national counter-terrorism policing matters. This includes advice to the Home Office on the distribution of Counter-Terrorism Specific Grant funding across the police counter-terrorism network. In addition, ACPO (TAM) has developed a programme management structure to coordinate the delivery of a major national up-lift in the police's counter-terrorism capability. For 2009-10 the Home Office provided funding totalling £32.8 million to ACPO (TAM) to fulfil this role through the Counter Terrorism Specific Grant for England and Wales.
The growth in counter-terrorism policing work has led to an increase in the number of staff seconded from forces across the UK to ACPO (TAM) headquarters in London. Accommodation for staff on secondment is agreed by ACPO (TAM) with the seconding force, in line with Home Office guidance on conditions of service for police officers on secondment. The total cost of flats in 2009-10 for ACPO (TAM) staff in London was £1.56 million.
The Home Office receives regular management information from ACPO (TAM) including information relating to expenditure by ACPO (TAM) headquarters. The Home Office and ACPO (TAM) work closely on funding matters and will continue to drive value for
money improvements in counter-terrorism policing work and to identify any potential efficiencies for 2010-11 and beyond. Furthermore, as a registered company, ACPO's accounts are subject to audit, which includes whether funds have been used for the purposes intended.
Crime: Alcoholic Drinks
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what percentage of recorded crime in each local authority area was attributable to the effects of alcohol in each of the last five years; [320045]
(2) how many (a) crimes, (b) violent crimes and (c) sexual crimes were attributable to the effects of alcohol in each local authority area in each of the last five years. [320046]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The information requested is not available centrally. It is not possible to determine the number of offences which were attributable to the effects of alcohol from the police recorded crime data collected by the Home Office.
Departmental Contracts
Mr. Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many jobs formerly undertaken by staff of his Department have been outsourced to external companies in each of the last five years; and to which companies. [314631]
Mr. Woolas: In the last five years, no jobs formerly undertaken by staff in the Home Department (excluding its agencies) have been outsourced to external companies.
Departmental Information Officers
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many press and communications officers and staff were employed by his Department at what cost in each year since 1997; and how many briefings his Department has held for the media in each such year. [318037]
Alan Johnson: The following table provides the information requested on the numbers of Press Officers, Communications Officers and staff working in the Communication Directorate in the central Home Office and their costs.
| Press officers | Communications officers | Staff | ||||
| Number | Cost (£) | Number | Cost (£) | Number | Cost (£) | |
| (1) Machinery of Government changes May 2007, 11 press officer and seven correspondence posts transferred to the Ministry of Justice. The total also includes six Borders and Immigration Agency Regional Press Officers; whose posts were created in 2007. (2) This includes six Regional Press Officers (full time equivalents) who are employed regionally by UKBA who undertake work for UKBA which includes tasks which transferred through Machinery of Government changes from HMRC. | ||||||
Information has been provided for the years held; further data could not be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
There is no central record of the numerous media briefings conducted by ministers and/or senior officials as the vast majority of these are largely done on an ad hoc and routine basis. The only central record we have
is for the number of formal briefings/press conferences or external events that accompany major announcements where a formal operational note inviting the media is issued. These figures are:
| Number | |
| (1) To date. | |
Departmental Manpower
Mr. Philip Hammond:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many layers of
management reporting from the most senior to the most junior there are in his Department and each of its agencies; how many officials are employed in each such layer; and how much was spent on salaries and associated employment costs of staff at each such layer in the latest year for which information is available. [312820]
Mr. Woolas: Table 1 shows the numbers of staff at each level of management for the Home Office and its agencies. The number of layers in any individual management line will vary according to the function. Typically a big operational area with large numbers of staff will have more management layers than a policy function.
Further breakdown of costs by grade is not readily available and could not be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
| Table 1: Responsibility level (FTE)( 1, 2, 3) for executive officers to senior civil servants | ||||
| Senior management | Other Management | |||
| Senior civil service | Grades 6 and 7 | Senior and higher executive officers | Executive officers | |
| (1 )Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. (2 )With the exception of the senior civil service, Government Departments have delegated pay and grading. For statistical purposes Departments are asked to map their grades to a common framework by responsibility level. (3 )This table shows staff in their substantive responsibility level unless on temporary promotion in which case staff are recorded at the higher responsibility level. (4 )Includes Government office for the regions employees. | ||||
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many employees in (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies are in transition prior to being managed out; how long on average the transition window between notification and exit has been in (i) his Department and (ii) each of its agencies in each of the last five years; what estimate he has made of the salary costs of staff in transition in each such year; and what proportion of employees in transition were classed as being so for more than six months in each year. [313239]
Mr. Woolas: We do not hold information in the form requested. Tables 1 to 5 provide information for the Home Office and its agencies on the numbers of staff in the Home Office's redeployment network and the proportion surplus for over six months.
| Table 1: Surplus staff, Home Office headquarters | |||||
| 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
| (1) Fewer than 5. | |||||
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