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22 Mar 2010 : Column 47W—continued
The state pension reforms begin to come into effect from 2010 and will mean around three quarters of women reaching state pension age in 2010 are expected to qualify for a full basic state pension compared to half without reform.
Support for disabled people and carers
Since 2001, we have significantly extended and improved civil rights for disabled people in areas such as employment, education, access to goods and services and transport. Disabled people in Stroud will have benefited from these improvements. The Welfare Reform Act 2009 contains powers to increase choice and control for disabled adults, including disabled parents who are entitled to state support, enabling them to choose how certain state support is used to meet their individual needs. This will be trailblazed in eight local authority sites from late 2010. Older and less well off carers have gained extra help through the provisions within the National Carers Strategy.
(1) The Department for Work and Pensions was created in 2001 and so information relates to the Department and its predecessors.
(2) Based on three-year averages and changes are rounded to the nearest percentage point or 100,000 pensioners between 2000-01 to 2002-03 and 2005-06 to 2007-08.
(3) Regional information about assistance payments received by members from the Financial Assistance Scheme could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Vocational Training
Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps her Department is taking to ensure that low-incidence sensory-impaired students will continue to be able to access national specialist residential training providers following the introduction of the new contracting arrangements. [323006]
Jonathan Shaw: The Government do not prescribe the type of training that should be available to people with specific impairments. However, the new contracts will ensure that this programme will be flexible and tailored to each individual.
We know from evaluation undertaken in 2006 that residential courses tend to exclude some customers, including those who have caring responsibilities. The very limited locations in which provision is currently available exacerbate this. The new contracting arrangements seek to ensure that appropriate support will be available locally to a broader range of customers including women, ethnic minority groups and those who are unable to travel long distances.
However, we recognise that the residential provision is important for some customer groups and so the new contracts will specify that residential training should be available where that is appropriate for the customer.
Winter Fuel Payments: York
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households in York with at least one person aged 75 years or over received the winter fuel allowance in 2009-10. [322998]
Angela Eagle: For winter 2008-09, the latest year for which information is available, 6,500 households in the City of York constituency with at least one person aged 75 years or over received a winter fuel payment.
Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
2. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory.
Source:
DWP Information Directorate 100 per cent. data.
Written Questions: Government Responses
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when she plans to answer Question 316427, on payments to the Government Car and Despatch Agency, tabled on 3 February 2010. [320255]
Jonathan Shaw: I replied to the hon. Member's question on 17 March 2010, Official Report, columns 869-70W.
Home Department
Dogs: Crime
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate he has made of the incidence of the use of dogs in crime. [322945]
Meg Hillier: These data are not collected centrally. We are aware of the growing concerns about the use of dangerous dogs to harass and intimidate people. This has prompted the Government to introduce the new gang injunction power under the Policing and Crime Act 2009 and launch a public consultation on managing and controlling dangerous dogs.
Immigration Removal Centres
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were being held in immigration removal centres on the latest date for which figures are available. [322955]
Mr. Woolas: As at 31 December 2009, 2,595 people were held in UK Border Agency immigration detention, none of whom were children.
Published national statistics on the number of people detained solely under Immigration Act powers are published quarterly and are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office website.
Antisocial Behaviour
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of anti-social behaviour were reported in (a) England and Wales, (b) each constituency, (c) each police force area, (d) each local authority area and (e) each of the smallest geographical areas for which figures are available in each year since 1997. [319523]
Alan Johnson:
The number of incidents of antisocial behaviour as defined in the National Incident Category List were requested as part of police forces annual data
return in 2007-08 and 2008-09. Collection of National Standard for Incident Recording (NSIR) data through ADR 342 came into force on 1 April 2007. Prior to that, data returns for NISR were not mandatory.
Data are not returned by (b) constituency or (d) local authority area.
A copy of the detailed tables showing the figures for England and Wales, each police force area and the smallest geographical area available (police force basic command unit) in 2007-08 and 2008-09 have been placed in the House of Commons Library.
The data are normally for management information only and are not subject to the detailed checks that apply for National Statistics publications. They are provisional and may be subject to change. The data represent calls for service as recorded by police forces under the relevant categories and may be subject to local variation in reporting and classifying.
Mr. David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of police forces in tackling antisocial behaviour. [322950]
Mr. Hanson: We expect all agencies to prioritise antisocial behaviour. ASB is to be tackled not tolerated-police and other agencies must protect victims and punish perpetrators. To that end we have asked all areas to draw up minimum standards of service for the public by the end of this month. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary's (HMIC) tough independent inspections on police forces' performance are a welcome addition to our commitment to accountability and transparency in continuing to raise standards.
Arrest Warrants
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many European arrest warrants issued in the UK have been executed in each other EU member state in each month since their introduction. [322370]
Meg Hillier: The figures for the number of persons extradited to the UK under European arrest warrants (EAWs) since their introduction are as follows:
| Persons extradited to the UK | |
It is not possible from current systems to provide data broken down into the number of EAWs issued in the UK which have been executed in respect of each other member state or in each month. This would require a manual examination of all files and incur disproportionate cost.
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many European arrest warrants issued by each other EU member state have been executed in the UK. [322372]
Meg Hillier: SOCA and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (for Scotland) are the designated authorities for the receipt and transmission of European arrest warrants (EAWs) in the UK. The number of surrenders from the UK (excluding Scotland) to another member state since 2004 is as follows:
| Number | |
It is not possible from current systems to provide data broken down into the number of EAWs issued by each other EU member state. This would require a manual examination of all files and incur disproportionate cost.
Arrest Warrants: Republic of Ireland
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many European arrest warrants issued in the UK and served on a person in the Republic of Ireland resulted in that person being delivered to the UK authorities (a) within one month, (b) within two months, (c) within three months, (d) within six months and (e) over six months after the warrant being served in the last three years. [323007]
Meg Hillier: It is not possible from current systems to provide data broken down by the time taken to secure transfer to UK jurisdiction of an alleged criminal from another member state of the European Union. To do so would require a manual examination of all files and incur disproportionate cost.
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many European arrest warrants issued in the UK relating to sex abuse cases have been served on people in the Republic of Ireland in the last three years. [323008]
Meg Hillier: It is not possible from current systems to break down the number of European arrest warrants issued in the UK by offence type and by EU member state. To do so would require a manual examination of all files and incur disproportionate cost.
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether it is his practice to indicate to the Irish Government the (a) importance and (b) urgency of implementation of (i) extradition requests and (ii) European arrest warrants issued by the UK in relation to residents of Ireland. [323327]
Meg Hillier: Irrespective of the member state concerned, all cases are prioritised appropriately depending on the risk that the individual poses to that country and/or the intelligence available. If, as a result of this process, the case is deemed urgent, then an appropriate message would be sent to the relevant authorities in that country requesting immediate action.
Asylum
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) mean and (b) median time taken to process an application for asylum was in December 2009. [322331]
Mr. Woolas: The public service agreement (PSA) delivery agreement 3, indicator 2 refers to the reduction in the time to conclusion of asylum application. The measure is to ensure a target percentage of cases should be resolved within six months.
The method of reporting against the target is based on the performance of the specific monthly cohort of cases reaching six months. Hence all reporting is done against a six months timeframe. A cohort is specified as those new applications received between 1 and 31 of each month.
The conclusion measurement requires applications to be granted asylum or some form of leave to remain in the UK, allowed at appeal or removed within 182 days (six months) to be counted as concluded.
Performance against the targets has been published in National Statistics as follows:
61 per cent. of new applications received in June 2009 were concluded, i.e. to grant asylum or some other form of leave to remain or to remove from the UK, in six months by the end of December 2009.
Published information is not available in relation to conclusion of applications in timescales other than six months.
In 1997, the average time for an initial decision was 22 months. Records are not kept for the average time for conclusion for this time.
Asylum: York
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people who have applied for asylum and are waiting for a decision on their application are resident in York. [322113]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested is not recorded centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Borders: Patrol Craft
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many immigration patrol vessels (a) operate in UK waters and (b) have operated in UK waters in each of the last 10 years. [318704]
Alan Johnson: The UK Border Agency operates five offshore patrol ships in UK territorial waters and adjacent seas. These ships provide operational coverage 365 days a year.
These ships were transferred from HM Revenue and Customs on 5 August 2009. HM Revenue and Customs, and HM Customs and Excise before that, had operated a five ship fleet since 2002.
Prior to 2002, HM Customs and Excise operated seven smaller patrol ships and a range of smaller launches and rigid inflatable boats.
UK Border Agency vessels work regularly in support of operations by other law enforcement agencies. In addition, UKBA officers respond to instances of suspected border crime in UK waters.
Departmental Consultants
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent on external consultants and advisers by (a) his Department, (b) each (i) non-departmental public body and (ii) executive agency for which his Department is responsible and (c) each other body sponsored by his Department in each year since 2005. [316834]
Mr. Woolas: Information on the Home Department's, including the Criminal Records Bureau, United Kingdom Border Agency and Identity and Passport Service agencies, total consultancy expenditure from 2005-06 is as follows:
| Table 1: Total consultancy expenditure: Home Office Headquarters, UKBA, CRB and IPS | |
| Financial year | Expenditure on consultancy services (£ million) |
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