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25 Mar 2010 : Column 514W—continued
Home Department
Asylum
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many people of each sex in each age group from each country have been awaiting a decision on an application for asylum at each location in each year since 1997; [319528]
(2) how many people are awaiting a decision on an application for asylum. [319654]
Alan Johnson: Information is published quarterly on the number of asylum applicants awaiting an initial decision and as at the end of December 2009, the latest published period, the total was 6,900 (excluding dependents). This figure is derived from the cumulative effect of applications received, decisions made, and applications withdrawn, applied to the total outstanding cases figure produced from the manual count at the end of August 2001. Figures are rounded to nearest 100. The original manual count was a total figure only and consequently the figure cannot be broken down by nationality, gender and age.
Information on asylum applications is published annually in the Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom bulletin and on a quarterly basis in the Control of Immigration Quarterly Statistical Summary.
These publications are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum applications were awaiting resolution by the UK Border Agency on the latest date for which figures are available. [322330]
Mr. Woolas:
The UK Border Agency has just over 34,700 cases in NAM (New Asylum Model) that have not been concluded as at the end of February 2010, the
majority of which are awaiting removal. These cases are being actively managed. Figure is rounded to the nearest 100.
This data does not constitute part of National Statistics as they are based on internal management information. The information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols and should be treated as provisional and subject to change.
Information on asylum applications is published annually in the Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom bulletin and on a quarterly basis in the Control of Immigration Quarterly Statistical Summary.
These publications are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
Mr. Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes in staffing levels at the UK Border Agency have been made to handle the caseload of (a) legacy asylum cases and (b) standard asylum applications since 2007. [322836]
Mr. Woolas: The UK Border Agency has anticipated the need to increase resources in line with its targets and has recruited sufficient case owners in each of its regions to continue to improve the time taken to reach an initial decision.
The UK Border Agency's regions are now fully responsible for the development of the required flexible work force, and will be investing in case owner development and managing regionally-based recruitment campaigns as necessary so that staff can carry out a variety of functions and respond to fluctuations in intake.
Asylum: Scotland
Mr. Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum legacy cases arising in (a) 2007, (b) 2008 and (c) 2009 the UK Border Agency is dealing with in (i) Glasgow North East constituency, (ii) the City of Glasgow and (iii) Scotland. [322869]
Mr. Woolas: All cases being dealt with by the Case Resolution Directorate were lodged prior to March 2007. Therefore, there are no applications submitted post-2007 that are being dealt with in the Legacy programme.
Departmental Energy
Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department plans to take to participate in the Earth Hour event on 27 March 2010. [319095]
Mr. Woolas:
On 27 March 2010 the Home Office will again support Earth Hour. Non-operational lights will be turned off at our major locations. Last year my Department ran a 'switch it off' campaign to coincide with the Earth Hour to encourage staff to switch off lights, computers and printers at work and to participate at home as well. Across several of our major locations the lights were turned off and as a result 2,491 kilogrammes
of carbon dioxide was saved compared to a preceding period. We plan to take part in the event in the same way this year.
Departmental Temporary Employment
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department from which companies his Department sourced temporary staff in each of the last three years; how many temporary staff his Department employed in each year; and what the monetary value of the contracts with each such company was in each such year. [320011]
Mr. Woolas: The Home Department sources temporary staff of all kinds from a range of companies from small-scale, niche suppliers to large companies with national coverage. Since such individuals are not Home Office employees, the amalgamated information sought is not held centrally and attempting to assemble it could not be undertaken without incurring disproportionate cost. In terms of monetary values, the Department is able to provide the following information on its expenditure in the last three years through contracts with some of its leading suppliers of temporary staff in those years. The spend in this category is being realigned and is currently reckoned at some £13 million per annum, which in 2008-09 represented less than 1 per cent. of total expenditure by the Home Office and its agencies of £1,749 million. All figures provided are subject to accounting adjustment and amendment.
| £ million | |||
| Supplier | 2009-10 | 2008-09 | 2007-08 |
Departmental Travel
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much (a) Ministers and (b) staff of each grade in (i) his Department and (ii) its agencies spent on first class travel in the last 12 months. [320394]
Mr. Woolas: Contracted expenditure by the Home Department, inclusive of the UKBA and the Criminal Records Bureau, on first class rail travel by (a) Ministers and (b) staff of each grade for the period 1 February 2009 to 10 January 2010 is as follows:
| Table 1: First class rail travel | ||
| £ | ||
| Home Office/UKBA | CRB | |
Contracted expenditure by the Home Department, inclusive of the UKBA and the Criminal Records Bureau on first class air travel by (a) Ministers and (b) staff of each grade for the period 1 February 2009 to 10 January 2010 is as follows:
| Table 2: First class air travel | ||
| £ | ||
| Home Office/UKBA | CRB | |
| Note: In a small number of journeys staff were upgraded to first class at no additional cost. | ||
Total expenditure by the Identity and Passport Service on first class rail travel by all staff for the period January to December 2009 was £873,042. A breakdown of expenditure by grade could be made available only at disproportionate cost. There was no expenditure on first class air travel by the Identity and Passport Service.
Detention Centres
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many incidents of self-harm by (a) women, (b) men, (c) children under 18 years old and (d) children under 10 years old requiring medical treatment there were at each immigration removal centre in the UK in each of the last six years; [321099]
(2) how many incidents of self-harm by (a) women, (b) men, (c) children under 18 years old and (d) children under 10 years old were recorded at each immigration removal centre in the UK in each of the last six years. [321100]
Mr. Woolas: We do not record centrally every incident of self harm, only those incidents where medical treatment was required. The figures represent the total in each financial year for when data was available for Immigration Removal Centres.
| Number | |
| (1) Includes figures for Brook House Immigration Removal Centre which opened towards the end of March 2009. (2) As at the end of January | |
There are over 2,500 people in removal centres at any one time. In 2009, we published for the first time, data on the number of people entering detention. In 2009-10 to the end of January, 20,805 people came into immigration removal centres.
This data is normally used for management information only and is not subject to the detailed checks that apply for national statistics publications. It is provisional and subject to change. Published national statistics on the number of adults and children held in detention solely under Immigration Act powers on a snapshot basis are published quarterly and are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office's Research, Development and Statistics website at:
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