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16 Jun 2010 : Column 431W—continued
British Citizenship: Bexley
Mr Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of those resident in the London borough of Bexley have been granted British citizenship in each year since 2005. [1897]
Damian Green: Details of the number of grants of British Citizenship for the years requested are shown in the following table.
| Persons, resident in the London borough of Bexley( 1) , Granted British Citizenship( 2) , 2005 to 2009 | |
| Total | |
| (1) Persons resident within the London borough of Bexley postcode areas and/or who attended a citizenship ceremony held by Bexley local authority. (2) Total number of grants is made up of those who have attended a citizenship ceremony, minors who are not required to attend a citizenship ceremony and adults who have been registered as British Citizens and who are not required to attend a ceremony. | |
This information has been provided from local management information and is not a National Statistic. As such it should be treated as provisional and therefore subject to change.
Deportation: Offenders
Mr Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the 1,023 failed asylum applicants released from prison who were referred to in the then Home Secretary's announcement of 25 April 2006 are unaccounted for. [2552]
Damian Green [holding answer 15 June 2010]: After analysis the figure of 1,023 foreign national prisoners (not exclusively failed asylum seekers) released without deportation consideration was revised in July 2006 to 1,013.
The chief executive of the UK Border Agency has regularly updated the Home Affairs Select Committee on the progress of these cases. In her latest letter of 4 February 2010, figures accurate as at 4 January 2010 showed;
| Number | |
Copies of the letters to the Committee can be found in the Library of the House.
Entry Clearances: Indonesia
Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visitor visa applications were received by the UK Visa Application centre in Jakarta in the last 12 months; how many such applications were (a) refused (i) because required supporting documentation was not provided, (ii) although required supporting documentation was provided and (iii) because required financial documentation was not provided, (b) granted with only the supporting documentation required on the application form being provided and (c) granted following the provision of additional financial information; how much income Jakarta Visa Centre received from (A) initial and (B) subsequent applications in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement. [2312]
Damian Green: The number of visit visa applications received, approved and refused in Jakarta in FY 2009-10 is shown in the following table, along with the income received from such applications.
| Visit visa applications, Jakarta-financial year 2009-10 | ||
| Number | £ | |
We are unable to identify from central records how many applications were:
(a) refused because (i) required supporting documentation was not provided, (ii) even though adequate supporting documentation was provided, or (iii) adequate financial documentation was not provided;
(b) granted without further supporting documentation being provided; and
(c) granted following the provision of additional financial information.
Such information could be provided only by inspecting individual records, and therefore at disproportionate cost.
Notes:
1. The total of visas issued and applications refused does not equal the total number received. A number of applications resolved in FY 2009-10 would have been received in the previous FY, and a number received in FY 2009-10 would have been resolved in FY 2010-11. A small number of applications received would also have been withdrawn by the applicant.
2. This data is based on Management Information and as such has not been quality assured. It is provisional and subject to change.
Forensic Science Service
Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the budget of the Forensic Science Service (FSS) was in each financial year since 2005-06; and what the projected budget for the FSS is in 2010-11. [2282]
James Brokenshire: The Forensic Science Service is a Government owned limited company. The FSS charges its customers (mainly the police forces of England and Wales) for its services, and endeavours to manage its costs within the funds collected.
The FSS published accounts are available to the public and include the profit and loss accounts, balance sheet and cash flow statement; they do not include the FSS internal budgets which are commercially sensitive.
Identity Cards
Meg Hillier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions Ministers in her Department have had with the Identity and Passport Service on identity cards since 10 May 2010. [1241]
Damian Green: Home Office Ministers have undertaken a number of discussions with the Identity and Passport Service on identity cards and discussions continue in preparation for the Identity Documents Bill.
Meg Hillier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many identity cards had been issued to British citizens on 31 May 2010; and how many people have registered for an appointment to enrol their biometric information but not received an identity card. [1243]
Damian Green: Approximately 14,000 identity cards had been issued to British citizens by 31 May 2010.
It is not possible to give the number of people who registered for an appointment but who did not receive an identity card as the information held on the appointment booking system is not directly comparable with that held on the National Identity Register.
Meg Hillier:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the monetary value of payments which will be required to pay to companies contracted to undertake work on
identity cards, biometric technology and development of the national identity database consequent on the ending of the identity cards and national identity schemes. [1245]
Damian Green: The cost implications of terminating and amending certain National Identity Service contracts are currently a matter of commercial negotiation with suppliers, to protect taxpayers' interests. It is therefore not possible to give a breakdown of the cost of cancelling those contracts at this time.
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many residents of each (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) region have bought an identity card. [2615]
Damian Green: The Identity and Passport Service is not able to provide information relating to particular constituencies or regions for identity card applications. However, as of 14 June 2010, there have been just fewer than 15,000 identity cards issued in the United Kingdom.
Mr Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many identity cards have been issued on a voluntary basis to applicants in (a) the North West and (b) Blackpool. [2641]
Damian Green [holding answer 15 June 2010]: The Identity and Passport Service is not able to provide information relating to particular constituencies or regions for identity card applications. However, as of 14 June 2010, there have been fewer than 15,000 identity cards issued in the United Kingdom.
Illegal Immigrants
Mr Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her most recent estimate is of the number of illegal migrants in the UK; what recent research she has evaluated on this subject; and if she will make a statement. [159]
Damian Green: It is not possible to accurately quantify the number of illegal immigrants in the UK as some will deliberately evade immigration control to enter and stay in the country illegally.
I am aware of research by the London School of Economics (LSE) in May 2009 which gave a central estimate for the total irregular migrant population in the UK as at the end of 2007 of 618,000 (1.0% of UK population) within a range of 417,000 to 863,000. Estimating methodologies vary and I have noted that the LSE 2007 estimate used the estimate prepared from April 2001 census figures which gave a central figure of 430,000 (0.7% of UK population within a range of 310,000 to 570,000) as its starting point and then added further assumptions. For example it included estimates for the UK-born children of irregular migrants which were not included in the original report.
The LSE report is available to view at:
and a copy of the Home Office Research Development and Statistics report (29/05) "Sizing the unauthorised (illegal) migrant population in the United Kingdom in 2001" can be found at:
The wider immigration programme, contained in "The Coalition: our programme for government" published on 20 May, includes a commitment to support e-Borders and re-introduce entry and exit checks.
Immigration Controls
Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many annual allocations of certificates of sponsorship were requested by employers for the second year of the points-based system in respect of (a) Tier Two general and (b) Tier Two ICT. [1983]
Damian Green [holding answer 14 June 2010]: The UK Border Agency is unable to provide the information requested. The annual renewal date for allocation of certificates of sponsorship is linked to the date an individual sponsor was granted a licence and is different for each sponsor.
Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were granted permission (a) in-country and (b) overseas to work in the UK under each category of Tier One and Tier Two of the points-based system in 2009; and how many associated dependants there were of people in each category. [1984]
Damian Green [holding answer 14 June 2010]: The available information relates to Tier 1 and Tier 2 visas issued overseas to main applicants and their dependants and in-country grants of leave to remain to Tier 1 and Tier 2 main applicants. This information is published in Tables 1.1 and 4.1 in the Control of Immigration: Quarterly Statistical Summary, United Kingdom, January-March 2010 which is available in the Library of the House and the Home Office's Research, Development and Statistics website at:
Statistics on in-country grants of leave to remain to dependants for 2009 are due to be published on 26 August in the April-June 2010 Quarterly Statistical Summary.
Immigration: Bexley
Mr Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for leave to remain were received from those resident in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency and (b) the London borough of Bexley in the last 12 months. [1893]
Damian Green: The following tables shows the number of leave to remain applications received from addresses in Bexleyheath, Crayford and the London borough of Bexley between 1 June 2009 and 31 April 2010.
| Leave to remain applications received for Bexleyheath and Crayford 1 June 2009 to 31 April 2010 | |
| Number of applications | |
| Leave to remain applications received for the London borough of Bexley 1 June 2009 to 31 April 2010 | |
| Number of applications | |
| Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest five. Data relates to main applicants only and does not include dependants. | |
The figures quoted are not provided under National Statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.
Immigration: Gurkhas
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the English language requirement for those wishing to settle in the UK will apply to former members of the Brigade of Gurkhas. [2645]
Damian Green [holding answer 15 June 2010]: Former members of the Brigade of Gurkhas and their dependants who apply for settlement under the concession introduced in May 2009 are not required to demonstrate language ability as part of the application process.
The recent announcement by the Home Secretary on 9 June 2010 proposed new language requirements for those seeking entry to the UK as either a spouse or civil partner, fiancé or proposed civil partner, unmarried partner or same sex partner of a British citizen or someone who is present and settled in the UK.
Former members of the Brigade of Gurkhas will continue to be exempt from the language requirement when applying under the concession. The impact of the Home Secretary's recent proposals on the dependants of settled Gurkhas is yet to be finalised.
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many former members of the Brigade of Gurkhas have chosen to settle in the UK since the change in the immigration rules; and at what cost to the public purse. [2646]
Damian Green [holding answer 15 June 2010]: Since the new policy was announced in May 2009, the UK Border Agency has issued 2610 settlement visas to pre-1997 discharged ex-Gurkhas who previously would not have qualified. The agency does not hold information on how many of those have actually settled here. Statistics are not routinely collected of the annual cost of welfare payments for Gurkhas who choose to settle in the UK upon discharge. However, in terms of estimates, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given in the House of Lords by Lord West of Spithead on 10 December 2009, Official Report , House of Lords, column WA155.
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