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25 Oct 2010 : Column 66W—continued
Human Trafficking
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the UK Border Agency works together with (a) police officers and (b) local authorities to identify individuals who may have been trafficked. [19474]
Damian Green: The UK Border Agency (UKBA) works together with police officers and local authorities within the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). The NRM is designed to make it easier for all the different agencies that could be involved in a trafficking case such as the police and local authorities to co-operate; to share information about potential victims and facilitate their access to advice, accommodation and support. The NRM Strategic Monitoring Group, which includes local authority and law enforcement representatives, oversees the NRM and looks to resolve issues as they arise.
Detailed trafficking guidance that highlights the importance of working with the police and local authorities has been issued to all UKBA staff:
Guidance for Competent Authorities available at:
Guidance for front-line staff available at:
UKBA also has strong regional partnership arrangements in place. Regional immigration crime teams, for example, are comprised of both UKBA staff and seconded police officers. The agency also has local immigration teams across the country that work alongside the police, HM Revenue and Customs, local authorities and other local partners to ensure compliance with, and enforce, our immigration laws.
Immigration
Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 14 October 2010, Official Report, column 403W, on immigration, from what countries of origin those people normally resident in the Peterborough City Council area who (a) applied for and (b) were granted indefinite leave to remain. [19104]
Damian Green: All the data requested have been placed in the Library.
The UK Border Agency is unable to provide definitive data on the applicants address at the time of application. The information provided is therefore the applicants last known address.
The data in the Library list applications made for indefinite leave from April 2009 to March 2010 for applicants living in the Peterborough city council area.
This is internal management information and is subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.
Immigration: Agriculture
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she has made an assessment of the likely effects of her Department's cap on immigration on the number of (a) farmers, (b) directors, (c) partners and (d) spouses in each agricultural sector in 2010-11. [18496]
Damian Green: The Government's consultation on the introduction of an annual limit on those admitted to work in the UK from outside the European closed in September. The Government will bring forward their proposals in due course. The Government will publish a full impact assessment when their proposals are announced.
Immigration: Kettering
Mr Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applicants for indefinite leave to remain in the UK had their last known address in (a) the borough of Kettering and (b) Northamptonshire in the latest period for which figures are available; how many such applicants were successful and of which nationalities the applicants were. [18582]
Damian Green [holding answer 21 October 2010]: The UK Border Agency is unable to provide definitive data on the applicants address at the time of application. The information provided is therefore the applicants last known address.
The following table lists applications made for indefinite leave from April 9 to March 10 for applicants living in the borough of Kettering and in Northamptonshire. It also shows the number of these applicants that were subsequently granted.
| 2009 | 2010 | ||||||||||||
| Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | De c | Jan | Feb | March | Total | |
This is internal management information and is subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.
A full breakdown of the above by nationality can be found in the Library (supplied in Annex A, B, C and D of background note).
Immigration: Law
Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate her Department has made of the cost to businesses of familiarisation with provisions of immigration law. [18930]
Damian Green: No estimate has been made of the general costs faced by the private sector in familiarising itself with immigration law. However, whenever there is a significant change in immigration law, the costs of familiarisation associated with that change are estimated. For example, the impact assessment for the introduction of interim limits on migration (IA No: HO0007 published on 28 June 2010) presented an estimate of £60,000 for a one-off cost to the private sector. This estimate was based on the costs of time taken by regulated private sector advisers to familiarise themselves with the changes.
Immigration: Overseas Students
Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects the review of the points-based immigration system as it relates to overseas students to be completed; and if she will make a statement. [19088]
Damian Green: The Government are reviewing all migration routes to the UK and expect to announce any changes to the system in due course.
Internet
Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to implement her Department's proposals to end the storage of internet and email records without good reason. [18268]
Nick Herbert [holding answer 19 October 2010]: As part of the Strategic Defence and Security Review, the Government have confirmed that preserving the ability of the security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies to obtain communication data in accordance with law is vital to the work these agencies do to protect the public. The reasons they may require the disclosure of such data, subject to strict safeguards, include safeguarding national security and for purposes including preventing and detecting crime and, in an emergency, preventing death and injury. Communications data transaction records are generated, processed and retained by communications service providers in the course of their business. By notice under regulations, service providers may be required to retain securely specific data for 12 months where those data are not otherwise retained. The Government will not require any unnecessary or disproportionate retention of data under the regulations and will ensure that our response to changing technology is compatible with the Government's approach to information storage and civil liberties.
Investigatory Powers Tribunal
Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will bring forward proposals to create a right of appeal in respect of the rulings of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal. [18021]
Nick Herbert: The Government consider that the tribunal acts as a quasi court of appeal in respect of the remit set out for it in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, and therefore is not considering proposals to create a right of appeal in respect of its rulings.
For example, the tribunal has wide jurisdiction to consider complaints regarding the use of interception powers and as regards the interception of communications to investigate whether the persons against whom a complainant makes allegations have intercepted communications of the complainant and to investigate the authority for any interceptions that are found to have occurred. A claim may be based on an allegation that a convention right has been violated or on other public law grounds.
Further, a claim can be brought against any of the intelligence services in relation to their use or handling of any intercepted material, whether by reference to the convention or on other public law grounds. The tribunal has extensive powers to require the disclosure or provision of documents and information.
Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will bring forward proposals to establish further accountability mechanisms in respect of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal. [18022]
Nick Herbert: The Government consider that the tribunal itself provides an oversight role in respect of the use of certain powers defined in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 by the intelligence services; and therefore there is no need to establish further accountability mechanisms for it.
In support of these powers, members of the tribunal must either hold or have held high judicial office, or be a qualified lawyer of at least 10 years' standing. The president of the tribunal must hold or have held high judicial office. The tribunal has extensive powers to require the disclosure or provision of documents and information. Further, when investigating or considering any claim, the tribunal may require the Interception of Communications Commissioner to provide "all such assistance" as it thinks fit. And finally, the tribunal has power to award compensation and to make such other orders as it thinks fit including orders quashing or cancelling any warrant and orders requiring the destruction of any records of information which has been obtained in exercise of any power conferred by a warrant. If a claim is successful, the tribunal is required to make a report of its findings to the Prime Minister.
Khat
Ms Gisela Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 13 October 2010, Official Report, column 304W, on khat, whether her Department has undertaken a breakdown of the use of khat by ethnic origin of users. [18550]
James Brokenshire: The preliminary findings on the level of khat use from the British Crime Survey are based on only six months data and as such it is not possible to provide a robust breakdown of estimates of khat use by ethnic origin.
Passports: Islamabad
Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passports are being held at the embassy in (a) Islamabad and (b) Abu Dhabi pending return to visa applicants. [17729]
Damian Green
[holding answer 18 October 2010]: I am pleased to report that the Pakistan visa operation has performed well throughout this summer, with the
majority of applications being processed within UK Border Agency customer service standards.
The UK Border Agency aims to process 90% of non-settlement applications within 15 working days, 98% within six weeks and 100% within 12 weeks. For settlement applications, the target is to process 95% within 12 weeks and 100% within 24 weeks. Actual processing times for applications resolved during August that were lodged, for example, at the visa application centre in Islamabad, are shown in the following table. The most popular types of visa application are included in the table. Details of processing times for other categories of application, and for processing times for applications lodged at the other visa application centres in Pakistan, can be found on the following website:
| Percentage | ||||
| Processing time | ||||
| weeks | ||||
| Application type | 15 (days) | 6 | 12 | 24 |
As of 14 October, the Islamabad operation has 715 live applications for non-settlement UK visas pending decision and 3,236 in respect of settlement applications, while the Abu Dhabi operation has 1,958 live applications for UK visas pending decision. The figure for Abu Dhabi includes 393 passports held pending the processing of applications from the Gulf.
This information is based on management information. It is provisional and subject to change.
Police: Arrests
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many arrests have been made under section 14 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 (a) nationally and (b) by each police force since April 2010. [19473]
Nick Herbert: The information requested on arrests is not collected centrally.
The arrests collection held by the Home Office covers arrests for recorded crime (notifiable offences) only, broken down at a main offence group level, covering categories such as violence against the person and robbery. The data reported to the Home Office cannot be broken down into specific offences.
Information on arrests in 2010-11 is planned for publication in March 2011.
Police: Bassetlaw
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there were in Bassetlaw (a) on the latest date for which figures are available and (b) in 2007. [19106]
Nick Herbert: Police personnel statistics are not collected by the Home Office by parliamentary constituency. The Bassetlaw, Newark and Sherwood (B) Division had 292 police officers on 31 March 2010 and 267 police officers on 31 March 2007.
Police: Compensation
Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much compensation has been paid to people whose properties were wrongly forcibly entered by the police in each of the last three years (a) nationally and (b) in Milton Keynes. [19119]
Nick Herbert: Chief police officers are responsible for the exercise of policing powers by their officers and for the management of the budgets for their individual forces. The information on compensation payments is not collected centrally.
Police: Dorset
Conor Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding per head of population was allocated to Dorset Police Authority for the financial year (a) 2010-11 and (b) 1996-97. [19071]
Nick Herbert: The information available is set out in the following table.
The Government do not distribute grant to police authorities on a per capita basis. The police funding formula used includes data relating to demographic and social characteristics to reflect the relative needs of each police authority area. Police grants allocated by the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Welsh Assembly Government also take into account the relative tax base of each police authority. Grant allocations in 2010-11 were damped to limit year-on-year variations.
| Dorset police authority total grant funding 1996-97 and 2010-11 | ||||
| Police authority | Total grant funding 1996-97( 1) (£ million) | Resident population 1996-97( 2) | Total grant funding 2010-11( 3) (£ million) | Resident population 2010( 4) |
| (1) Total grant funding comprises: general grant (Home Office police grant and Communities and Local Government revenue support grant and national non-domestic rates) and capital provision. (2) The mid 1996 population estimates are based on the 1991 census. ONS have published a back series for the same period, aligned to the 2001 census. (3 )Total grant funding comprises; general grant (Home Office police grant and Communities and Local Government revenue support grant and national non-domestic rates) and specific grants include crime fighting fund, neighbourhood policing fund/community support officers, basic command unit fund and rule 2 grant, Welsh top-up and capital provision. (4 )The population figures used in the 2010 settlement were 2004-based sub-national projections. Note: Under the terms of the neighbourhood policing fund, forces that do not employ the agreed number of PCSOs will have some money deducted from their budget the following year. Sources: Grant figures-Home Office Population data-ONS | ||||
Police: Equipment
Mr Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will take steps to increase the use of body-worn video and camera equipment by police officers. [19035]
Nick Herbert: Body-worn video and camera equipment is one of a number of tools that can make a contribution to fighting crime and antisocial behaviour. However, decisions on the deployment and use of such equipment are operational matters for chief officers based on their assessment of the policing requirements of their respective forces.
Police: Finance
Conor Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding was allocated to each police authority area for the financial year (a) 2010-11 and (b) 1996-97. [19070]
Nick Herbert: The information requested is set out in the following table:
Police: Pay
Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what payments to the (a) current and (b) previous chief constable of Essex police (i) have been made during each of the last three years and (ii) are planned for each of the next two years. [15709]
Nick Herbert: Chief officers' pay and benefits are negotiated nationally through the Police Negotiating Board and provisions for these are contained in the 2003 Police Regulations and Determinations. It is for the police authority to determine payments other than salary to the chief constable, in accordance with legislative requirements. Information about these payments is held by police authorities and is not held centrally by the Home Office.
The salary for the chief constable of Essex police for each of the last three years is shown in the following table.
The Government's policy is to freeze the pay of public sector workers earning over £21,000 for two years. We would expect this to apply to police officers, but future decisions on officers' pay will take account of
the review of remuneration and conditions of service and any recommendations from the Police Negotiating Board.
The salary for the chief constable of Essex police for each of the last three years is shown in the following table:
| Chief constable salary | |
| £ | |
Police: Sick Leave
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many days each police force lost to sickness absence (a) in total and (b) per officer in each of the last three years. [18814]
Nick Herbert: The available data are provided in the following tables which show the total contracted hours lost to sickness by police force, 2007-08 to 2009-10. Figures are provided as 'hours lost' rather than 'days lost', as days lost to sickness are not collected centrally. This provides more accurate figures as it allows for the effect of different shift lengths.
| Total contracted hours lost to sickness, by police force, 2007-08 to 2009-10( 1, 2) | ||||
| 2007-08 | ||||
| Police staff( 3) | Police officers | |||
| H ours lost | Hours lost | Number of officers | Hours lost per officer | |
| 2008-09 | ||||
| Police staff( 3) | Police officers | |||
| H ours lost | Hours lost | Number of officers | Hours lost per officer | |
Police: Working Hours
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much each police force spent on overtime (a) in total and (b) on average per officer in each of the last three years. [18866]
Nick Herbert: Information about police service expenditure, including overtime, is available on the website of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants
Two tables follow: Table 1 shows the past spend on overtime by force (split by officer and staff overtime); Table 2 calculates overtime spend by officer, based on data from Table 1 and police officer strength recorded in Home Office Annual Data Returns.
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