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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 6 January 2014
Cabinet Office
10 and 11 Downing Street
Mr Watson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) whether the occupants of the flats in (a) 10 and (b) 11 Downing street contribute to a reserve fund to help cover unexpected maintenance and repair costs; [181720]
(2) whether his Department provides (a) building and (b) content insurance in respect of chattels not owned by HM Government for the flats in (a) 10 and (b) 11 Downing street; [181721]
(3) if he will publish a copy of the lease agreements between his Department and the occupants of the flats in (a) 10 and (b) 11 Downing street; [181732]
(4) what level of service charge the (a) Prime Minister and (b) Chancellor of the Exchequer have contributed for usage of the flats in (i) 10 and (ii) 11 Downing street in each year since May 2010; [181733]
(5) how the service charge for the flats in (a) 10 Downing street and (b) 11 Downing street is calculated; and how the revenue from that charge was spent by his Department in each of the last two financial years; [181734]
(6) whether his Department charges ground rent for the use of the flats in (a) 10 and (b) 11 Downing street. [181735]
Mr Maude: As was the case under the previous Administration, the Ministerial Code sets out any personal liabilities when allocated an official residence.
As was also the case under the previous Administration, the Cabinet Office does not provide insurance for personal contents within the official residence.
No. 10 and No. 11 have long been the official residences of the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer and there have been no lease agreements in this time.
Brain Cancer
Jim Shannon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people have survived brain cancer in each of the last three years. [180978]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
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Letter from Glen Watson, dated December 2013:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking the Secretary of State for Health how many people have survived brain cancer in each of the last three years. [180978],
ONS publish one-year and five-year cancer survival estimates for adults aged 15-99. Survival is calculated from the date of diagnosis.
The latest estimates for patients diagnosed with brain cancer in England are for patients diagnosed in 2007-2011 and followed up to 2012. These figures are presented in Table 1.
The latest published figures on cancer survival in England are available on the National Statistics website at:
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/cancer-unit/cancer-survival/index.html
| Table 1: One-year and five-year net survival (%)1, with 95% confidence intervals2, for patients (aged 15-99 years)3 diagnosed with brain cancer4 during 2007-2011: England | |||||||
| One-year survival | Five-year survival | ||||||
| Number of patients | % | 95%CI | % | 95%CI | |||
| 1 Net survival is an estimate of the probability of survival from the cancer alone. It can be interpreted as the survival of cancer patients after taking into account the background mortality that the patients would have experienced if they had not had cancer. 2 A 95% confidence interval is a measure of the uncertainty around an estimate. It provides a range around the estimated value within which we have a 95 per cent level of confidence that the true value for the population is likely to fall. 3 All adults (aged 15-99 years) in England who were diagnosed during 2007-2011 with an invasive, primary, malignant neoplasm were eligible for analysis. Ineligible patients were those whose tumour was benign (not malignant) or in situ (malignant but not invasive) or of uncertain, behaviour (uncertain whether benign or malignant), or for which the organ of origin was unknown. 4 Brain cancer is coded as C71 in the International Classification of Diseases; Tenth Revision (ICD-10). | |||||||
Cancer: Children
Jim Shannon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many children have been diagnosed with cancer in each of the last three years. [180977]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Glen Watson, dated December 2013:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking the Secretary of State for Health how many children have been diagnosed with cancer in each of the last three years. [180977]
Table 1 provides the number of newly diagnosed cases of cancer in children aged 0-14 years in England for each year from 2009 to 2011 (the latest year available).
The latest published figures on cancer incidence in England are available on the National Statistics website at:
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-302299
| Table 1: Number of newly diagnosed cases of cancer in children,1 England, 2003-112, 3 | ||||||
| Year | ||||||
| ICD-10 Code | Site description | Sex | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | |
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| 1 Children aged 0 to 14. 2 Newly diagnosed cases in each calendar year. 3 Excludes non-residents. 4 Excluding non-melanoma skin cancer (C44). | ||||||
Employment: Medway
Rehman Chishti: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people in Medway local authority area have entered the workforce for the first time since May 2010; and how many were (a) aged 16 to 24 years old, (b) women and (c) from an ethnic minority. [180819]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Medway local authority area have entered the workforce for the first time since May 2010; and how many were (a) aged 16 to 24, (b) women and (c) from an ethnic minority. (180819)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles labour market statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS). However, this source does not provide information on whether those people who have entered employment have done so for the first time.
National and local area estimates for many other labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count at local level are available on the NOMIS website at:
http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
Immigration
Mr Hanson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate she has made of the number of (a) Romanian and (b) Bulgarian passport holders in the UK on 19 December 2013. [181831]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to respond to your Parliamentary Question to ask the Minister for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of (a) Romanian and (b) Bulgarian passport holders in the UK on 19 December 2013 [181831].
The latest estimates that are available for the number of Romanian and Bulgarian nationals resident in the UK are derived from the Annual Population Survey for the 12 month period of January to December 2012. The estimated number of Romanian nationals was 102,000, with a corresponding margin of error of +/-14,000. The estimated number of Bulgarian nationals was 53,000 with a corresponding margin of error of +/-10,000.
The margin of error refers to the 95 per cent confidence interval and is a measure of the uncertainty associated with making inferences from a sample.
Iraq Committee of Inquiry
Mr Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) what proportion of the working time of officials in his Department has been dedicated to the Iraq Inquiry since 1 January 2013; [180755]
(2) when he expects the next progress report from the Chilcot Inquiry on Iraq to be published. [180756]
Mr Maude: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Southend West (Mr Amess), on 11 December 2013, Official Report, column 252W.
The Inquiry is independent of Government, and the completion of its report is a matter for the Inquiry Committee. Sir John Chilcot wrote to the Prime Minister on 4 November to inform him of the Inquiry's progress. Sir John's letter, and the Prime Minister’s reply, can be seen on the Iraq Inquiry website:
www.iraqinquiry.org.uk/news/update_on_inquiry_progress_-_november_2013.aspx
Kidneys: Diseases
Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many cases of mortality in (a) Bolton South East constituency, (b) Bolton, (c) Greater Manchester and (d) England have been due to (i) acute and (ii) chronic kidney disease in the last five years. [180702]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Glen Watson, dated December 2013:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many cases of mortality in (a) Bolton South East constituency, (b) Bolton, (c) Greater Manchester and (d) England have been due to (i) acute and (ii) chronic kidney disease in the last five years. [180702]
Table 1 provides the number of deaths where (i) acute, (ii) chronic, (iii) other or unspecified kidney disease was the underlying cause of death in (a) Bolton South East constituency, (b) Bolton metropolitan borough, (c) Greater Manchester metropolitan county and (d) England, for deaths registered between 2008 and 2012 (the latest year available).
The number of deaths registered in England and Wales each year by sex, age, cause, marital status, and place of death are published annually on the National Statistics website at:
www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/all-releases.html?definition =tcm%3A77-27475
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| Table 1. Number of deaths where the underlying cause of death was (i) acute, (ii) chronic, (iii) other or unspecified kidney disease in (a) Bolton South East parliamentary constituency, (b) Bolton metropolitan borough, (c) Greater Manchester metropolitan county, (d) England, deaths registered between 2008 and 20121, 2, 3 | |||
| Deaths | |||
| Kidney disease | |||
| Acute | Chronic | Other or unspecified | |
| 1 Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). The specific causes of death categorised in this table, and their corresponding ICD codes, are shown in Box 1. 2 Figures exclude deaths of non-residents and are based on boundaries at November 2013. 3 Figures are based on deaths registered, rather than deaths occurring in the years 2008-2012. Further information on registration delays for a range of causes can be found on the ONS website: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/user-guidance/health-and-life-events/impact-of-registration-delays-on-mortality-statistics/index.html | |||
| Box 1-International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes used to define acute, chronic and other or unspecified kidney disease | |
| Cause | ICD 10 code(s) |
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 15 November 2013 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Rayne Myrick. [181850]
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Mr Maude: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 December 2013.
Mesothelioma
Lindsay Roy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what his most recent estimate is of the number of people who will die from mesothelioma in the next 30 years. [181817]
Mike Penning: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.
Based on the latest projections of annual mesothelioma deaths, the best estimate is there will be around 60,000 mesothelioma deaths in Great Britain over the 30-year period 2012-41.
The statistical model suggests an uncertainty range of 55,000 to 65,000 deaths on that estimate. However, the true uncertainty range may be wider as longer-range predictions are reliant on assumptions about asbestos exposures that cannot currently be fully validated.
A Bill is currently before Parliament to establish a scheme to make payments, averaging £115,000 before benefit recovery, to approximately 300 mesothelioma sufferers and their dependants annually, who would otherwise be unable to obtain the compensation they deserve.
Unemployment: Young People
Mr McKenzie: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the current level of youth unemployment on the west coast of Scotland is. [181053]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Joe Grice, dated January 2014:
On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the current level of youth unemployment on the west coast of Scotland is. (181053)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles unemployment statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions.
The number of 16 to 24 year olds who were unemployed on the west coast of Scotland is 10,000, for the latest period available. We have defined the west coast of Scotland to include Dumfries and Galloway, Eilean Siar, Highland, Argyll and Bute, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire. These estimates are compiled from APS interviews held during the period July 2012 to June 2013.
As with any sample survey, estimates from the APS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. The above estimate has a Coefficient of Variation (CV) in the range of 10 to 20%. The CV indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV.
National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at
http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
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Universal Credit
Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when he has met the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to discuss the development of the universal credit programme. [181234]
Mr Maude: As was the case under previous administrations details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
Deputy Prime Minister
Local Enterprise Partnerships: Yorkshire and the Humber
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what discussions he has had with the North and East Yorkshire and York Local Enterprise Partnership about devolving powers and responsibilities from Whitehall. [181904]
The Deputy Prime Minister: I have had no personal meetings with the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Local Enterprise Partnership about devolving powers and responsibilities from Whitehall.
Northern Ireland
Historical Enquiries Team
Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many staff have been recruited to work for or with the Historical Enquiries Team in the last 12 months; and what the community background is of those who (a) applied for and (b) were recruited to such posts in that time. [181178]
Mrs Villiers: Responsibility for the staffing of the Historical Enquiries Team lies with the Chief Constable.
International Development
Africa
Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many times she or her Ministers have visited (a) TradeMark Southern Africa and (b) TradeMark East Africa projects to date. [181264]
Justine Greening: Gareth Thomas, the then Minister of State for International Development, attended a meeting in South Africa in 2009 where TradeMark Southern Africa (TMSA) projects featured on the agenda. The former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development Stephen O'Brien visited TMSA in June 2011. In November 2013, the Secretary of State visited a TradeMark East Africa project at Dar es Salaam port in Tanzania.
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Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what information her Department holds on how much of (a) TradeMark Southern Africa and (b) TradeMark East Africa funding is in a trust fund. [181265]
Justine Greening: As I set out in my ministerial statement of 4 December, Official Report, column 58WS, there were serious flaws in the governance and programme management of the TradeMark Southern Africa (TMSA) programme, which was designed and established between 2007-9. I have now given notice to commence shutting down TMSA with immediate effect. £67 million of funds deposited in 2010 have been only partly committed. The remaining uncommitted funds, approximately £44 million, will now be reclaimed by HMG.
No TradeMark East Africa funding is held in a trust fund.
Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many times she or her Ministers discussed TradeMark Southern Africa between April 2013 and October 2013. [181266]
Justine Greening: Ministers discussed a wide-range of policy matters with officials. Ministers saw the draft ICAI report in late October 2013.
Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what mechanism her Department has put in place to assess and demonstrate the effect of (a) TradeMark Southern Africa and (b) TradeMark East Africa on people in poverty. [181267]
Justine Greening: TradeMark Southern Africa was not properly designed or set up to take adequate account of the channels through which poor people can benefit. The evaluation plan for TradeMark East Africa will ensure that there will be proper analysis of the programme's impact on poverty reduction.
Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when she of her Ministers were first informed of the problems uncovered by ICAI with the TradeMark Southern Africa project. [181268]
Justine Greening: Ministers saw the draft ICAI report in late October 2013.
Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many (a) meetings, (b) telephone calls, (c) letters and (d) other forms of communication (i) she and (ii) Ministers have had with TradeMark East Africa in each of the last 12 months. [181693]
Justine Greening: TradeMark East Africa staff met with DFID Ministers and officials on various occasions in 2013.
Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much money she personally approved for the TradeMark East Africa project. [181694]
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Justine Greening: All business cases over £5 million are now approved by Ministers. Under the previous Government, Ministers did not routinely approve business cases under £40 million. DFID approvals for funding are available on the DFID website:
http://devtracker.dfid.gov.uk
Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which countries have received support from the TradeMark East Africa project. [181695]
Justine Greening: TradeMark East Africa provides support to Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania and South Sudan.
Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps she has taken to review the culture and practices of TradeMark East Africa in the last 12 months. [181696]
Justine Greening: I informed the House of Commons on 4 December 2013 of new measures to strengthen DFID's programme management to ensure that underperforming programmes are effectively reported and remedial steps can be taken when programmes are failing to deliver. Programmes with significant weakness that fail to improve significantly will be considered for closure. In addition, I am expanding DFID's internal audit capability and the frequency of reviews.
Developing Countries: Forests
Mr Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the role of national parliaments and legislators in preparing and implementing REDD+ strategies in developing countries. [180870]
Lynne Featherstone: In 2010-11, DFID supported the Global Legislators Organisation (GLOBE) to work with legislators in forest nations and increase their involvement in preparing and implementing national REDD+ strategies.
Mr Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much her Department has provided to (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral funds that have subsequently been used to support capacity building and strengthened governance in national Parliaments and the development of national legislation as part of the preparation and implementation of REDD+ strategies in developing countries. [180872]
Lynne Featherstone: DFID is not currently providing bilateral or multilateral support to national Parliaments for the development of national legislation as part of the preparation and implementation of strategies to reduce deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+).
Mr Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions she has had with her counterparts in other donor countries on allocating a proportion of all multilateral REDD+ funds to support strengthened governance in national Parliaments and the development of national legislation as part of the preparation and implementation of REDD+ strategies in developing countries. [180873]
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Lynne Featherstone: Ministers have wide-ranging discussions with their counterparts on governance in developing countries. Multilateral REDD+ funds work in developing countries with a wide range of stakeholders, and in principle have the potential to support national parliaments and the development of national legislation in the programmes which they support.
Mr Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations the UK representative to the Global Environment Facility has made of the need for that body to focus on capacity building in national Parliaments and the development of national legislation as part of the preparation and implementation of REDD+ strategies in developing countries. [181805]
Lynne Featherstone: The UK continues to prioritise capacity building for sustainable forest management as a key feature of the Global Environment Facility sixth replenishment for the period 2014-18. The Global Environment Facility supports integrated approaches to tackle the drivers of deforestation to secure a range of benefits, but is not specifically designed for Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) per se.
The UK provides support to tackle different aspects of sustainable forest management through specialist institutions, including the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), which helps countries implement their Readiness Preparation Proposals.
Fraud
Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development with reference to paragraph 7.1 of Treasury Minute, on the twenty-sixth Report from the Committee on Public Accounts, Session 2012-13, Cm 8613, published in May 2013, when he plans to publish details of detected fraud on a country-by-country basis. [182040]
Mr Duncan: DFID plans to publish details of detected fraud on a country-by-country basis in its Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14. These will be available in June 2014.
Palestinians
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the effect of restrictions on access into and out of Gaza is on the international response to the floods in Gaza. [180827]
Mr Duncan: The UK Government continue to press Israel to ease restrictions on access to Gaza. We are particularly concerned by the limitations on the import of construction materials given the damage to key infrastructure, roads and houses caused by recent severe weather. The reduction in trade through the illegal tunnels has also caused severe shortages of fuel, contributing to power shortages and worsening the humanitarian situation.
Richard Burden:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development at the meeting between co-ordination of Government Activities in the territories
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and international donors and diplomats on 14 December 2013 to discuss measures to address the current crisis in the Gaza strip, what contribution the government of Israel
(a)
offered and
(b)
requested from the international community. [180828]
Mr Duncan: UN and humanitarian agencies have reported good co-ordination with the Israeli authorities in response to the situation in Gaza. At the meeting of 14 December the Co-ordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) outlined the actions they had taken in response: a loan of four water pumps for use in the Gaza strip, and an extension of opening times at the Kerem Shalom crossing by three hours to allow further fuel to enter and the repair of a number of power lines into Gaza which had been damaged by the storms.
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to address the deficiencies identified by the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the international response to the serious flooding in Gaza last week. [180829]
Mr Duncan: We have been on close contact with the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs over the past week. These contacts suggest that existing emergency response mechanisms are working adequately to address the needs in Gaza. We will continue to support our UN partners and monitor any changes in the situation closely.
Syria
Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent progress her Department has made in sending further humanitarian aid to Syria. [180791]
Justine Greening: To date DFID has committed £500 million to the humanitarian response in Syria. Recently, we allocated nearly £60 million of this to partners working in Syria and the region to help hundreds of thousands of Syrians, especially children, cope with the onset of winter. This funding will provide winter tents, warm clothing, heaters, fuel and insulation kits for displaced families living in collective shelters and abandoned or damaged buildings.
Attorney-General
Tickets: Fraud
Stephen Barclay: To ask the Attorney-General if his Department will publish a breakdown for each of the years available of (a) suspected fraud prosecutions and (b) confirmed fraud prosecutions pertaining to ticketing crime, broken down by (i) internet and (ii) physical ticketing fraud. [181814]
The Solicitor-General:
The Serious Fraud Office has investigated and prosecuted one recent case of ticketing crime relating to the 2012 Olympic Games. This resulted
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in three individuals being convicted of offences including fraudulent trading and money laundering. Two other individuals were acquitted.
The Crown Prosecution Service does not maintain any centrally held data that would enable the separate identification of prosecutions for fraud, or the type of fraudulent activity. To obtain this information would require a manual exercise of reviewing individual case files to be undertaken at a disproportionate cost.
Some limited information, identifying the number of offences of selling tickets by unauthorised persons (ticket touts), in which a prosecution commenced and reached a first hearing in magistrates courts, is available. A single defendant may be prosecuted for multiple offences.
Ticketing crime offences are prosecuted by way of Section 166 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (selling or otherwise disposing of a ticket for a designated football match). The following table shows the number of these offences which were charged and reached a first hearing in each of the last five years:
| Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 { 166(1) and (3)} | |
| Number | |
It is not possible to disaggregate these figures to show separately the number of ticketing crime offences relating to frauds committed via the internet as opposed to physical ticketing fraud without incurring a disproportionate cost. To obtain this information would require a manual exercise of reviewing individual case files which would incur a disproportionate cost.
Defence
Chief of Defence Materiel
Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the current Chief of Defence Materiel will continue is his capacity in addition to his new role as Chief Executive of DE&S+. [181271]
Mr Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 18 December 2013, Official Report, column 636W, to the hon. Member for Plymouth, Moor View (Alison Seabeck).
Defence Equipment and Support
Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the financial savings that would be achieved over a 10 year period from (a) the Defence Equipment and Support plus model and (b) a government-owned, contractor-operated entity. [180231]
Dr Murrison:
The 2009 Gray Report indentified around £1.5 billion of annual frictional costs, which the Materiel Strategy was developed to address. As the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) set out in July 2012, the GoCo and DE&S + models were both
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expected to yield significant savings, but precise estimates are not available due to the early termination of the commercial competition.
Defence: Procurement
Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answers of 4 December 2013 to the hon. Member for Moray, Official Report, column 674W, and of 25 November 2013 to the hon. Member for Poole, Official Report, columns 36-7W, on defence: procurement, how much defence procurement expenditure was placed with small and medium-sized enterprises with a billing address in each of the English regions and in the other constituent parts of the UK in the last three financial years. [180821]
Mr Dunne: Details of overall Ministry of Defence expenditure with small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) are available at the following link:
http://www.dasa.mod.uk/index.php/publications/finance-and-economics/MOD-contracting-with-small-and-medium-sized-enterprises/financial-year-2012-13
A breakdown of SME expenditure by UK region is not, however, routinely produced as part of this publication. This information will take additional time to collate and I will write to the hon. Member shortly.
Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence by what date will DE&S+ will be match-fit to undertake procurement for his Department. [181261]
Dr Murrison: As the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), set out in his oral statement to the House on 10 December 2013, Official Report, columns 146-148, the intent is to ensure that Defence Equipment and Support has undergone sufficient transformation in terms of structure, skills and processes such that it is able to deliver its outputs much more effectively and efficiently than it does today. We have seen improvements in recent years but we need to maintain focus on continuing those improvements; we believe that the plans set out on 10 December are the best means by which to achieve that.
Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what condition would have to be met for a GoCo proposal to be considered for Defence procurement in the future. [181270]
Dr Murrison: No specific conditions have been set for consideration of a future GoCo. We will need to assess the maturity of both the market and Defence Equipment and Support as an organisation once we have established the bespoke trading entity and benefited from private sector support outlined in the announcement, to transform specific areas of business.
France
Sir Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what level of help, support and co-operation the UK armed forces have provided to the French intervention in the Central African Republic; and what plans he has for Franco-British military co-operation in the near future in the framework of the Lancaster House Treaties. [181341]
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Mr Francois: In response to a request from the French President, the Royal Air Force has undertaken three return flights by CI7 transport aircraft to help move French forces' equipment to Bangui in support of their intervention in the Central African Republic. Franco-British military co-operation in the framework of the Lancaster House Treaties continues to deliver steady progress towards our shared objectives including the ability, by 2016, to field a Combined Joint Expeditionary Force, supporting each other in operations, co-ordinating our activities in the development and acquisition of a range of capabilities, ensuring our support for action in the UN, NATO and the EU and ensuring the viability and safety of our national deterrents.
Mali
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what support his Department gave to French military operations in Mali; and if he will make a statement. [181062]
Mr Francois: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 18 November 2013, Official Report, columns 699-700W, to the hon. Member for York Central (Hugh Bayley).
Military Bases: Scotland
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many personnel stationed at (a) RAF Lossiemouth and (b) RAF Leuchars have stated Moray or Fife in their first and second joint personnel administration preferences. [180856]
Anna Soubry: Individuals are able to select either Fife or Grampian (which includes Moray), as location preferences.
The information requested can be found in the following table:
| Fife | Grampian | |
| 1 Not including individual augmentees deployed overseas | ||
Military Bases: Yorkshire and the Humber
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 16 December 2013, Official Report, columns 480-81W, on military bases: Yorkshire and the Humber, what communications by letter or email (a) his Department and (b) the office of the Chief of the Defence Staff have received from personnel within 15 Brigade Headquarters about the case for basing the new Adaptive Force Brigade Headquarters in (i) Catterick and (ii) York; and if he will place copies of those letters and emails in the Library. [181170]
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Dr Murrison: Officials are checking whether any relevant communications on this matter have been received and I will write to the hon. Member as soon as possible.
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 16 December 2013, Official Report, columns 480-1W, on military bases: Yorkshire and the Humber, if, before his Department decides where to base the new Adaptive Force Brigade Headquarters in Yorkshire, he will obtain comparative estimates of the (a) premises, (b) IT systems and (c) personnel, including redundancy and staff travel, costs of establishing the Headquarters in (i) Catterick and (ii) York; and if he will publish such information about the comparative costs as part of the business case for the Headquarters to be published in February/March 2014. [181171]
Dr Murrison: As the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), announced on 5 March 2013, Official Report, column 845, the Army 2020 basing plan will allow the Army to generate its military capability in the optimal way. The focus will be on increasing consolidation around seven centres, including Catterick in the north-east of England. As a consequence Headquarters 15 (North East) Brigade will merge with Headquarters 4 Mechanised Brigade by 1 December 2014 to form Headquarters 4 Infantry Brigade and Headquarters North East, based in Catterick.
Reserve Forces
Mr McKenzie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what support his Department provides to employers to assist employees who are army reservists; and how their skills will enhance the employer's company. [181698][Official Report, 14 January 2014, Vol. 573, c. 8MC.]
Anna Soubry: SaBRE-Supporting Britain’s Reservists and Employers-is an organisation supported by the Ministry of Defence which is positioned to provide support to both reservists and employers. It maintains a website
www.sabre.mod.uk
that provides information for employers including detailed advice on the benefits of employing reservists and examples for companies of HR policies tailored to reservist employees. SaBRE also operates a telephone helpline that is available for both reservists and employers to address specific inquires. Further, each of the 13 Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Associations (RFCAs) has a Regional SaBRE Campaign Director able to provide a personal, face-to-face service for employers at a local and regional level.
In the White Paper ‘Reserves in the Future Force 2020: Valued and Valuable’ (Cm 8655) the Government pledged to improve the relationship between Defence and employers. Financial support is given to assist employers to recruit staff or to cover overtime to fill an absence left by a mobilised employee. An incentive payment of £500 per employer per month is also available to some small and medium enterprises. Under our fresh approach to the Reserves, employers will have greater awareness and predictability of when their staff may be mobilised.
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Reserve Service will benefit different employers in different ways. For some, the improved skills, experience and training of the individual reservist will be beneficial. For some, where the reservist’s military role is close to their civilian one, there will be more benefit from transferable skills.
For some companies and sectors, Reserve Service suits and supports their business models. Reserve Service might support corporate social responsibility objectives and be part of their social action plans, alongside any wider volunteering policies.
Mr Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he plans to provide an update on progress with recruitment to the Army Reserve. [181945]
Anna Soubry: The strength of the Reserve Forces is reported as part of the Quarterly Personnel Report. The last report, for the period to 30 September 2013, was released on 14 November 2013; the next report, for the period to 31 December 2013 is expected to be released in mid-February 2014.
The Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), released a written ministerial statement on 19 December 2013, Official Report, column 124WS, and a paper was placed in the Library of the House setting out the planned growth of the trained strength of the Reserve Forces, together with the enlistment targets for the next five years that will support that growth.
Mr Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date he plans to provide an update on the costs of the Future Reserves 2020 measures. [181946]
Anna Soubry: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) on 6 November 2013, Official Report, column 203W. Any update regarding the cost of the Future Reserves programme will be shown in the Department's Annual Report and Accounts.
Justice
Convictions
Sadiq Khan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were convicted of (a) burglary, (b) sexual assault, (c) grievous bodily harm, (d) rape, (e) manslaughter, (f) attempted murder, (g) forgery, (h) fraud, (i) theft of a motor vehicle, (j) theft from a person, (k) robbery, (l) sexual activity with a child under 16, (m) sexual activity with a child under 13, (n) sexual assault of a female, (o) rape of a male, (p) rape of a female, (q) sexual assault on a male, (r) child abduction, (s) abandoning children aged under two years, (t) cruelty or neglect of children, (u) wounding or other acts endangering life, (v) causing death by aggravated vehicle-taking, (w) causing death by driving while unlicensed or uninsured, (x) causing death of a child or a vulnerable person, (y) causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs, (z) manslaughter due to diminished responsibility
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(aa) causing death by reckless driving, (bb) threat or conspiracy to murder, (cc) perverting to course of justice, (dd) violent disorder, (ee) kidnapping, (ff) blackmail, (gg) intent to supply a controlled drug, (hh) possession of a controlled drug, (ii) criminal damage, (jj) arson, (kk) common assault, (ll) dangerous driving and (mm) firearms offences and received a custodial sentence of less than (i) six months and (ii) four years in 2012. [179318]
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Jeremy Wright: Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the courts, within the maximum penalty available for the offence. Since 2010, offenders are more likely to go to custody and for longer.
Data on offenders found guilty and the subset sentenced to custodial sentences for offences referred to in the question above, in England and Wales in 2012, can be viewed in the table:
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| 1 Includes offences of wounding or inflicting bodily harm (including racially aggravated) and malicious wounding or grievous bodily harm (including racially and/or religiously aggravated). 2 Includes offences grouped as ‘Causing Death by careless or inconsiderate driving’. 3 Includes offences of kidnapping, hijacking, false imprisonment, detaining and threatening to kill or injure a hostage. Note: The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice | |||||||
Domestic Visits
Mr Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which individuals and organisations (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have visited since February 2013; and when each such visit took place. [178863]
Mr Vara: All meetings with external organisations and individuals by Ministers are recorded and published on a quarterly basis on the gov.uk website, under ‘publications’. The transparency data provide a record of meetings with any groups, companies, organisations or individuals external to the Government.
Legal Aid Scheme: Family Law
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the effect of the legal aid reform on family law costs; and if he will make a statement. [180447]
Mr Vara: Impact assessments produced at the time of Royal Assent to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) set out potential costs to the family justice system as a result of our reforms. These can be found at:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/legislation/bills-and-acts/acts/legal-aid-and-sentencing-act/laspo-background-information
We continue to monitor any impacts closely as the reforms fully bed in.
The Government will be undertaking a post-implementation review of the legal aid provisions within LASPO in three to five years time, which include a review of the impact of the reforms, including on the family justice system.
Police Custody: Ethnic Groups
Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to reduce the incidence of death in custody of those from Black, Asian or ethnic minority backgrounds. [180630]
Jeremy Wright: The Government are committed to reducing all deaths in custody. All prisons are required to have procedures in place to identify, manage and support people who are at risk of harm to themselves or others, or from others. These procedures include the assessment, care in custody and teamwork (ACCT) process, which is a prisoner-centred, flexible care planning system for prisoners identified as at risk of suicide or self-harm. Prisons are also required to ensure that they have procedures in place to learn from deaths in custody to prevent future occurrences and improve local delivery of safer custody.
Staff must have regard to equality considerations in the implementation of safer custody procedures, and ensure fair and appropriate treatment of prisoners across all protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010, including race. An analysis of deaths in custody by ethnicity is included in the published Safety in Custody Statistics Bulletin, available at:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/safety-in-custody-statistics
Poverty
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many times the word ‘poverty’ has been mentioned in his Department's parliamentary answers in Session (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13. [178397]
Mr Vara: The Department does not record this information centrally and it would incur disproportionate costs to provide it, because it would require a manual trawl of each individual PQ response.
Treason Felony Act 1848
Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will make it his policy to bring forward legislative proposals to repeal section 3 of the Treason Felony Act 1848. [R] [180782]
Damian Green: We have no plans to repeal section 3 of the Treason Felony Act 1848.
Home Department
Advisory Council On the Misuse of Drugs
Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria were used for appointing members of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs; and whether any veterinary surgeons were considered as candidates for that Council. [180759]
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Norman Baker: The criteria used in the recent recruitment campaign by the Home Office for the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs members were published. No veterinary surgeons were sought or considered.
Asylum
Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers are (a) currently seeking asylum in the UK and (b) waiting to be returned to their country of origin. [180459]
Mr Harper: Information regarding asylum seekers in the UK (who have claimed post October 2006) and those subject to removal is available on the Home Office website. This forms part of our transparency agenda:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/further-key-data/
For ease, the relevant information is provided here:
| Status of applications | WIP1 as at end June 2011 | WIP as at end June 2012 | WIP as at end June 2013 |
| 1 Work in Progress | |||
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum interviews have been delayed due to difficulties in obtaining a Home Office interpreter in (a) 2011, (b) 2012 and (c) 2013 to date; and if she will make a statement. [181051]
Mr Harper: Unfortunately, we are unable to provide you with the information you have requested. This is because the Home Office's case information database (CID) does not hold data on the specific reasons for an interview being delayed. This information is only held within paper case files or in the notes field of CID, which would mean your question could be answered only through a disproportionately expensive manual case search.
Asylum: Deportation
Mr Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will reconsider the decision to deport Isa Muaza to Nigeria; and if she will make a statement. [178612]
Mr Harper: Isa Muazu, a failed asylum seeker, has now been successfully returned to Nigeria.
We consider every claim for asylum on its individual merits and he was not found to have a genuine need of protection. This was a decision that was supported by the courts. As he had no right to be in the UK, the Home Office began the complex process of removing him. Halting the removal of Mr Muazu because of his
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protest would have undermined our asylum and immigration system-and provided a dangerous incentive for others to follow suit.
Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons she has decided that Boko Haram was not a threat to the life of Mr Isa Muaza. [178930]
Mr Harper: Mr Muazu’s asylum application was considered on its individual merits. On the basis of all evidence presented, his claim was refused and certified as clearly unfounded as he did not have a genuine need for protection. This was a decision that was supported by the courts. He has now been successfully returned to Nigeria.
Asylum applications are considered on their individual merits against up-to-date country information, relevant case law and any policy guidance specific to the type of claim. Country information itself is based on reliable sources, including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and other governmental sources, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, international and national human rights organisations, and news media.
Borders: Personal Records
Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which capabilities included in the original e-Borders business case (a) have been taken out of scope and (b) are under consideration for taking out of scope; and what the estimated cost was of each of those capabilities as defined at the time of the original tender. [180615]
Mr Harper: The information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the capability to reconcile a passenger arriving on a foreign national passport and leaving on a UK passport as included in the original e-Borders business case, what body or company is responsible for delivering that capability; and by what date that capability is expected to be delivered. [180618]
Mr Harper: The capability referred to in the question, which was included in the original e-Borders business case, is known as ‘person-centric' travel history, whereby the travel history for the passenger is established regardless of the documents the passenger may use.
There is currently no body or company delivering this specific capability. Border Force is considering 'person-centric' travel history as part of the review of its overall Digital Delivery Strategy.
Corruption
Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what budget her Department has allocated to increasing rates of asset recovery in cases of grand corruption. [180701]
Norman Baker:
The National Crime Agency's total spending power in 2013/14 is £463 million resource and £31 million capital. The Agency is responsible for delivering
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the Coalition Government's objectives, as set through the Home Secretary's Strategic Priorities for the NCA and the Serious and Organised Crime Strategy, including overseeing the law enforcement response to bribery and corruption. The Home Office and the NCA are members of the Arab Spring Asset Recovery Task Force which is dedicated to restoring the assets stolen by the former regimes in the Arab Spring countries to the people of those countries.
Counter-terrorism
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of programmes undertaken by local authorities under funds made available through the Prevent agenda in each of the last five years. [178246]
James Brokenshire: Since the revised Prevent Strategy was published in June 2011, the Home Office has worked closely with local authorities in Prevent priority areas, and therefore has an ongoing understanding of the effectiveness of programmes in a given area. We also have a more robust monitoring and evaluation of Prevent projects funded under the revised 2011 Prevent strategy than in the previous strategy, notably on value for money. The vast majority of projects are assessed to be effective. Ultimately for those projects shown not to be effective we will withdraw funding.
Performance monitoring data are not published, but informs the Government's report on its counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST, which is published annually.
Cybercrime: Scotland
Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether her Department has given any support to the Scottish Government in (a) tackling cyber crime or (b) combating cyber attacks against the Scottish Government. [180606]
James Brokenshire: As part of the UK, Scotland benefits from the UK Government’s investment in cyber security, which we recognised as a tier 1 threat to national security in 2010. The UK Government have allocated £860 million over five years to improve the UK’s cyber security under the National Cyber Security Programme, which supports efforts to understand the threat the UK faces and protect government, industry, and the public. The Home Office receives approximately 10% of this funding each year; this money has been used to improve our capabilities to respond to cyber crime. These capabilities include the new national cyber crime unit within the National Crime Agency which will improve the collective operational response to cyber crime, working in collaboration with police forces across the UK, including Police Scotland.
Databases
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 16 December 2013, Official Report, column 397W, on rape, which police forces are now live on the data hub. [181163]
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Damian Green: In the answer of 16 December 2013, Official Report, column 397W, it was stated that 13 police forces were live on the Home Office data hub (HODH) crime database. As at 19 December, there are now 14 live forces. These are: Avon and Somerset, Cheshire, Cleveland, Cumbria, Devon and Cornwall, Gloucestershire, Greater Manchester Police, Merseyside, Northumbria, Staffordshire, Surrey, Thames Valley, West Mercia and West Yorkshire.
It is expected that all forces will be live on HODH by the end of 2014.
Deportation
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals (a) were deported and (b) successfully appealed against deportation under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007 in each year since the implementation of that Act. [177201]
Mr Harper: The total number of foreign national offenders who were deported under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007 between January 2009 and September 2013 is 15,105. This is broken down as follows:
| Total | |
The total number of foreign national offenders who successfully appealed deportation under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007 between January 2009 and September 2013 is 2,405. This is broken down as follows:
| Total | |
|
Total FNOs which successfully appealed deportation (January 2009 to September 2013) |
The allowed appeals figure for CY 2013 are low because the appeals data provided is cohort based and relates to appeals lodged between January 2009 and September 2013. A large proportion of the 2013 cases will still be in the appeals process and would not have been concluded at the time the data was obtained.
We are unable to provide reliable data for the period prior January 2009, as our systems for recording such information were not in place at that time.
Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether prior permission had been granted by the Nigerian authorities for the arrival of Ifa Muaza following his deportation; and for what reasons the Nigerian authorities did not give permission for the flight to land; [177939]
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(2) what the estimated cost was of (a) chartered aircraft and (b) staff for the aborted deportation of Ifa Muaza. [177955]
Mr Harper [holding answer 5 December 2013]: We do not provide the costs of particular flights or of staff for reasons of commercial confidentiality.
The Nigerian high commission in London and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja agreed to the removal of Mr Muazu however the initial flight was forced to land in Malta, and then return to the UK, for operational reasons not connected to Mr Muazu's health or conduct. Mr Muazu has now been successfully returned to Nigeria.
Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what upper limit is set to the costs of deporting a single individual. [178932]
Mr Harper: Each removal is considered on a case by case basis to ensure the most suitable and cost effective method of return is used.
Detainees: Compensation
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much compensation was paid to victims of unlawful detention by police forces in England and Wales in 2012-13. [180752]
Damian Green: The information requested is not held centrally.
Drugs: Misuse
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people taken into police detention were tested for the presence of Class A drugs under section 63B of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, as amended by section 7 of the Drugs Act 2005 in the last two years for which figures are available; how many such people were referred to a drug treatment programme; and if she will make a statement. [180913]
Norman Baker: The Home Office does not hold data on drug tests for all Class A drugs. Only offenders arrested or charged with a 'trigger offence'—largely acquisitive crime related offences—are required to provide a sample to be tested for specified Class A drugs (heroin and cocaine/crack cocaine).
Based on management information from an operational source there were approximately 372,000 drug tests in 2011/12 and 2012/13 undertaken for the presence of heroin and/or cocaine/crack under section 63B of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, as amended by section seven of the Drugs Act 2005 .
Of these, approximately 115,000 were positive and 110,000 led to a referral to a drug treatment programme. These numbers refer to occasions, rather than unique individuals. They are based on an operational source and have not undergone rigorous quality assurance although the systems do contain automated verification checks. Positive tests are defined as tests that were positive for cocaine and/or heroin at screening. A proportion of these will have been disputed and overturned on confirmatory testing, but it is not practicable to identify all such tests.
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The number of referrals is the number of mandatory initial assessments following a positive test. Some referrals may also have been made following a negative test, but this is not recorded.
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many new psychoactive substances have been identified by her Department's Forensic Early Warning System in each month since it was established; [181942]
(2) pursuant to the written statement of 12 December 2013, Official Report, column 57WS, on drugs policy, who the members of the expert advisory panel will be; and what steps she is taking to ensure that the voluntary and charitable sectors are able to contribute to the review into new psychoactive substances. [181963]
Norman Baker: The number of new psychoactive substances not previously encountered either in the UK or at EU level and identified by the Home Office Forensic Early Warning System (FEWS) since it was established in 2011 is 27. The systems for collecting and analysing samples, and the complexities involved in identification, does not facilitate a monthly inventory of substances identified.
Membership of the expert advisory panel for the review into legislative options to tackle new psychoactive substances is currently being progressed but will comprise of experts drawn from, but not limited to, the following key areas:
Enforcement agencies and prosecuting authorities
Local Authorities
Science (medical and social)
Forensic
Academia
Additional members will be invited to join the review where a need arises.
Consultation with additional experts and interested parties, including other Government Departments, and devolved Administrations, will be conducted by Home Office officials throughout the review.
The voluntary and charitable sectors will be consulted as appropriate.
Extremism
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what reports the domestic extremism unit at the Metropolitan Police has passed to her Department in the last 24 months; and when her Department received each such report. [167010]
Norman Baker: The National Domestic Extremism and Disorder Intelligence Unit is a national policing intelligence unit hosted by the Metropolitan Police Service under a lead force arrangement. It works within the existing legal framework that governs the police in terms of gathering and sharing information. It operates as a strategic intelligence unit to research, analyse and collate intelligence.
The unit provides both Government (including the Home Office) and police forces with regular assessments covering a wide range of public order and domestic extremism issues. The Home Office also receives periodic
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strategic assessments on public order and domestic extremism issues and ad hoc advice on specific topics as required.
Foreign Workers
Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people entering the UK on intra-company transfers had NVQ level 4 qualifications in 2012-13. [180957]
Mr Harper: The latest available data on people entering the UK shows that in 2012 there were an estimated 21,800 passenger arrivals of individuals under intra company transfers. Corresponding information on the number who held NVQ level 4 qualifications is not available.
Information about the number of people entering the UK on intra company transfers during 2012 is published as part of the “Immigration statistics, July to September 2013”, table ad_03_w available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-july-to-september-2013/immigration-statistics-july-to-september-2013
Human Trafficking
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the UK Visas and Immigration specialist trafficking team is now fully operational; and how many staff are working on human trafficking issues within that team. [177996]
Mr Harper: The National Referral Mechanism Hub was created in April 2013. From December 2013, it started taking on all new referrals where trafficking is raised as part of an asylum claim, or in the context of another immigration process. The team will expand from nine decision makers to 18.
Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what specialist training is offered to asylum case owners with respect to (a) identification of cases of trafficking and (b) working with victims of trauma. [181075]
Mr Harper: All asylum decision makers undertake a 25 day initial training course. This includes training on interviewing vulnerable persons, gender issues and an introduction to the issue of victims of human trafficking, including the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), indicators of human trafficking, and the First Responder referral process.
Further, all asylum decision makers are required to complete two mandatory e-learning courses, entitled “Human trafficking” and “the National Referral Mechanism". Content includes indicators of human trafficking and how to identify potential victims and refer them into the National Referral Mechanism.
In addition, all asylum case owners and caseworkers who operate as Competent Authority decision makers within the NRM are required to undertake additional training on NRM processes, indicators, sensitive interview skills, children as victims of trafficking, NRM decision making, group discussion and NRM partner presentations.
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There is no standalone training on trauma issues but the issue of trauma is included in a number of training courses, including the Foundation Training Programme and Competent Authority training as above.
Illegal Immigrants
Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will publish and place in the Library her Department's evaluation of the advertising campaign using the phrase 'go home or face arrest'. [173120]
Mr Harper: The evaluation of this pilot campaign has been published and placed in the House Library. It can be accessed at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/operation-vaken-evaluation-report
Mr Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2013, Official Report, column 531W, on immigration offences, how many people have been (a) arrested and (b) prosecuted for each of those immigration offences in the last year for which figures are available. [178249]
Mr Harper [holding answer 9 December 2013]:The information cannot be obtained without incurring disproportionate costs.
Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many named individuals are currently listed in the Home Office immigration database for illegal migrants. [178316]
Mr Harper: The Home Office does not have a specific database for illegal migrants.
Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people who were in the UK illegally have (a) been subject to enforced departure from the UK and (b) left the UK voluntarily in each of the last three years. [180835]
Mr Harper: The following table provides the total number of persons removed or departed voluntarily from the UK in each of the last three years.
| Removals and voluntary departures, 2010 to 20121 | |||
| 2010 | 2011 | 20122 | |
| 1 Removals are recorded on the system as at the dates on which the data extracts were taken. 2 Provisional figures. | |||
The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of persons removed or departed voluntarily from the UK within Immigration Statistics.
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The data on removals and voluntary departures are readily available in the latest release, Immigration Statistics: July to September 2013, from the gov.uk website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release
Data for 2013 will be available from 27 February 2014.
Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many illegal entrants have been detained at ports of entry to the UK on more than one occasion through the use of sniffer dogs in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [180949]
Mr Harper: Border Force does not record statistical information for illegal entrants detained on more than one occasion through the use of sniffer dogs.