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Afghan Asylum Seekers
Baroness Cox asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many of the Afghans who landed at Stansted in February 2000 in a hijacked aircraft are still in Britain; and what is their immigration status.[HL2848]
Lord Rooker: Of the 170 people who arrived on the aircraft, 81 including the flight crew, returned to Afghanistan. Thirteen of the passengers, together with their 21 dependants, have asylum applications that are still undecided. This group includes the convicted hijackers. Thirty passengers with five dependants were refused asylum but remain in the United Kingdom pending the outcome of their appeal to the Immigration Appeals Tribunal. Six passengers and 12 dependants have been granted refugee status; and two passengers wish to return to Afghanistan as soon as suitable travel arrangements can be made.
Asylum Seekers Detained in Northern Ireland
Lord Eames asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many persons were detained in Northern Ireland in the year ending 31 December 2001 while
- seeking asylum in the United Kingdom; and (b) how many in this category are currently in detention; and[HL2882]
What was the average length of detention in Northern Ireland of those seeking asylum in the United Kingdom in the year ending December 2001; and[HL2884]
How many of those seeking asylum in the United Kingdom detained in Northern Ireland in the year ending 31 December 2001 were granted asylum in the United Kingdom.[HL2885]
Lord Rooker: The latest available information on the number of persons detained under Immigration Act powers relates to 30 September 2001. As at that date, there were fewer than five persons who had sought asylum at some stage who were being detained in Northern Ireland.
I regret that the requested information on the total number of asylum seekers detained in Northern Ireland in 2001, how many of these have been granted asylum, and their average length of detention, is not available and could only be obtained by examining individual case files at disproportionate cost.
Information on Immigration Act detainees as at 29 December 2001 will be published on 28 February 2002 on the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigrationl/html.
Unaccompanied Asylum-seeking Children
Baroness Whitaker asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What plans they have to reimburse local authorities for their expenditure on supporting unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. [HL3015]
Lord Rooker: My right honourable friend the Home Secretary has today laid before Parliament a Special Grant Report which sets out the arrangements for reimbursing local authorities in England for the costs of supporting unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) as a result of their duties under the Children Act 1989.
The Special Grant Report explains the areas of expenditure which will be eligible for the grant and the time-scales for local authorities to make their claims.
As my right honourable friend the Home Secretary outlined in the White Paper, we will continue to offer appropriate levels of care to UASC and the Home Office leads the Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children's Stakeholder Group. One key element of this is to ensure that we can sift out adults posing as children and deter those seeking to abuse the system. Home Office staff are already taking steps to challenge older applicants and divert them to the adult asylum process.
We are exploring opportunities for better sharing of costs across the country and in particular the joint commissioning of the accommodation for unaccompanied minors who are 16 or 17 on arrival. We are already doing more to support local authorities by improving information exchange and UASC will be included as part of the asylum audit. It is important that financial support to local authorities provides fairly for essential needs and encourages good value for money.
Charities and the Voluntary Sector: Support
Lord Elton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Which programmes of work by the Performance and Innovation Unit, the Active Community Unit and the Regional Co-ordination Unit currently in progress or in prospect are directed at supporting the voluntary and charitable sectors; how they relate to each other; what are their intended effects; and when it is expected that they will be achieved. [H2725]
The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Lord Macdonald of Tradeston): The Performance and Innovation Unit is reviewing the legal and regulatory framework for charities and the voluntary sector. The aims of the review are to enable not-for-profit organisations to thrive; to encourage the development of new types of organisation; and to ensure public confidence in the sector. The review was announced on 3 July 2001 and is expected to report in the spring.
The Active Community Unit provides funding to voluntary and community organisations that support the development of strong and active communities. For example, over the past year, under the capital modernisation grant programme, some £8 million was invested in 46 local voluntary and community partnership projects to enhance and improve access to services by encouraging co-location, integration and refurbishment of community buildings; £1 million a year is also invested in support of 18 networks to ensure that the voluntary and community sector has a voice at regional level.
The unit provides some £12 million a year in three-year grants to key national bodies in the voluntary and community sector that support the development of communities.
The unit is developing proposals for simplifying access to small grants for small voluntary and community groups. My right honourable friend the Home Secretary hopes to publish an action plan in the next few weeks that will provide for the establishment, at local level, of a simplified mechanism for handling all government small grants programmes. The aim is to encourage more people to become involved in their communities and making it easier for them to do so.
The Regional Co-ordination Unit is undertaking a study to explore how the system of regeneration and community funding could be made more comprehensible to both voluntary and community sector groups as well as small businesses. The study covers regeneration and community funding: that is, resources provided by government and other agencies to support activity which will change the economic, environmental or social state of an area.
There has been regular dialogue between the units and they work closely together. They aim to recommend a package of reforms that will support the sector as a whole.
Campaign against International Terrorism: MoD Funding
Baroness Thornton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How much money has been made available to the Ministry of Defence for urgent operational requirements for the campaign against international terrorism.[HL2901]
Lord Grocott: We are pleased to announce that the Treasury has agreed to make available from the reserve a further £55 million for urgent operational requirements for the campaign against international terrorism. This is in addition to the £100 million that the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced on 27 November 2001 in his Pre-Budget Report.
The urgent operational requirements that this funding allows us to meet include: equipment to improve our ability to work with the US and other allies, such as additional secure communications equipment; enhancements to our intelligence capabilities; and a range of small but significant enhancements to our forces for operations in the campaign against international terrorism.
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