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Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority
Lord Alton of Liverpool asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 28 February (WA 135) regarding barriers to implementation of the February 2004 National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines, to what extent the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has facilitated access to three full cycles of IVF treatment notwithstanding a patient's location; and why they propose to establish a separate expert group on fertility provision. [HL2397]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) established an expert group on multiple births after in vitro fertilisation (IVF) in October 2005 and the group published its report One Child at a Time in October 2006. The HFEA is now working with professional groups involved in the provision of IVF with the aim of reducing multiple births following assisted conception.
It is not the role of the HFEA to facilitate access to three full cycles of IVF as National Health Service fertility services are commissioned by primary care trusts. This department is currently establishing an expert group on commissioning NHS infertility provision.
Immigration: Asylum Backlog
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many asylum applications remain in the backlog (that is, have not been granted, closed or removed) at the most recent date; at what point after the date of original application a case is deemed to belong to the backlog; and by when they expect to have cleared the backlog. [HL2105]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): In her update to the Home Affairs Select Committee of 17 December 2007, Lin Homer (the chief executive of the Border and Immigration Agency) stated that 52,000 cases have been concluded by the Border and Immigration Agency, of which about 16,000 have led to removals. A copy of the letter is in the House Library. Lin Homer gave an
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Cases in the backlog include unresolved asylum applications lodged with the Border and Immigration Agency before 5 March 2007 which were not being processed by case owners in the regional asylum teams on that date.
We remain confident that we are on track to conclude these cases by the summer of 2011.
Immigration: Illegal Entrants
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many illegal immigrants in the United Kingdom have been detained as a result of raids over the past six months; and from which countries they originate. [HL2338]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): The information requested could be obtained only by the detailed examination of individual records at disproportionate cost.
Immigration: Overstayers
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many visitors and students are overstaying their leave to enter; and what proportion of them have acquired national insurance numbers. [HL2106]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): Exit controls were phased out from 1994 and as such no Government have ever been able to produce an accurate figure for the number of people who remain in the country illegally. By its very nature it is impossible to quantify accurately and that remains the case. Consequently it is not possible to determine what percentage of overstayers has acquired national insurance numbers.
As part of the Government's 10-point plan for delivery, by Christmas 2008 the majority of foreign nationals will be counted in and out of the country. This will build on the successes of our early testing of the e-Borders programme (Project Semaphore) which already covers over 30 million passenger movements and has led to 18,000 alerts and more than 1,500 arrests.
This is part of a sweeping programme of border protection which also includes the global rollout of fingerprint visas, compulsory watch-list checks for all travellers from high-risk countries before they land in Britain and ID cards for foreign nationals.
Immigration: Points-based System
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asked Her Majesty's Government:
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How the forthcoming points-based immigration system will affect illegal immigrants who have been resident in the United Kingdom for at least five years and wish to apply for permits to work in the United Kingdom or British citizenship. [HL1531]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): The points-based system will enable Her Majesty's Government better to manage migration in the national interest. It will ensure that only those migrants that Britain needs can come here to work and study. It will not give illegal migrants a way of staying in the UK.
Immigration: Torture
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
Why they did not mention in the debates on Rule 35 pro forma letters in proceedings on the UK Borders Bill that they had issued a Detention Services Order (DSO 3/2008) and related Asylum Policy Instructions about people who have been tortured or are otherwise unfit for detention. [HL2398]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): Detention Services Order 3/2008 and the Asylum Policy Instruction on Rule 35 of the Detention Centre Rules 2001 were issued by the Border and Immigration Agency in early February 2008, just over three months after the UK Borders Act had received Royal Assent. It would not, therefore, have been possible for these instructions to have been mentioned during the passage of the legislation.
Ministry of Defence: Headley Court
Lord Astor of Hever asked Her Majesty's Government:
How the Ministry of Defence is planning to respond to the implications for Headley Court of the increased tempo of military operations. [HL2042]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): This issue was raised in the House of Commons Defence Select Committee report Medical Care for the Armed Forces, published on 18 February. The Government are currently considering the committee's recommendations and will submit their formal response to the committee within the next two months. However, the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre at Headley Court has the necessary capacity to treat all military patients requiring rehabilitation as a result of the increased tempo of military operations. That capacity was increased by the opening of a 30-bed ward annex last May and will be further enhanced later this year by the building of a new staff and patient accommodation block.
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Northern Rock
Lord Barnett asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will clarify the proposed “arm's-length” arrangement between the Government and the new management of Northern Rock. [HL2171]
Lord Davies of Oldham: During this period of temporary public ownership, Northern Rock is managed by its board at arm's length from government on commercial principles.
Northern Rock's board is developing a strategic plan as a matter of priority and will agree this plan with the Government shortly. Any subsequent major decisions will need the approval of the shareholder, in this case the Government—as in the case of any publicly owned company. Details of the strategic plan will be made public. However, the Government will not be involved in the day-to-day operations of the company.
Older People: Recruitment
Lord Ouseley asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many people over the age of 55 have been recruited by each government department over the past two years. [HL2430]
Lord Davies of Oldham: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, National Statistician and Registrar General, to Lord Ouseley, dated 17 March 2008.
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning how many people over the age of 55 have been recruited by each government department over the last two years. (HL2430)
Civil Service statistics are published annually by the Office for National Statistics on the National Statistics website. The latest published statistics are for September 2006.
www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/article.asp?id=l885
Statistics on the age distribution of entrants to government departments are not published. In order to provide information on entrants over the age of 55, an ad hoc analysis has been required. This analysis is based on the mandate survey which currently provides approximately 85 per cent coverage of Civil Service departments and agencies. Please note that the department date of entry historically has a lower completion rate than other variables collected and missing data are labelled in the attached table.
From 2007, a new annual survey (replacing mandate) will deliver significant improvements to the coverage and quality of the Civil Service statistics. The results of the survey are scheduled for publication in June 2008.
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Lord Ouseley asked Her Majesty's Government:
How they monitor their recruitment practices to identify possible breaches in the age discrimination legislation and regulations. [HL2431]
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