---

1 Apr 2009 : Column WS95

Health: Meningitis C Vaccine

Statement

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): My right honourable friend the Minister of State, Department of Health (Dawn Primarolo) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

On 27 February I advised the House of a recall of batches of a meningitis C vaccine, Menjugate Kit, and said that I would provide a further Statement when test results were available.

I am pleased to confirm that the manufacturer, Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, has conducted sterility tests of all recalled batches and they have proved sterile. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has also conducted its own independent tests which have confirmed the sterility of the vaccine.

It was right, on the evidence at the time and in the interests of public health, that the recall of the Menjugate Kit vaccine was made, as a precautionary measure. The results of these tests are reassuring, and confirm that the vaccine used in the UK was not contaminated.

The UK has a successful immunisation programme that protects children from serious disease. Parents should continue to have confidence in getting their children vaccinated against serious illnesses.

Probation Trusts

Statement

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): My right honourable friend the Minister of State (David Hanson) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

I wish to inform the House that from 1 April 2009, there will be established two further probation trusts operating in England and Wales: Greater Manchester and Lancashire. This brings to eight the total number of probation trusts.

There remain 34 local probation boards that continue to operate in all other areas of England and Wales. These boards will, subject to satisfactory performance, have the opportunity to apply in 2009 to become probation trusts in April 2010. Voluntary mergers, initiated locally, will be supported by NOMS where they are more likely to meet the criteria for trust status.

In accordance with Sections 7, 8, and 10 of the Offender Management Act, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Justice has published a strategic and business plan for the National Offender Management Service for 2009-10, his annual plan for 2009-10.

The trusts programme presents a challenge to probation boards to demonstrate that it can deliver locally tailored services efficiently and effectively. I am pleased that Lancashire and Greater Manchester have met this challenge and I am confident that more trusts will be created by 2010 and deliver significant benefits in reducing reoffending and protecting the public.

1 Apr 2009 : Column WS96

Race Relations Act

Statement

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): My honourable friend the Minister of State for Borders and Immigration (Phil Woolas) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

I have made an authorisation under Section 19D of the Race Relations Act 1976, as amended, to enable the Secretary of State to request that asylum applicants claiming to be a Somali national submit to language analysis.

This authorisation replaces the Race Relations (Immigration and Asylum) (Language Analysis) Authorisation 2008 (5 June-4 April 2009), which will expire on the latter date.

Language analysis carried out in 2008 for some Somali asylum applicants demonstrated that significant proportions of those tested had claimed to be of a nationality, or from a region or grouping, that was not their own in order to try to gain residence in this country. This authorisation will assist the Secretary of State to make decisions in individual cases, and to ascertain the extent of this abuse. It will also assist in deterring such asylum claims.

The Secretary of State may take a refusal to submit to testing into account when determining whether an applicant has assisted in establishing the facts of his case or her case.

The authorisation will remain in place for 12 months (until April 2010), at which point we will review whether it is still necessary and appropriate.

I am placing copies of the authorisation in the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament.

UK Border Agency

Statement

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): My honourable friend the Minister of State for Borders and Immigration (Phil Woolas) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

The UK Border Agency, which was established as a shadow executive agency in April 2008, will today begin to operate as a full executive agency of the Home Office. I am also publishing the UK Border Agency’s framework agreement, which describes how the agency will be governed, and its business plan, which sets out the agency’s objectives for the next three years. Copies of these documents have been made available in the Libraries of both Houses. The documents are also available on the Home Office website.

The move to full executive agency status is an important milestone in the development of the agency. It establishes a clear accountability framework within which the chief executive will have greater operational freedom to focus on delivering the agency’s services. At the same time, the framework agreement ensures

1 Apr 2009 : Column WS97

that the agency will continue to work closely with the wider Home Office and its key delivery partners, including HM Revenue and Customs, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the police. Later this year we hope, subject to the passage of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill, to complete the formal transfer of customs functions and staff from HM Revenue and Customs to the agency.

The agency will secure our borders and control migration for the benefit of our country and play a vital role in the Government’s work to protect the public from crime and terrorism and to protect the tax revenues which pay for public services.

Visas

Statement

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): My honourable friend the Minister of State for Borders and Immigration (Phil Woolas) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

The Government are today announcing the dates of implementation of the visa regimes, announced in my right honourable friend the Home Secretary’s Written Statement to the House of 9 February 2009 (Official

1 Apr 2009 : Column WS98

Report, col. 51WS). These tough new visa requirements will further strengthen the UK Border, whilst ensuring the UK continues to welcome genuine visitors.

Visa regimes for Bolivian and Venezuelan nationals will begin on Monday 18 May 2009. Venezuelan nationals holding valid biometric, machine-readable passports will be exempt from the visa requirement. At the same time we will clarify how the visa exemption for Taiwan passport holders works—that it applies only to those with full Taiwan passports.

The temporary visa exemption for South African visitors with a previous travel history to the UK which began on 3 March will cease at midnight on 30 June 2009. From Wednesday 1 July 2009 all South African visitors to the UK will require a visa, as will visitors from Lesotho and Swaziland.

The new visa requirements mean that nationals from these countries wishing to visit the UK for up to six months will need to obtain a visit visa, and provide their fingerprints, before they travel. Nationals of these countries seeking to travel via the UK en route to another country will also need a transit visa. This is in addition to the existing requirement for a visa in order to live, work, study or marry in the UK.

All the new regimes will be implemented in line with the high standard of the UK’s current visa operations.

---