The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of the police hunt for Michael Wheatley who absconded from HM Prison Standford Hill on 3 May 2014.
Damian Green
This information is not held centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of detainees who have escaped from detention or from escort in each of the last four years have been returned to detention.
James Brokenshire
The proportion of detainees who have escaped from detention or from escort in each of the last four years who have been returned to detention is 37% (7) of 19 detainees. One detainee was not returned to detention but located overseas. Major changes to the estate since 2010 have included the closure of the lower security site at Oakington Reception Centre in November 2010 and increased capacity at the higher security centre at Harmondsworth in July 2010. The management information above has been reached by the examination of individual records. It does not form part of published statistics and is not subject to the detailed checks that apply for National Statistics publications. It is provisional and subject to change.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times an escaped person has been categorised as a high harm person and the senior management team believe there is a high risk of reputational damage to the Home Office as set out in the Home Office Guidance on Escaped Detainees at immigration removal centres in the last four years.
Karen Bradley
The Home Office does not routinely categorise immigration detainees against a
scale of harm. They are instead subject to individual risk assessment linked
to their suitability for placement in an immigration removal centre (IRC) which is
based on a number of different factors.
Where an escape or attempted escape from an IRC takes place, Criminal and
Financial Investigation (CFI) immigration specialist teams will assist in the
investigation where the individual is assessed to be a ‘high harm’ person, or
where the senior management team believe there is a high risk of reputational
damage to the Home Office.
In the last four years the CFI team has conducted two investigations relating
to escapes of individuals from escort who were assessed to fit the
investigation criteria. There have not been any cases of escapes from an IRC
which have warranted the involvement of the CFI.
This data is management information and does not form part of published
statistics and is not subject to the detailed checks that apply for National
Statistics publications. It is provisional and subject to change.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Teather on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the report by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, Inspection of the UK Border Agency’s handling of legacy asylum and migration cases, published in November 2012, what steps have been taken in response to recommendation 1 of that report.
Karen Bradley
The Older Live Cases Unit routinely and regularly matches asylum and migration
legacy cases against the Police National Computer (PNC) and Warnings Index (WI)
records, until the point at which cases are finally concluded. The checks are
undertaken on a rolling three monthly basis. Results are recorded on a bespoke
database which informs the decision making process within the Older Live Cases
Unit.
Compliance with the recommendation was acknowledged by the Independent Chief
Inspector of Borders and Immigration in his report, An investigation into the
progress made on legacy asylum and migration cases January – March 2013,
published in June 2013, where he stated, "security checks had been completed
in each of the cases we sampled (144), indicating that the Agency had
implemented our earlier recommendation to routinely and regularly
match legacy cases against the PNC and WI until finally concluded."
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Teather on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the report by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, Inspection into the Handling of Asylum Applications made by Unaccompanied Children, published in October 2013, what steps have been taken in response to recommendations 1, 3, 4 and 8 of that report.
James Brokenshire
In response to recommendation 1, a clear and consistent approach has been
adopted. A pilot was run shortly after the inspection that led to the adoption
of a new screening process for unaccompanied children; this has led to
increased consistency between the Home Office and local authorities. All
initial screenings take place within five days of initial claim. Local
Authorities are clearly responsible for facilitating the access to legal advice
and responsible adults prior to the screening interview.
In response to recommendation 3, this guidance and policy has been reinforced
locally. The Asylum Casework Directorate has implemented new structures that
offer better technical support for promoting and monitoring family tracing.
This guidance has been reinforced locally in all teams through the creation of
specialised family and minors teams in each regional location. Work is
ongoing with the Foreign Office on new family tracing arrangements for volume
UASC nationalities (Albanian and Afghan) that should help to expedite the
tracing process in these countries. The practicality of specialised teams
will be reviewed once all decision units are fully staffed.
In response to recommendation 4, the move to a single national directorate has
led to greater consistency and control of asylum case work. This has helped to
address the consistency of operations and outcomes in each of the seven
casework locations. Customer service standards have been reviewed with the
expectation that straightforward claims can expect to receive their decision
within six months. Unaccompanied children should receive their decisions
quicker than that.
In response to recommendation 8, as part of the ongoing continuous improvement
programme decision letters have been reviewed and changed. Templates are now
clearer, more concise and customer friendly. This new approach to producing
more concise grant letters and minutes has been implemented whilst a pilot
regarding refusal letters is underway.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Teather on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the report by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, Investigation into the Establishment of the Performance and Compliance Unit, published in May 2013, what steps have been taken in response to recommendation 1 of that report.
James Brokenshire
Following the reorganisations which flowed from the decision to bring the
functions of the UK Border Agency back into direct ministerial control, the
Performance and Compliance Unit no longer exists.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what financial provision her Department has made to cover the (a) ongoing legal costs of and (b) costs of a potential settlement resulting from the binding arbitration process brought by Raytheon Systems Ltd.
Karen Bradley
Ongoing legal costs will be met from departmental resources, although no
specific financial provision has been made for this or for the costs of a
potential settlement. The costs of a potential settlement have been recognised as a
contingent liability in the Home Office accounts since 2011-12.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ivan Lewis on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional support she is providing to the passport office in Belfast.
James Brokenshire
The Belfast Office Full Time Equivalent (FTE) workforce in June 2014 was 216.29
compared with 147.76 FTE in June 2012. The increase in staff has been to deal
with the introduction of processing of work from overseas in 2013-14 and the
introduction of an evening shift in January 2014 to assist in dealing with UK applications.
Currently there are 20 additional staff redeployed to Belfast to assist in the
examination function.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Teather on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she intends to make a decision on the request to authorise water cannon for use by the police in England and Wales; and if she will place in the Library a copy of the advice and business case she has received on the use of water cannon in mainland UK.
Damian Green
I refer my Hon. Friend to my answer of 12 May 2014, Official Report, column
412W.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Greatrex on 2014-06-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of her Department’s consumption in kWh of (a) gas and (b) electricity in each month since June 2010; and what the cost of such consumption has been in each such month.
Karen Bradley
Electricity and gas cost and consumption data for each month since June 2010,
for those buildings (excluding sponsored ALBs) where the Department is directly
invoiced for energy, is provided in the following table. Data for financial
year 2014/15 is not yet available.