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  • Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Kelvin Hopkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Table 1 in her Department’s publication, Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals Great Britain 2014, HC 511, what aspects of the preservation of the species were the 22 experiments on cats were designed to assist.

    Karen Bradley

    The 22 cats used for the preservation of the species in the Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals Great Britain 2014 were involved in a project on the genetic status and health of Scottish wildcats. The Scottish wildcat (Felis silvestris grampia) was once found across the British mainland but is now confined to the Scottish Highlands. The key aims were to:

    • Undertake a targeted survey of Scottish wildcats and domestic feral cats in key areas in Scotland

    • Assess the genetic purity of Scottish wildcats and degree of interbreeding with domestic feral cats

    • Assess the health of both the Scottish wildcat and domestic feral cat population

    To do this, wildcats and feral domestic cats were humanely trapped and given a full health check under general anaesthesia which included the taking of a blood sample to assess the genetic purity of the wildcat as well as to look for evidence of infectious disease in both. All animals were then immediately released back into the wild.

    The findings of this study are being used to establish much needed baseline information which will inform key conservation management decisions for the Scottish wildcat in order to protect the population. The influence of feral domestic cats, both through interbreeding with wildcats and transmission of infectious diseases that may contribute to wildcat population decline, is being used to inform feral cat management and control programmes in wildcat areas, and may lead to specific disease control measures such as targeted vaccination.

  • John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    John Mann – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied children arrived in the UK from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2015.

    James Brokenshire

    The question has been interpreted as referring to unaccompanied asylum seeking children arriving in the UK.

    During 2015, there were 11 asylum applications from Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children, excluding dependants, received from nationals of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

    Figures on asylum applications for Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) are published quarterly by the Home Office in the Immigration Statistics release.

    A copy of the latest release, Immigration Statistics October to December 2015, is available from:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2015

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the parameters or cost of the Home Office contract with Airwave have been altered as a result of the acquisition of Airwave by Motorola Solutions.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office holds three contracts with Motorola Solutions. These are:

    (a) The Public Safety Radio Communications Service (PSRCS) Framework Arrangement for the provision of the Airwave service to the police services of Eng-land, Scotland and Wales.

    (b) Contract ST03 10/641/9 for the provision of telecommunications services to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate.

    (c) Emergency Services Network (ESN) — Lot 2 User Services; one of the contracts that will replace the current Airwave contract.

    The cost to the public purse of the Home Office contract with Airwave in Financial Year 2015-16 is forecast to be £283 million comprising £230 million paid centrally by the Home Office and £53 million paid locally by police forces to Airwave. By way of comparison, under the newly procured Emergency Services Network, the policing share of costs is expected to be less than half of the current Airwave costs.

    Airwave Solutions Ltd provides mobile telecommunications services for emer-gency services. The Home Office Airwave contracts only relate to police forces, and immigration and nationality functions within the Home Office. The Home Office is not party to the contracts which many other organisations in the public sector have entered into with Airwave.

    The acquisition of Airwave by Motorola Solutions means all three Emergency Services contracts now end on 31st December 2019. This provides continuity of service for the transition to the Emergency Services Network.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what services are provided by Airwave to which agencies within the Home Office as part of the Home Office contract with Airwave.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office holds three contracts with Motorola Solutions. These are:

    (a) The Public Safety Radio Communications Service (PSRCS) Framework Arrangement for the provision of the Airwave service to the police services of Eng-land, Scotland and Wales.

    (b) Contract ST03 10/641/9 for the provision of telecommunications services to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate.

    (c) Emergency Services Network (ESN) — Lot 2 User Services; one of the contracts that will replace the current Airwave contract.

    The cost to the public purse of the Home Office contract with Airwave in Financial Year 2015-16 is forecast to be £283 million comprising £230 million paid centrally by the Home Office and £53 million paid locally by police forces to Airwave. By way of comparison, under the newly procured Emergency Services Network, the policing share of costs is expected to be less than half of the current Airwave costs.

    Airwave Solutions Ltd provides mobile telecommunications services for emer-gency services. The Home Office Airwave contracts only relate to police forces, and immigration and nationality functions within the Home Office. The Home Office is not party to the contracts which many other organisations in the public sector have entered into with Airwave.

    The acquisition of Airwave by Motorola Solutions means all three Emergency Services contracts now end on 31st December 2019. This provides continuity of service for the transition to the Emergency Services Network.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total cost to the public purse is of the Home Office contract with Airwave.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office holds three contracts with Motorola Solutions. These are:

    (a) The Public Safety Radio Communications Service (PSRCS) Framework Arrangement for the provision of the Airwave service to the police services of Eng-land, Scotland and Wales.

    (b) Contract ST03 10/641/9 for the provision of telecommunications services to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate.

    (c) Emergency Services Network (ESN) — Lot 2 User Services; one of the contracts that will replace the current Airwave contract.

    The cost to the public purse of the Home Office contract with Airwave in Financial Year 2015-16 is forecast to be £283 million comprising £230 million paid centrally by the Home Office and £53 million paid locally by police forces to Airwave. By way of comparison, under the newly procured Emergency Services Network, the policing share of costs is expected to be less than half of the current Airwave costs.

    Airwave Solutions Ltd provides mobile telecommunications services for emer-gency services. The Home Office Airwave contracts only relate to police forces, and immigration and nationality functions within the Home Office. The Home Office is not party to the contracts which many other organisations in the public sector have entered into with Airwave.

    The acquisition of Airwave by Motorola Solutions means all three Emergency Services contracts now end on 31st December 2019. This provides continuity of service for the transition to the Emergency Services Network.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many contracts the Home Office holds with Motorola Solutions.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office holds three contracts with Motorola Solutions. These are:

    (a) The Public Safety Radio Communications Service (PSRCS) Framework Arrangement for the provision of the Airwave service to the police services of Eng-land, Scotland and Wales.

    (b) Contract ST03 10/641/9 for the provision of telecommunications services to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate.

    (c) Emergency Services Network (ESN) — Lot 2 User Services; one of the contracts that will replace the current Airwave contract.

    The cost to the public purse of the Home Office contract with Airwave in Financial Year 2015-16 is forecast to be £283 million comprising £230 million paid centrally by the Home Office and £53 million paid locally by police forces to Airwave. By way of comparison, under the newly procured Emergency Services Network, the policing share of costs is expected to be less than half of the current Airwave costs.

    Airwave Solutions Ltd provides mobile telecommunications services for emer-gency services. The Home Office Airwave contracts only relate to police forces, and immigration and nationality functions within the Home Office. The Home Office is not party to the contracts which many other organisations in the public sector have entered into with Airwave.

    The acquisition of Airwave by Motorola Solutions means all three Emergency Services contracts now end on 31st December 2019. This provides continuity of service for the transition to the Emergency Services Network.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many contracts Atos holds with the Home Office.

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Office holds three contracts with Atos.

    The first is “IND Procurement of Infrastructure Development and Support” (IPIDS), which provides application management supporting and hosting for major immigration IT systems. This contract expired on 31st January 2016, and a six-month transition period was invoked to provide support for a smaller subset of applications not covered by the replacement programme.

    The whole life cost of IPIDS was circa £220 million (exclusive of any additional project charges) until 31st January 2016. The maximum cost of the six-month transition period will be £642,000 (excluding VAT).

    The Department’s second contract with Atos is “Contain,” which is a direct replacement for IPIDS. The programme provides continuity for seven major Immigration IT systems, whilst work continues on the Immigration Platform Technology (IPT) platform. The Contain contract allows legacy immigration applications to be phased out whilst service continuity is preserved, and enables new applications delivered by the IPT programme to be brought in without disruption. The contract will run for a maximum of two years, and the total contract value is £18.1 million (excl VAT), which includes run and decommission costs.

    The third contract with Atos Worldline is a small G-Cloud Call-Off Agreement to enable passport application payments to be made online; the total contract value is £183,000.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total value is of the contracts Atos holds with the Home Office.

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Office holds three contracts with Atos.

    The first is “IND Procurement of Infrastructure Development and Support” (IPIDS), which provides application management supporting and hosting for major immigration IT systems. This contract expired on 31st January 2016, and a six-month transition period was invoked to provide support for a smaller subset of applications not covered by the replacement programme.

    The whole life cost of IPIDS was circa £220 million (exclusive of any additional project charges) until 31st January 2016. The maximum cost of the six-month transition period will be £642,000 (excluding VAT).

    The Department’s second contract with Atos is “Contain,” which is a direct replacement for IPIDS. The programme provides continuity for seven major Immigration IT systems, whilst work continues on the Immigration Platform Technology (IPT) platform. The Contain contract allows legacy immigration applications to be phased out whilst service continuity is preserved, and enables new applications delivered by the IPT programme to be brought in without disruption. The contract will run for a maximum of two years, and the total contract value is £18.1 million (excl VAT), which includes run and decommission costs.

    The third contract with Atos Worldline is a small G-Cloud Call-Off Agreement to enable passport application payments to be made online; the total contract value is £183,000.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the remit and nature is of the contracts Atos holds with the Home Office.

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Office holds three contracts with Atos.

    The first is “IND Procurement of Infrastructure Development and Support” (IPIDS), which provides application management supporting and hosting for major immigration IT systems. This contract expired on 31st January 2016, and a six-month transition period was invoked to provide support for a smaller subset of applications not covered by the replacement programme.

    The whole life cost of IPIDS was circa £220 million (exclusive of any additional project charges) until 31st January 2016. The maximum cost of the six-month transition period will be £642,000 (excluding VAT).

    The Department’s second contract with Atos is “Contain,” which is a direct replacement for IPIDS. The programme provides continuity for seven major Immigration IT systems, whilst work continues on the Immigration Platform Technology (IPT) platform. The Contain contract allows legacy immigration applications to be phased out whilst service continuity is preserved, and enables new applications delivered by the IPT programme to be brought in without disruption. The contract will run for a maximum of two years, and the total contract value is £18.1 million (excl VAT), which includes run and decommission costs.

    The third contract with Atos Worldline is a small G-Cloud Call-Off Agreement to enable passport application payments to be made online; the total contract value is £183,000.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2016 to Question 27391, on asylum: deportation, whether her Department plans to collect data on the number of failed asylum seekers who are admitted to prison.

    James Brokenshire

    Following referral by the National Offender Management Service, the Home Office conducts immigration status checks on all Foreign National Offenders serving a custodial sentence. This involves checks of electronic and paper files. Therefore the specific data requested, which would include foreign nationals on remand who are not routinely referred to the Home Office, is not aggregated in national reporting systems. To provide the information would require a disproportionately expensive manual case search.