Tag: Andy Sawford

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 the Gold Suite has been opened at each Immigration Removal Centre in England and Wales in the last year; and what the nature was of each incident that caused it to be opened.

Karen Bradley

The Home Office command suite structure for the management of serious
incidents is based on the model operated by the Prison Service. Silver Command
Suites are opened in the establishment where the incident occurred.

A Gold Command Suite is opened in Prison Service Headquarters for incidents
where the Home Office requests mutual assistance from the Prison Service and is
attended by a Home Office senior manager.

Any other serious incident, which does not require mutual assistance but
requires ongoing management, is dealt with by opening a Gold Command Suite at
Detention Operations headquarters.

The number of times Silver Suites have been opened in the past year in
immigration removal centres is detailed in the table below for January 2013
to March 2014 and is provided in line with the data periods for published statistics.

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 Immigration Removal Centre detainees have (a) escaped from detention, (b) escaped whilst being escorted and (c) attempted to escape each IRC in the last four years; and how many such people are still at large.

Karen Bradley

Escapes from immigration removal centres and while under escort are a subset of
published statistics. The following table shows absconds for the financial
years 2010/11-2013/14.

Information on attempted escapes is not held centrally and could only be
provided by examination of individual records at disproportionate cost.

Eleven of those individuals recorded as escaped 2010/11-2013/14 have not been
located.

The police are informed immediately when a detainee has escaped and the
individual’s details are recorded on the Police National Computer should the
individual be apprehended at a later date.

People leaving detention by place of last detention, absconded 2010/11-2013/14 (financial year) (1)(2).

Year	Absconded
2010/2011
Absconded from centre	5
Absconded from escorts	3
Total	8
2011/2012
Absconded from centre	3
Absconded from escorts	3
Total	6
2012/2013
Absconded from centre	4
Absconded from escorts	1
Total	5
2013/2014
Absconded from centre	0
Absconded from escorts	0
Total	0

(1) Data from 2011/12 onwards are provisional.

(2) Total detainees are those detained in the United Kingdom solely under Immigration Act powers and exclude those in police cells, Prison Service establishments, short term holding rooms at ports and airports (for less than 24 hours), and those recorded as detained under both criminal and immigration powers and their dependants.

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 (a) Red incidents and (b) Amber incidents have occurred at each Immigration Removal Centre in each of the last four years.

Karen Bradley

Incidents in the detention estate are reported in accordance with Detention
Services Order (DSO) 12/2008. Incidents are classified according to their
seriousness as red, amber or green.

Examples of the types of red or amber incidents are given in the DSO. Red
incidents are generally those relating to serious disturbances and/or fires
within a centre. Amber incidents may be those involving threats to the centre,
external demonstrations, or co-ordinated food or fluid refusal.

This data has been collected by different business areas in the Home Office
over the data period requested and has not been collated centrally.

Management information is only available for the period 01 July 2013 – 9 March
2014 in the following table and is in line with the data period for published
statistics.

This data is management information collected and collated from Immigration
Removal Centre suppliers. This information 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.

Table showing incidents in immigration removal centres for the period 01 July 2013 – 9 March 2014 by status.

IRC	Red Incidents	Amber Incidents	Total of Incidents
Brook House	2	59	61
Campsfield	1	14	15
Colnbrook	4	109	113
Dover	1	39	40
Dungavel	0	3	3
Harmondsworth	0	145	145
Haslar	0	2	2
Morton Hall	6	29	35
Tinsley House	0	17	17
Yarlswood	1	109	110
Total	15	528	541

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many indeterminate sentence prisoners have been considered and (a) approved and (b) rejected for release on temporary licence; and how many of these had received approval from him for transfer to open conditions.

Jeremy Wright

Data on temporary release applications and the outcomes of such applications is not collected centrally and could not be provided except at disproportionate cost. Data on releases on temporary licence are published at the following links:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-october-december-2013-and-annual

and

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statistical-notice-releases-on-temporary-licence-2012

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2015-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much UK Export Finance has spent on advertising in each year since 2010.

Matthew Hancock

UK Export Finance records spending on all activities associated with the promotion of UK Export Finance, including advertising, marketing, attendance at exhibitions etc, as Business Promotion or Marketing.

The table below shows the amount spent by UK Export Finance on these activities in each financial year since 2010/11. Spend has increased in recent years as UK Export Finance seeks to raise awareness of its services particularly amongst smaller businesses following the introduction of products targeted at the smaller exporter in 2011.

	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15 to date
Spend (£)	19,395	41,915	27,958	377,434	801,341

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of the localisation of council tax support on the operation and activities of parish and town councils.

Brandon Lewis

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement of 5 February 2014, Official Report, Column 19-21WS, which sets out clearly the Government’s intention that the element of localised council tax support funding provided to local authorities which reflects reductions in town and parish tax bases should be passed down to those councils.

I additionally wrote to Leaders of billing authorities on this issue on 6 January and 21 February 2014.

The design and management of council tax support schemes is a local matter, and it is for local councils to work together to ensure that any relevant impacts are understood and taken into account.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that council tax support funding is passed on from billing authorities to parish and town councils in 2014-15.

Brandon Lewis

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement of 5 February 2014, Official Report, Column 19-21WS, which sets out clearly the Government’s intention that the element of localised council tax support funding provided to local authorities which reflects reductions in town and parish tax bases should be passed down to those councils.

I additionally wrote to Leaders of billing authorities on this issue on 6 January and 21 February 2014.

The design and management of council tax support schemes is a local matter, and it is for local councils to work together to ensure that any relevant impacts are understood and taken into account.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the performance of Queen’s Park Community Council since its establishment on 1 April 2014; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis

We have not made an assessment of the performance of the new Queen’s Park Community Council since its establishment on 1 April. The new council had its first elections on 22 May 2014 and it is therefore still very early in the life of the council. Unlike the last Labour Government, we do not micro-manage the performance of councils.