The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the current anticipated turn-round time for passport processing is for (a) applications from UK residents making new applications, (b) new applications for a child’s passport and (c) UK residents applying abroad.
James Brokenshire
Expected service standards for passport applications are published on
www.gov.uk.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-03-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many fines have been levied under The Immigration (Employment of Adults Subject to Immigration Conrol) (Maximum Penalty) Order 2008 of a value of (a) up to £1000, (b) between £1000 and £2000, (c) between £2000 and £5000 and (d) between £5000 and £10000 to date.
James Brokenshire
Enforcement operations against illegal working have increased significantly,
with a 47% increase in 2013 compared to 2012. The administration of the penalty
scheme and administrative debt recovery processes have been reviewed, including
with Cabinet Office input and are being streamlined and further improved.
The information on the number of civil penalties levied is provided in the
following table. Data has been provided from £2,500 upwards as this is the
minimum penalty value that is levied in line with the published penalty
calculation framework. The table includes values of £10,000 upwards to account
for multiple workers per penalty.
Please note the figures are for penalties levied at the initial decision stage
which may be reduced, cancelled, increased or reissued at the objection or
appeal stage.
| Value of Penalty | £2,500-£5,000 | £5,000-£10,000 | £10,000 plus |
| Total Penalties levied | 5701 | 2774 | 1954 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-04-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been removed from the UK under the Dublin Convention in each year since 2010.
James Brokenshire
The information requested is shown in the following table:
Year 2010 2011 2012 2013
People Removed 1449 1308 970 1020
Removals fell in 2011 and 2012 because we stopped transferring asylum
applicants to Greece under the Dublin Regulation in 2010. This was because it
was found conditions there amounted to a breach of Article 3 of ECHR. There
then followed similar litigation around conditions in Italy, but we are still
able to effect transfers there.
NB: The figures quoted have been derived from management information and are
therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been
quality assured under National Statistics protocols.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much in overtime costs has been spent in HM Passport Office in each month of 2014.
James Brokenshire
Overtime costs in Her Majesty’s Passport Office in each month of 2014 are as follows
January – £199,146
February – £400,812
March – £840,588
April – £793,559
May – £964,742
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-03-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many fines levied under the Immigration (Employment of Adults Subject to Immigration Conrol) (Maximum Penalty) Order 2008 of a value of (a) up to £1000, (b) between £1000 and £2000, (c) between £2000 and £5000 and (d) between £5000 and £10000 remained unpaid.
James Brokenshire
Information on how many fines levied under the Immigration (Employment of
Adults Subject to Immigration Control) (Maximum Penalty) Order 2008 of a value
of (a) up to £1000, (b) between £1000 and £2000, (c) between £2000 and £5000
and (d) £5000 and £10000 remained unpaid, is not recorded in a format
compatible with National Statistics protocols. Data constraints on electronic
records mean that the Home Office would have to examine in detail a large
number of individual case files in order to ascertain the information
required. The cost of producing the data linking civil penalties issued to our
accounting system for civil penalties which remain unpaid by value would be at
a disproportionate cost to the Home Office.
However, the Home Office has collected £30.6 million in fines through the life
of the regime and the current total value of outstanding collectable debt is £14.6
million.
The Home Office is using the Immigration Bill to make it easier to enforce
civil penalty debts in the courts and is incorporating debt recovery best
practice from across government departments, with earlier initiation of legal
proceedings for debt recovery if required.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-05-07.
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, when he expects to bring forward legislative proposals for the recall of hon. Members by their constituents.
Mr Nick Clegg
The Government remains committed to introducing a recall mechanism which is transparent, robust and fair when parliamentary time allows. We reiterated this commitment in our response to the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee’s report on recall.
The Government’s legislative programme for the fourth session of Parliament will be announced in the Queen’s Speech.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, from which other Departments temporary additional staff at the Passport Office have been deployed; and what training costs have arisen from such redeployment.
James Brokenshire
To date, all but one of the additional staff have been redeployed from within HM
Passport Office and the wider Home Office.
Discussions are continuing with other Government Departments about whether
deployment of any more of their staff would be necessary.
The training that has arisen from this deployment has been delivered using
internal resources and this has not incurred any additional costs other than
the time of those involved and certain travel and subsistence costs.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-03-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which local authorities are currently in discussions with her Department on the vulnerable persons relocation scheme for Syrian nationals.
James Brokenshire
A number of local authorities have indicated that they would like to participate in the Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme, and discussions are ongoing with other local authorities who have expressed an interest. However, as the scheme is based on vulnerability, including women and children at risk, people with medical needs and survivors of torture and violence, it would not be appropriate for us to release details of where individuals are being placed, as this may undermine their privacy and recovery.
The first beneficiaries of the scheme arrived in the UK on 25 March. This is the result of excellent cooperation with UNHCR, the International Organisation for Migration and local authority services, which has allowed us to identify vulnerable individuals in need of evacuation and ensure that the support they need is in place in the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what total income was received by the Passport Office in fees for (a) fast track and (b) premium service (i) in 2013 and (b) between 1 January and 31 May 2014.
James Brokenshire
Table A sets out the requested information in respect of how many telephone
calls were received during the requested periods.
Table B shows income received in fees for premium and fast track services.
Table C provides information on the number of full time equivalent staff
employed by HM passport Office on 31 December for each of the years from 2010 –
2013.
Table D sets out the number of first time passport applications and the number
of passport renewals received during each month between January 2013 and May
2014.
In the period between 1 January and 31 May 2014, 31,188 straightforward
passport applications processed by Her Majesty’s Passport Office were not
processed within the 3-week target.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with representatives of the travel insurance industry regarding cancellations of holidays or business trips due to delays in processing passport applications.
James Brokenshire
Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of
international partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public
and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and
operational delivery.
Details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations and individuals are
passed to the Cabinet Office on a quarterly basis and are subsequently
published on the Cabinet Office website, which is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/home-office-mnisters-hospitality-data