To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what discussions his Department have had with BAA on the potential disposal by BAA of one of its airports; and if he will make a statement. (190329)

Competition issues are a matter for the independent competition authorities. The Competition Commission is currently investigating the supply of airport services by BAA in the UK following a reference by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate he has made of the average annual (a) days lost per employee and (b) cost to business due to stress and stress related business. (187627)

The average number of working days lost per employee by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, (formerly the Department of Trade and Industry), including UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) and Office of Manpower Economics (OME), attributed to stress-related conditions for the period January 2007 to December 2007 is 0.72.

The Department does not routinely calculate the average annual cost of stress. As this would involve manually investigating employee sickness records and pay details on an individual basis, the cost of doing this would be disproportionate to the benefit to be derived.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what guidelines his Department issues to its senior civil servants on the receipt of hospitality during public consultations run by his Department. (190267)

[holding answer 28 February 2008]: The Department provides the following guidance to all of its staff on its HR intranet:

Acceptance and registration of hospitality

You must not accept offers of gifts or hospitality without considering whether it would be both legal and proper to do so.

The Principles of Propriety

The guiding principles governing the acceptance of gifts and hospitality are:

Your conduct should not create suspicion of a conflict between your official duty and your private interest;

You should not give the impression that you may have been influenced by a gift or hospitality;

If in doubt about whether you should accept a gift or hospitality, you should refuse it.

These principles are not intended to stop you accepting occasional trivial gifts or working lunches during the course of an official visit. However no offer of a more substantial gift or hospitality should be lightly accepted.

You should consult your line manager when deciding whether or not to accept a gift or hospitality.

Procedures for declaring hospitality received

You must not accept hospitality that might be seen to compromise your personal judgement or integrity.

It is up to you to judge whether an offer of hospitality should be accepted. Before accepting, you should be satisfied that the hospitality is normal and reasonable in the circumstances. If in doubt, you should consult a senior manager.

The following guidelines are intended to help you and them come to a decision:

Is it in the Department's interest? For hospitality to be in the Department's interests there will normally need to be an opportunity to discuss official business. However, it may be that the Department nonetheless needs to be represented at an event. In this case you should check with a senior manager, to make sure that the Department is not over-represented.

The value - Is it great enough to give rise to criticism? You should consider the perceived value rather than the actual cost.

The frequency: Is it more frequent or regular than would be regarded as normal or reasonable, taking into account the nature of the event?

The potential for embarrassment: Is the person or organisation offering the hospitality under investigation or have they been criticised by the Government or anyone acting on its behalf?

The nature of any relationship with the Department: Even if you are not involved in financial, contractual or regulatory matters connected with the person or body concerned, the acceptance of an invitation by a member of BERR would be open to misconstruction or misrepresentation.

You need to bear in mind that the guidelines are not just intended to safeguard the Department’s position; they are framed to help you to avoid personal embarrassment and criticism, however misplaced.

Strict rules apply to those responsible for procurement and the placing or management of contracts (see the Procurement Manual for further guidance); and those involved in regulatory activity. These are issued separately to the relevant staff. Nevertheless, they have the same force and authority as though they were included in The Guide.

Records of gifts and hospitality

All material hospitality that you accept while on duty (other than of an incidental kind like tea or coffee) must be registered in the HMU's Register of Gifts and Hospitality.

The only exceptions to this rule are hospitality in relation to diplomatic activity overseas or in the UK (e.g. reception hosted by a foreign government or international institution) and attendance at an event hosted by Her Majesty's Government (e.g. an official dinner to mark a particular occasion).

Any failure to register hospitality is a disciplinary offence. Staff concerned with procurement, including contract management, should note that the CUP Guide NO 16 makes the recording of offers of hospitality and gifts, whether or not accepted, mandatory.

Legal Position in Respect of Corruption

It is an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 for any civil servant in his or her official capacity corruptly to accept any gift or consideration as an inducement or reward for doing, or refraining from doing, anything; or showing favour or disfavour to any person.

Moreover, under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1916, any money, gift or consideration received by a member of staff from a person or organisation holding or seeking to obtain a Government contract will be deemed by the courts to have been received corruptly, unless the officer proves the contrary.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the effects on consumer representation of the Consumer Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007; what response he has made to paragraph 5.66 of the House of Lords Regulators Committee’s report on economic regulators; and if he will make a statement. (175737)

The Government assessment of the changes to consumer representation made by the Consumer Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007 was set out in the response to the House of Lords Regulators Committee’s report on economic regulators, published on Thursday 21 February. Paragraph 1.16 states:

“The Government believes that the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act will strengthen consumer representation in key sectors. The new National Consumer Council will be established from 1 October 2008. The Government are working with industry, regulators and the existing bodies to ensure that the current consumer representative framework is maintained and wherever possible enhanced during the transition.

The Government are confident that the overall framework established by the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act will provide full support to Energy and Postal Consumers.”

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what IT contracts his Department holds; and what the (a) length and (b) cost of each contract is. (187639)

[holding answer 21 February 2008]: The core Department has one main information technology contract which provides desk top services and a variety of additional extended services. This is a private finance initiative (PFI) agreement awarded to Fujitsu Services in 1998 and the agreement commenced in April 1999 and runs for 15 years. The spend up until March 2008 will be £370 million and it is estimated that a further £163 million will be spent up to the end of the agreement.

In 2005 the Department awarded a Competed Services Framework Arrangement to six suppliers to enable an element of competition for IT projects and a small number of IT contracts have been awarded through this arrangement and other framework arrangements available to government. The current contracts are as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many of his Department’s civil servants were (a) suspended and (b) dismissed for accessing (i) obscene and (ii) other prohibited material on work computers in each of the last five years. (188794)

Four employees of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform have been suspended/dismissed in the past five years. To give further details of the cases may contravene the Data Protection Act, as it may facilitate the identification of an individual.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much was claimed in reimbursable expenses by senior civil service staff in his Department and its agencies in the last 12 month period for which figures are available. (187532)

Expenses claimed by BERR staff are not recorded separately by grade. To obtain the requested information would entail a disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what property has been lost or stolen from his Department and its predecessor since 1997; and what the cost of replacement was. (187473)

From 1997 to date, the total number of items reported lost or stolen from my Department and its predecessor's HQ Estate amounted to 375. The total value of these items amounted to £145,500.

The figure does not include small, low value, personal items reported lost or stolen by staff.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the cost of sickness pay to staff in his Department was in the most recent year for which figures are available. (187514)

The Department does not routinely calculate the average annual cost of stress. As this would involve manually investigating employee sickness records and pay details on an individual basis, the cost of doing this would be disproportionate to the benefit to be derived.

The Department’s sickness, and long term sickness absence rates have consistently been lower than the Whitehall average over the past three years. The average number of working days lost due to sick leave for the period January 2007 to December 2007 is 4.9.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what proportion of his Department's translation and interpreting work is outsourced under framework agreements with commercial providers; and if he will make a statement. (189161)

The Department has a service level agreement with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from whom individual directorates purchase translation services.

Individual directorates make their own arrangements for purchase of interpreting services from external suppliers. Information is not available centrally about such purchases or arrangements with individual suppliers and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps he is taking on the effective disclosure by gas and electricity suppliers of complaints handling data to the National Consumer Council; and if he will make a statement. (190481)

The Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007 confers, on the New National Consumer Council a power to require the disclosure to it by gas and electricity suppliers of such information as it requires for the purpose of exercising its functions.

Precise disclosure arrangements are a matter for the new council, in discussion with suppliers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (1) if he will take steps to ensure that the forthcoming complaint handling standards set by Ofgem contain provision for energy companies' complaints data will be subject to regular independent verification; and if he will make a statement; (190482)

The Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007 provides that setting of complaint handling standards for gas and electricity is a matter for the regulator, Ofgem (GEMA).

Ofgem consulted on its proposals for complaint handling standards in November last year and will be publishing its decision at the end of March. Ofgem is working closely with consumer groups on these standards to ensure that consumers remain protected.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many members of the Senior Civil Service have been awarded an honour while working in his Department. (187134)

There are currently 16 BERR Senior Civil Servants with an honours award. The breakdown is as follows: KCB (1), CMG (2), CB (5), CBE (5), QBE (3).

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what arrangements there are for the allocation to spending areas of revenue from fines imposed by those industry regulators for which his Department is responsible. (190551)

Fines by regulators would be treated as Consolidated Fund Extra Receipts (CFERs), which go directly to the Treasury, unless specified otherwise in legislation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when the last accounts were (a) due from and (b) filed at Companies House by INTO University Partnerships Limited and its subsidiaries. (190859)

INTO University Partnerships Ltd. was incorporated on 13 July 2005, their first set of accounts were therefore due to be filed at Companies House no later than 13 May 2007. I have been advised by the Registrar of Companies that Companies House has written to the company to advise them that the accounts are overdue and requesting they be filed.

Companies House does not keep a register of subsidiary companies, however a company’s subsidiaries are often listed on its accounts. As they have not filed any accounts the Registrar of Companies is unable to provide any information of its subsidiary companies.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assistance his Department provides to businesses from the Isle of Man wishing to (a) invest in the United Kingdom and (b) take part in joint ventures with UK companies; how much was made available for these purposes in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. (190788)

In line with its guidelines for eligibility to services, UKTI does not provide services for companies from, or based in Crown Dependencies (Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) and the Overseas Territories (Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, British Virgin Islands, Cayman, Islands, Turks and Caicos etc.). However, where a request is made for assistance in liaising with a foreign government, the case is examined on its merits.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will take steps to evaluate the effects on the Yorkshire economy of the takeover of Kelda by a private equity group; (189612)

The acquisition of Kelda Group by Saltaire Water is a commercial matter for the enterprises concerned and their shareholders.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when he will reply to the letters of (a) 9 November 2007 and (b) 14 December 2007 from the hon. Member for the Forest of Dean on firework regulations, reference FD4276. (189868)

I apologise for my delay in responding to the hon. Member. I have been considering the issues raised and am now in a position to respond. A reply will issue from my office shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when he will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire, dated 21 December 2007, transferred from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (CMS 85948), about the withdrawal of CapTel. (191156)

I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member. The letter was originally sent to the wrong Department, a reply will be issued shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire, dated 23 January, on mobile telephone dealers. (191224)

[holding answer 3 March 2008]: I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member, a reply will be issued shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what UK and European legislation governs whether goods may be labelled as made in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales, (d) Northern Ireland and (e) the UK. (190249)

Generally speaking, there is no UK or European Union legal requirement for goods to bear marks indicating their origin, nor is there anything to prevent voluntary origin marking where traders wish to do so. Where such marks are applied to goods, the law requires this information to be accurate.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the value of (a) UK investment in Taiwan and (b) Taiwan’s investment in the UK was in each year since 1997; what steps he (i) has taken and (ii) plans to take to increase (A) trade and (B) joint ventures between the UK and Taiwan; and if he will make a statement. (190789)

The following table shows the UK’s foreign direct investment (FDI) net flows to and from Taiwan for the period 1997-2005, the latest year available.

However, there are many ways to invest. Net FDI flows do not provide the full picture of investment. The following table records the project wins and job numbers of which we are aware.

UK Trade and Investment offers a range of services to UK companies. For Taiwan, we have identified the following priority areas: Construction (specifically Urban regeneration), Creative Industries, Healthcare, Information Communications Technology (ICT), Infrastructure (specifically Rail), Nanotechnology, Environment and Renewable Energy.

In the coming year UK Trade and Investment will host the Taiwan British Business Council (TBBC) and the UK Taiwan Trade Talks with the aim of further building up the business relationship and addressing barriers to trade.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when (a) he, (b) Ministers in his Department and (c) his officials last met the Chairman of the Israel Britain Chamber of Commerce to discuss trade between Great Britain and Israel; for what dates the next such meetings are planned; and if he will make a statement. (189036)

I have not yet had the opportunity to meet Len Judes, Chairman of the Israel-British Chamber of Commerce. My right hon. Friend the Member for Makerfield, as Minister for Trade, met Len Judes when he addressed a meeting of the Israel Britain Business Council in London in May 2006.

Contacts in Tel Aviv are regular and ongoing. UKTI officials based in London who are responsible for business with Israel meet representatives of the Israel-British Chamber of Commerce when they travel to Israel. The last two such contacts were in June 2007 and February 2008.

UKTI officials in London will next meet Len Judes, at the time of the Israel-Britain Business Council meeting, in the UK in May 2008.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer of 19 February 2008, Official Report, column 656W, on private sector: redundancy, whether his Department is currently considering provision of funding under the selective finance for investment in England scheme. (191496)

Funding can be provided under the selective finance for investment in England (SFIE) scheme to support new capital investment that will safeguard employment. Under EC state aid law, the allocation of public sector funds to private sector companies simply to prevent redundancies, i.e. in the absence of new capital investment, would be considered as operating aid. SFIE cannot be used to provide operating aid. However, SFIE may be granted to an independent investor to support the acquisition of assets directly linked to an establishment that would have closed had it not been purchased, therefore preventing redundancy.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when he last discussed the Marine Bill with his Cabinet colleagues; and if he will make a statement. (188708)

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has regular discussions on a range of issues with Cabinet colleagues. However, any discussions concerning the Marine Bill would be led by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (1) if he will bring forward measures to ensure that service staff receive income in full from any tips earned in the course of their duties in addition to a contracted rate of pay which is at or above the minimum wage; (187417)

Current legislation already requires that workers should receive the national minimum wage. Under the present minimum wage regulations, cash tips, service charges, gratuities or cover charges that are paid by the employer through the pay roll can count towards the NMW. Many restaurants operate systems known as “troncs” where cash tips are gathered centrally and then allocated out by the head waiter. In some cases the tronc is shared out between the workers without the employer being involved. In these cases the tips would not count towards the minimum wage. However in some cases the tips or tronc money is passed to the restaurant and paid out through the payroll and therefore can count towards the national minimum wage.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether he plans to take steps to prevent supermarkets from engaging in loss-leading alcohol promotions. (189541)

The Competition Commission considered the issue of ‘below cost selling’ of alcohol in the context of its current inquiry into the groceries market. It concluded that the practice did not raise competition concerns. Separately, the Government have commissioned independent research examining what relationships may exist between the pricing and availability of alcohol and harms associated with excessive alcohol consumption.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the extent to which tour operators in the activity holiday market comply with the Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations in terms of financial protection for their customers; and what powers he has to take action against companies which do not comply with the regulations. (188018)

My Department has made no assessment of the extent to which businesses offering activity holidays comply with the requirement in the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 (SI 1992/3288) that they should be able to provide sufficient evidence of security for the refund of money paid over and for the repatriation of the consumer in the event of insolvency. Non-compliance by the activity holidays sector with this element of the Regulations is not the subject of any significant number of complaints to my Department, notwithstanding the hon. Member's recent correspondence on behalf of a business within his constituency.

Local authority trading standards officers have powers to enforce the Regulations and, where necessary, prosecute in the criminal courts.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many UK Trade and Investment posts there are in (a) London and (b) Glasgow; and how many there are planned to be at each location in January 2009. (180264)

There are approximately 475 trade and investment posts in London and Glasgow. Of these approximately 45 posts are in Glasgow. By January 2009 the trade and investment posts in London will have increased by approximately 170 posts which are being transferred from MOD to BERR under the machinery of government change announced on 11 December 2007.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the rate of unemployment was in each of the English regions in each year for which figures are available. (191356)

I have been asked to reply.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 5 March 2008:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question on the rate of unemployment in each English region in each year for which figures are available. (191356)

The attached table gives estimates of those aged 16+ who are unemployed as a percentage of all economically active people in the three months ending June from 1992 to 2007, from the Labour Force Survey (LFS).

Seasonally adjusted estimates of national and regional unemployment levels and rates are published each month in the Labour Market Statistics First Release. Please visit the following link for further information:

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_labour/LMS_FR_HS7WebTablel8SA.xls

As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what specifications have been set for information requirements to be entered into the system for monitoring air passengers that her Department is putting out to tender. (190889)

The e-Borders contract was awarded to the Trusted Borders consortium led by Raytheon Systems Ltd. on 14 November 2007.

There are two types of information which need to be collected for the e-Borders system. These are travel document information and other passenger information. e-Borders will require commercial carriers and owner/operators of all vessels scheduled to arrive in or depart the UK to submit detailed passenger, service and crew data to the e-Borders system prior to their departure to and from the UK.

Travel document information (TDI) refers to specified biographical information (name, date of birth, nationality, gender, travel document type, state of issue number and expiry date) relating to a passenger.

Other passenger information (OPI) relates to any other data relating to a passenger held by a carrier in its reservations system and may include, for example, the date on which a reservation was made and payment method. Passenger name records (PNR) are an industry term used by scheduled air carriers to describe the reservation details held by them.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department further to the ministerial letter of 31 January 2006 responding to the recommendations within the Animal Procedures Committee's (APC) 2005 report on the Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals, if she will make a statement on her Department's response to the APC's recommendation 4. (190050)

We will shortly be reviewing our response to all of the recommendations in this Animal Procedures Committee report, including recommendation 4, and will aim to publish our further conclusions when we publish the Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals 2007.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many meetings Ministers from her Department and officials from the Home Office Counter Terrorism Department have had with the Association of University Chief Security Officers; what the purposes were of such meetings; and if she will make a statement. (188010)

[holding answer 21 February 2008]: The Association of University Chief Security Officers (AUCSO) falls within the area of responsibility for the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). Neither my right. hon. Friend the Home Secretary nor I or officials at the Home Office have met directly with AUCSO representatives. Government interaction with AUCSO is carried forward by DIUS who engage with them on counter-terrorism issues as well as other matters.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the results of the British Crime Survey, in relation to the perception of antisocial behaviour in the South Wales police force area in 2006-07. (187100)

The British Crime Survey (BCS) is a nationally representative survey of adults aged 16 and over living in private households in England and Wales. The survey includes questions on perceived problems with antisocial behaviour. In the 2006-07 BCS, 20 per cent. of people in South Wales perceived there to be high levels of antisocial behaviour in their local area. Figures for South Wales are similar to the average for England and Wales.

Annual assessments of Police Forces in England and Wales are published jointly by the Home Office and HMIC. As part of the ‘Police Performance Assessments 2006-07’, South Wales police were assessed as ‘poor’ and ‘stable’ for perceptions of antisocial behaviour. Details of the assessments are available on the Home Office website:

http://www.police.homeoffice.gov.uk/performance-and-measurement/performance-assessment

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will place in the Library copies of each document prepared for each of her Department’s citizens’ juries. (164859)

The Home Office held a Citizens’ Jury on Crime which took place on 12 September 2007. The Home Office will place a copy of the final report in the Library when it is published.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals are subject to control orders; for how long each has been subject to the order; and on what date the prospect of prosecution was most recently considered in each case. (187253)

There are currently 11 individuals subject to control orders. The following dates reflect when these individuals were first served with a control order (since that point their original control order may have been renewed, quashed and/or revoked and replaced with a new one).

Two individuals were served with control orders in March 2005.

One individual was served with a control order in September 2005.

One individual was served with a control order in November 2005.

One individual was served with a control order in December 2005.

One individual was served with a control order in July 2006.

One individual was served with a control order in August 2006.

One individual was served with control order in September 2006.

One individual was served with a control order in June 2007.

One individual was served with a control order in July 2007.

One individual was served with a control order in January 2008.

A decision on whether to prosecute a particular individual is an operational matter for the police and the Crown Prosecution Service. The police are under a duty to keep under review the possibility of prosecution of individuals subject to a control order for offences relating to terrorism, and to consult with the Crown Prosecution Service as appropriate. The possibility of prosecution is considered on an ongoing basis and this is formally captured on a quarterly basis via the Control Order Review Group (CORG). The last round of CORGs was held on 3 to 6 December 2007.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when her office received the annual report on control orders from the independent reviewer in (a) 2008 and (b) 2007. (187407)

The information is as follows:

(a) The Home Office received a draft of the third annual report on control orders on Sunday 10 February 2008. The report was finalised by Lord Carlile on 14 February 2008 and published on 18 February 2008.

(b) The Home Office received a draft of the second annual report on control orders on 25 January 2007. The report was finalised by Lord Carlile on 2 February 2007 and published on 19 February 2007.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many attacks have been made on UK lorry drivers returning through the Channel ports by potential illegal immigrants since 1 January 2008. (191190)

The information requested is not collected centrally. It is not possible to identify such offences from the recorded crime statistics collected by the Home Office.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps she has taken to tackle knife crime amongst young people. (187000)

The Government published their Tackling Violence Action Plan ‘Saving Lives. Reducing Harm. Protecting the Public.' on 18 February 2008. This addresses a broad range of serious violence offences, and has a particular focus on knife crime.

The Action Plan recognises the public concern and addresses the dangers of youngsters who carry knives and are at risk of committing serious violence. It sets out a range of actions to tackle serious violence including knife crime over the next three years.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the salary range is for each pay band of civil servants in her Department. (188808)

The salary ranges for each pay band of civil servants are as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff in her Department retired on grounds of stress-related illness in each of the last three years. (187503)

The Home Office is unable to provide information on how many staff have retired on grounds of stress-related illness. Our database records any retirement that is as a result of sickness as a ‘medical retirement’. The Home Office is committed to reducing work related stress and ensuring, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of all employees. The Home Office policy is concerned with managing the risk factors of stress in the workplace for the reduction or elimination (so far as is reasonably practicable) of the causes of work-related stress, together with the provision of support for staff who may experience stress from any cause.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what account her Department takes of Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advice in decisions on deportation. (191405)

[holding answer 3 March 2008]: Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advice is for British nationals. There is often a difference between the risks a British citizen would face when travelling to a foreign country and those for someone returning to what is their home country. Travel advice aimed at British travellers cannot therefore be assumed to apply in the same way to nationals of the country concerned. Instead, decisions about whether it would be safe to return an individual to their country of origin are taken in the light of all the available information about conditions as they relate to nationals of that country.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what account she has taken of recent events in Cameroon in plans to review her policy on deportations to that country; and what recent discussions she has had with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on this matter. (191560)

[holding answer 4 March 2008]: Officials from the Border and Immigration Agency continue to closely monitor the situation in Cameroon and are in regular contact with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in order to obtain accurate and up-to-date information on recent events there. Asylum and human rights applications made from Cameroonian nationals continue to be considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations and taking full account of the latest available information about the conditions in Cameroon as they impact on the individual applicant. The Border and Immigration Agency only enforces the removal of Cameroonian nationals who we are satisfied are not in need of protection.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to deal with attacks by dogs on (a) adults and (b) children. (191009)

The Government take all violent crime extremely seriously. A person who uses a dog to attack another person, provided they have the requisite intent, could be committing one of a range of offences of violence against the person such as grievous bodily harm. Any such offence will be investigated and prosecuted in the same way as any other violent crime.

The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (as amended in 1997) makes it an offence to breed, or breed from, four types of dog identified as bred specifically for fighting: the pit bull terrier; the Japanese Tosa; the Dogo Argentino; and the Fila Braziliero. It is also an offence to sell or exchange, or advertise or offer for sale or exchange, any of these dogs.

The legislation also provides protection to the public from a dog of any type or breed which is dangerously out of control in a public place, or in a private place where it has no right to be.

Following the tragic dog attacks on children last year and earlier this year, we are currently undertaking a review of the dangerous dogs legislation.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many illegal (a) cannabis and (b) methamphetamine factories were detected in each of the last three years, broken down by police force area. (191379)

The information requested is not collected centrally by the Home Office.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what the cost was of each of the four pilot schemes piloting the non-emergency 101 number; what assessment has been made of the pilot schemes; and if she will place a copy of the final report in the Library; (188366)

I refer the hon. Member to the answers given on 7 January 2008, Official Report, column 254W and on 19 February 2008, Official Report, column 580W.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 28 January 2008, Official Report, column 98W, on entry clearances, what estimate her Department has made of the number of foreign nationals resident in the UK who the Government are permitted to require to possess a biometric information document under the UK Borders Act 2007; what estimate her Department has made of the percentage such individuals constitute of the total number of foreign nationals resident in the United Kingdom; and what estimate her Department has made of the number of biometric information documents the Government plans to issue to such nationals by (a) January 2009, (b) January 2010 and (c) January 2011; and if she will make a statement. (184425)

The roll out strategy for biometric immigration documents will be published shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Government plan to provide accommodation in the UK to Iraqi citizens formerly employed by the Ministry of Defence and their families who are granted indefinite leave to enter. (190411)

The Border and Immigration Agency is currently in the process of putting in place a reception, orientation and integration package for Iraqi citizens who enter the UK as part of the direct entry scheme. This package will include the provision of accommodation.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost has been of Project Semaphore since its inception; and if she will make a statement. (176720)

[holding answer 7 January 2008]: Project Semaphore was launched in November 2004 and was commissioned to run for 39 months to provide an operational prototype to trial e-Borders concepts and technology in order to inform and de-risk the e-Borders solution.

Up to November 2007 the cost of Project Semaphore was £38 million.

To date, there have been over 19,000 alerts issued resulting in more than 1500 arrests for crimes which include murder, kidnap, rape, assault, firearms and fraud. These include:

Significant number of registered sex offenders identified leaving UK.

Significant counter-terrorist interventions.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what proportion of new DNA profiles added to the National DNA database in each month since September 2007 relate to individuals aged (a) under 16, (b) 16 to 18, (c) 19 to 20, (d) 21 to 30, (e) 31 to 40, (f) 41 to 50, (g) 51 to 60 and (h) over 60 years, broken down by police force; and if she will make a statement. (179093)

The figures given in the tables are the number of subject sample profiles taken by police forces in England and Wales and loaded to the National DNA Database (NDNAD) between 1 October 2007 and 18 January 2008. The data was obtained on 18 January 2008 and is based on the current age of the subjects as at 18 January 2008. Copies have been placed in the Library.

A proportion of DNA profiles held on the NDNAD are replicates, that is, a profile for a person has been loaded on more then one occasion (one reason for this is that the person gave different names, or different versions of their name, on separate arrests). During 2007, the replication rate was calculated to be 13.7 per cent. It was re-calculated as at 31 December 2007 and it is now estimated that 13.3 per cent. of profiles held on the NDNAD are replicates. Therefore, the number of individuals on the NDNAD is now approximately 13.3 per cent. less than the number of subject profiles. The presence of these replicate profiles on the NDNAD does not impact on the effectiveness and integrity of the database. None the less, a long-term exercise is under way to identify issues associated with the removal of all such redundant replicate profiles.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many honour killings were recorded by each police force in each of the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement. (185349)

The requested information cannot be provided as, currently, circumstances around so-called honour killings are not identifiable from centrally-held homicide data. However, over the coming months we will be working closely with the Association of Chief Police Officers to develop an honour-based violence action plan that will seek to ensure that all reports of honour-based violence are investigated and to increase awareness of this appalling crime. We will be reporting on the progress of this work on a regular basis.

More broadly, we are currently developing a national black and minority ethnic (BME) working group of Government, statutory agencies and the third sector that will promote a partnership approach to issues such as domestic and sexual violence, forced marriage, so-called honour crimes and female genital mutilation. The group will identify and develop actions and practical tools to assist victims and potential victims.

We are also aware that we need to understand more about the help-seeking behaviours of women from BME communities with a view to informing national policy and practice development. We have commissioned research from Bristol university to undertake a study of this and expect interim findings in September 2008.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people residing in the UK illegally were convicted of a criminal offence in each year since 2002. (183035)

In order to provide the information requested the detailed examination of individual case files would be required and for this to be cross referenced with information held on the Police National Computer.

The chief executive of the Border and Immigration Agency has regularly written to the Home Affairs Committee and provided the most robust and accurate information available on foreign national prisoners. Copies of these letters are available in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions the Immigration Service used police cells to hold immigrants in each year since 1997; and what the average cost was in each police force area in each year. (190827)

The information requested could only be obtained by the detailed examination of individual case records and could therefore be provided only at a disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Government seeks to deport (a) foreign national offenders sentenced to imprisonment for a period of less than one year and (b) foreign national offenders sentenced to non-custodial community punishments. (180681)

The chief executive of the Border and Immigration Agency advised in her appearance before the Home Affairs committee on 15 January that over 4,200 foreign national prisoners were deported or removed from the United Kingdom in 2007. Our policy was set out very clearly during the passage of the UK Borders Act.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Government seeks to deport foreign national offenders sentenced to (a) less than a year’s custody and (b) non-custodial community punishments for (i) possession of a firearm and (ii) possession of class B or C drugs with intent to supply. (180682)

Our policy was set out very clearly during the passage of the UK Borders Act.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research has been undertaken by her Department on (a) areas and (b) communities with high levels of knife-related crime. (180309)

The Home Office regularly collects information on knives and violent incidents via the British Crime Survey. The findings are published each year at national level. Data from the 2006-07 survey can be found on the Home Office web site at:

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/hosb1107.pdf

The Offending, Crime and Justice Survey (OCJS) also includes questions on young people carrying and using knives. These findings are also published at national level. The latest published information from the 2005 survey can be found on the Home Office website at:

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/hosb1706.pdf

Historically, homicide has been the only offence category for which police recorded knife crime is collected by the Home Office. Figures are published each year for method of killing, and 'sharp instrument' is one of these methods. National findings for 2006-07 can be found on the Home Office website at:

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs08/hosb0308.pdf

Data on knife-enabled grievous bodily harm and robbery offences have been collected centrally since April 2007. Figures for 2007-08 will be published in July 2008 in the next annual ‘Crime in England and Wales’ volume.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make a statement on the development of police investigation and detainee handling centres. (176300)

The provision of Police Investigation and Detainee Handling Centres in each force area is an operational matter for the chief officer of the force concerned.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which organisations have access to the police national computer. (188453)

The following organisations have access to the police national computer:

All Police Forces in England and Wales

All Police Forces in Scotland

Police Service of Northern Ireland

Isle of Man Constabulary

States of Jersey Police

Guernsey Police

British Transport Police

Security Service

Secret Intelligence Service

The Civil Nuclear Constabulary

Serious and Organised Crime Agency

Ministry of Defence Police

Service Police Crime Bureau

Disclosure Scotland

Access Northern Ireland

National Identification Service

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

Royal Mail Consignia Security and Investigation Service

Home Office Departmental Security Unit

Home Office Immigration Managed Migration Directorate

Department for Transport

Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform

H.M. Prison Service

Defence Vetting Agency

Criminal Cases Review Commission

National Air Traffic Services

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Ministry of Justice Department for Constitutional Affairs—Crown Court

Jury Service

Ministry of Justice Department for Constitutional Affairs—Warrants

The Office of Fair Trading

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Border and Immigration Agency

Department of Works and Pensions Solicitors

Office for Civil Nuclear Security

Financial Services Authority

Health and Safety Executive

Scottish Police Services Authority

Scottish Crime Drug Enforcement Agency

Charity Commission for England and Wales

Assets Recovery Agency

NHS Counter Fraud Services

The Pensions Regulator

Mersey Tunnels Police

H.M. Inspectorate of Constabulary

The Environment Agency

Independent Police Complaints Commission

The Highways Agency

Vehicle and Operator Services Agency

NPIA National DNA Database Custodian

NPIA Bramshill Police College

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2008, Official Report, column 389W, on police stations, how many police buildings have been (a) opened and (b) closed in each year since 1997, broken down by police authority area. (189368)

The management of the police estate and allocation of resources are matters for each police authority and the chief officer, who are responsible for assessing local needs.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2008, Official Report, column 389W, on police stations, what changes in the use of police buildings have taken place in the last five years. (189369)

The use of police stations has changed in recent years to reflect more modern policing. Many forces have now devised innovative ways of increasing their accessibility to members of the public by using other more modern methods of interaction, such as police shops in high streets, police kiosks and by use of mobile police stations—particularly in rural areas.

The management of the police estate and allocation of resources are matters for each police authority and the chief officer, who are responsible for assessing local needs.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2008, Official Report, column 389W, on police stations, how many police buildings there were in each police authority area in each year since 1997. (189370)

The management of the police estate and allocation of resources are matters for each police authority and the chief officer, who are responsible for assessing local needs.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the participants at the review of policing event on 31 July 2007 were (a) Afro-Caribbean, (b) Muslim, (c) Sikh and (d) Jewish. (190824)

The event, held on 31 July 2007, sought the views of an invited audience on a number of key issues relating to Sir Ronnie Flanagan’s Review of Policing, but specifically with regards to equality and diversity issues. The groups and organisations represented at the event included:

1990 Trust—Promotes the interests of Britain’s black communities

Action Aid—Global anti-poverty agency

a: gender—Transgender group

British Association of Women in Policing

Calderdale Race Equality Council

Carisma—Black and Minority Ethnic group

Commission for Racial Equality

Committee for Protection of Turkish Rights

Galop—Transgender group

Gay Police Association

GIRES—Transgender group

Henna Foundation—Asian Women’s Group

Latin Front

Metropolitan Police Service Independent Advisory Group

National Association of Muslim Police

National Black Police Association

National Travellers Action Group

Peace Alliance

Police Superintendents Association

Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust

Stonewall

and a number of independent community members representing the black and minority ethnic community.

Individual participants were not monitored by religion or ethnicity on the day.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make a cost-benefit analysis of offering corrective laser eye surgery to firearms officers. (185241)

The consideration of privately funding corrective laser eye surgery is a matter for individual Chief Officers of Police.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much central Government funding is being provided to each police authority in the 2007-08 financial year; how much each authority is raising through local precepts; and how much the combined figure for both funding streams represents per head of population in each authority area. (189604)

Information is set out in the following table.

We do not distribute grant to police authorities purely on the basis of population. The police funding formula uses a range of data relating to demographic and social characteristics to reflect the relative needs of each authority. Grant allocations also take into account the relative tax base of each authority. Grant allocations are stabilised by damping to limit year-on-year variations.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding her Department (a) spent on and (b) committed to the Police Portal; why the Police Portal was withdrawn; what plans she has to introduce a secure online crime reporting system for use by police forces; and if she will make a statement. (190342)

This matter is subject to ongoing legal proceedings and it would, therefore, not be appropriate to provide the requested information at this stage.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of retired police officers in North Yorkshire and the impact of the cost of their pensions on the operational budget of North Yorkshire Police. (189093)

Information on the number of retired police officers in individual police forces is not held centrally as the administration of the police pension schemes is the responsibility of each individual police authority.

Under the new system of pensions financing introduced on 1 April 2006 police authorities now have a separate pensions account out of which retired officers’ pensions are paid. Where the cost of pensions in payment exceeds the level of employer and officer contributions paid into the pension account in any year the account is topped up with a grant from central Government; any surplus is recouped. A key benefit of this change is that it takes away from police authorities the burden of the rising cost of pensions, as the number of pensioners increases, from the operational budget. Instead, the operational budget now only has to provide for the employers’ contributions in respect of serving officers.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many senior police officers were permitted to retire while under disciplinary investigation in each of the last five years. (189159)

The retirement of senior police officers is primarily a matter for the officer concerned, and his or her police authority. The Home Office does not collate information on those who retire while subject to disciplinary investigation.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for the Gateway Programme the UK Government has received from Iraqi citizens formerly employed by the Ministry of Defence. (189855)

The Gateway programme policy states that an individual cannot make an application for resettlement directly to the Border and Immigration Agency. Applications can only be made by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to the UK following an individual assessment by them in a third country. As of 27 February, one formal application for the Gateway programme had been made by UNHCR to the UK on behalf of Iraqi citizens formerly employed by the Ministry of Defence.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Iraqi citizens formerly employed by (a) the Ministry of Defence, (b) the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and (c) the Department for International Development have been screened by the Border and Immigration Agency since 8 October 2007. (189942)

Since 8 October 2007 the Border and Immigration Agency has screened the following number of Iraqi citizens who were formerly employed by the three main employing Departments:

74 Iraqi citizens who were formerly employed by the Ministry of Defence have been or are being screened by the Border and Immigration Agency.

Eight Iraqi citizens who were formerly employed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have been or are being screened by the Border and Immigration Agency.

Three Iraqi citizens who were formerly employed by the Department for International Development have been or are being screened by the Border and Immigration Agency.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many disclosure notices have been obtained by the Serious and Organised Crime Agency to date. (187276)

SOCA’s annual report for 2006-07 reported the use of 22 disclosure notices. Comparable figures for 2007-08 are not yet available.

The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 confers powers on the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Director of Revenue and Customs Prosecutions and the Lord Advocate in relation to the giving of disclosure notices. Detailed cross-matching and validation of data between SOCA and its partners is carried out at the end of each financial year.

As required under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, SOCA will publish a report on the exercise of its functions during 2007-08 as soon as possible after the end of the financial year. Comparable figures for 2007-08 will be available when this report is published.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people employed by the Serious and Organised Crime Agency have been trained in powers of arrest since 1 April 2006. (187277)

Further to my response of 8 March 2007, 182 SOCA staff are undergoing the SOCA investigators course, which incorporates training in powers of arrest.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases relating to (a) drugs, (b) firearms and (c) counterfeit currency have been referred to the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) by HM Revenue and Customs; and how many of those cases have been investigated by SOCA. (187278)

Between 1 April 2006 and 31 August 2006, 444 notifications relating to drugs seizures were referred to SOCA by HM Revenue and Customs. Four of these cases were investigated by SOCA.

In order to align these notifications with the UK Serious Organised Crime Control Strategy a refined framework was introduced on 1 September 2006. Since then 101 notifications relating to drugs seizures have been received and SOCA has undertaken investigations in 30 of these cases.

No notifications have been received relating to firearms or counterfeit currency.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been (a) arrested, (b) prosecuted and (c) convicted as a result of operations by the Serious and Organised Crime Agency. (187280)

The SOCA annual report for 2006-07 reported that SOCA casework in the UK had led to 749 arrests; 283 cases reached court and 271 resulted in convictions.

Detailed cross-matching and validation of data between SOCA and its partners is carried out at the end of each financial year. SOCA will publish a report on the exercise of ail their functions during 2007-08 as soon as possible after the end of the financial year.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many firearms have been seized by the Serious and Organised Crime Agency. (187284)

The SOCA Annual Report for 2006-07 reported that SOCA activity had contributed to the seizure of 151 firearms in the UK.

Detailed cross-matching and validation of data between SOCA and its partners is carried out at the end of each financial year. As required under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, SOCA will publish a report on the exercise of all its functions during 2007-08 as soon as possible after the end of the financial year.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were employed by the Serious and Organised Crime Agency in the most recent period for which figures are available. (187283)

The number of full-time equivalent staff directly employed by SOCA at 31 January 2008 was 4,008.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many members of staff resigned from the Serious and Organised Crime Agency in each quarter since 1 April 2006. (187279)