Work of the Permanent Secretary (April - December 2011) PDF Download

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215045348
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 40

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Book Description
The Committee identifies significant savings made through improved procurement practices, which rose to £75 million in the first three quarters of the 2011-12 financial year. It welcomes the fact that the Home Office is acting on its earlier recommendation to extend the use of the compulsory national framework for police procurement, however expresses concern about the progress of the e-borders programme and the lack of clarity over plans to introduce privatisation into policing. The Committee found that the costly joint procurement exercise being undertaken by Surrey and West Midlands Police lacked clarity. The Committee were not convinced that the Forces fully understood, or were fully able to articulate the process they were undertaking. With the overall costs of exploring this process set at £5 million, the Committee called on the Home Office to take responsibility for ensuring the public and stakeholders were aware of the process and to postpone the exercise till after the election of the Police and Crime Commissioners. Also, despite the letting of new contracts to Serco and IBM in preparation for the London Olympics, the Committee remains concerned about the progress of the e-Borders programme. The Committee also found that an unacceptable level of claims under the Riot Damages Act were still outstanding and recommends that the Home Office work with police authorities to publish a timetable for the payment of all outstanding claims. All those who made a legitimate claim should receive their payments by the first anniversary at the latest

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215047304
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 132

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For the first time the Committee has collated the backlog of outstanding cases in the various areas where the UK Border Agency deals with casework. This report criticises the Agency for failing to conclude the total backlog of 276,460 cases. The Committee makes a number of key recommendations: a team should be established to examine why the 3,900 foreign national offenders living in the community as of 4 April have not been deported; deportation proceedings for foreign national prisoners must begin at the time of sentencing; a list of those countries refusing to accept the return of their own criminals who have committed offences in the UK must be published; the Agency should expand its checks to include a wider range of databases in order to assist with tracing of those in the controlled archive; students should be removed from net migration target; face to face interviews for all foreign students must be compulsory; the Agency must be represented at 100%, not 84%, of all tribunal hearings; all inspection visits on Tier 4 must be unannounced; the Agency must inform the informants as to possible illegal immigrants of the outcome of their tip-off and provide a breakdown of the outcomes of its enforcement visits. The Committee reiterates that Senior Agency staff should not receive bonuses until the Agency's performance improves and bonuses paid in the past contrary to the Committee's recommendations should be repaid

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215063489
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 94

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Book Description
The Border Agency backlogs, by the time it was wound up, had fallen to 432,000. However, most of the 70,400 reduction was achieved by simply loading pending cases onto the computer, and in some categories-such as those applying for further leave to remain on the basis of marriage or civil partnership-the backlog had actually grown. The Committee has no objection in principle to the introduction of a charge for access to the National Health Service for those who are in the UK only temporarily. However it expresses concerns about the possible application of the scheme to vulnerable people who have been trafficked into the country and recommends that the Government should pilot an alternative option for visa applicants to take out private health insurance instead. This has been a chaotic summer for immigration policy. First we had the controversial AdVans which were rightly ridiculed, and then it was revealed that Capita had botched the contract to clear the migration refusal pool by asking British citizens to leave their own country. Finally we saw a u-turn on visa bonds, however the uncertainty has already done damage. A more effective and less menacing message would be that the Government is willing and able to support those who are here illegally to return home if they want to. Tough enforcement action should be taken against those who are determined to remain here illegally, but for the target audience of potential voluntary returners, the effectiveness of the carrot is potentially undermined by the ostentatious brandishing of the stick

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215049926
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 100

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Book Description
The Agency's backlog is growing at an alarming rate-it has increased by over 25,000 cases since the first quarter of this year. The backlog consists of: the Migration Refusal Pool which contains records of individuals without leave to remain in the UK, who cannot be traced and has grown by 24,000 records since the first quarter of this year-it now totals 174,000; ex-Foreign National Offenders with 3,954 ex-FNOs living in the community whilst deportation action against them proceeds; the so-called 'controlled' archive with cases the Agency has no control over, it does not even know where the applicants are -there were 95,000 cases in archive' at the end of June this year and senior management promised to clear it by 31st December which would mean writing off 81,000 files; Asylum and migration live cohorts where the UKBA has managed to trace an applicant thought to have been lost and is working to close their case- with 29,000 cases in the live cohorts at the end of June this year. The UKBA must adopt a transparent and robust approach to tackling the backlogs instead of creating new ways of camouflaging them. Until the entire backlog is cleared the Committee does not believe that senior staff should receive any bonuses. The Committee also doubts that the Agency is adequately equipped to deal with the increase in asylum applications. Cases waiting for an initial decision after 6 months have risen by 36% since June 2011. The Committee is further concerned about the quality of decision making. Poor decision making may result in people being returned home when they face persecution and torture

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215043702
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 82

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In this Home Affairs Committee's report into the Work of the UK Border Agency, it criticises the Agency for failing to deport more than 600 foreign national prisoners who were released between 1999 and 2006 and are still in the country and for failing to clear the "controlled archive" of lost applicants. At the current rate it will take a further 4 years to close all cases. The Committee found that the Agency has still not resolved all of the asylum 'legacy' cases first identified in 2006. Instead, there are 17,000 ongoing cases still awaiting a final decision and the Agency appears to be discovering more cases. The Committee remains uncertain over the feasibility of the Government's e-borders timetable. It finds it difficult to see how the scheme can be applied to all rail and sea passengers by December 2014. It acknowledges that the Government must have a comprehensive e-border system if it is to be effective. However, it needs clarity on policy and practicalities for achieving this. The Committee makes a series of specific recommendations aimed at improving the working of the Agency, concerning: appeals, bogus colleges, data provided and use of statistics. It calls on the Home Office to act immediately to deal with the public scepticism over the effectiveness of the UK Border Agency and to require clarity in the information produced for both the public and Parliament.

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215047502
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 28

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This report discusses the pre-appointment hearing of the preferred candidate, Tom Winsor, to the post of Chief Inspector of Constabulary. Pre-appointment hearings are to assess the suitability of the preferred candidate, but that cannot be done effectively in a vacuum and the Committee were disappointed that the Home Secretary initially refused to provide information on the selection process or the shortlist. The Committee recommends that the Government in future provide such information in keeping with the recommendation from the Liaison Committee. The Home Affairs Committee is content for the Home Secretary to proceed with Mr Winsor's appointment. This is considered against the background that his nomination was controversial. If appointed he will be the first Chief Inspector who has never served as a police officer. They urge Mr Winsor to reach out to forces, police officers of all ranks and their representative bodies to build bridges. He must create a strong relationship with forces and with police and crime commissioners. The Home Affairs Committee will take a continued interest in the work of the Chief Inspector and look forward to hearing evidence from him on a regular basis

Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215078306
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 74

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This report is a follow-up to the Committee's second report of session 2013-14. That report revealed results of an inquiry into children being treated in an appalling way not just by their abusers but, because of catastrophic failures by the very agencies that society has appointed to protect them. There is no mechanism at all to suspend or remove a Police and Crime Commissioner for behaviour which falls short of criminal. The current report includes a draft Bill which suggests mechanisms for removing PCCs from their post. It is vital that children's services are dramatically improved to prevent a similar situation from happening again. It was shocking that evidence of child sexual exploitation in Rotherham was ignored by both Rotherham Council and South Yorkshire Police. A number of individuals attempted to bring these crimes to light, only to face obstacles from the Council and Police which in some cases questioned their credibility and the veracity of their claims. If the Council and Police had taken these warnings seriously, the abusers could have been brought to justice more quickly and some of the later victims could have been spared their ordeal. The proliferation of revelations about files which can no longer be located gives rise to public suspicion of a deliberate cover-up. The only way to address these concerns is with a full, transparent and urgent investigation

Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215084608
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 49

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Calais is the closest entry point to the UK from Europe, with frequent ferry services to Dover, the Eurotunnel Shuttle service to Folkestone, and direct passenger trains to London St Pancras. About 10 million passengers and about £89 billion worth of UK trade pass through the port of Calais every year. A further 20 million passengers pass through the tunnel on Eurostar or the Shuttle. Most of the traffic is freight. Most of the passengers are British citizens on leisure trips. The growing number, and living conditions, of migrants in Calais, and the enhanced security measures brought in to counter them, have affected the residents of Calais, the reputation of the port of Calais, and the ease with which trade and traffic can pass between Britain and the Continent. The number of migrants at Calais has increased over 2014, from an estimated 1,300 in September, to about 2,500 by the end of October. The majority are from countries that have been affected by war or civil unrest. Most are men, and from Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea and Syria - in 2013 Syria overtook Afghanistan as the top country of origin of asylum-seekers in the world. Some of the migrants live in squats and small camps in the town of Calais, but most live in makeshift tents made out of plastic sheets and canvas, poorly constructed, located in empty industrial sites or woodland. The camps are not permanent and Calais is not the final destination, but a staging post for migrants wishing to enter the UK illegally. The UK cannot ignore the issues around Calais. While security in France is the responsibility of the French authorities, the UK operates juxtaposed border controls in Calais and Coquelles. These juxtaposed controls enable all border administration for entry to the UK to take place before passengers and vehicles leave France. Efficient management of queues and the ability to deliver on time are important, both to avoid disruption to carriers' timetables, and to avoid the excessive build-up of traffic on the surrounding road network. As well as ensuring the efficient and timely processing of travellers and freight, the border controls are needed to ensure the integrity of the UK border.

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215050960
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 154

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Whilst it supported a number of steps the Government has taken in its 2010 drug strategy, it believes more needs to be done to comprehensively address the drugs problem in the UK. The report focuses on the need to 'break the cycle' of drug addiction, and highlights in particular the need for improved treatment in prisons and wider society, and for early intervention with better education and preventative work. Three key areas were covered: prisons; treatment and the calling for the establishment of a Royal Commission into the issues. The Committee was disturbed to find that almost a quarter of prisoners found it easy to get drugs in prison and recommended that measures such as regular random drug tests based on suspicion be increased. It was concerned that the Government's policy of recovery was not being implemented, in particular that drug rehabilitation in prison was undermined by the lack of support for offenders on release, and did not take into account prescription drug addiction. The Committee is also concerned that the goal of retaining addicts in treatment has precluded attempts at recovery. It supported the Government's objective of recovery but noted that this will require a range of treatment options, with each individual needing a tailored treatment plan. The Committee highlighted residential rehabilitation and the use of buprenorphine as an alternative to methadone as two treatment methods which were currently under-utilised. Treatment must also be supplemented by housing, training and employment support if required

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215050946
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 24

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On 12 September 2012, the Hillsborough Independent Panel suggested that the Hillsborough disaster was worsened, and justice denied, by incompetence, misconduct and criminality among the police forces involved. Evidence has shown that a number of agencies will have to work together closely and quickly to deliver justice. Much of the investigative burden will fall on the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). New powers are required for the Commission to examine events that took place before it was created. The Committee supports the Government's intention to grant those powers in the form of the expedited Police (Complaints and Conduct) Bill.