Hansard - United Kingdom Parliament

5W
Written Answers
20 JUNE 2011
Written Answers
6W
Support costs
Annex A: Historic asylum costs
£ million
1999-
2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11
Cash Support 1 — — — 160 143 129 103 100 99 69 68 56
Asylum Seeker
— — — 6 6 4 4 3 5 6 4 4
Travel Costs 1
Local
537 497 407 296 242 138 69 4 1 — — —
Authorities 1
DSS/DWP 1 — 56 89 36 15 — — — — — — —
S4 Costs 2 — — — — 4 17 59 71 73 91 102 56
UASC 3 — 82 111 143 161 117 151 144 85 142 151 115
Leaving Care 3 — — — — — — — — — 31 11 20
Sub-total Support 537 750 1,046 1,067 1,011 787 606 508 470 486 474 359
Costs
Grants and Other — 23 17 25 24 37 20 16 15 33 40 42
Special Projects 4
Total Asylum
537 773 1,063 1,092 1,035 824 626 624 485 519 514 402
Payments 5
1
Pre 2000 Payments were made to DSS/DWP for asylum seekers in receipt of support. Post 2000 new applicants were supported directly by UKBA.
2
Support to failed asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute end who, face a legitimate barrier to return, can not travel because of a medical condition, or
who are judicially reviewing the decision not to grant asylum (ECHR, case law). Also includes support to those who are taking steps to leave and who would
otherwise be destitute, but who would not otherwise qualify for support.
3
Unaccompanied asylum seeking children, are the responsibility of the local authority in whose geographical area they seek help. However, UKBA provides a
grant to assist LA’s meet the costs of supporting UASC’s together with a grant to assist local authorities to meet the costs of supporting previous UASC who turn
18 and are leaving care.
4
Grants to voluntary sector organisations to support asylum seekers through the application and dispersal. From 2009-10 grants also include Gateway grants to
DWP (and some voluntary organisations) for targeted refugee programmes and Integration services provided by voluntary sector to support integration of those
granted leave to remain in UK.
5
All figures based on audited accounts. Figures for 2010-11 are unaudited and subject to change.
Criminal Records: Voluntary Work
Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the
Home Department what assessment she has made of
the effects on voluntary sector organisations of the
voluntary disclosure of Criminal Records Bureau checks.
[60481]
Lynne Featherstone: There are no mandatory
requirements for people working with vulnerable groups
on behalf of a voluntary organisation to obtain a
Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) certificate. Volunteers
who regularly work with children or vulnerable adults
are eligible for an enhanced CRB certificate but it is the
volunteer manager’s decision whether to request a check,
after they have carried out a risk assessment for the role.
The Government recognises the important contribution
volunteers make to society and CRB checks for volunteers
are issued free of charge.
Identity and Passport Service: Aberdeen
Dame Anne Begg: To ask the Secretary of State for
the Home Department whether her Department has
considered the merits of putting in place additional
passport interview services in Aberdeen before the
summer holiday period. [59682]
Damian Green: The interview office in Aberdeen
formally closed to the public on 11 June 2011. In future,
customers in the Aberdeen area will be able to access
interviews in Edinburgh, Dundee and Inverness.
There is a full-time interview office in Edinburgh and
there will be flexible teams operating at Dundee and
Inverness for two or three days per week from late July.
The interview offices at Dundee and Inverness will
remain open to the public until 23 July.
While we recognise that this will mean additional
journey times and expense for some customers, only 5%
of passport applicants are required to attend an interview
and this is a once in a lifetime event. The changes IPS is
making are to remove excess capacity from the business.
Incentives
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for the
Home Department whether bonus payments are made
to UK Border Agency staff for performance in respect
of cash recovery cases undertaken under the provisions
of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. [60141]
Damian Green: Bonus payments in the UK Border
Agency (UKBA) are dependent on staff exceeding
performance expectations.
Performance awards are not made to UKBA staff
specifically for performance in relation to cash recovery
cases undertaken under the provisions of the proceeds
of Crime Act (POCA) 2002.
Assessment of performance is typically based on a
number of the following criteria:
assessment of objectives—what was delivered and how;
assessment of the skills required for the role;
overall assessment of achievement against the job description,
reflecting the level of performance over the whole appraisal
year;
innovation—actions or good ideas which improve efficiency or
service delivery.
Overseas Workers
Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for
the Home Department what discussions she has had
with Ministerial colleagues on the consultation document
on Employment Related Settlement, Tier 5 and Overseas
Domestic Workers. [60734]