HC Deb 27 October 1998 vol 318 cc115-6W
Mr. Clappison

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is his most recent projection of the number of staff to be employed in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in each of the next four years; [56186]

(2) what is his most recent projection of the number of immigration officers in each of the next four years. [56187]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

Detailed plans, including staffing projections, for the Immigration and Nationality Directorate have still to be finalised.

Mr. Clappison

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff were employed in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate on 1 May 1997; and how many were employed at the most recent available date for which figures are available. [56185]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

Figures for May 1997 are not readily available, but on 1 April 1997 the total number of staff employed in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate was 5,687. The current number is 5,615.

Mr. Clappison

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many computer systems have been installed in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate since 1 May 1997 which were not planned for on 1 May 1997; and how many have been planned for the directorate since 1 May 1997. [56169]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

The Immigration and Nationality Directorate's (IND) Information Technology (IT) needs over the next few years will be met mainly through the Casework Programme System. We also announced in the White Paper "Fairer, Faster and Firmer—A Modern Approach to Immigration and Asylum" that we would undertake a study of options for using IT to support the integration of pre-entry, on-entry and enforcement activity and to help modernise the labour intensive process of passenger clearance.

In addition, the following 11 major systems have been both planned and installed in IND since 1 May 1997:

  • File Tracking System Upgrade
  • E-mail External Links and enhancements
  • Home Office Directory 2
  • Operational Planning and Support Service
  • Corporate Desktop
  • Angel Square Presenting Officer Unit Desktop Support
  • Strategy and Legislation Team Desktop Support
  • Asylum and Appeals Policy Desktop Support
  • Asylum Support Team Desktop Support
  • Carriers' Liability Replacement
  • Immigration Service Enforcement Forgery System
  • Internet Information Services.

The following 10 major systems have been planned in the IND since 1 May 1997, but are yet to be fully implemented:

  • Building and Accommodation Services Help Desk
  • Personnel Management Training Support System
  • INDIS—Intelligence Section Database
  • Personnel Open Learning System
  • Delmis—Detention Management Database
  • Detention Accounts Replacement
  • POISE Desktop in IND (Corporate Desktop Applications including Internet)
  • IT2000 in IND (Corporate Desktop and Business Changes for the new Millennium)
  • Applix Help Desk—IT Service Help Desk
  • Asylum Fingerprinting Bureau Replacement.

214 individual applications and small system implementations have been planned and installed since 1 May 1997; 120 have been planned since 1 May 1997 but are yet to be implemented.