§ Mr. OatenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times the Immigration and Asylum Fingerprint System has been accessed by(a) Interpol, (b) the National Criminal Intelligence Service, (c) the anti-terrorism branch of the Metropolitan police and (d) metropolitan and provincial forces. [151411]
§ Beverley HughesLocally held Immigration Service records show that the following requests were made for access to the Immigration and Asylum Fingerprint System (IAFS) between January and December 2003:
Number of requests for access to IAFS Interpol/NClS 132 Anti terrorist branch (Metropolitan police) 664 Metropolitan and provincial forces 230 In November 2003 an electronic link was established between the police fingerprint database (NAFIS) and the Immigration and Asylum Fingerprint System. The Police IT Organisation (PITO) have provided the following figures for searches made following the establishment of this link:
238WNovember 2003: 177 (of which 23 were made by the metropolitan and provincial forces)December 2003: 181 (of which 57 were made by metropolitan and provincial forces)January 2004: 394 (of which 43 were made by metropolitan and provincial forces).We are unable to specify the number of searches requested by NCIS, Interpol or the Anti Terrorist branch of the Metropolitan police without detailed examination of the cases concerned which would be at a disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. OatenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Sri Lankan authorities have accessed fingerprints taken from visa applicants under the six-month pilot scheme,(a) directly through the UK authorities and (b) indirectly through Interpol. [151412]
§ Beverley HughesThe Sir Lankan authorities have not accessed fingerprints taken from visa applicants under the six-month pilot scheme, either(a) directly through the UK authorities or (b) indirectly through Interpol.