§ Mr. LoveTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made on the introduction of new technology in the work of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate; and if he will make a statement. [139431]
§ Mrs. RocheIn the past 12 months, the interim IT system used by Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) caseworkers has expanded to provide over 3,000 terminals in 23 different locations throughout the United294W Kingdom. Work is at an advanced stage to enable this network to be connected to the Internet, providing better internal links within the Home Office and the potential for communicating electronically with IND's customers when suitable interfaces are developed. This network provides the platform on which increasingly sophisticated functionality is being built. The most important example of this is the database of information on asylum claimants which is used to monitor the progress of asylum cases. IND's private sector partners, Siemens Business Services, have provided these enhancements while at the same time continuing the development of their fully integrated caseworking system which will use the same platform. In addition, over 3,000 staff in IND now have access to the Home Office-wide desktop IT system, POISE, provided by SEMA Group—an increase of 2,200 in the last 12 months, extending availability to the majority of immigration service staff at ports and enforcement offices. A major operational system for the National Asylum Support Service has been developed and implemented in the last year on the POISE platform. Work continues on redevelopment of the Warnings Index. A new electronic fingerprinting database is being rolled out and will soon be fully operational. The IND website has been improved and will be relaunched shortly.