Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the contract to appoint Gemalto to provide the new passport has been signed; and if not, when they anticipate that it will be signed.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The contract for passport design, manufacture and personalisation services was signed between the Home Office and Gemalto UK Ltd on 18 April 2018.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in relation to the new passport contract, what discussions the Home Office held with GCHQ on ensuring that Gemalto chips are protected from the risk of being reprogrammed with a Trojan virus.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Encryption technology used in the UK passport is owned by Her Majesty’s Government, and is not the responsibility of the passport manufacturer.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions were held with the team of British export envoys concerning the new passport contract in respect of the likely impact on their role in promoting UK companies of issuing that contract to a French company in preference to a UK company.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
There have been no discussions with British export envoys concerning the next passport contract. This procurement has been a fair and open competition under UK law, in line with both EU and World Trade Organisation rules.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, when preparing the tender documents for the new UK passport, they were aware that French passports are exclusively printed by a state organisation, and that British printers are therefore excluded from any opportunity to bid for a French passport production contract.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Public contract tender opportunities in other countries have no bearing on the procurement of UK passport services. All opportunities to supply passports or their components for EU Governments must comply with the EU Procurement Directives.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Sri Lankan nationals have sought asylum in each year since 1 January 2007; and how many were successful.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office publishes data on the number of applications and initial decisions, broken down by nationality, in the quarterly Immigration Statistics publication. The latest figures, up until 2017, are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2017
Table as_01 (asylum tables, vol. 1) contains the number of asylum applications, from main applicants, and initial decisions each year, broken down by nationality.
Data in table as_01 relate to initial decisions only. The number of ‘successful’ applications will increase when taking into account those granted after appeal. Table as_06 shows the number of decisions in a given year that have led to an appeal, by appeal outcome. Data in this table are not directly comparable over time as more recent years will have a high number of cases where a final decision has not yet been made.
Year | Country of nationality | Total applications | Total initial decisions | Total grants | Percentage granted |
2007 | Sri Lanka | 988 | 936 | 124 | 13% |
2008 | Sri Lanka | 1,473 | 874 | 206 | 24% |
2009 | Sri Lanka | 1,115 | 1,251 | 190 | 15% |
2010 | Sri Lanka | 1,357 | 1,612 | 228 | 14% |
2011 | Sri Lanka | 1,756 | 1,604 | 323 | 20% |
2012 | Sri Lanka | 1,744 | 1,384 | 333 | 24% |
2013 | Sri Lanka | 1,811 | 1,287 | 262 | 20% |
2014 | Sri Lanka | 1,292 | 1,217 | 157 | 13% |
2015 | Sri Lanka | 961 | 1,537 | 179 | 12% |
2016 | Sri Lanka | 845 | 731 | 44 | 6% |
2017 | Sri Lanka | 687 | 649 | 49 | 8% |
2. Decisions made in a given year does not necessarily relate to the number of applications in the same year. Applications are based on the date of application and decisions are based on the date of initial decision.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the UN OISL report published in September, what action they intend to take to bring to justice those British citizens residing in the United Kingdom who are alleged to have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity whilst fighting for the Tamil Tigers.
Answered by Lord Bates
The investigation and prosecution of all criminal offences, including whether an offence has been committed, is an operational matter for the police and Crown Prosecution Service.