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  • Amanda Solloway – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Amanda Solloway – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Amanda Solloway on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to locate missing refugee children in the UK.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The government takes the issue of missing children extremely seriously and has published a cross government strategy on missing children and vulnerable adults.

    Migrant children over the age of 5, including asylum seeking children have their biometrics captured by the Home Office. If a child goes missing, the local police and UK Missing Persons Bureau will be notified and the child’s details will be circulated on the Police National Computer.

    Home Office guidance requires staff to maintain contact with the local authority and the police until the child is found.

  • David Simpson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    David Simpson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many emergency travel documents were issued by HM Passport Office in each of the last five years.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) issues Emergency Travel Documents to British nationals overseas who need to travel urgently and do not have access to a Full Validity Passport. An emergency travel document is valid for a specific journey made at a specified time. In the past five years, the FCO have issued the following number of documents:

    2012 – 28,737

    2013 – 29,945

    2014 – 39,167

    2015 – 30,844

    2016 – 23,907

    Please note that 2016 figures cover up until the end of September.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what type of reception institution suspected people traffickers and illegal migrants who are intercepted by Border Force or other UK government bodies are taken to.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    In all cases where there are reasonable grounds to suspect a person of trafficking, they would be arrested and processed in accordance with the provisions of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 ;at sea, Customs and Excise Management Act 1979; in Scotland Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995.

    Border Force, along with operational partners, carries out a range of activity to prevent migrants from entering the UK through clandestine and illegal means.

    Border Force has specific policy, guidance, operating procedures and referral mechanisms to other government departments in order to carry out the appropriate action when an illegal migrant is encountered at a port or other location. Illegal migrants who are intercepted at the Border are processed in accordance with their individual circumstances and where appropriate detained in accommodation based on these circumstances.

  • Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time is between application for asylum and transfer to the UK for unaccompanied children in Europe who are accepted for humanitarian protection under the Dublin regulation.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government is fully committed to the efficient and timely operation of the Dublin Regulation and we are working closely with EU partners, including the French, Greek and Italian authorities to identify, assess and transfer children to the UK under the Dublin family reunion process.

    We have seconded a UK official to Greece; we have a long-standing secondee working in Italy and we have seconded another official to the French Interior Ministry to support these efforts. We have established a dedicated team in the Home Office Dublin Unit to lead on family reunion cases for unaccompanied children.

    Between 1 January and 1 October 2016 over 140 unaccompanied children were accepted for transfer, compared to around 20 children in the whole of 2015.Transfer requests from Member States involving children under the Dublin Regulation are now generally processed within 10 days. Children can then be transferred within weeks and are now arriving in the UK on an almost weekly basis.The Home Secretary made clear on the 10th October that we will transfer as many minors as possible to the UK, who are eligible under the Dublin Regulation before the camp clearance starts.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce knife crime.

    Sarah Newton

    Tackling knife crime is a priority for the Government. On 23 March this year, we published the Modern Crime Prevention Strategy which sets out a range of measures to strengthen our response to knife crime including working with the police and industry to ensure there are effective controls on the sale of knives to under-18s.

    We have also passed legislation to ban the sale and importation of ‘zombie knives’ which came into force in August. We are encouraging the police to undertake a series of coordinated weeks of action to tackle knife crime under the Operation Sceptre banner.

    This includes targeting habitual knife carriers, weapon sweeps, test purchases of knives from identified retailers, and use of surrender bins. The next operation will take place the week of 17 October.

    We are also working with Crimestoppers and other potential organisations in delivering knife crime prevention messages to young people. In July 2015, the Government also introduced the sentencing provision that anyone caught in possession of a knife for a second time will now face a mandatory minimum custodial sentence.

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assistance British police have provided to Bahrain in the last 12 months; what the (a) dates and (b) titles of those assistance projects were; which constabularies were involved; what type of assistance police forces plan to provide to Bahrain in the next 12 months; and if she will place copies of the relevant International Police Assistance Board referral forms in the Library.

    Brandon Lewis

    The British Government continues to provide support to Bahrain in a range of areas on their reform agenda.

    The provision of UK police advice and assistance is a key element in this as they progress towards being in compliance with international standards and best practice. Assistance has been provided to Bahrain by the police in the last 12 months.

  • Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Keith Vaz – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions the e-gates at UK airports have broken down since 2015.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Protecting the UK border is, and always has been, of paramount importance to this Government. It has never been government practice, for reasons of national security, to comment on operational issues relating to border security.

  • Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Deidre Brock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Deidre Brock on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that unaccompanied refugee children in Europe with an existing family connection in the UK have their asylum under the Dublin Regulation processed without undue delay.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government is fully committed to the efficient and timely operation of the Dublin Regulation and we are working closely with EU partners, including the French, Greek and Italian authorities to identify, assess and transfer children to the UK under the Dublin family reunion process.

    We have seconded a UK official to Greece; we have a long-standing secondee working in Italy and we have seconded another official to the French Interior Ministry to support these efforts. We have established a dedicated team in the Home Office Dublin Unit to lead on family reunion cases for unaccompanied children.

    Between 1 January and 1 October 2016 over 140 unaccompanied children were accepted for transfer, compared to around 20 children in the whole of 2015.Transfer requests from Member States involving children under the Dublin Regulation are now generally processed within 10 days. Children can then be transferred within weeks and are now arriving in the UK on an almost weekly basis.The Home Secretary made clear on the 10th October that we will transfer as many minors as possible to the UK, who are eligible under the Dublin Regulation before the camp clearance starts.

  • Byron Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Byron Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Byron Davies on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many investigations the International Corruption Unit (ICU) at the National Crime Agency (NCA) inherited from other agencies when it was first established; and how many new investigations the ICU at the NCA has started since it was established.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    The International Corruption Unit (ICU) at the National Crime Agency (NCA) inherited 23 investigations. Since it was first established it has commenced 24 new investigations. (Figures have been provided by the NCA).

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2016-10-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions Ministers in her Department have delayed providing information to the Intelligence and Security Committee in order to make a determination as to whether to share that information as set out in Schedule 1 to the Justice and Security Act 2013.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    The Home Office is unable to find any record of having declined to disclose information to the Intelligence and Security Committee under Schedule 1 of the Justice and Security Act 2013. The Home Office is unable to find any record of having delayed providing information to the Intelligence and Security Committee in order to make a determination as to whether to share that information, as set out in Schedule 1 of the Justice and Security Act 2013.