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  • Matthew Offord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Matthew Offord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her has Department made of the number of UK nationals who have travelled overseas to engage in terrorist activity and have subsequently returned to this country.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    The Government takes the threat posed by UK nationals who travel overseas to engage in terrorist activity extremely seriously. We are particularly concerned about those who travel to Syria and Iraq to fight; around 850 linked individuals have travelled to engage in the conflict since it began, and just under half of those have returned.

    People seeking to travel to engage in terrorist activity should be in no doubt we will take the strongest possible action to protect our national security.

  • Matthew Offord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Matthew Offord – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Offord on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of UK nationals who have travelled overseas to engage in terrorist activity.

    Mr Ben Wallace

    The Government takes the threat posed by UK nationals who travel overseas to engage in terrorist activity extremely seriously. We are particularly concerned about those who travel to Syria and Iraq to fight; around 850 linked individuals have travelled to engage in the conflict since it began, and just under half of those have returned.

    People seeking to travel to engage in terrorist activity should be in no doubt we will take the strongest possible action to protect our national security.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what evidence her Department holds on the effect of the creation of police and crime commissioners on police accountability.

    Brandon Lewis

    Around 9 million total votes were cast by the public for their Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) at the most recent national elections in May – this is in stark contrast to the invisible, unelected and unaccountable Police Authorities they replaced.

    Previously, only seven per cent of the public knew to go to their police authority if they had a problem with policing in their local area. According to the independent Crime Survey for England and Wales, 59% of the public are aware of PCCs.

    The Home Affairs Select Committee report ‘Police and Crime Commissioners: here to stay’ recognised that the “introduction of PCCs has worked well to date and has had some beneficial effect on public accountability and clarity of leadership in policing.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the total number of refugees who will attempt to cross the Mediterranean in 2017.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government is closely monitoring global migration developments, including the number of Mediterranean crossings, working in partnership with the EU and in source and transit countries, to address the mass movements of people attempting to cross the Mediterranean. This includes tackling criminal gangs who facilitate journeys and exploit migrants.

    We have not made an estimate of the number of refugees who will attempt to cross the Mediterranean in 2017. Determining refugee status is at the discretion of EU Member States and we do not estimate the number of illegal migrants that will be granted refugee status.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the (a) legal and (b) financial obstacles to immediately changing the colour of UK passports to blue.

    Brandon Lewis

    There are no immediate plans for changes to the format or colour of the UK passport. Parliament will be informed of any changes in due course.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her policy is on the admission of Shaykh Hamza Sodagar into the UK; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    We do not routinely comment on individual cases.

  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Modern Crime Prevention Strategy, published in March 2016, page 31, whether his Department has sought legal advice on its policies relating to heroin-assisted treatment; and what assessment he has made of the legal implications of those policies.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The prescribing of injectable opioids, such as methadone or diamorphine (pharmaceutical heroin) as substitutes for illicit heroin, as outlined in the Government’s Modern Crime Prevention Strategy, published in March by the then Home Secretary, has been an option for many years but since the late 1960s, prescribing of diamorphine for the management of addiction has been restricted to licensed addiction specialists.

    The decision to prescribe injectable diamorphine for the treatment of dependence is a clinical matter, for a clinician to take in conjunction with the patient. Advice to guide these decisions is contained in Chapter 5 and Annex 8 of the 2007 UK Guidelines on the Clinical Management of Drug Misuse and Dependence. The guidelines advise that:

    – “injectable opioid treatment may be suitable for a small minority of patients who have failed in optimised oral treatment.”;

    – “clinicians providing injectable opioid treatment should encourage patients not to regard it as a lifelong treatment option and should regularly review their patients and the continuing necessity for this unusual and expensive treatment”; and

    – The use of diamorphine “alone does not constitute drug treatment…it should be seen as on element or pathway within wider packages of planned and integrated drug treatment”.

    The guidelines are currently being reviewed by an Expert Working Group, to take into account developments in the evidence base. In July 2016, the Expert Working Group published their draft update for consultation. The consultation has closed and the responses are being considered by the Expert Working Group.

    Diamorphine is licensed as a medicine by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. Clinicians wishing to legally prescribe it for the treatment of dependence need to obtain a licence for that purpose from the Home Office and to comply with all other legislation relevant to the safe management, use and supply of medicines which are controlled drugs.

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much compensation her Department paid for the unlawful detention of individuals under immigration powers in each of the last three financial years; for what categories of reason such compensation was paid; and how many such payments were made for each such category of reason.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Our records indicate that over the past 3 financial years (covering 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15), that a total of £13.8 million has been paid out to 573 claimants, as per the below table. All of whom were paid compensation following a period of unlawful detention.

    Financial Year

    Total Unlawful Detention Compensation payments (£ million)

    Number of claimants for the last 3 financial years

    FY 2012-13

    £ 5.0

    195

    FY 2013-14

    £ 4.8

    199

    FY 2014-15

    £ 4.0

    179

    Caveat to provided data: This is provisional management information that is subject to change. It has not been assured to the standard of Official Statistics.

  • Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that UK-based science research teams can employ foreign researchers without restriction.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Immigration reforms since 2010 have explicitly taken account of the needs of scientists and researchers. The Government has consistently enhanced the treatment of scientists and science in the immigration system.

    In Tier 2, the skilled work route for non-EEA nationals, PhD-level occupations have higher priority when allocating places within the annual limit. These occupations are also exempted from the £35,000 earnings threshold for settlement applications, and we have relaxed the Resident Labour Market Test to allow the best candidate to be appointed, regardless of nationality.

    We have introduced the Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) route for world leaders in science, engineering, humanities, the arts and digital technology.

    The Tier 5 (Temporary Work) route contains further provisions which enable sponsored researchers to participate in international research collaborations

  • Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Tom Brake – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Brake on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect of restrictions of water supplies on the humanitarian situation in the West Bank.

    Rory Stewart

    The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs assessed in November 2015 that 400,000 people in the West Bank required humanitarian water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) assistance. UK officials are in regular dialogue with Israel, the Palestinian Authority, the UN, World Bank, EU and other development actors on this issue.

    DFID is funding UNICEF to lead on developing and updating the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) WASH Sector Contingency Plan at the national level. This brings together the Palestinian Water Authority and other partners to monitor the water situation in the OPTs and ensure preparedness and effective response in case of an emergency.