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  • Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations she has received about the feasibility of the technical work involved in prohibiting the use of strong encryption; and if she will make a statement.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office have received a number of representations from members of the
    public on encryption. This Government supports the use of encryption, which
    helps keep personal data and intellectual property safe. It is also vital that
    the security and intelligence agencies can access unencrypted data to prevent
    threats to our national security, when it is necessary and proportionate to do
    so. We will continue to engage with industry regarding these issues.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential cost to businesses of prohibiting the use of strong encryption; and if she will make a statement.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office have received a number of representations from members of the
    public on encryption. This Government supports the use of encryption, which
    helps keep personal data and intellectual property safe. It is also vital that
    the security and intelligence agencies can access unencrypted data to prevent
    threats to our national security, when it is necessary and proportionate to do
    so. We will continue to engage with industry regarding these issues.

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the extent of dog fighting in the UK.

    George Eustice

    We have not been provided with any recent estimate of the extent of dog fighting by either the police or animal welfare organisations.

  • Tracey Crouch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tracey Crouch – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tracey Crouch on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the merits of increasing (a) funding and (b) other Government support for (i) the KCA Riskit Project and (ii) other early intervention programmes on drug and alcohol misuse by young people, and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    Ring-fenced 2015/16 public health allocations allow local authorities to plan and commission the services their communities need most, including those for young people vulnerable to risk taking behaviour such as the Riskit Project, and others including prevention and early intervention programmes. Schools can and do pay for these programmes and local authorities and the National Health Service are also free to find additional funds for them.

    The case for early intervention and prevention is clear as the consequences of poor health in adolescence last a lifetime and incur costs in the long run.

    This assessment underpins Public Health England’s significant early intervention and prevention support offer. This includes the ‘Young people’s health and wellbeing: a framework for public health’ and the Child and Maternal Health Observatory (ChiMat) site, which provides data and guidelines to support to local authorities. Government also funds the Alcohol and Drug Education and Prevention Information Service which is a platform for sharing information and resources aimed at schools and practitioners working in drug and alcohol prevention.

  • Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alison McGovern – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the guaranteed fulfilment period is for (a) issuing new and (b) renewing (i) children’s and (ii) adult passports.

    Mike Penning

    The gov.uk website sets out expected turnaround times for applications made in
    the UK and, on a country-by-country basis, for applications made overseas. HM
    Passport Office aims to deal with applications within published turnaround
    times, but this is a guideline only as there are a number of factors that can
    affect how long it takes to process an application.
    The premium and fast track service provide a guaranteed turnaround period of
    four hours and seven days respectively on payment of an additional fee,
    provided the applicant has submitted all the relevant information and the
    necessary security requirements are met.

  • Mark Durkan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Mark Durkan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of removing the reasonable person test in defence for children from the Modern Slavery Bill.

    Karen Bradley

    The statutory defence is an important additional protection for victims of
    modern slavery who have been compelled to commit certain offences as a direct
    consequence of their slavery or trafficking situation. In addition, the Crown
    Prosecution Service will continue to use its discretion to not charge an
    offence or discontinue a prosecution which is not required, in the public
    interest.

    It is imperative that the defence protects child victims of modern slavery from
    being inappropriately criminalised whilst also avoiding providing complete
    immunity for the most serious categories of offending. The reasonable person
    test is an important safeguard in ensuring that the defence cannot be abused.

    The defence for child victims has been amended in the House of Lords to remove
    the requirement for compulsion and we have also tabled an amendment at Lord’s
    Report of the Modern Slavery Bill to the reasonable person test for child
    victims to make it easier for child victims to gain protection from the
    statutory defence. This amendment will remove the reference to the child having
    no realistic alternative to committing the offence and will mean that once the
    defence is raised, the prosecution would have to show beyond reasonable doubt
    that the child acted unreasonably in committing the offence.

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to encourage police forces to allocate adequate resources towards reducing the incidence of dog fighting.

    Mike Penning

    Whilst the government takes the issue of dog fighting seriously, the allocation of police resources to tackle this abhorrent practice is a matter for individual police forces, and we have introduced Police and Crime Commissioners to ensure that police force priorities across England and Wales better reflect those of the communities they serve.

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the police on (a) dog theft and (b) dog fighting.

    George Eustice

    Defra officials have regular discussions with the police on the operation of law on dog control and welfare. The police are very supportive of the new provisions on compulsory dog microchipping and are fully aware of the measures in the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to tackle dog fighting.

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to tackle (a) dog theft and (b) dog fighting.

    George Eustice

    Any allegations of criminal behaviour should be reported to the police in the first instance, so that they can decide whether to instigate a criminal investigation.

    We have also been working with the Pet Advertising Advisory Group who have been lobbying operators of internet sites to adopt minimum standards for the advertising of pet animals. This work includes identifying adverts for dogs used in organised dog fighting by spotting certain key or code words and removing the offending notices.

    The introduction of compulsory microchipping for all dogs from April 2016 will help to reduce the chances of dogs being displaced, including through being stolen. It is already best practice for vets, re-homing centres, dog wardens etc. to scan strays and they have a duty of care to do so. Our guidance will emphasise this. But we also recognise that scanning all dogs can have significant costs and practical implications.

  • Andrew Turner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    Andrew Turner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Turner on 2015-02-10.

    To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, what the average daily number of letters sent from the House of Commons to Government departments was in each year since 2000.

    John Thurso

    The number of letters sent from the House of Commons to Government Departments via the Inter-Despatch Service (IDS) over the period for which records are held is listed below. No count was made of individual items before May 2012 and so no information is available prior to this date.

    Number of items
    2012 (May–Dec) 31,849
    2013 42,243
    2014 36,512
    2015 (Jan) 3,426