The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department’s policy is on allowing officials to appear before all-party parliamentary groups.
Karen Bradley
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my Right Hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on March 26 2014, Official Report, column 292W.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Teather on 2014-03-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied migrant children have been forcibly removed to another country in each of the last five years.
James Brokenshire
No unaccompanied child under the age of 18 can be forcibly removed from the UK
unless adequate care and reception arrangements are in place in their country
of origin. The difficulty of setting up suitable reception arrangements has
meant that, with the exception of transfers to other European Union countries
under the *Dublin Regulations, the Home Office does not routinely enforce the
return of unaccompanied children to any country. The majority of unaccompanied
children whose asylum claims are rejected are granted temporary leave which is
reviewed when they reach 17½ years of age. We believe that the vast majority of
enforced returns of unaccompanied children undertaken between 2006 and 2010
were transfers under the Dublin Regulations.
Table 1: Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children removals 2009 to 2013
|
Date of Removal |
Total |
|
2009 |
31 |
|
2010 |
12 |
|
2011 |
2 |
|
2012 |
6 |
|
2013 |
2 |
|
Grand Total |
53 |
‘Migrant children’ have been interpreted as unaccompanied asylum seeking
children (UASC) in answering this question.
* The Dublin Regulation EC No. 343/2003 is a binding measure of European
Community law to determine which State should be responsible for examining an
application for asylum made within the EU territory.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Teather on 2014-03-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum applicants receiving support under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 have been receiving support for more than (a) two years, (b) four years and (c) six years; and if she will make a statement.
James Brokenshire
Data specific to your request can be found in the table below.
Band Cases
Up to two years 2008
More than two years 822
More than four years 473
More than six years 212
Total 3515
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Teather on 2014-03-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she will announce the asylum support rates for 2014-15.
James Brokenshire
There are no immediate plans to change the support rates provided to destitute asylum seekers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2014-03-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many forced marriage protection orders have been granted with a power of arrest attached in each year since such orders came into force.
Damian Green
Information on the numbers of forced marriage protection orders that have been granted in England and Wales with a power of arrest attached, for each year since such orders came into force, are available in table 2.8 of the Court Statistics Quarterly bulletin. The latest edition of this publication is available at this link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/court-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2013
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his Department’s policy is on allowing officials to appear before all-party parliamentary groups.
Simon Hughes
I refer the hon Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham on 26 March (Official Report col. 300W).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Teather on 2014-03-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his plans are for HMP The Verne.
Jeremy Wright
HM Prison The Verne started taking immigration detainees as scheduled from 24 March 2014. The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) will retain The Verne as a prison in the short term but its population will comprise immigration detainees as planned with the Home Office.
NOMS intends to review the designation of The Verne later this year, with the intention of completing the re-designation to an immigration removal centre by the end of September 2014.
All foreign national offenders (FNOs) sentenced to custody are referred to the Home Office for them to consider deportation at the earliest possible opportunity.
The Ministry of Justice and the Home Office are committed to working together to expedite the removal of foreign criminals. NOMS will always supply sufficient prison places for those committed by the courts.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr David Blunkett on 2014-03-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what restrictions, by category of prisoner, are placed on access to (a) a prisoner’s own books and (b) books from the prison library in the first four weeks of a prison sentence.
Jeremy Wright
Up to 12 books may be held by prisoners in their cell at any one time. Prisoners may have additional books stored locally at the prison. Every prison has a library, to which every prisoner has access.
Access to books is not determined by category of prisoner and nor does it differ for those in the first four weeks of their sentence.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Huw Irranca-Davies on 2014-03-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reason the rules governing the provision of books to prisoners have recently been changed.
Jeremy Wright
Up to 12 books may be held by prisoners in their cell at any one time. Prisoners may have additional books stored locally at the prison. Every prison has a library, to which every prisoner has access.
Ministers have not made any policy changes specifically about the availability of books in prisons. The changes to the Incentives and Earned Privileges national policy framework we introduced last year in relation to parcels were introduced to ensure consistency across the estate and to make sure that security can be maintained. There have always been controls on the sending of parcels into prisons, and allowing parcels to be sent in unrestricted would be operationally unmanageable and would lead to a significant risk of drugs and other illicit items being smuggled into prisons.
The National Offender Management Service works closely with the Shannon Trust to support schemes such as ‘Toe by Toe’, which includes peer mentoring to improve reading levels.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what her Department’s policy is on allowing officials to appear before all-party parliamentary groups.
Mrs Theresa Villiers
I refer the hon Gentleman to the answer given by my Rt hon Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General on 26 March, Official Report, Column 300W.