The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to equalise fees for spousal visas for spouses of UK citizens and such fees for spouses of EU citizens resident in the UK.
James Brokenshire
We have no plans to equalise these fees.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of applications for Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks (a) nationally, (b) in London and (c) in Dulwich and West Norwood constituency met each of the service’s published service standards for waiting times in each year since 2010.
Karen Bradley
The following tables show (a) the proportion of applications for enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks that met the Published Service Standards for waiting times nationally and (b) for applications received from people residing in London postcodes in each Financial Year from April 2010 to November 2015.
Table A
|
Period |
Total Apps Despatched |
21 Calendar Day Target |
21 Day Achievement |
56 Calendar Day Target |
56 Day Achievement |
|
Apr-10 to Mar-11 |
4,124,609 |
85% |
65.8% |
95% |
86.6% |
|
Apr-11 to Mar-12 |
3,813,114 |
85% |
88.4% |
95% |
96.7% |
|
Apr-12 to Mar-13 |
3,801,064 |
85% |
86.5% |
95% |
98.6% |
|
Apr-13 to Mar-14 |
3,715,222 |
85% |
84.3% |
95% |
97.3% |
|
Apr-14 to Mar-15 |
3,833,149 |
85% |
84.3% |
95% |
94.8% |
|
Apr-15 to Nov-15 |
2,704,993 |
85% |
85.5% |
95% |
94.6% |
Table B
|
Period |
Total Apps Despatched |
21 Calendar Day Target |
21 Day Achievement |
56 Calendar Day Target |
56 Day Achievement |
|
Apr-10 to Mar-11 |
395,164 |
85% |
28.5% |
95% |
55.0% |
|
Apr-11 to Mar-12 |
363,887 |
85% |
76.6% |
95% |
88.8% |
|
Apr-12 to Mar-13 |
358,900 |
85% |
78.7% |
95% |
97.9% |
|
Apr-13 to Mar-14 |
356,883 |
85% |
78.0% |
95% |
95.4% |
|
Apr-14 to Mar-15 |
371,608 |
85% |
79.5% |
95% |
87.6% |
|
Apr-15 to Nov-15 |
257,410 |
85% |
81.9% |
95% |
85.0% |
The DBS is working closely with the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to improve its performance. An MPS Gold Group is overseeing the recovery plan and exploring all opportunities to process cases quickly, including the recruitment of additional staff. It is not possible to provide the figure for applications from Dulwich and West Norwood as this information is not collected.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make support available to trainee nurses unable to complete their courses because of delays in the processing of their applications for Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks.
Karen Bradley
The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) aims to process all applications within the shortest time possible. The vast majority of applicants do receive their certificates in a timely manner and in December the average processing time for DBS applications was 15.3 days.
It is important that checks undertaken are thorough and sometimes the DBS needs to refer an application to one or more local police forces as part of the enhanced certificate checking process. Unfortunately, a small number of forces have been experiencing difficulties in completing their checks within expected timescales.
Where delays occur in the processing of DBS certificates, prospective employers of trainee nurses and other healthcare employees who will be working with adults only are able to use a service known as Adult First. Adult First is an online facility provided for healthcare workers by the DBS that can be used in cases where, exceptionally, and in accordance with the terms of Department of Health guidance, a person is permitted to start work with adults before a DBS Certificate has been obtained.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children have registered as transgender in each of the last five years.
James Brokenshire
Children born in England or Wales are registered in the birth register as being either male or female. Transgender is not a term used to describe the sex of a child at birth registration.
The Gender Recognition Act 2004 enables transgender people aged 18 or over to apply to the Gender Recognition Panel to obtain a gender recognition certificate – legal recognition of their acquired gender. That certificate is used to create an entry in the Gender Recognition Register, maintained by the Registrar General, from which a new birth certificate can be issued. There are, therefore, no records of children (under the age of 18) in this register.
Gender Recognition Registers are also held in respect of births in Northern Ireland and Scotland by the relevant Registrars General.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to prevent extortion cases.
Mr John Hayes
We are clear that the police and other law enforcement agencies where appropriate, should take reports of extortion seriously and investigate them appropriately. Those who commit offences involving extortion should be taken through the courts and met with tough sentences.
The Anti-Kidnap and Extortion Unit in the National Crime Agency undertakes awareness raising to assist law enforcement agencies’ understanding of the threat.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government has reached an agreement with the US government on the placement of US border guards in UK airports.
James Brokenshire
The US operates border pre-clearance facilities at a number of international airports to allow passengers on flights to the US to clear US customs and immigration controls before they arrive in the US. The US Government seeks to negotiate such arrangements with the relevant UK airports, as any interested airport would need to adapt its operations accordingly. However the introduction of pre-clearance operations would also require approval by the UK Government. We continue to discuss pre-clearance with the US but no formal agreement has yet been reached.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Kaufman on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she intends to answer the letter to her dated 10 December 2015 with regard to Mr S Akhter.
James Brokenshire
I wrote to the Rt. Hon. Member on 23 December 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) sexual harm prevention orders and (b) sexual risk orders have been made by courts in England; and how many people subject to each such order were under the age of 18.
Karen Bradley
The Home Office does not collate central figures on the number of Sexual Harm Prevention Orders and Sexual Risk Orders issued in England. Figures collated by the police for management purposes, and provided to the Home Office, on the overall number of orders show that in the period between 8 March and 29 September, 2,425 full and 40 interim Sexual Harm Prevention Orders and 32 full and 13 interim Sexual Risk Orders were issued in England and Wales. This data is not broken down by age.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many child abduction warning notices were served by police forces in England in the last 12 months; and how many such notices related to children aged 16 and 17.
Mike Penning
Child Abduction Warning Notices are currently used by the police as a deterrent against those thought to be grooming children, where the child is under the age of 16 if living at home, or under the age of 18 if living in the care of a local authority. These notices are a useful tool for the police and complement the strong new powers to protect the vulnerable from sexual predators that we introduced in the Serious Crime Act 2015. For example, breach of an Abduction Notice can become grounds for the issuing of a Sexual Risk Order.
There is no statutory or other legislative provision dealing specifically with the issue of Child Abduction Warning Notices; the Notices are part of an administrative process. Breach of a Notice is not a criminal offence and as such the police do not regularly record the number of Child Abduction Warning Notices issued.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) sexual harm prevention orders and (b) sexual risk orders have been made by courts in England to protect children aged 16 and 17.
Karen Bradley
The Home Office does not collate central figures on the number of Sexual Harm Prevention Orders and Sexual Risk Orders issued in England. Figures collated by the police for management purposes, and provided to the Home Office, on the overall number of orders show that in the period between 8 March and 29 September, 2,425 full and 40 interim Sexual Harm Prevention Orders and 32 full and 13 interim Sexual Risk Orders were issued in England and Wales. This data is not broken down by age.