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  • Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Gareth Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Border Force staff have been assigned to tackle employers of illegal immigrants in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

    James Brokenshire

    Border Force is a law enforcement command within the Home Office which secures the UK border by carrying out immigration and customs controls for people and goods entering the UK. Tackling employers of illegal migrants is dealt with by Immigration Enforcement which is responsible for preventing abuse, tracking immigration offenders and increasing compliance with immigration law.

    In the event that an employer is found to have employed an illegal worker, they may be subject to a civil penalty of up to £20,000 per illegal worker unless they have undertaken the prescribed document checks. In the last five years Immigration Enforcement has issued over nine thousand civil penalties to the value of £110 million.

  • Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many HM Courts and Tribunals Service decisions have gone against her Department in each of the last six months; and how many such decisions in each of those months have not been implemented.

    James Brokenshire

    The latest set of published statistics regarding how many HM Courts and Tribunals Service decisions have gone against the Secretary of State for the Home Department is available online from HM Courts and Tribunals Service.

    The figures requested relating to decisions implemented are not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has sought advice on the re-classification of powerful handheld lasers as offensive weapons since 14 February 2016; whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to so classify those lasers in the current Parliament.

    Mike Penning

    The sale and use of laser pointers is an issue that cuts across a number of Government Departments, including the Home Office, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the Department of Health and the Department for Transport.

    The Home Office is working closely with the other interested Departments and we are looking at a number of options.

  • Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many replies her Department sent to hon. Members which explain that, due to an administrative error or due to an unfortunate error they have not yet implemented a HM Courts and Tribunals Services decision in the last two years.

    James Brokenshire

    It is not possible to provide the Hon. Member with the information requested as it is not readily available or held centrally and can only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

  • Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alison Thewliss – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to introduce mandatory reconsideration for visa applications where a significant change in circumstances occur following an application decision.

    James Brokenshire

    Every application is decided in accordance with the Immigration Rules based on the information provided by an applicant at the time of application. If the applicant’s circumstances change, a fresh application can be made at any stage but this must be treated as a new application as it will contain new information not previously considered.

  • Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional funding will be provided to HM Passport Office for the development of new technology for remote interview sites after the proposed closure of 15 HM Passport Office interview offices.

    James Brokenshire

    Her Majesty’s Passport office currently offers passport application interviews via secure link from 25 locations. From May 2016 there will be an additional five locations offering video interviews.

    The cost of establishing video interview services at these additional five locations is estimated to be £15,000 per site. This cost will be met by our existing budget with no additional funding required.

  • Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of interviews for a first-time adult passport application was conducted on a face-to-face basis in (a) England, (b) Northern Ireland, (c) Scotland and (d) Wales.

    James Brokenshire

    In 2015, Her Majesty’s Passport Office interviewed 222,264 adult customers applying for their first passport. Of these 218,742 (98.41%) were face-to-face interviews in person. The remainder were carried out using our Video Interview Service, typically used in the more remote parts of the country. The interview is undertaken by Her Majesty’s Passport Office staff over a video link, and the customer is accompanied at all times by one of our partner organisations.

    This is broken down by country to:

    England: 189,252 (99.99%) in person interviews

    Northern Ireland: 3,965 (100%) in person interviews

    Scotland: 15,496 (85.83%) in person interviews

    Wales: 10,029 (91.24%) in person interviews

  • Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chris Law – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of interviews for a first-time adult passport application she expects to be conducted on a face-to-face basis in (a) England, (b) Northern Ireland, (c) Scotland and (d) Wales after the proposed closure of 15 HM Passport Office interview offices.

    James Brokenshire

    Based upon the number of interviews conducted in 2015 (222,264), following the changes to Her Majesty’s Passport Office interview office estate it is expected that 212,767 (95.72%) interviews will be conducted face-to-face.

    This would be broken down by country to:

    England: 183,952 (97%) face-to-face interviews

    Northern Ireland: 3,965 (100%) face-to-face interviews

    Scotland: 15,496 (85.83%) face-to-face interviews

    Wales: 9,354 (85.10%) face-to-face interviews

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many days there have been (a) five, (b) four, (c) three, (d) two, (e) one and (f) zero Border Force Cutters conducting active patrols in UK territorial waters in the last 12 months.

    James Brokenshire

    Border Force does not record individual vessel patrols as this does not represent the full activity of a Border Force vessel. Border Force vessels operate 365 days per year and have maintained a three cutter capability in UK waters throughout the last 12 months.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-03-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to clause 96 of the Investigatory Powers Bill, whether Immigration Officers carried out equipment interference before 1 March 2016.

    James Brokenshire

    Immigration officers have had the power to carry out property interference, including interference with equipment, since 2013 through an amendment to the Police Act 1997.

    They may only use the power to investigate and prevent serious crime which relates to an immigration or nationality offence and have done so since 2013. The Bill maintains this position whilst strengthening safeguards and oversight.