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  • Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the contribution of the UK’s membership of the EU to the UK’s work in identifying and detaining criminals.

    James Brokenshire

    Terrorism and serious organised crime are global threats that cross national borders. Our unique relationship with the EU gives UK law enforcement access to EU tools and instruments that help keep people safe and tackle serious and organised crime, but also mean we are not obliged to participate in new measures when we do not judge them to be in the national interest.

    The tools and instruments that the UK participates in include Europol, an EU agency which supports cross-border police operations and intelligence sharing, and can assist in the identification of terrorist threats; the European Arrest Warrant, which allows swift extradition between EU countries of individuals accused or convicted of a criminal offence; and the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II), which enables law enforcement agencies around the EU to share live alerts, for example, for missing people and stolen vehicles. The UK is also in the process of implementing Prum, which will give us access to fingerprint and DNA data from other member states.

    Since 2004, using the European Arrest Warrant, over 1,000 individuals accused or convicted of a criminal offence have faced justice in UK courts and over 7,000 have been extradited from the UK.

  • Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 March 2016 to Question 30500, what the alternative arrangements are that provide funding for National Crime Agency investigations into non-recent child sexual abuse.

    Mike Penning

    The non-recent child sexual abuse investigations being conducted by the National Crime Agency are in response to requests from the Chief Officer of the local police forces. As such, the funding for these investigations is from the local police forces.

  • Richard Burgon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Richard Burgon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burgon on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Tier 2 intra-company transfers for what roles or job descriptions were issued to UK companies in each of the last five years; and what salary each such transferee received.

    James Brokenshire

    Information on the number of Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) that have been issued by Tier 2 (Intra Company Transfer) sponsors, broken down by the job titles of those they sought to employ and the salary each transferee was to receive, for each of the last five years, will be placed in the House Library. To break these figures down further into in and out of country applications, and whether the application was successful would require manual intervention that would incur disproportionate costs.

  • 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 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of reductions in international student numbers on employment.

    Mike Penning

    Such an assessment has not been made because the Government is delivering a strong labour market which has seen the employment rate for UK nationals grow to 74.6% in Q4 2015 – an increase of 0.8 percentage points compared to the previous year and the highest since records began.

    The student migration system we inherited was too weak, and open to widespread abuse, damaging the UK’s reputation as a provider of world-class education. The National Audit Office reported that in 2009/10 up to 50,000 students may have come to work, not study.

    We have clamped down on immigration abuse from poor quality institutions selling immigration rather than education, and since 2010 we have struck off more than 920 bogus colleges. Visa applications for the further education sector, where abuse has been most prevalent over recent years, are down 75 per cent compared with 2010.

    At the same time, we have maintained a highly competitive offer for international students who would like to study at our world-class institutions. This is borne out by the figures: visa applications from international students to study at British universities are up by 16 per cent since 2010, whilst visa applications to our world-leading Russell Group institutions are up by 39 per cent since 2010. There remains no limit on the number of genuine international students who can study in the UK.

    We will continue to reform the student visa system to tackle abuse and deliver an effective immigration system that works in the national interest.

  • 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 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria she uses to assess a bid from a metro mayor to assume the additional role of police and crime commissioner.

    Mike Penning

    Any proposal submitted by a local area for an elected mayor to take on police and crime commissioner (PCC) functions will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

    In keeping with the Government’s broader approach to the devolution of powers to local people, it is for local areas to make the case and demonstrate that the transfer of PCC functions would be in the best interests of local communities and the efficiency and effectiveness of policing in relevant areas.

    There is no presumption that an elected mayor would take on PCC functions. Local circumstances and the views of relevant PCCs are important factors in any consideration. Alongside this, another significant consideration is the issue of geographic boundaries and co-terminosity between the police area and the combined authority area.

    Against that background, it is for local areas to make the case for any proposals.

  • Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2016 to Question 31677, what the average salary is of people awarded Tier 2 (ICT) visas to work in the IT industry; and how many such visas have been awarded in each pay band in each of the last three years.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office does not hold this information in the format requested.

  • Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2016 Question 31677, how many Tier 2 (ICT) visa applications were denied because the Certificate of Sponsorship does not specify a salary of at least £28,400 in the last three years.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office does not hold this information in the format requested.

  • Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether, when considering whether to acquire a bulk personal dataset from another government department under the Investigatory Powers Bill, she plans to consult the Secretary of State for that department.

    Mike Penning

    The Investigatory Powers Bill provides for robust and transparent safeguards relating to the security and intelligence agencies’ use of bulk personal datasets (BPDs). This includes a new requirement for warrants to authorise the retention and examination of BPDs. The Bill provides for both class BPD warrants, covering datasets of a particular class, and specific BPD warrants, covering an individual dataset. The draft statutory Code of Practice provides further guidance on the factors that the security and intelligence agencies should consider in determining which type of warrant to apply for. These include whether the nature or the provenance of the dataset raises particularly novel or contentious issues; whether it contains a significant component of intrusive data; and whether it contains a significant component of confidential information relating to members of sensitive professions. All warrants will be subject to the ‘double-lock’ safeguard meaning that they will be subject to approval by both a Secretary of State and a Judicial Commissioner.

  • Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2016 to Question 31677, what checks are undertaken to ensure that the terms of a Tier 2 (ICT) visa Certificate of Sponsorship are adhered to.

    Mike Penning

    A variety of checks are undertaken on sponsor licence holders and the migrants they assign certificates of sponsorship to. Compliance visits are undertaken during the licensing process and post-licensing audits are undertaken to verify the duties performed by the sponsored workers adhere to those set out by the sponsor in the certificate of sponsorship. Officers can request payslips, work contracts and evidence of duties performed by the sponsored worker during compliance visits. In some cases, other regulatory requirements are verified with other government departments or regulatory bodies during investigations of possible non-compliance. Officers can interview both sponsors and sponsored workers during compliance visits to seek assurances and gather information and evidence of compliance with the duties of sponsorship. Overseas we can undertake checks in to the credibility of the international presence of an ICT sponsor licence holder where there is concern to do so.

    All roles are assessed to confirm the duties and salary meet the requirements set out in the standard occupation classification codes. The sponsored worker may also be called for interview during the visa consideration process to check their credibility and test the individual meets the requirements of sponsorship under Tier 2 (ICT).

  • Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ruth Smeeth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Smeeth on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2016 to Question 31677, what the penalties are for an employer who has issued a Certificate of Sponsorship but does not adhere to the stated job description and salary.

    Mike Penning

    Guidance for sponsors specifies that UKVI will revoke the licence of a sponsor who has issued a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) but has not adhered to the specified job description and/or salary. However, prior to the consideration of revocation action, UKVI will suspend the licence and allow the sponsor the opportunity to make representations against the matter(s) identified. UKVI does have residual discretion to apply a lesser sanctions depending on the severity of the matter(s) and the mitigating circumstances presented by the sponsor; these sanctions include downgrading the licence rating and issuing a time limited action plan or reducing the sponsor’s CoS allocation or setting the allocation to zero.