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  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to prevent the growing of cannabis.

    Karen Bradley

    Growing cannabis, whether for personal use or organised supply, is illegal and those who do so can face significant jail sentences.

    The investigation and prevention of illegal cannabis cultivation is an operational matter for the police. The police use proactive operations and seizures to target dealers and the organised gangs behind illegal cannabis farms and promoting cooperation with all partners including the fire service, energy companies and the property sector.

    They are also working to continually improve their knowledge and understanding of the trade through activity-led intelligence gathering.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of officials of her Department resigned in each of the last six years.

    Karen Bradley

    The number and proportion of officials who have resigned from the Home Office in each of the last 6 years is shown in the attached table.

  • Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what legislative provisions there are to prevent the husband of a child bride bringing that bride into the UK.

    James Brokenshire

    Under the family Immigration Rules both an applicant for a spouse visa and their sponsor must be aged 18 or over.

  • Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the Government’s policy is on the prosecution of husbands of child brides resident in the UK, who married that bride outside of the UK.

    Karen Bradley

    We made forced marriage a criminal offence in 2014 to better protect victims and send a clear message that this abhorrent practice is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated in the UK. The offence relates to where a UK resident or national forces a child into marriage overseas as well as in the UK.

    Our dedicated Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) leads efforts to combat forced marriage both at home and abroad. Where cases involve a minor in the UK, the FMU work with the relevant statutory agencies to provide advice and expertise to ensure that appropriate safeguarding measures are taken. Where a case involves a minor overseas, the FMU work with consular officers overseas and statutory agencies in the UK to ensure safeguarding obligations are fulfilled and appropriate action is taken where necessary.

  • Damian Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Damian Green – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Damian Green on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many non-EU citizens were refused entry to the UK on grounds of public security in each calendar year between 2010 and 2015.

    James Brokenshire

    Numbers of non-EEA refusals according to refusal reasons are not held centrally. Overall non-EEA refusal figures between 2004 and December 2015 can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2015/list-of-tables#admissions

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to increase the number of people removed from the UK under (a) the assisted voluntary return scheme and (b) enforced removals.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office works across government and beyond to reduce the size of the illegal population by ensuring that there is a consequence for every individual and organisation that is benefiting from immigration abuse. That includes ensuring that people who have no right to be here leave the UK, voluntarily or through an enforced return.

    The support available under the assisted voluntary return scheme is now integrated into the Home Office Voluntary Returns Service where a range of help and support is available to those here illegally who are seeking to return.

    Creating the single service as a clear point of contact for those seeking to return, working with key voluntary sector stakeholders, local authorities, increasing the work we do directly with community and faith groups and improving our understanding of the best ways to reach out to those here illegally – are all key parts of the work the Home Office is doing to help people return home.

    Encouraging voluntary returns allows us to focus our detention and enforcement resource on criminal cases and those that represent the biggest threat. Where someone refuses to leave the UK voluntarily we will take steps to enforce their swift removal and prevent them returning for up to 10 years.

    In terms of enforced removals the 2014 Immigration Act reformed the deportation process. More than 3,200 foreign national offenders have been removed under the new deport first, appeal later powers since they came into force in July 2014, with many more going through the system.

    We are also using biometrics to match identities and speed up the process of gaining emergency travel documents.

  • Kate Osamor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Kate Osamor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has been made of the effect of the EU-Turkey refugee deal on her Department’s policy on family reunification for refugees.

    James Brokenshire

    The EU-Turkey deal does not affect our family reunion policy.

    Under the family reunion policy a spouse, partner or children under 18 can apply to join someone granted refugee status or humanitarian protection in the UK providing they formed part of their family unit before the sponsor fled their country of origin.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to prevent young people obtaining knives online.

    Karen Bradley

    Reducing violence including knife crime is a priority for this Government. In addition to our work with the police and other partners we are working closely with retailers to encourage the responsible sale of knives both in-store and online.

    There are already strict laws on the sale of knives and on how knives can be marketed. It is illegal to sell knives to anyone under 18 (except for folding knives with a blade that does not exceed 7.62cm). The Home Secretary chaired a roundtable with major retailers and the British Retail Consortium on 14 March to encourage them to sell knives more responsibly and discuss what steps they can take to ensure that they have strong age verification processes in place.

    On 23 March the Home Secretary announced agreement of a new set of principles with major retailers to prevent the underage sales of knives both in-store and online, together with commitments on staff training, safe displays, and sales in online marketplaces.

    The agreement is available online at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sale-of-knives-voluntary-agreement-by-retailers

    We will be working with the British Retail Consortium to promote and extend the principles to other retailers.

    “

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what provision exists for the Syrian spouses of British nationals to come to the UK to join their families.

    James Brokenshire

    There are several refugee schemes in operation under which a Syrian national may be able to qualify to come to the UK, including the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme and Mandate – which resettles those recognised as refugees and judged to be in need of resettlement by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and who have a close family member in the UK who is willing to support them.

    In addition, a Syrian national can apply to join their British citizen spouse or partner in the UK under the Family Immigration Rules. If the requirements of the rules are not met, the entry clearance officer will consider whether there are exceptional or compassionate circumstances which may warrant a grant of entry clearance outside the rules.

  • Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Charlotte Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-04-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of British nationals with Syrian spouses still residing in Syria.

    James Brokenshire

    We have made no estimate of the number of British citizens with a Syrian spouse or partner residing in Syria. In 2015, 88 settlement visas were granted to the Syrian spouse or partner of a British citizen or person settled in the UK.