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  • Michael Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Michael Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Tomlinson on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2015 to Question 19309, what percentage of Disclosure and Barring Service applications in Dorset have not been completed within the 60 day maximum period since 1 December 2014.

    Karen Bradley

    The operational performance plans of police disclosure units are matters for Chief Constables in association with Police and Crime Commissioners. The Dorset recovery plan is addressing a number of challenges which have affected performance levels, including the implementation of an upgraded IT system and the recruitment of additional staff to enable it to improve its disclosure turnaround times. Of disclosure certificates dispatched to individuals with a Dorset postcode between December 2014 and March 2016, 16% were not completed within 60 days.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the value was of assets (a) subject to restraint orders and (b) recovered using confiscation orders under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 in each year since 2009-10.

    Mr John Hayes

    The value of assets subject to restraint orders between 2009-10 and 2015-16 is shown in the tables below.

    Orders are counted as fully paid where the outstanding balance, including any interest payable, is nil. There is no central record which would show how many people subject to unenforced orders were serving prison sentences.

    Data is extracted from reports run on 4 May 2016 using the Joint Asset Recovery Database (JARD). JARD is a central repository of information relating to the seizure of the proceeds of crime.

    JARD is a live database which is continually updated. As such, the data provided may vary from reports run on earlier dates.

    Restraint Orders issued in England & Wales

    2009-10

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-2015

    2015-16

    Values (in millions)

    £648.68m

    £873.40m

    £500.78m

    £463.75m

    £393.70m

    £368.18m

    £448.10m

    Gross confiscation receipts – includes compensation paid to victims and receiver’s fees

    2009-10

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-2015

    2015-16

    Values (in millions)

    £110.39m

    £113.55m

    £124.58m

    £134.85m

    £139.20m

    £155.67m

    £206.30m

    Year

    2009-10

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-2015

    2015-16

    Number of confiscation orders issued

    5592

    6425

    6268

    6401

    6043

    5926

    5900
  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many confiscation orders were issued under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 in each year since 2009-10; how many of those orders were not enforced; and of those orders not enforced how many people subject to those orders were in prison.

    Mr John Hayes

    The value of assets subject to restraint orders between 2009-10 and 2015-16 is shown in the tables below.

    Orders are counted as fully paid where the outstanding balance, including any interest payable, is nil. There is no central record which would show how many people subject to unenforced orders were serving prison sentences.

    Data is extracted from reports run on 4 May 2016 using the Joint Asset Recovery Database (JARD). JARD is a central repository of information relating to the seizure of the proceeds of crime.

    JARD is a live database which is continually updated. As such, the data provided may vary from reports run on earlier dates.

    Restraint Orders issued in England & Wales

    2009-10

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-2015

    2015-16

    Values (in millions)

    £648.68m

    £873.40m

    £500.78m

    £463.75m

    £393.70m

    £368.18m

    £448.10m

    Gross confiscation receipts – includes compensation paid to victims and receiver’s fees

    2009-10

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-2015

    2015-16

    Values (in millions)

    £110.39m

    £113.55m

    £124.58m

    £134.85m

    £139.20m

    £155.67m

    £206.30m

    Year

    2009-10

    2010-11

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-2015

    2015-16

    Number of confiscation orders issued

    5592

    6425

    6268

    6401

    6043

    5926

    5900
  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (a) how much funding was allocated to and (b) how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by (i) the National Crime Agency (NCA), (b) the NCA’s Economic Crime Command and (c) each sub-unit of the NCA’s Economic Crime Command in each financial year between 2012-13 and 2016-17.

    Mr John Hayes

    The National Crime Agency’s Annual Report and Accounts 2014-15 sets out the Agency’s staffing numbers and funding allocations including gross expenditure for the Economic Crime Command for 2013-14, and 2014-15.

    The gross expenditure of the Economic Crime Command in 2013/14, the first year of the NCA’s operation, was £10,571,000. In 2014-15 gross expenditure was £21,718,000. In June 2015, the International Corruption Unit was established in the Economic Crime Command. It brought together resources from the Metropolitan Police Service, City of London Police and the NCA into a single unit and is responsible for investigating the bribery of foreign public officials by individuals or companies from the UK, and money laundering by corrupt foreign officials and their associates.

    The Economic Crime Command also leads the Joint Money Laundering Intelligence Taskforce (JMLIT) through which the financial sector, law enforcement agencies and the Financial Conduct Authority share information to prevent, detect and disrupt money laundering and terrorist financing. The NCA as a whole has around 4,000 staff. The majority of the NCA’s staff work as a flexible investigative resource, not in a particular Command, but assigned to particular operations across all areas of the NCA as needed. The agency also houses a number of deployable specialist capabilities.

    The number of staff working in a particular Command is not a reliable indicator of the overall NCA resource linked to a particular type of crime. The Criminal Finances Threat Group is a multi-agency group chaired by the NCA which includes representatives from across law enforcement, meeting quarterly. As the Group is not a unit within the NCA, the information sought is not available. HMRC leads on tax evasion.

    The NCA works closely with HMRC in relation to tax evasion that relates to serious and organised crime. Through the NCA’s national tasking and coordination mechanisms the Agency is able act on these cases by utilising its specialist capabilities, for example undertaking tax investigations to recover assets from serious and organised criminals under part 6 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, of the Consent Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) submitted to the National Crime Agency in each year since 2011-12, how many involved suspected contraventions of (a) the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and (b) Part 3 of the Terrorism Act 2000; and how many Consent SAR requests in each such category were permitted because they were not responded to within the seven-day time limit.

    Mr John Hayes

    The below table provides figures on the number of Suspicious Activity Reports received by the National Crime Agency (NCA) between October 2011 and September 2015 which requested consent under Part 7 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) and Part 3 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (TACT). The table also includes figures on the number of consent requests where the reporter received no reply from the NCA.

    POCA Total Consent Requests

    POCA – No Reply within 7 Days

    TACT Total Consent Requests

    TACT – No Reply within 7 Days

    Oct 2011 – Sept 2012

    12915

    10

    75

    Nil

    Oct 2012 – Sept 2013

    14103

    8

    77

    Nil

    Oct 2013 – Sept 2014

    14155

    7

    102

    Nil

    Oct 2014 – Sept 2015

    14672

    110

    198

    Nil
  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what oversight her Department has over the operation of the Financial Crime Alerts Service; and which banks have agreed to share information through that Service.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Department does not have oversight of the Financial Crime Alerts Service. The service was established and is operated by the British Bankers’ Association.

    The Government published the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Finance Action Plan on 21 April 2016. As part of the Action Plan, the Government is seeking to strengthen public-private partnership, based on joint-working and the sharing of information.

    The Financial Crime Alerts Service is a good example of this kind of partnership and will help deliver the aim, set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review, to make the UK a more hostile place for those seeking to move, hide or use the proceeds of crime or corruption.

    The Financial Crime Alerts Service distributes real-time alerts from domestic and international bodies, including the National Crime Agency and 11 other government and law enforcement agencies, with banking officials in place to tackle fraud, financial crime and other violations.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what role the National Crime Agency plays in tackling tax evasion.

    Mr John Hayes

    The National Crime Agency’s Annual Report and Accounts 2014-15 sets out the Agency’s staffing numbers and funding allocations including gross expenditure for the Economic Crime Command for 2013-14, and 2014-15.

    The gross expenditure of the Economic Crime Command in 2013/14, the first year of the NCA’s operation, was £10,571,000. In 2014-15 gross expenditure was £21,718,000. In June 2015, the International Corruption Unit was established in the Economic Crime Command. It brought together resources from the Metropolitan Police Service, City of London Police and the NCA into a single unit and is responsible for investigating the bribery of foreign public officials by individuals or companies from the UK, and money laundering by corrupt foreign officials and their associates.

    The Economic Crime Command also leads the Joint Money Laundering Intelligence Taskforce (JMLIT) through which the financial sector, law enforcement agencies and the Financial Conduct Authority share information to prevent, detect and disrupt money laundering and terrorist financing. The NCA as a whole has around 4,000 staff. The majority of the NCA’s staff work as a flexible investigative resource, not in a particular Command, but assigned to particular operations across all areas of the NCA as needed. The agency also houses a number of deployable specialist capabilities.

    The number of staff working in a particular Command is not a reliable indicator of the overall NCA resource linked to a particular type of crime. The Criminal Finances Threat Group is a multi-agency group chaired by the NCA which includes representatives from across law enforcement, meeting quarterly. As the Group is not a unit within the NCA, the information sought is not available. HMRC leads on tax evasion.

    The NCA works closely with HMRC in relation to tax evasion that relates to serious and organised crime. Through the NCA’s national tasking and coordination mechanisms the Agency is able act on these cases by utilising its specialist capabilities, for example undertaking tax investigations to recover assets from serious and organised criminals under part 6 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) professionals, (b) nominated officers and (c) other nominated officers were prosecuted for failure to disclose under sections 330 to 332 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 in each year since 2009-10.

    Mr John Hayes

    The Government is committed to ensuring that the UK has a robust anti-money laundering regime. The National Risk Assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing was published on 15 October 2015. This identified the threats and vulnerabilities we face in these areas, and the Action Plan for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist finance was published on 21 April 2016, setting out the steps that the Government will take to address them.

    The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty at all courts of offences under Sections 330 to 332, listed individually, from 2009/10 to the period between April and December 2014 (latest period available), can be viewed in the table below. It is not possible to determine the occupation of those convicted of these offences.

    Section of Act

    Outcome

    2009/10

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    April to December 2014

    330

    Proceeded against

    –

    5

    2

    2

    4

    1

    Found guilty

    –

    4

    1

    1

    8

    1

    331

    Proceeded against

    –

    –

    –

    –

    2

    –

    Found guilty

    –

    –

    1

    –

    1

    –

    332

    Proceeded against

    –

    –

    –

    –

    –

    –

    Found guilty

    –

    –

    –

    1

    –

    –

    “

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (a) how much funding was allocated by her Department to and (b) how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by (i) Metropolitan Police Counter-Terrorism Command and (ii) each Counter-Terrorism Unit in the UK in each year since 2009-10.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office does not publically provide a breakdown of Counter-Terrorism Police funding or resources by police force for security reasons.

  • Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stuart C. McDonald – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart C. McDonald on 2016-05-03.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of Tier 2 skilled workers leaving the UK (a) voluntarily or (b) otherwise involuntarily as a result of the new £35,000 income requirement for settlement.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office published a full impact assessment on the changes to Tier 2 settlement rules when they were laid before Parliament on 15 March 2012. The impact assessment is available on the gov.uk website at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/117957/impact-assessment-tier2.pdf.

    Alternative routes available for Tier 2 workers unable to meet the minimum earnings threshold would depend on their individual circumstances. For the most part, economic migrants who wish to change their basis of stay in the UK are expected to leave and re-apply for an alternative visa from their home country. However, in-country switching is permitted in some categories, for example into Tier 1 routes aimed at high value migrants.

    Tier 2 migrants who apply for settlement and do not meet the requirements will be refused. Those who do not qualify for an alternative route and have reached the maximum period of limited leave allowed under Tier 2 should make plans to leave the United Kingdom. Any migrant who has over stayed the validity of their visa or otherwise failed to regularise their stay in the UK may be removed if they refuse or fail to leave of their own volition. They may also be liable to prosecution under the Immigration Act 1971.