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  • Victoria Atkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Victoria Atkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Victoria Atkins on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what work her Department has undertaken with international partners on access to sources of data that can be used to enhance the security of the UK border.

    James Brokenshire

    The Government works multilaterally and bilaterally with foreign governments, international law enforcement partners and security agencies to share data in order to strengthen the UK border against a range of security threats. The UK uses Interpol’s Stolen and Lost Travel Documents Database to identify individuals trying to enter the UK on such documents.

    Since April 2015, the UK has also had access to the Schengen Information System which allows us intercept individuals at the border who are subject to a European Arrest Warrant. The Government also works with the global carrier industry to process passenger and crew information to inform border security decisions in advance of travel to or from the UK and at the border.

  • Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jack Dromey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jack Dromey on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answers of 23 May 2016 to Questions 37209 and 37235, whether official guidelines on the policing of football matches abroad state that authority must be granted by her Department under section 26 of the Police Act 1996 to permit UK police officers to perform operational police duties abroad.

    Mike Penning

    Guidelines on overseas police deployments include detail on when approval from the Home Office is required under section 26 of the Police Act 1996.

  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many curfew orders have been issued for anti-social behaviour in Stafford constituency since the introduction of such orders.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office does not hold information on curfew orders issued for anti-social behaviour.

  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the trends in the level of crime in Stafford constituency in each of the last three years; and if she will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    The Crime Survey statistics published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that crime in England and Wales fell by 7% in the year to the end of December 2015 (the latest period for which data is available), and has fallen by well over a quarter since 2010.

    Over the same period, crimes recorded by the police have risen. The independent ONS has been clear that rises in police recorded crime are largely the result of more victims coming forward to report certain offences and improvements in police crime recording practices. Police recorded crime for the Stafford constituency for the last three years is shown in the attached table.

  • Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jeremy Lefroy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Lefroy on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many offences involving the fraudulent use of personal information have been reported to Staffordshire Police in each year since 2006; and how many such reports led to a (a) prosecution and (b) conviction.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office do not hold the information requested. The responsibility for recording fraud offences transferred to Action Fraud from individual police forces between April 2011 and March 2013. Therefore, no fraud offences should have been recorded by Staffordshire police since then.

    The Ministry of Justice do not hold the information requested on prosecutions and convictions.

  • Nusrat Ghani – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Nusrat Ghani – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nusrat Ghani on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Managing migratory flows in Calais: joint ministerial declaration on UK/French co-operation, published on 20 August 2015, what progress has been made on implementing the measures in that declaration to reinforce border security in northern France where the UK operates a juxtaposed border control.

    James Brokenshire

    The UK Government has invested tens of millions of pounds to reinforce border security through infrastructure improvements at the Juxtaposed ports, and continues to work closely with the French authorities at both political and operational levels. The vast majority of the security work identified in the Joint Declaration has been completed including the installation of 52 miles worth of critical security fencing, advanced anti-intrusion measures such as infra-red cameras, thermal detection cameras and floodlighting in key areas.

    In addition to this the UK has funded security guards and since June 2015 doubled Border Force contractor freight searching and dog detection capability at the juxtaposed controls. To help coordinate the law enforcement response from the UK and France a joint command and control centre has been established. The investment in security by the UK, the closer coordination of our law enforcement response and the significant investment in police resources by the French Government, has significantly improved the security situation in Northern France.

    The UK and France regularly review security at the ports to ensure the new measures are maintained and remain effective. Furthermore, at the UK-France summit in Amiens on 3 March, the Home Secretary announced that the UK will contribute £17 million over the next financial year to joint work with France to ease migrant pressures in the Calais region and further strengthen the UK border.

  • Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ian Murray – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Murray on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Immigration of 3 May 2016, Official Report, column 45WH, on asylum seeker dispersal policy, if she will publish the template letter she plans to send to leaders of local authorities on widening dispersal.

    James Brokenshire

    We continue to work closely with a wide range of local authorities across the UK to increase the number of areas that accommodate and support people seeking asylum and protection.

    I am reassured that the number of local authorities participating in the dispersal scheme continues to increase. I intend therefore only to write to specific local authority leaders if progress is unsatisfactory.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many reports of criminal offences against residents of properties used to house asylum seekers have been recorded in each of the last 12 months.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office and its accommodation providers encourage accommodated asylum seekers to inform us of any criminal or anti-social activity against them so that appropriate action can be taken to ensure their safety. Information concerning the reports of criminal offences is not recorded on centrally collated statistical databases and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost by examination of case records.

  • Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alex Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the progress of the programme to re-paint the red doors of properties used to house asylum seekers on Teesside.

    James Brokenshire

    The provision of accommodation for asylum seekers is provided under the COMPASS contracts. It is the responsibility of all of the suppliers to ensure that all accommodation used meets the required contractual standard and complies with the Decent Homes Standards. The accommodation should be safe, habitable and fit for purpose. The COMPASS providers are required to inspect properties each month and UKVI’s contract compliance teams reinforce this by visiting properties regularly.

    The Home Office expects the highest standards and where a contractor is found to be falling short of these standards we work with them to ensure that issues are quickly addressed.

    Earlier this year, we instructed our supplier (G4S) to repaint the doors of G4S and Jomast managed properties to ensure that no one colour is predominant. I have received confirmation from the Provider that this had been completed, UKVI staff have also confirmed that no one colour is predominant as they have visited properties as part of their inspection regime.

  • 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 2016-05-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many claims for asylum from people from Yemen have been refused in 2016 to date.

    James Brokenshire

    There were 111 asylum applications from Yemeni nationals in 2015, and 15 in Quarter 1 (January to March) 2016.

    There were 12 refusals of asylum or an alternative form of protection, at initial decision, to Yemeni nationals in Quarter 1 (January to March) 2016.

    The Home Office publishes figures on asylum applications and initial decisions by nationality in the quarterly Immigration Statistics release. A copy of the latest release, Immigration Statistics, January to March 2016, is available from:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-january-to-march-2016/asylum