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  • Stuart McDonald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stuart McDonald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stuart McDonald on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Syrian refugees selected for resettlement from UN camps to the UK had previously been selected for resettlement in the US.

    Richard Harrington

    The Government has committed to resettling 20,000 Syrian refugees in the lifetime of this Parliament. The Prime Minister has said that we want to see 1,000 Syrian refugees brought to the UK by Christmas. We use the established UNHCR process for identifying and resettling refugees and have been working closely with them to achieve a significant uplift in the scheme.

    The UK collaborates closely with the major countries involved in resettlement, notably the US, Australia and Canada. In the expansion of the UK Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme we have worked with the US Government to take 500 people from the UNHCR’s pool of registered refugees that might otherwise have been passed to the US for consideration. No refugee actually selected for resettlement in the US has been passed to the UK; and all refugees being resettled in the UK have opted for this route.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dan Jarvis – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of recent trends in the use of legal highs.

    Mike Penning

    The 2014 report of the New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) Review Expert Panel concluded that “after years of stable and declining drug use, the emergence of NPS has been a ‘game changer’”. An accompanying report (New Psychoactive Substances in England: A review of the evidence) used data from the Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW) to examine the prevalence of use of NPS. It indicated that mephedrone was the most prevalent NPS, though use among adults aged 16-59 had fallen from 1.3% in 2010/11 to 0.6% in 2013/14 (use of mephedrone stood at 0.5% in 2014/15). Mephedrone was controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 in April 2010. According to the 2014/15 CSEW, 0.9% of people aged 16-59 used an NPS in the last year. This was the first year that the CSEW collected data on the use of NPS generally (as opposed to specific substances).

    The Psychoactive Substances Bill currently before Parliament introduces a blanket ban on the trade in psychoactive substances. The Bill will confer significant new powers on the police and other law enforcement agencies to restrict the supply of psychoactive substances.

  • Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Diana Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been referred by the National Crime Agency to regional police forces in (a) 2014 and (b) so far in 2015; and how many of those people are under suspicion of involvement in crimes of child abuse.

    Mike Penning

    The National Crime Agency does not collect data on the number of people referred to police forces. In respect of child abuse, the NCA disseminates information related to child sexual exploitation to law enforcement partners on a regular basis.

  • David Lammy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Lammy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Lammy on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will process as a matter of urgency the asylum applications of the 114 Syrian refugees currently being held at RAF Dhekelia in Cyprus.

    James Brokenshire

    Under an existing agreement with the Republic of Cyprus, those who claim asylum will be processed by the Cypriot authorities on behalf of the Sovereign Base.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the current guidance is on how data required to be retained by communications companies for investigations undertaken or authorised by the Government is to be stored.

    Mr John Hayes

    The retention systems of communications service providers who retain data under existing legislation are accredited by independent security experts and the security of these systems is overseen by the Information Commissioner. Current guidance on the retention of communications data by communications service providers is contained in the Retention of Communications Data Code of Practice 2015. Equivalent standards for retained data are replicated in the draft Investigatory Powers Bill and will be included in subsequent codes of practice.

  • Jessica Morden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jessica Morden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jessica Morden on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) standard and (b) fast-track passport applications were made in each of the last five years.

    James Brokenshire

    I refer to the table below which provides the volume of (a) standard and (b) fast-track passport applications received by Her Majesty’s Passport Office in each of the last five years.

    Year

    *Standard

    Fast Track

    2010

    4,976,745

    184,332

    2011

    4,912,102

    184,147

    2012

    4,855,678

    213,088

    2013

    5,056,826

    275,067

    2014

    5,313,409

    401,320

    Notes

    *Standard applications exclude counter applications and collectives

    Intake is cashiered intake

    Time period is 1st January to 31 December

    UK applications only

    “

  • Jessica Morden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jessica Morden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jessica Morden on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of standard passport applications made in the last six months were processed within three weeks.

    James Brokenshire

    Between 1 May 2015 and 31 October 2015, 96% of UK standard applications processed by Her Majesty’s Passport Office were done so within 3 weeks.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department takes to help protect 16 and 17 year olds who are victims of child sexual exploitation.

    Karen Bradley

    Tackling child sexual exploitation is a top priority for this Government. We have prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat in the Strategic Policing Requirement, setting a clear expectation on police forces to collaborate across force boundaries, to safeguard children, to share intelligence and to share best practice.

    Significant progress has been made since the launch of the “Tackling CSE” report in March 2015. We have delivered the vast majority of a £7 million funding programme to support non statutory organisations that have experienced a surge in demand on their services. This funding is to support the victims and survivors of sexual abuse, including children of all ages.

    Furthermore, £1.6 million has been provided over four years (April 2012 – March 2016) for 13 Young People’s Advocates providing direct and dedicated support to young people who have been victims, or are at risk of, sexual and domestic violence and/or sexual exploitation. Funding of £1.72 million per year has also been committed to part fund 87 Independent Sexual Violence Advisers posts until March 2016.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the efficiency of the work visa system in enabling UK businesses to have speedy access to the language skills they need for new markets.

    James Brokenshire

    Our visa system is set up to welcome skilled workers, entrepreneurs and investors. In the year ending June 2015, the number of work visas we issued increased by six percent, with skilled work visas up nine percent.

    UKVI continually assesses the efficiency of its customer offer. The average combined processing time for Tier 1 & Tier 2 category visas globally was 7 days in the year ending June 2015. In the same period, 97% of visas were issued within the standard 15 working days processing time.

    UKVI operates a number of services that make the visa process more accessible for businesses. These include priority and super-priority visa services, prime time opening hours and a business network with dedicated UK visa staff to assist businesses with their visa requirements.

  • Stella Creasy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stella Creasy – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stella Creasy on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the requirements of the community sponsorship route to Britain for refugees are; and when she plans to establish that route.

    James Brokenshire

    As set out in the Home Secretary’s Conference speech, we will compile a register of people and organisations who can provide accommodation to those who come to UK as refugees and develop a community based sponsorship scheme, learning from schemes operated in countries like Australia and Canada to allow individuals, charities, faith groups, churches and businesses to support refugees directly.

    The Government will develop the options in discussion with interested parties, including faith groups and NGOs. It is important that we take the time to develop an effective scheme which best meets the needs of the vulnerable individuals resettled in the UK. The Government will provide Parliament with further detail in due course, following these discussions.