The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to respond to the letter to him of 13 January 2016 from the hon. Member for Leeds North West, relating to criminal driving.
Dominic Raab
The Secretary of State for Justice replied on 3 February 2016.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that prison officers complete Prevent awareness training.
Andrew Selous
The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has a range of Prevent awareness training and briefing packages available for staff.
Prevent awareness training forms part of the Prison Officer Entry Level training for new prison officers. By the end of this month, over 1800 prison officers will have completed this training in 2015-16.
In addition NOMS regularly reviews the extremism based training provision available to all staff in prisoner facing roles, adapting it to meet the need of the audience and the changing threat.
During 2015/2016 over 12,000 directly employed and non-directly employed staff attended such training and briefing events.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce self-harm among female prison inmates.
Caroline Dinenage
The Government is committed to reducing the incidence of self-harm in prisons. All prisons, including women’s prisons, are required to have procedures in place to identify, manage and support people who are at risk of harm to themselves. These include the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) process, which is a prisoner-centred, flexible care planning system for prisoners identified as at risk of suicide or self-harm. The ACCT process is designed to ensure that all prisoners are managed in a way that is responsive to individual needs and risks, including those related to gender.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the performance of the Cafcass in (a) domestic abuse cases and (b) other private law cases.
Caroline Dinenage
The Government has made no specific assessment of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service’s (Cafcass) performance in cases where domestic violence or abuse is alleged or admitted. However, in 2014, Ofsted inspected Cafcass as a national organisation. It judged that as a minimum all children, young people and families receive a service where the quality and effectiveness of Cafcass private law practice is ‘good’. The protective measures of a non-molestation order or occupation order available from the family court for an adult party in cases of domestic violence or abuse do not involve Cafcass.
In relation to other private law cases involving children, Cafcass is most often involved in proceedings for a child arrangements order where parents are in dispute. In every case where a child arrangements order is sought, Cafcass undertakes safeguarding checks with the police and local authority. Relevant matters are communicated to the court prior to the first hearing via a safeguarding letter. In this way, Cafcass provides judges with the information they need to ensure that any decisions made are safe for the child and adult parties.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions her Department has had with the Department of Health on implementation of the Ross Fund.
Mr Nick Hurd
I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave on 7 March to question number 28791
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with her EU counterparts on the use of teargas against refugees and migrants at the Macedonian border.
James Brokenshire
We continue to work closely with our European partners to address all aspects of the current migration situation as it continues to develop, including regular bilateral and multilateral discussions. There have been no specific discussions on the use of tear gas.
Public order is a matter for national governments and we expect all our international partners to ensure that migrants’ human rights are fully respected.
We are clear that protection in the region of origin is often the best solution, including for refugees, and that those reaching the EU should claim asylum in the first Member State they enter (as per EU rules) rather than seeking to travel further across Europe to their destination of choice.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what access to higher education Syrian refugees resettled through the Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme will have.
Joseph Johnson
Syrian refugees resettled through the Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme will have access to home fee status and student support in England for higher education. Those granted humanitarian protection will be able, like UK citizens, to secure access to support after three years’ lawful ordinary residency in the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that refugees arriving in other EU member-states who have family in the UK are identified and supported in being reunited with their relatives.
James Brokenshire
All migrants arriving in other EU Member States who wish to seek asylum should do so in those States and provide information to the asylum authorities about any family members in the UK or other Member States so that the family unity provisions in the Dublin Regulation can be applied.
We are providing further resources to the European Asylum Support Office, including help in border “hotspots” in Greece and Italy, to identify and register asylum applicants, including children at risk on first arrival in the EU.
We will consider any request made to us by other Member States to take responsibility for asylum applicants because they have close family who are legally in the UK in accordance with the terms of the Dublin Regulation.
If not claiming asylum, individuals outside the UK are entitled to apply under the Immigration Rules to join relatives in the UK by making the appropriate visa application.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support the Government is making available to the French authorities to ensure that people living in refugee camps in Northern France have access to adequate healthcare provision.
James Brokenshire
The management of the migrant camps in Calais, including healthcare provision is the responsibility of the French Government.
The French Government has recently stated that there are approximately 3,700 migrants living in the Calais camp and 1,050 in Dunkirk. The UK Government does not routinely assess the numbers of migrants in northern France or hold a breakdown of the ages of migrants.
The UK has funded a project aimed at identifying and protecting vulnerable people in the Calais migrant camp. The project is being delivered by the French NGO Terre D’Asile.
In addition, France has opened 102 reflection centres away from Calais and Dunkirk to help migrants with their asylum options and the UK is contributing towards the funding of this programme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on individuals or groups involved in smuggling people from mainland Europe to the UK; and what estimate her Department has made of the number of people who are engaged in such activities.
James Brokenshire
Europol holds intelligence on more than 40,000 individuals suspected of being involved in migrant smuggling. It would not be appropriate to comment further on ongoing UK operational activity to investigate groups and individuals engaged in smuggling people to the UK from mainland Europe. We will relentlessly pursue those who are engaged in people smuggling. Between 1st April 2015 and 8 March 2016, Immigration Enforcement has achieved 132 disruptions against criminals involved in organised immigration crime.
Last summer, the Prime Minister announced the creation of the Organised Immigration Crime Taskforce bringing together officers from the National Crime Agency, Border Force, Immigration Enforcement and the Crown Prosecution Service to exploit every opportunity at source, in transit countries and in Europe to identify and tackle organised crime groups criminal operations. The Taskforce funding was subsequently expanded in November 2015 to increase resources to 100 dedicated officers until 2020.