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  • 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 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has made to consult stakeholders in advance on the (a) designation of reception zones and (b) determination of the criteria to be included in any order designating such zones in the UK.

    James Brokenshire

    Home Office appointed COMPASS contractors as providers of housing for asylum seekers with the ability to procure and supply housing in a manner that meets UK housing law. The COMPASS suppliers are required to consult local government formally to ensure relevant housing licensing requirements are met. UKVI officials have engaged with local government, through Strategic Migration Partnerships to devise suitable consultation protocols so that both parties are able to consider the most suitable locations for initial accommodation. In the circumstance that contingency options are deployed, the COMPASS provider is required to inform local dispersal authorities of the intended short term use of properties in their area, as initial accommodation facilities for asylum seekers, including in hotels.

  • 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 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will place in the Library copies of any letters her Department has sent since 1 June 2015 to chief executives or leaders of local authorities in the UK in respect of the power to request assistance under section 100 (1) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999; and whether powers under that section have been used.

    James Brokenshire

    The Department has not made any request to chief executives or leaders of local authorities in the UK for assistance under section 100 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. The powers under that section have not been used to date.

    However, over the past 12 months, the department has written to local authority leaders and chief executives in the North West, North East, Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber and Scotland to seek further cooperation and voluntary participation in widening asylum seeker dispersal arrangement.

    We will be writing to chief executives in Wales, the South East, South West and East of England to seek their cooperation.

  • David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to improve public awareness and understanding of the roles of police and crime commissioners.

    Mike Penning

    A range of communication activities are being conducted by the Home Office in order to increase awareness and understanding of the roles of police and crime commissioners.

    Plans include written, digital, broadcast and social media activity. Material such as posters and a short film are also being provided to Police Area Returning Officers and police and crime commissioner’s offices to use as part of their local communication plans.

    All activity will signpost the Cabinet Office candidate information website, ChooseMyPCC, and booklet ordering facility.

  • David Winnick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Winnick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Winnick on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Walsall North of 8 February 2016 on behalf of a constituent concerning Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent training sessions in PSHE lessons.

    Mr John Hayes

    The correspondence was passed to the Department for Education for response. They accepted the transfer on 12 February 2016.

  • Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people applied to have their circumstances changed to give them recourse to public funds in the last quarter; and what proportion of such applications were successful in (a) the first quarter of 2016 and (b) the second quarter of 2015.

    James Brokenshire

    Data for Q1 2016 is not yet available. However, in the last quarter for which statistics are publicly available (October – December 2015), 765 people applied to have their circumstances changed to give them recourse to public funds and of these 3.9% were successful, however a significant proportion of these cases are pending their final decision and as such the final proportion may be higher.

    In Q2 2015 (April – June 2015), 750 people applied to have their circumstances changed to give them recourse to public funds. 735 of those applications had been concluded by the end of the publicly available statistics and 270 had been successful, which equates to a proportion of 36.7%.

  • Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Andrew Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Smith on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children are being supported under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 where their parents have no recourse to public funds.

    Edward Timpson

    Information on children supported under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 is published in the annual Children in Need Census statistical first release. This data collection does not identify the number of children supported where their parents have no recourse to public funds.

    Information in the form requested is therefore not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  • 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 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (a) when, (b) where and (c) for how long the powers under section 101 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 to designate reception zones have been used to date; and how many asylum seekers designated under section 95 of that Act have been so supported.

    James Brokenshire

    The Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 introduced the policy of national dispersal, designed to share the impact of asylum seekers across the whole of the UK. Asylum seekers are housed across the UK under voluntary agreements between national government and local authorities that have been in place since 2000. The powers under Section 101 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 have not been used to date.

  • Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with social media firms on countering radicalisation.

    Mr John Hayes

    Extremist and terrorist organisations, notably social media sites, are exploiting the internet to disseminate propaganda and recruit individuals to their groups or to support their aims. Some vulnerable individuals, including young people are being misled by this damaging propaganda.

    We are working closely with responsible internet and social media companies to take robust action against terrorist and extremist material and safeguard users. Since 2010 over 140,000 pieces of terrorist-related material have been removed by industry from various online platforms at the request of the dedicated police Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU). Approximately 58,000 removals were made in 2015 alone.

  • Stella Creasy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stella Creasy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stella Creasy on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the details of the cooperative arrangement her Department has with the Department of Homeland Security which enables their officials to operate as immigration advisers to airlines operating out of UK airports.

    James Brokenshire

    We do not publish the specific details of the arrangement with the Department of Homeland Security for operational reasons.

    US officials have operated as immigration advisers at UK airports since 2007 in an advisory capacity which reflects an established global practice. They hold no authority in the UK, and can only make recommendations to carriers on whether to allow travel

  • Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-03-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support the Government is giving to (a) the government of Greece and (b) civil society organisations in Greece to assist the response to the arrival of migrants and refugees.

    James Brokenshire

    The UK has contributed over £19 million in humanitarian support to Greece: almost £8 million to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), almost £7.5 million to Non Governmental Organistions (NGOs), over £1.6 million to the Red Cross, over £1 million to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), and almost £1 million of essential supplies (blankets, sleeping mats, tents, solar lanterns, generators). We are assessing how best to target further humanitarian support in 2016, including through EU routes.

    Through UK aid in Greece, UNHCR expects to support approximately 250,000 migrants and refugees with life-saving humanitarian aid through: reception, protection, accommodation, water and non-food Items. UNHCR and the IOM are also working with the government of Greece to improve their capacity to receive and manage refugees and migrants.

    In bilateral support to the Government of Greece the UK Government is providing direct support to the Hellenic Coast Guard in the Aegean Sea. The UK Border Force hired offshore patrol vessel, VOS Grace, is currently deployed in the Aegean.

    In addition, the Government is funding a voluntary returns programme (£2 million over 2 years 2014-2016) and asylum programmes (totalling £600,000 over 3 years) in Greece through NGOs. The Home Office has a long-term secondee to the Greek Government based in Athens, supporting improvements in Greek asylum system capability.

    In 2016, the UK Government has committed to provide 34 months of staff deployment to Frontex operations in Greece. Debriefing and screening support has also been offered bilaterally to the Hellenic Police. And the UK Government has provided five month-long secondments to the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) for deployment at Hotspot sites in both Greece and Italy.