Tag: Fiona Mactaggart

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Mactaggart on 2015-11-02.

To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what discussions the Speaker’s Committee has had on the extent of electoral fraud; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Gary Streeter

The Speaker’s Committee is in regular dialogue with the Electoral Commission on matters concerning electoral fraud, most notably in advance of the Commission publishing its corporate plan on an annual basis.

The Commission provides advice to those who are involved on the frontline in identifying, investigating and prosecuting cases of electoral fraud. Before each set of elections the Commission provides advice to the police, electoral administrators and others on ways to prevent and detect electoral fraud, based on the best practice it has identified through working with partners across electoral administration and the justice system. Each year the Commission publishes data on allegations of electoral fraud that are reported to the police.

The Commission targets additional support for those on the front line in 18 areas in England where there is a higher risk of allegations of electoral fraud. This includes Slough and the Commission will be working again with these areas before the elections in May 2016 to build on what was done prior to the General Election. The Commission issued briefings to all honourable members in the last parliament on the work it was undertaking prior to the General Election to help tackle electoral fraud and will do so again before the elections in May 2016.

In its 2014 review of electoral fraud, the Commission recommended that voters in Great Britain should be required to produce ID at polling stations, although it is yet to receive a response to this recommendation from the Government. The Commission has submitted evidence to the review being undertaken by Sir Eric Pickles and hopes that he agrees with it and that the Government accepts the Commission’s recommendation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Mactaggart on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has recently discussed the Istanbul Convention with the (a) Welsh and (b) Scottish Government; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley

The previous Government signed the Istanbul Convention to show the strong commitment it placed on tackling violence against women and girls and this Government remains committed to ratifying it.

The devolved administrations are responsible for implementing the obligations of the Convention in their territories and the Government continues to liaise with them about ratification.

The UK already complies with the vast majority of the Convention’s articles but further amendments to domestic law, to take extra-territorial jurisdiction over a range of offences (as required by Article 44), are necessary before the Convention can be ratified. The Ministry of Justice is currently considering the approach to implementing the extra-territorial jurisdiction requirements in England and Wales and will seek to legislate when the approach is agreed and Parliamentary time allows. Ministry of Justice officials have been in contact with their counterparts in the devolved administrations about the requirements of Article 44.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Mactaggart on 2016-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how potential victims of trafficking whose type of exploitation is recorded as unknown in the National Referral Mechanism Statistics, end of year summary 2015, published on 11 February 2016 were identified; and if she will make a statement.

Sarah Newton

Potential Victims who are recorded in the National Referral Mechanism Statistics (NRM) statistics as having suffered an unknown type of exploitation are identified and referred through the same process as other victims. The breakdown of agencies who referred them to the NRM are included in published statistics, data for which is derived from initial referral forms. An ‘unknown’ categorisation can result from missing or incomplete information on this form, which may be collected at a later stage as part of the ongoing assessment and safeguarding of the potential victim concerned.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Mactaggart on 2015-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to ascertain the extent of human trafficking into the fishing industry; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley

UK law enforcement agencies cooperate to target human trafficking in the maritime fishing industry. Where potential victims of trafficking (PVOT) are identified, they are referred into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). The number of PVOTs that have been referred to the NRM from the maritime industry in the last 3 years are as follows:

2012 -23

2013 – 6

2014 – 4

In 2014, the Home Office engaged with a range of trade and industry associations to raise awareness of modern slavery, including by developing information leaflets. We engaged with Maritime UK, the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations and Seafish Industry Authority to develop and disseminate the materials.

The NCA regularly assesses the threat of Modern Slavery in the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Mactaggart on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria she plans to use for determining which non-governmental organisations will collaborate with Polaris on providing helpline services for trafficking victims; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley

Polaris, a US-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), is establishing an enhanced UK helpline in collaboration with Unseen, a UK-based NGO. Polaris chose to partner with Unseen based on criteria that it had identified and which reflect its experience of delivering a similar helpline in the US. Polaris and Unseen intend to work closely with other NGOs and law enforcement to ensure that the helpline is as effective as possible in supporting victims and bringing perpetrators to justice. The Government was not involved in the selection process.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Mactaggart on 2016-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many victims of human trafficking applied for asylum in each year from 2010 to 2015 by gender, age, citizenship and type of exploitation.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Between 1 January 2010 and 30 September 2015 1,200 applications for asylum were submitted by individuals recognised as victims of human trafficking by the National Referral Mechanism. Of those, 782 individuals (65.2%) were successfully granted some form of leave to enter/remain in the UK as a result of their asylum application.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Mactaggart on 2015-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has conducted an investigation into how Demie Omol was able to travel through the UK to the Republic of Ireland; and what steps she is taking to prevent further victims of trafficking being similarly transported by the same agents and through the same routes.

Karen Bradley

We do not routinely comment on individual cases. With regard to onward travel through the UK, we have rolled out Safeguarding and Trafficking teams at a number of major UK ports so that trained officers can help identify victims, disrupt organised criminal groups, collect intelligence and provide a point of expertise and guidance for other frontline officers.

With regard to Ireland, the Police Service of Northern Ireland also works closely with An Garda Siochana on an operational basis to tackle cases of suspected cross border human trafficking and exploitation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Mactaggart on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of collecting data about the specific region or town of origin of all victims of human trafficking; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley

As part of the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) pilot we are reviewing the information collected to ensure all relevant information is captured. As part of this we are considering the potential merits of collecting more granular data on the place of origin of victims of trafficking. Any fundamental changes to the NRM, including data collection, will be made after the NRM pilot has concluded.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Mactaggart on 2016-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers who are also victims of trafficking were witnesses or accused in criminal proceedings in each year from 2010 to 2015.

Sarah Newton

The Home Office does not systemically record whether asylum seekers who are also victims of trafficking have involvement in criminal proceedings. Data on involvement of witnesses, defendants and offenders in criminal proceedings is a matter for the Ministry of Justice.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Mactaggart on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have died within a week of being notified of a benefit sanction in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Priti Patel

The information requested is not collected.