Tag: Home Office

The press release issued by the Home Office on 8 August 2023.

We are stepping up action to support regulatory action and prosecution of unscrupulous lawyers, with a new dedicated taskforce and tougher sentences.

A government clampdown on crooked lawyers who coach illegal migrants to lie will see a dedicated taskforce work with industry bodies and law enforcement to build stronger evidence bases to support prosecutions.

The vast majority of lawyers act with professionalism and integrity but, as recent media reports have demonstrated, a small minority have been helping illegal migrants stay in the UK by encouraging them to make false claims.

The Professional Enablers Taskforce is bringing together regulatory bodies, law enforcement teams and government departments to increase enforcement action against lawyers who help migrants exploit the immigration system.

The taskforce has been up and carrying out preliminary work over the past few months, working with partners to tackle immigration abuse in the legal sector by improving how intelligence and information is shared by regulators. Today marks its official launch.

Law enforcement are also working to bring fresh prosecutions against corrupt immigration lawyers who could face up to life in prison for assisting illegal migrants to remain in the country by deception.

Today the Home Secretary is chairing a roundtable meeting with the Lord Chancellor, Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner to reiterate the government’s drive to bring prosecutions against crooked immigration lawyers.

The taskforce has also developed a new training package for frontline staff who work in the immigration system to help them identify and report suspect activity so they can support law enforcement to prosecute crooked immigration lawyers.

Working with industry bodies, the taskforce will disrupt the business models of firms that are enabling abuse of the immigration system. Their work is aimed at supporting enforcement action against corrupt lawyers by building stronger evidence and improving intelligence sharing, which is then passed on to industry bodies to investigate and bring to law enforcement for prosecution if necessary.

Referrals to law enforcement have also been made where criminal activity is suspected. For example, the taskforce has uncovered a case in which an immigration firm is linked to one of the most wanted human traffickers, which has now been referred to the police.

Last week, the Solicitors Regulation Authority – a legal industry watchdog – suspended 3 legal firms who were caught offering to submit fake asylum claims for migrants.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said:

Crooked immigration lawyers must be rooted out and brought to justice. While the majority of lawyers act with integrity –  we know that some are lying to help illegal migrants game the system. It is not right or fair on those who play by the rules.

The British people want us to put an end to illegal migration – I am determined to crack down on these immoral lawyers and Stop the Boats.

Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Alex Chalk KC said:

The accuracy and honesty of legal advice underpins the integrity of our world-leading legal system, so those who undermine it by encouraging deception must be held to account.

This government is committed to stopping the boats – that means breaking the business model of criminal gangs and holding to account unscrupulous lawyers who aid and abet them by abusing the legal system.

Lawyers found to be coaching migrants on how to remain in the country by fraudulent means could be prosecuted under the Immigration Act 1971, Section 25, for ‘Assisting unlawful immigration to the UK’ and face a sentence of up to life imprisonment.

Tackling the minority of lawyers who exploit the immigration system is a focus across government. Last week, the independent Legal Services Board announced it was consulting on increasing the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s fining powers and exploring other ways to enhance regulators’ powers to ensure rogue legal professionals are punished.

The Professional Enablers Taskforce is currently focusing on abuse in the legal sector, however there are plans to expand to other ‘professional enablers’ – such as doctors, accountants and employers – who use their expertise to facilitate illegal migration.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 7 August 2023.

Fines are to be more than tripled for employers and landlords who allow illegal migrants to work for them or rent their properties.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 2 August 2023.

A special support service for victims of fraud has also been expanded to cover all 43 police forces in England and Wales.

Plans to ban cold calls for financial products such as sham cryptocurrency schemes, mortgages and insurance have been set out with the launch of a consultation, marking the next step in delivering the government’s Fraud Strategy.

The 8-week consultation, published on 2 August, will cover proposals to ban cold calls offering any financial products to clamp down on fraudsters seeking to trick people into buying fake investments. Once in force, people receiving a cold call offering these types of products will know that it is a scam, and fewer people will become victims.

Fraudulent investment schemes represent a significant threat to the UK economy, consumers, and society, with victims losing £750 million between 2022-23, according to data from the City of London Police.

A specialist team which provides support to victims of fraud, known as the National Economic Crime Victim Care Unit, has also been rolled out to all 43 police forces across England and Wales since the Fraud Strategy was announced.

Part funded by the Home Office, the service has existed as part of City of London Police since 2015, and is estimated to have stopped more than £2.8 million being lost to fraud. Last year its teams supported more than 113,000 victims and its rollout to all police forces will ensure more people receive the help and support they need.

Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said:

Fighting fraud is at the heart of our campaign to fight crime. The National Economic Crime Victim Care Unit and the cold calling consultation are delivering on our pioneering Fraud Strategy.

Fraud doesn’t just lead to financial loss, it can destroy confidence and lead to severe stress. That’s why it’s so important that victims get the best possible care and support.

The cold calling consultation is an important step forward in our efforts to block fraud at source. It will have a major impact once it is in force.

Andrew Griffith, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said:

Cold calling for financial services and products has long been used by fraudsters to manipulate and trick members of the public into scams. These cold-hearted criminals will often purposely target the most vulnerable and use a range of deceitful tactics to take advantage in any way they can.

We will ban cold calling for all consumer financial services and products, so the public can be sure that it’s not a legitimate firm if they get a call about a financial product out of the blue without their consent.

We want people to feel confident to put the phone down and report these illegitimate calls.

The government’s Fraud Strategy, published on 3 May, is already turning the tide against fraud.

A key pledge within the strategy is to ensure more victims are reimbursed and recently passed legislation will enable this to happen.

The Financial Services and Markets Act, which received Royal Assent on 29 June, enables the Payment Systems Regulator to require payment service providers to reimburse a customer if they become a victim of authorised push payment fraud. These are frauds where the victim has been deceived into sending a payment from their bank account to a fraudster. This change will provide greater protection for victims of these frauds.

Improved support to block fraud and protect victims will also be achieved through the Online Advertising Programme, which will deliver tougher measures to tackle harms caused by illegal advertising online, including fraud.

A range of targeted measures will be put together to address the most serious risks linked to online advertising. The government will launch a consultation on the details of the potential legislation in due course.

The online advertising taskforce set up as part of the programme met for first time last week. It brings together tech trade bodies and the Advertising Standards Authority alongside the government’s Anti-Fraud Champion, Anthony Browne. The shared mission is to prevent fraudulent messaging online and stop age-restricted products being marketed to children.

Anti-Fraud Champion Anthony Browne said:

80% of fraud is cyber-enabled and often starts with scam social media posts, a fraudulent email or false advertising and this makes engaging with the tech sector particularly important.

Our tech sector is among the best in the world and has a proven track record for innovation. It is of the utmost importance that we work with them to bring about better protections for their customers.

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency (ECCT) Bill is also anticipated to receive Royal Assent later this year. Once in force, it will reform corporate law by creating a new criminal offence, called failure to prevent fraud, which places an onus on all large companies to actively prevent fraud being committed by their staff.

If a member of staff commits fraud, for the benefit of their employer, their employer will be held criminally liable unless they are able to prove they had implemented reasonable measures to deter such offending. The government will publish guidance on these measures in due course.

Each of the reforms proposed by the ECCT Bill strike the right balance between holding businesses accountable for their actions without placing onerous regulatory demands on them.

It will level the corporate playing field by ensuring all companies play by the same rules.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 30 July 2023.

Toughened-up good character rules will mean the criminality threshold for British citizenship is in line with the government’s Immigration Rules.

Tougher rules will make sure serious criminals cannot claim British citizenship regardless of when or where the crime took place.

The government crackdown will come into effect tomorrow (31 July), with the strengthened rules applying to new applications from anyone who has received at least a 12-month prison sentence. This re-affirms the government’s commitment to protecting UK borders and ensuring no one with a criminal record can abuse the British immigration and nationality system.

The updated rules are stricter and more specific on so-called “good character” requirements, which are a key condition to be granted British citizenship, and look at whether an individual has observed UK law as well as shown respect for the rights and freedoms of British citizens. The requirements include factors such as criminal convictions, immigration offending and serious behaviour like war crimes, terrorism or genocide.

The changes remove the previous rules where some criminals could be granted British citizenship after a prescribed number of years had passed since the end of their sentence – regardless of the type of crime or where it was committed.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said:

British citizenship is a privilege. Those who commit crimes shouldn’t be able to enjoy the breadth of rights citizenship brings, including holding a British passport, voting and accessing free medical care from the NHS.

I am cracking down on abuse of the UK’s immigration and nationality system, by introducing a tougher threshold so that serious criminals cannot gain British citizenship. This is the fair and right thing to do for our country.

There will be some exceptions to the new rules, which will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, for example if someone has mitigating circumstances that support an exceptional grant. Cases like this could include someone who committed a minor offence a long time ago but has made sufficient, positive changes that they are now considered to be of good character.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 26 July 2023.

The NHS, police and government commit to a new approach to ensure those requiring urgent mental health support receive timely care from the most appropriate agency.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 25 July 2023.

Up to £8.3 million of funding has been granted to 55 organisations providing support to victims of abuse, including counselling, training and community outreach.

More victims of crimes including domestic abuse, rape and other sexual offences will benefit from support designed to best meet their individual needs, the government has announced.

Up to £8.3 million will be provided to organisations across England and Wales to fund frontline and specialist support projects for victims and survivors over two years, including counselling, training and community outreach. This is part of the government’s commitment to quadruple funding for victim support services by 2025 compared to 2010.

Many of the organisations being funded are led, designed, and delivered by and for the communities they aim to serve, with organisations providing tailored support to victims such as those from ethnic minority backgrounds, disabled, LGBT and elderly victims. There is also funding for specialist organisations working with male victims specifically.

A £1.2 million training programme has also launched for Independent Sexual Violence and Domestic Abuse Advisors who provide emotional and practical support to victims. The government is funding 1,000 of these posts and the training to make sure these vulnerable victims get better help and stay engaged with the criminal justice system.

Minister for Safeguarding at the Home Office, Sarah Dines said:

I have heard first-hand heart-breaking stories of trauma endured by survivors of abuse and I know how important bespoke support which meets victims’ individual needs and circumstances is.

We are proud that this funding will go to such a diverse range of organisations who really make a difference to the communities they serve.

Minister for Victims at the Ministry of Justice, Ed Argar said:

Victims and survivors have a range of different experiences and needs, so it’s vital we have a broad range of support services in place which can provide bespoke care.

By and for services are a vital part of the support available to victims and survivors of crime, and this additional government investment in these services will have a real impact.

In total, 55 organisations will benefit from the funding, enabling them to continue their vital work with victims of abuse.

Preston based Sahara will receive up to £250,000 in grant funding to provide a bilingual, comprehensive face-to-face support service for women from black and minority ethnic backgrounds who are victims of domestic abuse.

This will include one-to-one counselling, training designed to build confidence and develop self-esteem, and self-help groups where they can meet other women and build support networks.

SignHealth, a deaf health charity which has been granted more than £1.7 million in funding, provides specialist support to deaf survivors of domestic abuse. The funding will help them to deliver accessible educational materials, encouraging them to know their rights and seek support.

The charity will also translate key materials, such as the landmark Domestic Abuse Act 2021, into British Sign Language, and train experts in the deaf sector on issues relating to domestic abuse.

Many organisations have been able to bid as consortium groups, enabling charities with small footprints at the heart of diverse communities to access vital funding.

The Mankind UK consortium, made up of 5 organisations, have been awarded upwards of £500,000 to enable them to deliver specialist counselling for male victims of sexual violence. This aims to help survivors overcome the unique challenges faced by male victims and address and reduce symptoms of trauma and mental health issues.

There is also funding for organisations who tackle specific harms, such as so-called ‘honour-based’ abuse. The Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire is working with Savera UK to increase reporting of what can sometimes be hidden crimes such as forced marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM). This is in addition to enhancing the ability of front-line professionals to identify and support victims of these crimes.

Zafar Coupland, Manager of Sahara Women’s Centre said:

Sahara is very grateful to the Ministry of Justice and Home Office for agreeing fund our Project over the next 2 years. This  will enable us to assist BME women who are the victims of domestic violence in all its forms. The grant will fund a comprehensive support service which will include, advocacy, counselling, confidence building and self-help groups and will be delivered with kindness, dedication and passion so that we make a difference to women whose lives have been blighted by abuse.

Marie Vickers, Head of Domestic Abuse Service at SignHealth said:

Our experience shows that it is essential that deaf survivors of domestic abuse receive local specialist support in their home area in addition to mainstream provision. It is vital that deaf BSL users have the option to communicate in their first language with specialist staff who have lived experience. We are grateful that the Home Office has awarded us this incredible opportunity to create greater impact for the deaf community.

Lucy Hughes, CEO at Mankind UK and 1in6.uk said:

Our sector previously came together to help male survivors online via www.1in6.uk. With this funding, we can take that collaboration further by offering male-centred counselling services across England and Wales and begin to address the geographical inequality in what is on offer for men.

Domestic Abuse Commissioner Nicole Jacobs said:

My office’s report ‘A Patchwork of Provision’ highlighted the significant gaps in provision of specialist ‘by and for’ domestic abuse services which support Black and minoritised, deaf and disabled, and LGBT+ survivors.

This fund will make some progress towards responding to these gaps and I look forward to working with the government on the Victims & Prisoners Bill to close this gap further.

This builds on government victim funding commitments set out in the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy and Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan, including over £10 million awarded under the Children Affected by Domestic Abuse Fund, over £7 million awarded under the What Works to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls Fund and the recent Flexible Fund delivering emergency support to victims of domestic abuse.

As part of the Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan, the government has committed a total of over £230 million from 2022-2025, including the Ministry of Justice quadrupling funding for victim and witness support services by 2024/25.

The new funding is just one part of the extensive work across government to improve outcomes for victims of abuse.

Earlier this month, all 43 police forces across England and Wales, and all rape prosecutors across the country, began implementing a new approach to dealing with rape and other serious sexual offences, ensuring forces conduct thorough investigations which put the focus on the suspect and centre the rights and needs of victims.

Known as Operation Soteria and previously piloted in 19 police forces and 9 Crown Prosecution Areas, the programme brings together police forces with academics, using evidence and new insight to enable forces and prosecutors to transform their response to rape and serious sexual offences.

Total funding amounts allocated through the VAWG Specialist and Support Services Fund

Lead Organisation	Indicative Funding (FY 23-24 and 24-25)	Service Summary
Blackpool Teaching Hospital	£207,562	Ensuring victims of sexual violence who present at hospital and wish to make a disclosure are offered timely and appropriate trauma-informed support. Empowers hospital staff to identify possible victims, building on the success of the Independent Domestic Violence Advisor (IDVA) programme. Also aims to reduce the number of patients presenting to emergency departments repeatedly, as sexual violence is known to be the underlying cause of a significant number of mental health admissions.
Diversity Matters North West	£316,234	Addresses current gaps in domestic abuse support services which make them inaccessible to women from ethnic minority communities. Creates a forum for awareness through community engagements and national campaigns, establishes an advisory group to evaluate service provision.
Greater Manchester Combined Authority	£682,600	Provides a hub for services for ethnic minority women and girls across Greater Manchester, including migrant women with no recourse to public funds. The objective is to provide an all-encompassing hub where women can have their complex needs met by one team, including provision of advice, and access and signposting to specialist services.
Hourglass	£793,230	Strengthens and maintains telephone and text helplines and online services, to support older people and those concerned about domestic abuse of older people. Also enables provision of information and advice around abuse, ensuring people are informed of the indicators of domestic abuse and the support options available. Will also increase casework support and volunteer capacity, including specialist training.
London Community Foundation	£1,200,000	Capacity building for 22 organisations addressing VAWG among ethnic minority communities in London. Provides support to smaller specialist organisations, invests in training and organisational development, improves local network response and invests in partnerships.
Mankind UK	£552,184	Provides victims with access to specialist online male-centred sexual violence counselling. This will improve outcomes for more adult victims of sexual violence, reducing their trauma symptoms (including anxiety, depression and risk of suicide and self harm). Additionally, it will deliver high quality service user-created content and advice through www.1in6.uk and build the capacity of three smaller partner charities.
New Pathways	£298,508	Supporting people from the LGBTQ+ community who have been affected by sexual violence. Effecting changes within sexual violence organisations for LGBTQ+ victims through research informed service design to allow all aspects of client engagement: awareness raising, communications, initial engagement and assessment, service delivery and after-service needs.
Peterborough Women’s Aid	£284,740	Extends specialist services to support victims of VAWG from the Asian community in Peterborough. Increases professional awareness and improved response to this community.
Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire	£321,588	Enables effective support for victims of ‘honour’-based abuse/harmful practices, including forced marriage and female genital mutilation, across Cheshire. Supports expansion of victim support services, increasing the volume of reports made to front-line professionals and enhancing the ability of professionals to identify and provide support to victims, and reducing the scale of offending behaviour through educational and community awareness activity.
Rape Crisis England & Wales	£358,801	Building on Rape Crisis’s National Service Standards model, ensuring that victim-survivor voices are central, relevant services are accountable to victims, and they have access to the services they want and need. Delivers bespoke training across member centres based on emerging trends. Using service design methods to: better understand and map victim-survivors’ help-seeking journeys and needs; co-design/prototype/test potential new services to meet the needs of people on waiting lists.
Refuge	£550,569	Refuge work collaboratively with specialist by-and-for organisations to support them in responding effectively to the risks of technology facilitated abuse through training. The project will also support survivors representing disabled survivors, LGBTQI+ survivors, and those at risk of so-called honour-based violence, to understand how technology facilitated abuse impacts their service users and develop bespoke training.
RSVP (West Midlands) Ltd	£206,368	Delivery of pre-therapy support across the region, licensed to other providers and with training provided to the facilitators. The programme consists of a 5-week closed psycho-educational group, standalone workshops for specific trauma-related issues and individual sessions.
Sahara in Preston	£250,000	Provides a bilingual comprehensive support service to women from ethnic minorities who are the victims of domestic violence in all its forms. The project will provide counselling, advocacy support, confidence building training and facilitated self-help groups.
SignHealth	£1,720,564	Provides online support to Deaf survivors across England and supports education about healthy relationships (via social media and digital content). Also includes translation of new legislation into British Sign Language and supports engagement with professionals to design future services. Will deliver workshops, deaf awareness training for Deaf communities, domestic abuse professionals and other support services.
The Survivors Trust	£150,000	The Survivors Trust work with employers to raise awareness of domestic abuse and train their employees on how to identify domestic abuse, better understand the impact that domestic abuse has on victims and equip their staff with the right tools to respond appropriately, ensuring that victims receive the support they need.
Trevi Women	£378,811	Through existing women’s centres, providing trauma-informed support to women wishing to exit on-street prostitution and survivors of VAWG crimes; reducing the barriers for women seeking to exit sex working and helping ensure long-term support. Aims to reduce the likelihood of clients returning to sex work and reduce the prevalence of harm.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 22 July 2023.

From Monday 24 July, children aged 10 or over will be able to enter the UK using eGates across 15 air and rail ports, helping families travel more easily.

This summer more families arriving into the UK will benefit from quicker entry to the UK using eGates, thanks to an expansion of the service to 10 and 11 year olds.

Following successful trials across major ports including Gatwick, Stansted and Heathrow Airports this spring, from Monday 24 July 2023, more families returning and eligible visitors to the UK over the school summer holiday will now benefit from the use of eGates as a faster way to travel through the UK border, with a recent YouGov poll showing that 42% of the UK public plan to jet abroad over the summer.

With passenger volumes expected to return to 2019 levels this summer – and some ports exceeding those volumes – Border Force expects to see over 34 million air arrivals coming through UK passport control over the coming months.

This new eGate change is expected to benefit thousands of families this summer, with over 400,000 children aged 10 and 11 years old projected to use eGates this year.

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said:

From next week, families with children over the age of 10 will be able to benefit from quicker entry into the UK using eGates.

This national rollout will make travelling easier for passengers and strengthens the security of the UK border.

The UK processes more passengers through eGates than any other country – and today’s announcement ensures we remain at the forefront of technology.

The UK processes more passengers through eGates than any other country in the world and is recognised as a global leader in the use of automation at the border. Alongside increasing eGate capacity, we’re introducing an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme later this year and continuing to expand eVisas which will improve the customer experience at the border.

The national rollout of the expansion of eGates to this age group will come into effect across 15 air and rail ports that currently have 293 eGates.

Border Force continues to work closely with port operators and airlines to make sure all passengers can have a safe and hassle-free journey this summer.

Miguel Leitmann, Vision Box CEO said:

Vision Box is very proud to have supplied the technology that has enabled the UK Home Office and Border Force to lead the market, in what is widely regarded as the global reference for Automated Border Control.

With more passengers using ePassport gates in the UK than in any country in the world, we have been delighted to see the passenger usage rise year-on-year over the last 10 years.

We have worked together with Border Force to facilitate the secure and seamless entry into the UK, reducing queues for more than 70 million passengers per year.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 21 July 2023.

The funding will help protect faith communities from the threat of hate crime and terror attacks.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 18 July 2023.

The government has today (18 July) launched CONTEST 2023, a refreshed approach to the evolving and enduring threat from terrorism.

For more than twenty years, the CONTEST strategy has sought to reduce the threat of terrorism in the UK and to its interests overseas.

CONTEST 2023 sets out the UK’s bolstered approach to a domestic terrorist risk that is once again rising and becoming increasingly less predictable. The updated strategy also addresses a persistent and evolving overseas threat from Islamist groups, and exploitation of technology by terrorists.

CONTEST 2023 will continue to counter the threat at every stage across Prevent, Pursue, Protect, and Prepare – from protecting against and mitigating the impact of terrorist attacks, to stopping people from becoming terrorists by curtailing radicalising influences.

Islamist terrorism is currently the largest terrorist threat faced by the UK in volume making up around three quarters of MI5’s caseload. Extreme right-wing terrorism almost exclusively represents the remaining threat.

Across ideologies, the threat is dominated by individuals or small groups acting outside of organised terrorist groups, making it harder to detect and investigate.

Building upon existing partnerships across government, policing and the intelligence agencies, as well as with the private sector, the public and international partners, CONTEST 2023 sets out a clear vision for an agile, integrated and aligned approach. A collective and coordinated response will ensure we have all levers at our disposal against modern threats.

Together, we are:

• Fully operationalising the Counter Terrorism Operations Centre (CTOC), bringing together teams, data and technology to more efficiently and effectively identify, investigate and disrupt terrorists.
• Delivering William Shawcross’ Independent Review of Prevent and implementing the recommendations to help stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. This includes improvements to our ability to detect and counter radicalising influences which spread extremist ideology.
• Better connecting the counter-terrorism system with expertise in healthcare, education, social services and the criminal justice system, ensuring a broader range of interventions to divert people away from terrorism or mitigate the threat posed by a potential terrorist.
• Acting upon the findings of the Manchester Arena Inquiry to close vulnerabilities in our response to terrorist attacks.
• Implementing Martyn’s Law to ensure better protection for people in public places.
• Tackling terrorist exploitation of the internet through engagement with tech companies and delivering the Online Safety Bill.
• Deepening our international counter-terrorism partnerships, including the US, other Five Eyes members and our European partners, aligning our strategic approaches so that we can maximise the effectiveness of our capabilities and develop new ones to keep our people safe.
• Strengthening our border through the Future Border and Immigration System Programme, making our border a critical line of defence against terrorism.
• Continuing to place victims and survivors at the heart of counter-terrorism policy by fully understanding their lived experiences and by reviewing and reforming the support we give them.

Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, said:

Any death or injury resulting from terrorism is a tragedy, and the impact on survivors, witnesses and wider society is immeasurable.

The terrorism risk we face today is rising and becoming harder to detect. This is why the transformational changes and vital partnerships set out in CONTEST 2023 will modernise our approach and make us all safer.

The safety and security of our people is the leading duty of government; terrorism will not prevail.

Head of Counter Terrorism Policing, Matt Jukes said:

The Counter Terrorism Operations Centre is a clear marker of the continued collective commitment to tackle the enduring terrorist threat.

Our mission to keep the public safe cannot be achieved by one organisation alone and we are pleased that CONTEST underlines the importance of collaboration.

Together with our partners, counter-terrorism policing will always strive to enhance our response, keeping the safety of the public at the very heart of our efforts.

Whilst sustained counter-terrorism pressure from the UK and its allies has suppressed the most serious terrorist threats, Islamist terrorist groups based abroad are persistent and evolving.

Their capabilities remain far below earlier peaks, but there are signs of resurgence by groups such as Daesh and al-Qa’ida, which continue to seek to plan and enable attacks in western countries, including the UK.

Our global relationships provide a foundation which can jointly address the risks we face from international terrorism.

Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, said:

Our approach to countering terrorist threats is having an impact. Alongside our allies, we have suppressed a great number of the most serious threats in the last five years.

We continue to adapt our approach to tackling the evolving and enduring threats.

The UK will continue to work in close collaboration with key allies to tackle these new threats and keep our people safe.

CONTEST 2023 has been developed by the Home Office, working with a range of government departments, police and the intelligence agencies.

Terrorism experts, academics, public organisations, the private sector and the public were consulted to provide insight and challenge, to ensure that CONTEST continues to robustly defend the public from the terrorist threat.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 17 July 2023.

From September 2023 people with pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme will automatically have their status extended by 2 years before it expires if they have not obtained settled status.