Tag: Home Office

The press release issued by the Home Office on 28 November 2022.

The first meeting of the new Defending Democracy Taskforce took place today (Monday 28 November), chaired by the Security Minister Tom Tugendhat. Its primary focus will be to protect the democratic integrity of the UK from threats of foreign interference.

Announced in the House of Commons earlier this month by the Security Minister, the Taskforce will work across government and with Parliament, the UK Intelligence Community, the devolved administrations, local authorities and the private sector on the full range of threats facing our democratic institutions.

These threats include foreign interference in our elections and electoral processes; disinformation; physical and cyber threats to our democratic institutions and those who represent them; foreign interference in public office, political parties and universities; and transnational repression in the UK.

Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said:

State threats are growing and changing. My priority is, and has always been, to defend our country and the freedoms that guarantee our prosperity and sovereignty.

We are bringing together experts from across Government, security and intelligence agencies to defend our democracy and our right to choose our own future.

The National Security Bill, currently on its way to becoming law, will give the UK more tools to tackle these threats. These include a suite of new measures to tackle the full range of modern-day state threats, from sabotage and spying to foreign interference and economic espionage.

The Taskforce will also bring together the many structures both inside and outside of Government which are aimed at protecting UK political parties, elected officials and core electoral infrastructure.

It will seek to build resilience across all levels of the UK’s democratic system, including vital security practice for all elected officials, ensuring that core electoral infrastructure is secure. The Taskforce will seek to do this across all elements of the UK’s democratic system, working closely with the Devolved Administrations and Local Government Authorities.

The work of the Taskforce will report into the National Security Council (NSC). More details will be set out in the update of the Integrated Review.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 25 November 2022.

Millions of pounds are being allocated to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG), the Home Secretary has announced today (25 November).

The press release issued by the Home Office on 21 November 2022.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 16 November 2022.

This is an important stage in the progress of this vital bill, which will keep the people of this nation safe by introducing a full suite of new measures to tackle the full range of modern-day state threats, from sabotage and spying to foreign interference and economic espionage.

For the first time, the bill will make it illegal to be an undeclared spy in the UK.

It will be an offence to improperly interfere with the UK’s democracy and civil society through disinformation or by attacking our electoral processes. Attempting to sabotage our critical national infrastructure – either by damaging a government or military building or by directing a ransomware attack – will also be illegal under the new offences.

Since the bill was introduced to the House of Commons, the government has added a new Foreign Influence Registration scheme (FIRS), which will compel those acting for a foreign power or entity to declare any political influencing activity that they are carrying out – and criminalise those who do not. This will strengthen the resilience of the UK political system against covert foreign influence.

The scheme will also enable the government to specify foreign powers, or entities they control, if they attempt to undermine the UK, its democracy and values. This will mean individuals or companies acting at their behest will be required to register any arrangements or activities with them – and face prosecution if they do not.

Tom Tugendhat, Security Minister, said:

The threat of hostile activity against the UK’s interests from foreign powers is growing. Malign actors are emboldened and their modes are becoming more sophisticated.

Our laws must be updated to give our agencies the tools they need to keep us safe.

Our National Security Bill will enhance our ability to protect our national security, updating our tools, powers and protections to counter those who seek to do us harm.

The bill will ensure our world class security and intelligence agencies and police have the modern tools, powers and protections they need to counter those who threaten our country.

It will also introduce additional powers and measures to tackle the threat from terrorism.  For instance, allowing the courts to withhold payment of civil damages if there is a real risk that money will be used for the purposes of terrorism.

The National Security Bill is vital to deter actions which often take place in the shadows. We must be able to deter, detect and disrupt those state actors who seek to harm the UK by covertly targeting our national interests, sensitive information, trade secrets and democratic way of life.

The bill will progress through further stages as Parliamentary time allows.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 14 November 2022.

Numbers of officers in northern France will increase by 40% over the coming months as a result of UK funding to step up action to reduce illegal small boat crossings, following a new UK and France agreement signed today.

The Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, is in France today (Monday 14 November) to finalise the arrangement with the French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin. The new agreement lays the foundations for deeper UK-French co-operation to tackle illegal migration and marks the next step for the close operational partnership between the 2 countries which has prevented over 30,000 crossings this year.

The arrangement means, for the first time, specialist UK officers will also be embedded with their French counterparts, which will increase information sharing, improve understanding of the threat, and ensure UK expertise is at the heart of efforts to disrupt crossings and clamp down on people smugglers. This more integrated approach will also include strengthened operational co-operation, including joint UK-France analysis teams supporting the co-ordination and exchange of information by French-command HQ.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said:

We must do everything we can to stop people making these dangerous journeys and crack down on the criminal gangs. This is a global challenge requiring global solutions, and it is in the interests of both the UK and French governments to work together to solve this complex problem.

There are no quick fixes, but this new arrangement will mean we can significantly increase the number of French gendarmes patrolling the beaches in northern France and ensure UK and French officers are working hand in hand to stop the people smugglers.

Joint working between UK and French officers so far has secured more than 140 convictions connected to people smuggling since the start of 2020 – and these criminals now face a combined 400 years behind bars.

The UK-France Joint Intelligence Cell, which has so far dismantled 55 organised crime groups and secured over 500 arrests since its inception in 2020, will also be expanded.

This latest multi-year arrangement between France and the UK is worth up to 72.2 million euros in 2022 to 2023. It will strengthen security at ports to help clamp down on illegal entry by funding investment in cutting edge surveillance technology, drones, detection dog teams, CCTV and helicopters to help detect and prevent crossings.

It will also go towards supporting reception and removal centres in France for migrants whose journeys to the UK are prevented, to further deter crossing attempts.

A new taskforce will also be set up, focused on reversing the recent rise in Albanian nationals and organised crime groups exploiting illegal migration routes into Western Europe and the UK.

This enhanced approach will boost joint British and French collaboration, which has already prevented over 30,000 illegal crossing attempts since the start of the year – more than 50% more than at the same stage last year.

The renewed partnership marks the next step in joint efforts to reduce these dangerous crossings and paves the way for deeper co-operation between the 2 countries in future, looking ahead to next year’s UK-France leaders’ summit.

The Home Secretary will travel to Frankfurt later this week, where she will meet her international counterparts from the G7 to discuss a range of priority issues including tackling serious organised crime. She will also meet with neighbouring countries as soon as possible as part of the UK’s ongoing co-operation with European partners to drive progress on the issue of illegal migration.

The UK’s work with international partners is a key part of the government’s wide-ranging approach to fix the broken asylum system, break the business model of people smugglers facilitating these journeys and clamp down on illegal migration.

This includes the measures introduced through the Nationality and Borders Act to prevent abuse of the system, such as introducing life sentences for people smugglers and increasing the maximum penalty for entering the UK illegally, as well as our world leading partnership with Rwanda which will see migrants who make these unnecessary journeys relocated there to have their claims considered and rebuild their lives.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 9 November 2022.

The regular schedule of returns flights is an important strand of the government’s work to keep the public safe and tackle illegal migration, by speeding up the return of foreign criminals and illegal migrants with no right to be in the UK.

Last month’s removals include 22 people who were directly removed to their home country from Manston, the migrant processing centre in Kent.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said:

The number of people reaching the UK illegally in small boats is at an all-time high and is putting our asylum system under intense strain.

By returning hundreds of people coming here illegally and dangerous foreign criminals in this way, we are sending a clear message that those with no right to be in the UK are not welcome here.

I have been clear that I am exploring every avenue at my disposal to accelerate their removal.

A total of 347 people were removed on five charter and multiple scheduled flights last month.

This included 230 foreign national offenders who were convicted of serious crimes including rape, assault, drug offences, possession of an offensive weapon and illegal entry.

The Home Office also returned 117 immigration offenders in October, including two people who arrived via small boats and were removed within 24 days, and another person who was removed within 27 days.

Of the 347 people returned, 118 were to Albania, 39 to Brazil, 38 to Romania, 26 to Poland, 20 to Lithuania, among returns to over 40 other countries.

To date this year, the UK has removed over 10,400 individuals via enforced and voluntary returns, including over 2,500 foreign national offenders. Within that time, the French authorities have prevented over 29,000 crossings and destroyed over 1,000 small boats.

The Home Office has arrested 244 people since the Nationality and Borders Act became law in June. A total of 175 people have been charged, and 94 have received convictions amounting to total combined sentences of 53 years. Of the 244 arrests, 72 have been for facilitation of small boats crossings.

As part of government’s wider work to tackle illegal migration, the Home Office announced on Sunday that it was rolling out a successful pilot which doubled the number of asylum cases progressed per week by streamlining and digitising the system to speed up processes. This resulted in faster decisions, in turn helping to save money, and the pilot will now be rolled out across the UK to help tackle the backlog of people awaiting a decision on their claim.

Figures for recent returns totals are sourced from provisional operational data. Comprehensive statistics on returns are published in the Home Office quarterly immigration statistics and migration transparency data, and the latest available data was published on 25 August.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 3 November 2022.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 3 November 2022.

In line with his 2022-23 inspection plan, the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration has commenced an inspection of the Home Office’s Afghan resettlement schemes

This inspection will examine the effectiveness, efficiency and consistency of the Home Office’s processing of applications to Afghan resettlement schemes.

The Independent Chief Inspector invites anyone with knowledge or experience of applying to the schemes to submit evidence to inform this inspection and welcomes views on what is working well and what could be improved. He would be particularly interested to hear from those with first-hand experience of applying to the schemes.

The ICIBI is trialling a new system which will allow responses to be submitted securely via a simple online form. Please click here to submit your response.

This call for evidence will remain open for three weeks until 27 November 2022.

Please note: The ICIBI’s statutory remit does not extend to investigating or making decisions about individual applications. This remains a Home Office responsibility. However, the Chief Inspector can take an interest in individual cases to the extent that they illustrate or point to systemic problems.

David Neal, Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, November 2022.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 30 October 2022.

The press release issued by the Home Office on 26 October 2022.

Women now make up over 50,000 police officers in forces in England and Wales following the unprecedented drive to hire thousands more recruits.

The figure of 50,364 women in the 43 police forces achieved today means there are now more female police officers pursuing criminals and serving the public than since records began – making up 34.9% of the overall workforce. Of the recruits hired since April 2020, 42.5% (13,326) are women.

The government is on track to deliver its manifesto commitment to recruit 20,000 additional officers by March 2023, with 15,343 extra police now hired – making up 77% of the target.

The new recruits are already having a positive impact in forces across England and Wales. For example, Avon and Somerset Police has put more officers into responding to rape and sexual assault through its Operation Soteria following the Police Uplift Programme and Lancashire Constabulary has expanded its Missing From Home Community Safety Officer team to track down missing children and protect those at risk of exploitation.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said:

As Home Secretary my first priority is to protect the British public from harm and I am absolutely steadfast in my determination to drive down crime.

That’s why I am delighted the government is on track to deliver 20,000 additional police officers by March 2023, with 15,343 already recruited to bring criminals to justice.

This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for forces to become more representative of the communities they serve and I am heartened to see there are now over 50,000 women in forces across England and Wales for the first time.

With the extra officers recruited I want to continue to see forces doubling down on tackling murder, serious violence and neighbourhood crimes which tear communities apart.

National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Workforce Diversity and Representation, Deputy Chief Constable Rachel Kearton, said:

Reaching 50,000 female police officers is a really positive milestone. The uplift programme has seen many more women apply to join policing across a range of roles and responsibilities.

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds – regardless of their age, gender, race, faith or sexual orientation. By increasing diversity we will better represent our communities and those who we police by consent.

We know that more needs to be done to ensure that women see policing as an attractive career and as we continue through the police uplift, we hope this positive increase continues.

A recent Home Office survey showed that job satisfaction was 90% for new recruits who have joined the police as part of the government’s recruitment campaign, 79% of new recruits have had their expectations of joining the police met or exceeded, whilst 81% intend to stay in the police for the rest of their working lives.

Compared to other roles in the public sector, voluntary resignations in policing are low at 2.5%.

Total police funding has increased by up to £1.1 billion this year, providing up to £16.9 billion for the policing system. In addition, every police officer received a £1,900 uplift to their salary this year which equalled up to an 8.8% increase for those on the lower salary bands.

All recruits must meet the standards set by the College of Policing and the government has worked with chief constables and the college to modernise, standardise and increase resilience in the recruitment process to ensure forces are able to hire the additional officers to keep communities safe.

Anyone interested in applying to their local force can search Join the Police to find out more.