Tag: Sarah Champion

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that police forces and local authorities are making use of female genital mutilation protection orders.

Karen Bradley

Female Genital Mutilation Protection Orders (FGMPOs) were fast-tracked for implementation in July 2015, ahead of the school holidays, and are already being used protect girls at risk of FGM.

The Ministry of Justice published guidance on FGM Protection Orders for local authorities in July 2015, and in September 2015, the College of Policing updated its Authorised Professional Practice on FGM to include guidance on FGMPOs.

In addition, the Government will shortly be publishing updated FGM multi-agency guidance, which we are placing on a statutory footing for the first time. This will help increase awareness of FGM and improve compliance with good practice and will include guidance for all professionals on FGMPOs.

We will also continue to work with the police and other agencies to take forward the recommendations in Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary’s report into ‘honour-based’ violence to ensure the police response to victims, including through use of FGMPOs, is as strong as possible.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that when a girl is identified as being at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM), frontline professionals are taking the steps outlined in the multi-agency statutory guidance on FGM.

Karen Bradley

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a crime and it is child abuse. We will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong physical and psychological suffering to women and girls.

The Government is clear that tackling FGM needs a coordinated response from a range of professionals, including teachers, health professionals, social workers and police which is why on 1 April we published updated multi-agency guidance on FGM which we have put on a statutory footing to support compliance. To support professionals to take the steps outlined in the guidance, including receiving adequate training, we have made available free FGM e-learning for all professionals. To date, the course has been completed by over 30,000 people. Our FGM Unit is providing outreach support to local areas and working to raise awareness of resources available to professionals, including training, best practice examples and information on legislation and policy.

In addition, the Department of Health’s £3 million FGM Prevention Programme is focused on improving the response of NHS to FGM, and through its Innovation programme, the Department for Education is funding the Local Government Association and Barnardo’s to develop a centre of excellence and outreach to support local authorities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied children seeking asylum have been referred by her Department to the Refugee Council Children’s Section for advice in the last two years.

James Brokenshire

All unaccompanied asylum seeking children are referred to the Refugee Council’s panel of advisers.

Age-assessments of unaccompanied asylum seeking children are conducted by local authorities. The guidance to local authority practitioners states that most assessments should be completed within 28 days, however the timescale for assessment should be responsive to the needs of the child or young person. The Home Office does not collect statistics on how many and what proportion are carried out within this timescale.

Statistics on the number of age disputes raised and resolved for asylum applicants for each quarter from January 2010 to September 2015 are available on GOV.UK at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/476915/asylum3-q3-2015-tabs.ods

The Home Office does not keep a record of the number of appeals against age assessments conducted by local authorities.

Home Office policy is not to return unaccompanied asylum seeking children whose claim has been refused unless there are safe and adequate reception arrangements in place. Statistics on the number of children removed from the UK in 2014 are available on Gov.UK at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/476919/removals1-q3-2015-tabs.ods

However, these statistics include all nationalities and non-asylum cases.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2016 to Question 26129, in which constituencies the £380,000 that the Government spent on community organisations preventing female genital mutilation and forced marriage in 2014-15 was spent.

Karen Bradley

In 2014/15, the Government provided over £380,000 to community organisations through the Home Office’s Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Community Engagement Initiative and the Department for Communities and Local Government’s FGM and forced marriage prevention projects.

Many of the projects had regional or national remits, or both, meaning it is not possible to breakdown the project spend by constituency. However, areas covered included:

Birmingham

Leeds

Bolton

Liverpool

Bradford

London

Bristol

Milton Keynes

Cambridgeshire

Nottinghamshire

Cardiff

Oxford

Coventry

Portsmouth

Derby

Rotherham

Essex

Solihull

Exeter

Stoke-on-Trent

Gloucester

Surrey

Greater Manchester

Wales

Hertfordshire

Yorkshire

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that all frontline professionals receive adequate training to pursue the steps outlined in multi-agency statutory guidance on female genital mutilation.

Karen Bradley

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a crime and it is child abuse. We will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong physical and psychological suffering to women and girls.

The Government is clear that tackling FGM needs a coordinated response from a range of professionals, including teachers, health professionals, social workers and police which is why on 1 April we published updated multi-agency guidance on FGM which we have put on a statutory footing to support compliance. To support professionals to take the steps outlined in the guidance, including receiving adequate training, we have made available free FGM e-learning for all professionals. To date, the course has been completed by over 30,000 people. Our FGM Unit is providing outreach support to local areas and working to raise awareness of resources available to professionals, including training, best practice examples and information on legislation and policy.

In addition, the Department of Health’s £3 million FGM Prevention Programme is focused on improving the response of NHS to FGM, and through its Innovation programme, the Department for Education is funding the Local Government Association and Barnardo’s to develop a centre of excellence and outreach to support local authorities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children have been age assessed while in detention in each of the last 12 months; and how such assessments were carried out by immigration officers.

James Brokenshire

The number of individuals who have been age assessed while in detention is not held centrally. Age assessments are carried out by the relevant local authority.

Individuals whose age is disputed will only be considered for detention where:

• there is credible and clear documentary evidence that they are 18 years of age or over

• a full "Merton-compliant" age assessment by a local authority has been carried out and is available stating that they are 18 years of age or over

• their physical appearance/demeanour very strongly suggests that they are significantly over 18 years of age and no other credible evidence exists to the contrary.

Otherwise individuals are treated as children until a full age assessment has been conducted by a local authority and all available evidence has been duly considered. This includes victims or potential victims of human trafficking and the Modern Slavery Act 2015 places a presumption about age on a statutory footing when arrangements to assist a potential victim are being carried out.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will take steps to prioritise funding to ensure the continued provision of services by specialist BAME domestic violence charities.

Karen Bradley

We are determined to ensure that all victims of domestic violence, including those from black and minority ethnic communities, have the same opportunities to access the criminal justice system and the appropriate support and services.

The Government has already committed £40 million for domestic abuse services including refugees between 2016 and 2020, provided a £2 million grant to Women’s Aid and SafeLives to support a new domestic abuse early intervention project, protected funding of over £6.4 million to 86 female Rape Support Centres for 2016/17. We have also committed to a further year of funding to support the local provision of 144 Independent Domestic Violence Advisers (IDVAs) and 87 Independent Sexual Violence Advisers for 2016/17.

The Government will shortly publish an updated Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy which will set out how we will work with local areas and specialist charities to support all victims of VAWG, including black and ethnic minority victims.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-06-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that survivors of female genital mutilation are better protected from cervical cancer.

Jane Ellison

The National Health Service will support women who have had female genital mutilation (FGM) and will provide them with appropriate care to ensure that cervical screening can be done as comfortably as possible, as for all women invited for cervical screening. FGM survivors may feel anxious about the procedure, and NHS staff are encouraged to have sensitive conversations with women about their worries.

It is important that all women invited for screening attend appointments. Taking a cervical sample may not always be possible for women with FGM, and in such cases women can be referred to specialist gynaecological services who are trained in treating complications that can be caused by FGM.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of age assessments for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children have been completed within the new timetable for upon local authorities in each month since March 2015.

James Brokenshire

All unaccompanied asylum seeking children are referred to the Refugee Council’s panel of advisers.

Age-assessments of unaccompanied asylum seeking children are conducted by local authorities. The guidance to local authority practitioners states that most assessments should be completed within 28 days, however the timescale for assessment should be responsive to the needs of the child or young person. The Home Office does not collect statistics on how many and what proportion are carried out within this timescale.

Statistics on the number of age disputes raised and resolved for asylum applicants for each quarter from January 2010 to September 2015 are available on GOV.UK at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/476915/asylum3-q3-2015-tabs.ods

The Home Office does not keep a record of the number of appeals against age assessments conducted by local authorities.

Home Office policy is not to return unaccompanied asylum seeking children whose claim has been refused unless there are safe and adequate reception arrangements in place. Statistics on the number of children removed from the UK in 2014 are available on Gov.UK at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/476919/removals1-q3-2015-tabs.ods

However, these statistics include all nationalities and non-asylum cases.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Champion on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance she has issued to local authorities on the provision of specialist BME domestic violence services.

Karen Bradley

We are determined to ensure that all victims of domestic violence, including those from black and minority ethnic communities, have the same opportunities to access the criminal justice system and the appropriate support and services.

The Government has already committed £40 million for domestic abuse services including refugees between 2016 and 2020, provided a £2 million grant to Women’s Aid and SafeLives to support a new domestic abuse early intervention project, protected funding of over £6.4 million to 86 female Rape Support Centres for 2016/17. We have also committed to a further year of funding to support the local provision of 144 Independent Domestic Violence Advisers (IDVAs) and 87 Independent Sexual Violence Advisers for 2016/17.

The Government will shortly publish an updated Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy which will set out how we will work with local areas and specialist charities to support all victims of VAWG, including black and ethnic minority victims.