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1359768

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2021
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Crime: Cross Border Cooperation
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress has been made with Interpol on the delivery of the Government’s I-LEAP law enforcement alerts platform.
	tabling member constituency	St Helens North
	tabling member printed	Conor McGinn
	uin	57131
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/10/2021 answer text <ol><li>The International Law Enforcement Alert Platform (I-LEAP) is a new single technical mechanism that is being developed to enable UK law enforcement agencies to access, share and take action on alerts related to people, documents and objects with international partners on a reciprocal basis</li></ol><p>The current priority of the I-LEAP programme, which is at an early stage of development, is to further enhance the UK’s connectivity to INTERPOL. We aim to initiate two pilots at the end of this year that will test I-LEAP’s real-time connection to INTERPOL nominals data in a live environment. The gradual rollout of I-LEAP’s INTERPOL capability to UK policing more widely should then commence in 2022.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 20/10/2021 16:54:59 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
	tabling member	4458 label Biography information for Conor McGinn

1698370

	registered interest
	date	25/03/2024
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Shoplifting: Rural Areas
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had recent discussions with the police on taking steps to help tackle shoplifting in rural areas.
	tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
	tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
	uin	20151
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/04/2024 answer text <p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><ul><li></li><li></li><li></li><li></li><li></li></ul><p /><p /><p> </p><p>The Government recognises the significant impact shoplifting has on businesses, communities, and consumers. The Crime Survey for England and Wales shows neighbourhood crime is down 48% compared to findings from the year ending March 2010.</p><p>However, Police Recorded Crime figures show shoplifting offences increased by 32% in the 12 months to September 2023. Statistics also show the number of people charged with shoplifting offences has risen by 34% in the year ending September 2023, showing that police are taking action.</p><p>We have recently taken significant steps to improve the police response to retail crime, including shoplifting.</p><p>In October 2023, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) published the <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.npcc.police.uk%2Fresources%2Fe6e5n-gfsgg-qru39-qjnkc-dbait&amp;data=05%7C02%7CRebecca.Khosla2%40homeoffice.gov.uk%7C2866bb4a3f554fdf3e4208dc014e95e9%7Cf24d93ecb2914192a08af182245945c2%7C0%7C0%7C638386684221640764%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=k3DpuJZSdEOv4zGEcy3P7WC8Cajku%2F9%2BKH6vpSTM2Y4%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Retail Crime Action Plan</a>. Through this Plan, all forces across England and Wales have committed to prioritise police attendance at the scene where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by police personnel. Additionally, where CCTV or other digital images are secured, police will run this through the Police National Database to aid efforts to identify prolific offenders or potentially dangerous individuals.</p><p>This builds on the NPCC commitment that police forces across England and Wales will follow up all crimes where there is actionable evidence and the chance of identifying an offender, including shoplifting.</p><p>October also saw the launch of Pegasus, a unique private-public partnership, which involves retailers providing data, intelligence and evidence to Opal, the national police intelligence unit on organised acquisitive crime, to develop a better strategic picture and help forces crack down on serious offenders.</p><p>The Government’s plan – <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fighting-retail-crime-more-action" target="_blank">&quot;Fighting retail crime: more action&quot;</a> was launched on 10 April, which highlights five areas of work this Government will drive forward to tackle retail crime:</p><ul><li>Introducing a standalone offence for assaults on retail workers;</li><li>Additional electronic monitoring for prolific shoplifters;</li><li>Working with police and businesses to roll out the latest facial recognition to catch these perpetrators;</li><li>Championing good practice to design out crime; and</li><li>Making it easier for retailers to report crime.</li></ul><p>This builds on the police-led Retail Crime Action Plan.</p><p>We are continuing to work closely with retail businesses, security representatives, trade associations and policing through the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG), which meets on a quarterly basis, to ensure the response to retail crime, including shoplifting, is as robust as it can be.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 16/04/2024 15:24:12 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
	tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes

1420805

	registered interest
	date	08/02/2022
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Landlords: Sexual Offences
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she is having with the police on (a) investigating and (b) prosecuting landlords that attempt to offer housing in exchange for sexual relations.
	tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
	tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
	uin	120649
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/02/2022 answer text <p /><p>The Government is clear that exploitation through ‘sex for rent’ has no place in our society. However, there are two existing offences in the Sexual Offences Act 2003 which can, and have, been used to successfully prosecute this practice. The existing offences of causing or inciting prostitution for gain (section 52 of the 2003 Act) and controlling prostitution for gain (section 53 of the 2003 Act). These offences may capture instances of sex for rent, depending on the circumstances of the case.</p><p>We recognise the need to stamp out this abhorrent practice and support those at risk of exploitation. We have already taken action around this:</p><ul><li>to ensure prosecutors are clear on the law, the CPS amended their guidance on ‘Prostitution and Exploitation of Prostitution’ to include specific reference to the potential availability of charges for offences under sections 52 and 53 for ‘sex for rent’ arrangements;</li><li>to better protect tenants from rogue landlords who have been convicted of certain criminal offences, the Government introduced banning orders through the Housing and Planning Act 2016. A banning order prohibits named individuals from engaging in letting and property management work, and we have been clear that both housing associations and local authorities should use these orders if needed; and</li><li>we recognise the importance of ensuring we have the right legislation in place to tackle those seeking to exploit others through this practice, that is why in the VAWG Strategy we committed to working across Government and with partners to better understand the effectiveness of existing offences in tackling this issue and consider whether further reform is needed.</li></ul><p>The Online Safety Bill will include relevant offences relating to the incitement and control of prostitution for gain in the list of ‘priority offences’ which internet companies will need to take proactive steps to tackle. The Bill will capture user-to-user sites, where the majority of ‘sex for rent’ advertising takes place. Furthermore, the Bill places a duty on certain companies to take action in respect to ‘content that is harmful to adults’.</p><p>In parallel, officials are working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing, for example, to ensure there is appropriate guidance for policing on the issue of sex-for-rent.</p> answering member constituency Redditch answering member printed Rachel Maclean question first answered 16/02/2022 12:58:53 answering member 4668 label Biography information for Rachel Maclean
	tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1421270

	registered interest
	date	09/02/2022
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Asylum
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many new asylum applications were submitted by individuals who had previously been refused asylum in the UK in 2021.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North East
	tabling member printed	Anne McLaughlin
	uin	121813
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/02/2022 answer text <p>(121813) Our records indicate that a total of 6,760 Further Submissions in support of fresh applications for asylum were lodged in the United Kingdom in 2021.</p><p>(121814) The five most common nationalities that lodged Further Submissions in support of fresh applications for asylum in the United Kingdom in 2021 were:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Iraq</p></td><td><p>1,179</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Afghanistan</p></td><td><p>921</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Pakistan</p></td><td><p>519</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Iran</p></td><td><p>497</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>China</p></td><td><p>455</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 28/02/2022 16:53:35 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster previous answer version 52076 answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
	tabling member	4437 label Biography information for Anne McLaughlin

1421271

	registered interest
	date	09/02/2022
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Asylum: Nationality
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (a) what the five most common nationalities of asylum applicants making fresh claims to the UK in 2021 were and (b) how many fresh asylum applications were received by the UK from nationals of each of those five countries in 2021.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North East
	tabling member printed	Anne McLaughlin
	uin	121814
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/02/2022 answer text <p>(121813) Our records indicate that a total of 6,760 Further Submissions in support of fresh applications for asylum were lodged in the United Kingdom in 2021.</p><p>(121814) The five most common nationalities that lodged Further Submissions in support of fresh applications for asylum in the United Kingdom in 2021 were:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Iraq</p></td><td><p>1,179</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Afghanistan</p></td><td><p>921</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Pakistan</p></td><td><p>519</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Iran</p></td><td><p>497</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>China</p></td><td><p>455</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 28/02/2022 16:54:18 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
	tabling member	4437 label Biography information for Anne McLaughlin

1505859

	registered interest
	date	07/09/2022
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Asylum and Visas: Applications
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to (a) recruit more staff, (b) increase the responsiveness to MPs written and helpline enquiries and (c) put in place other resources to mitigate delays in processing visa and asylum applications.
	tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
	tabling member printed	Catherine West
	uin	49227
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/09/2022 answer text <p>(a) Staffing levels in the MP Account Management team have increased by 20% over the last 6 months and recruitment is continuing, with additional staff joining over the coming weeks.</p><p> </p><p>(b) A recovery plan is in place which will lead to incremental improvements in service standards over the coming 5 months with a return to 20 day service standard by March 2023.</p><p> </p><p>(c) The Home Office had been prioritising Ukraine Visa Schemes applications in response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Staff from other government departments, including DWP and HMRC, have been surged into the department to help with Ukraine work and enable normal visa routes to return to normal service levels in due course.</p><p>To help reduce the number of outstanding claims for protection we are investing in a programme of transformation and business improvement initiatives that will speed up and simplify our processes, reduce the time people spend in the asylum system and decrease the number of people who are awaiting an interview or decision.</p><p> </p><p>We have extensive ongoing recruitment plans in place and are actively increasing the number of asylum decision makers. Additionally we have career progression options that will aid the retention of staff.</p> answering member constituency Corby answering member printed Tom Pursglove question first answered 22/09/2022 10:45:25 answering member 4369 label Biography information for Tom Pursglove
	tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1536071

	registered interest
	date	25/10/2022
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Home Office: Digital Technology
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what training her Department provides to (a) officials, (b) ministers and (c) secretaries of state on digital security.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow East
	tabling member printed	David Linden
	uin	71241
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/11/2022 answer text <p>(a) The Home Office provides Security and Data Protection training to all its officials every 2 Years and the course duration 1 hour 35 minutes. Officials can access this learning via <a href="https://ehdg.cx.ukg.oraclecloud.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5453" target="_blank">Civil Service Learning (CSL) website</a>.</p><p>The Home Office does not advise on training for (b) ministers and (c) secretaries of state, this is managed by the Cabinet Office.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 02/11/2022 14:31:47 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
	tabling member	4640 label Biography information for David Linden

1683330

	registered interest
	date	18/01/2024
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Crime: Wales
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to increase (a) charge rates and (b) support for victims of crime in (i) Newport West and (ii) Wales.
	tabling member constituency	Newport West
	tabling member printed	Ruth Jones
	uin	10540
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2024 answer text <p>(a) We are working with partners across the CJS to increase the number of cases being charged and prosecuted, and reduce the time taken to reach this point. We are freeing up the police from unnecessary burdens, such as through the Right Care Right Person model for mental health, so they can focus on keeping the public safe, and are investing in technology to speed up police’s work on case files, such as automating redaction. We also welcome the recent commitment from police forces across England and Wales to pursue all leads where there is a reasonable chance it could result in catching a perpetrator and solving a crime (<a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fnews%2Fpolice-pledge-to-pursue-any-reasonable-lead-to-solve-more-crime&amp;data=05%7C02%7CRaveena.Chhokar%40homeoffice.gov.uk%7C621139694aa842afd00108dc1e75bdca%7Cf24d93ecb2914192a08af182245945c2%7C0%7C0%7C638418738366957910%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=WwKKmuMWqLoNLiQyAqQDXwmYBz5xGuUx1K4%2F7FxQYnw%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Police pledge to pursue any reasonable lead to solve more crime - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a>.</p><p>(b) We are supporting the police by providing them with the resources they need. There are over 149,000 officers in England and Wales, which is higher than the previous peak before the Police Uplift Programme, in March 2010. At 30 September 2023, Gwent police had 1,527 officers and all forces in Wales had a total of 8,108 officers.</p><p>(c) Protecting victims and improving their experience and the support they receive is a key priority for the Government. We recognise the importance of victims having access to the support they may need to cope and recover from the impact of crime. The Government is quadrupling funding for victim services by 2024/25, up from £41 million in 2009/10.</p><p>The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) provides all Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in England and Wales with grant funding to commission victim support services for victims of all crime types. PCCs are best placed to understand their local communities and providers, and to commission appropriate support to meet that need. The total allocation for Gwent PCC for 22/23 was £1,306,258.40.</p><p>We have also recommissioned the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund (RASASF), which is providing £26 million between August 2023 and March 2025 to more than 60 specialist sexual violence victim support services across England and Wales.  Further details on the breakdown of funding, including which services are funded in Wales can be found in the <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fpublications%2Frape-and-sexual-abuse-support-fund-2023-to-2025-organisations-awarded-funding%2Forganisations-awarded-funding-from-the-rape-and-sexual-abuse-support-fund-rasasf-august-2023-to-march-2025&amp;data=05%7C02%7CJayne.Baldock%40homeoffice.gov.uk%7C8dc720808e734a691c7008dc18fe7d75%7Cf24d93ecb2914192a08af182245945c2%7C0%7C0%7C638412728508199696%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=MuuFHrt8JxLw3huRO8fkCxOb4%2FZtIol6lMt9Z49Es9k%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">data on organisations awarded funding from the RASASF</a></p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 26/01/2024 14:56:52 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
	tabling member	4716 label Biography information for Ruth Jones

1521469

	registered interest
	date	12/10/2022
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Immigration and Passports: Applications
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what targets her Department has in place for reducing the backlog of applications for (a) Leave and Indefinite Leave to Remain, (b) citizenship and (c) passports.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
	tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
	uin	61909
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/10/2022 answer text <p>(a) We have faced extremely high pressures in the past two 2 years in relation to visa application routes, including leave to remain and indefinite leave to remain. All routes have seen extremely high demand following the end of the pandemic and the easing of travel restrictions. We also prioritised capacity earlier this year to help people forced to flee their homes as a result of President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine get to safety. We have worked hard to reduce processing times and we are now back within service standard across a number of our routes, but we continue to further improve the speed of our decision making by rolling out better, more efficient technology, including digital interviewing and moving away from a paper based system and also recruiting more decision making staff.</p><p>(b) Our website provides up-to-date information on our visa processing times across the routes we offer, and we encourage customers to continue to refer to these updates as our performance changes on a regular basis. At the same time, we continue to prioritise any urgent, compelling, or compassionate case. The most recent published data on citizenship applications (August 2022) shows that of those straightforward applications received, the percentage completed within the Service Standard of six months was 98.4%. The latest information on processing times can be found in the UK Visas and Immigration Transparency Data, available on Gov.uk.</p><p>(c) Between January and August, 95.3% of standard UK applications were processed within the published guidance of ten weeks, and the volume of applications outside of this processing time continues to fall.</p><p> </p><p>Passport demand is highly seasonal. As is always the case in the autumn and winter, His Majesty’s Passport Office is working to reduce its overall work in progress ahead of demand increasing again from January.</p> answering member constituency Corby answering member printed Tom Pursglove question first answered 18/10/2022 12:48:26 answering member 4369 label Biography information for Tom Pursglove
	tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

1457658

	registered interest
	date	14/04/2022
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	UK Visas and Immigration
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to (a) improve advice given by and (b) reduce call waiting times for the UK visa and immigration MP hotline.
	tabling member constituency	Easington
	tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
	uin	153898
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/04/2022 answer text <p>(a)The agents on the MP Helpline receive full training and mentoring to give them the appropriate skills to handle the enquiries received to the helpline. We also conduct quality monitoring of calls and have a robust training and feedback programme.</p><p>(b)Since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis there has been a significant increase in calls to the MP Enquiry Line leading to lengthy wait times for which we apologise.</p><p>To ease pressure on the lines during this period we have requested MP’s Offices only use the line for Ukraine queries or non-Ukraine compassionate/urgent cases.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 26/04/2022 13:57:59 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
	tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris