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1384676

registered interest
date	03/12/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Islamic State: British Nationals Abroad
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many British citizens who travelled to (1) Iraq, or (2) Syria, to join Islamic State have since returned to the UK; how many such individuals are being monitored by the security services; how often are their social media posts monitored; and how many have been prosecuted.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL4668
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/12/2021 answer text <p>Since 2013 over 900 UK-linked individuals of national security concern have travelled to engage with the Syrian conflict, against the advice of the Foreign Office. Of these, approximately 25% have been killed in the conflict and just under half have returned to the UK.</p><p> </p><p>All of those who have returned have been investigated and the majority have been assessed to pose no, or a low, security risk. As of 2018 there had been around 40 convictions of individuals prosecuted following their return from Syria, for a range of offences either connected to their activities overseas or as a result of subsequent Counter-Terrorism investigations.</p><p> </p><p>It would not be appropriate to comment on ongoing operational activity by the Security Service.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 16/12/2021 15:32:46 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1383158

registered interest
date	29/11/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Slavery
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many statements have been made under section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 in each of the last three years; and what percentage of all companies falling within the purview of that section have been identified.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL4448
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/12/2021 answer text <p>Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 established the UK as the first country in the world to require businesses to report annually on steps taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.</p><p>In March 2021, the Government launched the modern slavery statement registry to radically enhance transparency by bringing together modern slavery statements on a single platform. So far, over 6,740 modern slavery statements covering over 22,400 organisations have been submitted to the registry on a voluntary basis.</p><p>In 2019, the Home Office contracted the Business &amp; Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) to undertake an audit of compliance with Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. The high-level findings of this audit were published on 17 September 2020 in the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s annual report (available on gov.uk)</p><p>To improve the quality of reporting and compliance even further, the Government has committed to introduce a package of measures to strengthen section 54. This includes the introduction of financial penalties for non-compliance and a requirement for organisations to publish their statements on the Government’s modern slavery statement registry which will enable Government to monitor and drive compliance with the legislation.</p><p>Businesses’ response so far is demonstrating the registry’s positive impact by providing greater visibility of the steps organisations are taking to prevent modern slavery in their global supply chains and empowering investors, consumers and civil society to scrutinise the action organisations are taking to prevent modern slavery.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 13/12/2021 15:46:04 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1353614

registered interest
date	07/09/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Hikvision
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 1 September (HL2328), (1) whether thy have now met with the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner to discuss the issues raised in the correspondence with Hikvision, (2) if so, what the outcome of that meeting was, and (3) whether they intend to follow the decision of the government of the United States of America in banning Hikvision.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL2472
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/09/2021 answer text <p>I will be meeting with the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner shortly to discuss the issues raised in the correspondence with Hikvision.</p><p>The UK is committed to promoting the ethical development and deployment of technology in the UK and overseas. We are aware of a number of Chinese technology companies linked to violations taking place in Xinjiang, and are monitoring the situation closely.</p><p>On 12 January, the Foreign Secretary announced a series of measures to help ensure UK businesses and the public sector are not complicit in human rights violations or abuses in Xinjiang. These measures, which are being implemented by the UK Government, include a review of export controls; the introduction of financial penalties under the Modern Slavery Act; increasing support for UK government bodies to exclude suppliers complicit in violations or abuses; and strengthening the Overseas Business Risk guidance to highlight that businesses engaged in the fields of surveillance, biometrics, or tracking technology are at heightened risk of complicity in human rights violations in Xinjiang.</p><p>The UK Government has also published guidance to help cutting-edge UK firms negotiate the ethical, legal and commercial questions they may encounter when working with Chinese businesses, supporting safe and appropriate UK-China collaboration in digital and tech. The guidance provides firms with clear, up-to-date information and specialist support which reflect the UK's values and take account of national security concerns.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 21/09/2021 14:56:31 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1351714

registered interest
date	18/08/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Afghanistan: Taliban
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, what steps they intend to take to increase the scrutiny of UK citizens entering and returning from that country via third countries.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL2323
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/09/2021 answer text <p>While it is not possible to reveal the details of security at the border, the government operates robust and extensive checks to protect the UK.</p><p>Where we are aware of individuals that pose a threat to the UK, whether they be UK citizens or not, we can and do take the appropriate action.</p><p>The Government will use all the data and intelligence that is available to them to identify those who may pose a threat to the UK and have travelled indirectly from third countries to conceal their full travel history in order to evade controls.</p><p>We will always take the action necessary to detect those who seek to arrive in the UK without undergoing the vital checks to keep the border secure.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 08/09/2021 11:18:27 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1351719

registered interest
date	18/08/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Hikvision
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take in response to the correspondence between the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner and Hikvision on 16 July and 20 August, regarding the use of that company's technology in Uyghur internment camps in China; and whether they intend to follow the decision of the government of the United States of America in banning Hikvision.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL2328
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/09/2021 answer text <p>I will be meeting with the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner to discuss the issues raised in the correspondence with Hikvision.</p><p>The UK is committed to promoting the ethical development and deployment of technology in the UK and overseas. We are aware of a number of Chinese technology companies linked to violations taking place in Xinjiang, and are monitoring the situation closely.</p><p>On 12 January, the Foreign Secretary announced a series of measures to help ensure UK businesses and the public sector are not complicit in human rights violations or abuses in Xinjiang. These measures, which are being implemented by the UK Government, include a review of export controls; the introduction of financial penalties under the Modern Slavery Act; increasing support for UK government bodies to exclude suppliers complicit in violations or abuses; and strengthening the Overseas Business Risk guidance to highlight that businesses engaged in the fields of surveillance, biometrics, or tracking technology are at heightened risk of complicity in human rights violations in Xinjiang.</p><p>The UK Government has also published guidance to help cutting-edge UK firms negotiate the ethical, legal and commercial questions they may encounter when working with Chinese businesses, supporting safe and appropriate UK-China collaboration in digital and tech. The guidance provides firms with clear, up-to-date information and specialist support which reflect the UK's values and take account of national security concerns.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 01/09/2021 14:53:07 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1347009

registered interest
date	14/07/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Iraq and Syria
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the possibility of enabling people from endangered (1) ethnic, and (2) religious, communities in (a) Iraq, and (b) Syria, to be considered for resettlement in the UK; and how many people in each of these categories have been resettled to the UK in each year since 2014.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL1988
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/07/2021 answer text <p>Refugee resettlement to the UK is based on need, as assessed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) who adhere to humanitarian principles including impartiality, rather than any specific ethnicity or religion.</p><p>Refugee resettlement statistics are published through official statistics at quarterly intervals. These statistics can be broken down by nationality. We do not publish data on ethnicity or religious affiliation. The next set of statistics will be published in August and will include the number of people resettled up to end of June 2021. These are available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release</p><p>As set out in the New Plan for Immigration, the UK will continue to work with the UNHCR to ensure our resettlement schemes are accessible and fair, resettling refugees from countries where the need is greatest, and ensuring those in need of resettlement can access it.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 28/07/2021 14:04:01 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1342621

registered interest
date	30/06/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Maira Shahbaz
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have received about the case of Maria Shahbaz, who was abducted in Pakistan in April 2020; and what steps they intend to take in response to the petition and letter to the Prime Minister asking that she be granted asylum in the UK.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL1590
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/07/2021 answer text <p>The tragic case of Maira Shahbaz has attracted significant interest, including the petition by Christian NGO Aid to the Church in Need.</p><p>The UK Government strongly condemns the forced marriage and forced conversion of women and girls from religious minorities in Pakistan. Our concerns about such cases, as well as Freedom of Religion or Belief, women and girls’ rights and gender equality more broadly, are regularly raised with the Government of Pakistan.</p><p>However, I am not able to provide specific information with regards to Maira Shahbaz’s case as it is a longstanding Government policy not to comment on individual cases. Departing from this policy may put individuals and their family members in danger.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 14/07/2021 13:25:39 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1338345

registered interest
date	21/06/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Foreign Companies: Slavery
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they require foreign direct-to-consumer businesses selling products in the UK to publish a modern slavery statement; if so, whether they have asked Shein to publish such a statement; and what assessment they have made of whether Shein uses cotton sourced from Xinjiang.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL1223
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/07/2021 answer text <p>Under section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, businesses with a turnover of £36 million or more which carry on a business (or part of a business) in the UK, wherever incorporated or formed, are required to publish annual modern slavery statements setting out steps taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. The prevalence of modern slavery and complexity of global supply chains means that it is highly unlikely that any sector or company is immune from the risks of modern slavery. Section 54 therefore does not require organisations to certify that their supply chains are ‘slavery free’ or that the Government verifies the content of modern slavery statements. The Government encourages companies to use their statements to report transparently on how they are identifying and addressing their modern slavery risks and demonstrate progress year on year.</p><p>The Government modern slavery statement registry has been developed to make modern slavery statements available in one place and make it easier for investors, consumers and civil society to scrutinise the action being taken by different organisations and monitor progress. Since launching on 11 March 2021, c.4,000 statements covering over 13,500 organisations have been submitted to the registry on a voluntary basis. In future, it will be mandatory for in scope organisations to submit their statement to the registry, as part of plans to strengthen section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act.</p><p>Following the Transparency in Supply Chains consultation, in September 2020 the Government announced an ambitious package of measures to strengthen section 54, including mandating the specific reporting topics statements must cover and extending the duty to report to large public bodies. Further to this, in January 2021, the Foreign Secretary announced a package of cross-Government policy measures seeking to ensure that UK private and public bodies are not complicit in, nor profiting from, the human rights violations in Xinjiang. This includes introducing financial penalties for non-compliance with section 54 requirements as well as strengthening the Overseas Business Risk guidance, conducting a review of export controls and increasing support for UK government bodies to exclude suppliers complicit in violations or abuses.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 05/07/2021 16:21:42 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1338346

registered interest
date	21/06/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Slavery
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to bring proposed changes to the Modern Slavery Act 2015 before Parliament; whether these proposals will include fines for companies failing to comply with the legislation; how and when they will introduce export controls in order to prevent exports of goods potentially contributing, either directly or indirectly, to alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang; and why they decided not to implement the recommendation of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee to produce a whitelist of companies which evidence actions taken to rid their supply chains of forced labour in Xinjiang and a blacklist of firms which fail to do so.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL1224
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/07/2021 answer text <p>The landmark transparency provisions contained in section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 made the UK the first country in the world to require businesses with a turnover of £36m or more to report annually on the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.</p><p>To enhance the impact of transparency and accelerate action to prevent modern slavery, the Government has committed to strengthening the reporting requirements contained in section 54, including by introducing financial penalties for those that fail to meet their statutory obligation to publish modern slavery statements. These measures require primary legislation and will be introduced when parliamentary time allows. The Government will publish guidance in line with the legislative timescales to help organisations prepare for the new reporting requirements.</p><p>In January 2021, the Foreign Secretary announced a package of cross-Government policy measures seeking to ensure that UK private and public bodies are not complicit in, nor profiting from, the human rights violations in Xinjiang. This included a review of export controls, to ensure we are doing all we can to prevent the export of goods that may contribute to human rights violations in Xinjiang. This review is ongoing and we will report its outcome to Parliament in due course.</p><p>The Government’s reasons for not taking forward the recommendation made by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee were set out in our response to the Committee’s report, available at: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/365/business-energy-and-industrial-strategy-committee/publications.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 05/07/2021 16:30:00 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1337555

registered interest
date	16/06/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Refugees: Resettlement
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the UK Resettlement Scheme since March; how many people have been resettled to the UK since March; from which countries those people originated; and, further to their announcement on 17 June 2019, what progress they have made in introducing the mechanism for emergency resettlement.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL1145
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/06/2021 answer text <p>The UK Resettlement Scheme commenced in February 2021, immediately following the successful completion of the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme through which 20,000 refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria were given sanctuary in the UK. The UK Resettlement Scheme continues to successfully resettle refugees, as local authority and community sponsor capacity allows, and as we recover from the pandemic.</p><p>Statistics under the scheme are published through official statistics at quarterly intervals. The next set of statistics will be published in July and will include the number of people resettled since March. These are available from:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release</a></p><p>The Emergency Resettlement Mechanism is currently in development. It will ensure the resettlement scheme allows refugees at exceptional and immediate risk to be resettled more quickly.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 28/06/2021 10:47:07 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool