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1715221

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Shoplifting and Theft
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 made an assessment of the potential merits of scrapping the £200 summary offence rule for shoplifting and theft.
tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
tabling member printed	Stephen Morgan
uin	24524
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2024 answer text <p>Since 2010 our communities are safer, with neighbourhood crimes including burglary, robbery and theft from the person down 48% and overall violent crime down 44%, and with more police officers on the streets than in 2010.</p><p>However, there has been a worrying rise in shoplifting and violence towards retail workers, which we need to address.</p><p>Police Recorded Crime figures show shoplifting offences increased by 37% in the 12 months to December 2023. Although, the number of people charged with shoplifting offences in the same period rose by 46%, showing the police are heeding the message and taking action.</p><p>The Government has taken a number of recent significant steps to reduce and prevent retail crime. Our plan – &quot;Fighting retail crime: more action&quot; was launched on 10 April, which highlights five areas of work this Government will drive forward to tackle retail crime. This will include us introducing a presumption towards electronic monitoring as part of a sentence served in the community for those who repeatedly steal from shops. We will develop a retail theft electronic monitoring (EM) ‘package’, to offer sentencers starting in a pilot area, a clear community sentence pathway for repeat retail theft offenders.</p><p>This builds on the police-led Retail Crime Action Plan, which includes a commitment 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. Figures published by the NPCC show early signs of progress.</p><p>Furthermore, we will bring forward legislative changes to introduce a presumption towards electronic monitoring as part of a sentence served in the community for those who repeatedly steal from shops. This legislative change will provide that on the third sentencing occasion, an offender would be electronically monitored as part of any community sentence or post-release for the duration of any licence period.</p><p>Under section 176 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, low-value shoplifting (value of £200 or less) is a summary offence, unless an adult elects to be tried in the Crown Court. Where a summary offence is committed, the case can be handled as a police-led prosecution.</p><p>Police-led prosecutions were introduced to improve the efficiency of the criminal justice system by allowing for a simpler, more proportionate police-led process in high-volume, low-level, uncontested cases. This route enables cases to be handled more speedily, rather than cases having to go to the CPS and through the Crown Court.</p><p>Repealing this would mean victims of shoplifting have to wait longer for cases to come to court.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp grouped question UIN 24525 question first answered 13/05/2024 16:54:52 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1715223

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Shoplifting: Portsmouth
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 reduce rates of shoplifting in Portsmouth.
tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
tabling member printed	Stephen Morgan
uin	24525
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2024 answer text <p>Since 2010 our communities are safer, with neighbourhood crimes including burglary, robbery and theft from the person down 48% and overall violent crime down 44%, and with more police officers on the streets than in 2010.</p><p>However, there has been a worrying rise in shoplifting and violence towards retail workers, which we need to address.</p><p>Police Recorded Crime figures show shoplifting offences increased by 37% in the 12 months to December 2023. Although, the number of people charged with shoplifting offences in the same period rose by 46%, showing the police are heeding the message and taking action.</p><p>The Government has taken a number of recent significant steps to reduce and prevent retail crime. Our plan – &quot;Fighting retail crime: more action&quot; was launched on 10 April, which highlights five areas of work this Government will drive forward to tackle retail crime. This will include us introducing a presumption towards electronic monitoring as part of a sentence served in the community for those who repeatedly steal from shops. We will develop a retail theft electronic monitoring (EM) ‘package’, to offer sentencers starting in a pilot area, a clear community sentence pathway for repeat retail theft offenders.</p><p>This builds on the police-led Retail Crime Action Plan, which includes a commitment 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. Figures published by the NPCC show early signs of progress.</p><p>Furthermore, we will bring forward legislative changes to introduce a presumption towards electronic monitoring as part of a sentence served in the community for those who repeatedly steal from shops. This legislative change will provide that on the third sentencing occasion, an offender would be electronically monitored as part of any community sentence or post-release for the duration of any licence period.</p><p>Under section 176 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, low-value shoplifting (value of £200 or less) is a summary offence, unless an adult elects to be tried in the Crown Court. Where a summary offence is committed, the case can be handled as a police-led prosecution.</p><p>Police-led prosecutions were introduced to improve the efficiency of the criminal justice system by allowing for a simpler, more proportionate police-led process in high-volume, low-level, uncontested cases. This route enables cases to be handled more speedily, rather than cases having to go to the CPS and through the Crown Court.</p><p>Repealing this would mean victims of shoplifting have to wait longer for cases to come to court.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp grouped question UIN 24524 question first answered 13/05/2024 16:54:52 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1715420

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Councillors: Harassment
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the merits of establishing a specific policing unit to support local councillors who are experiencing threats and intimidation.
tabling member printed	Baroness Eaton
uin	HL4275
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2024 answer text <p>The safety of our elected representatives is essential to the security of our country. All elected representatives should be able to participate fully in our democracy, without fear for their safety and security. Instances of abuse, intimidation and criminal offences are unacceptable, and that is why the Government will take every possible step to safeguard the people, processes, and institutions upon which our democracy relies.</p><p>On 28th February the Prime Minister announced the Government was investing an additional £31 million in funding to protect the democratic process and our elected representatives. Through this funding we are enhancing police capabilities, increasing private sector security provision for those facing a higher risk, and expanding cyber security advice to elected representatives.</p><p>The investment also enables the expansion of the Operation BRIDGER network, which already provides support to MPs, so that all elected representatives and candidates are given a dedicated, police contact to liaise with on security matters, where needed. Through this network elected representatives – including local councillors - will have access to security briefings from their local force.</p><p>The funding is accompanied by a new Defending Democracy Policing Protocol, agreed with police to enhance the safety of elected representatives, and protect the UK’s democratic process from disruption. Further information about the Protocol is available on GOV.UK.</p><p>The Defending Democracy Taskforce will continue to review the effectiveness of arrangements for protective security of elected representatives.</p> answering member printed Lord Sharpe of Epsom question first answered 16/05/2024 16:30:57 answering member 4888 label Biography information for Lord Sharpe of Epsom
tabling member	4184 label Biography information for Baroness Eaton

1715421

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Visas: Married People and Overseas Students
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government how many applications were received for transitioning from a student visa to a spousal visa each year from 2018 to 2022, and what percentage of the applicants were male.
tabling member printed	Baroness Gohir
uin	HL4276
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2024 answer text <p>The Home Office publishes data on how people move through the immigration system in the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/migrant-journey-2022-report/migrant-journey-2022-report" target="_blank"><em>Migrant Journey</em></a> report. The report contains information on the number of people starting a journey each year broken down by immigration route (e.g. study) and how many extend into other categories (e.g. family) at the end of each year, following their initial leave. The latest report covers up to the end of 2022.</p><p>The Home Office publishes data on grants of extensions of stay in the UK, in the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release" target="_blank"><em>Immigration system statistics quarterly</em></a><em> release</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Table Exe_D02 shows the number of grants of extensions of stay in the UK, by current and previous category of leave, available from <em>Immigration system statistics data tables</em>. Data on extensions by previous category is available for main applicants and calendar year 2020 only. This data will be updated for 2021 onwards in future Immigration system statistics publications.</p><p> </p><p>Please note, the published statistics relate to the number of grants, not applications.</p> answering member printed Lord Sharpe of Epsom grouped question UIN HL4277 question first answered 16/05/2024 15:22:05 answering member 4888 label Biography information for Lord Sharpe of Epsom attachment 1 file name extensions-datasets-dec-2023.xlsx title extensions dataset
tabling member	4944 label Biography information for Baroness Gohir

1715422

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Visas: Married People and Overseas Students
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what was the success rate of applications for transitioning from a student visa to a spousal visa each year from 2018 to 2022.
tabling member printed	Baroness Gohir
uin	HL4277
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2024 answer text <p>The Home Office publishes data on how people move through the immigration system in the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/migrant-journey-2022-report/migrant-journey-2022-report" target="_blank"><em>Migrant Journey</em></a> report. The report contains information on the number of people starting a journey each year broken down by immigration route (e.g. study) and how many extend into other categories (e.g. family) at the end of each year, following their initial leave. The latest report covers up to the end of 2022.</p><p>The Home Office publishes data on grants of extensions of stay in the UK, in the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release" target="_blank"><em>Immigration system statistics quarterly</em></a><em> release</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Table Exe_D02 shows the number of grants of extensions of stay in the UK, by current and previous category of leave, available from <em>Immigration system statistics data tables</em>. Data on extensions by previous category is available for main applicants and calendar year 2020 only. This data will be updated for 2021 onwards in future Immigration system statistics publications.</p><p> </p><p>Please note, the published statistics relate to the number of grants, not applications.</p> answering member printed Lord Sharpe of Epsom grouped question UIN HL4276 question first answered 16/05/2024 15:22:05 answering member 4888 label Biography information for Lord Sharpe of Epsom attachment 1 file name extensions-datasets-dec-2023.xlsx title extensions dataset
tabling member	4944 label Biography information for Baroness Gohir

1715423

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Forced Marriage: British Nationality
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government between 2018 and 2022 how many British citizens, if any, have reported being in a forced marriage to individuals in the UK who have students visas.
tabling member printed	Baroness Gohir
uin	HL4278
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2024 answer text <p>Since April 2019, police forces in England and Wales have been required to provide quarterly data returns to the Home Office on so-called ‘honour’-based abuse offences, including forced marriage. The most recent data show 172 forced marriage related offences recorded in the year ending March 2023.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the joint Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth &amp; Development Office Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) also publishes statistics on forced marriage cases reported to the unit. The most recent statistics show the FMU provided support in 280 cases of forced marriage in 2023.</p><p> </p><p>The Home Office does not hold data on forced marriages relating to individuals with student visas.</p> answering member printed Lord Sharpe of Epsom question first answered 16/05/2024 15:22:21 answering member 4888 label Biography information for Lord Sharpe of Epsom
tabling member	4944 label Biography information for Baroness Gohir

1715445

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Rwanda
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government how many full-time equivalent established posts there were in the Civil Service dealing with immigration issues related to the Rwanda scheme at (1) 30 September 2023, (2) 31 December 2023, and (3) 31 March 2024; and how many of these posts were filled on these dates.
tabling member printed	Lord Scriven
uin	HL4306
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2024 answer text <p>The Home Office publishes its accounts each year which sets out the FTE working in each of its systems, including on matters relating to Migration and Borders.</p> answering member printed Lord Sharpe of Epsom question first answered 16/05/2024 16:31:34 answering member 4888 label Biography information for Lord Sharpe of Epsom
tabling member	4333 label Biography information for Lord Scriven

1715447

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Republic of Ireland
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Ireland concerning asylum seekers returning from that country to the UK; and what impact this has on the Common Travel Area agreement.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL4308
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2024 answer text <p>There is a high level of cooperation on migration and border security between the UK and Irish Government. The Home Office regularly discuss asylum trends and work to respond to these trends with our counterparts in the Department of Justice in order to protect the Common Travel Area.</p><p>In 2020, we agreed non-legally binding operational arrangements which allow for the return and readmission of asylum seekers where this is agreed by both participants.</p> answering member printed Lord Sharpe of Epsom question first answered 16/05/2024 16:38:57 answering member 4888 label Biography information for Lord Sharpe of Epsom
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1715450

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Republic of Ireland
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have received any formal request or demand from the government of Ireland to send any asylum applicants back to the UK from the Republic of Ireland.
tabling member printed	Lord Weir of Ballyholme
uin	HL4311
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2024 answer text <p>The Home Office has a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Irish Department of Justice for information sharing to preserve and enhance the operation of the Common Travel Area. This enables data sharing about asylum seekers.</p><p>In addition to this, in 2020 we agreed operational arrangements which allow for the return and readmission of asylum seekers where this is agreed by both participants. This is not a legally binding agreement and Ireland has not returned anyone to the UK under these arrangements.</p> answering member printed Lord Sharpe of Epsom question first answered 16/05/2024 15:20:52 answering member 4888 label Biography information for Lord Sharpe of Epsom
tabling member	4970 label Biography information for Lord Weir of Ballyholme

1715451

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: EU Countries
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum applicants have been returned to the UK from the EU in the last 12 months.
tabling member printed	Lord Weir of Ballyholme
uin	HL4312
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2024 answer text <p>There have been no returns from the EU to the UK.</p> answering member printed Lord Sharpe of Epsom question first answered 16/05/2024 13:57:50 answering member 4888 label Biography information for Lord Sharpe of Epsom
tabling member	4970 label Biography information for Lord Weir of Ballyholme