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1241155

registered interest
date	07/10/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	UK Border Force: Correspondence
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's policy is on what mail is opened by Border Force.
tabling member constituency	Oxford West and Abingdon
tabling member printed	Layla Moran
uin	100529
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/10/2020 answer text <p>Border Force routinely carries out risk based inspections of post and parcels imported into the UK. The purpose of this is to both deter and prevent the entry of goods that would harm the national interest and the safety of its citizens.</p><p>Section 159 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 as amended by regulation 7 of the Postal Packets (Revenue and Customs) Regulations 2011 provides the power for designated Customs officials to inspect, and open, any postal packet for the purpose of examining anything that designated Customs officials suspect it may contain, for example, goods which may not have duty paid or are prohibited or restricted. The interception of postal communications for investigatory purposes is not undertaken by Border Force, and can only be authorised for a competent authority by a warrant under Part 2 of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 16/10/2020 09:28:34 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4656 label Biography information for Layla Moran

1241197

registered interest
date	07/10/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Members: Correspondence
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when UKVI plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Warley of 10 August 2020 regarding Mrs Isik.
tabling member constituency	Warley
tabling member printed	John Spellar
uin	100284
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/10/2020 answer text <p>I apologise for the delay in responding to the Rt Hon. Member’s correspondence.</p><p>A response was sent on 14 October.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 16/10/2020 09:24:52 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	318 label Biography information for John Spellar

1240695

registered interest
date	06/10/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to commence covid-secure face-to-face substantive asylum interviews.
tabling member constituency	Hove
tabling member printed	Peter Kyle
uin	99677
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/10/2020 answer text <p>The Home Office takes the wellbeing of asylum seekers extremely seriously and has put in place a range of measures to support asylum seekers affected by the covid-19 outbreak.</p><p>Asylum Operations have been clear it would not restart substantive asylum interviews until it was safe to do so. We are now able to ensure safe social distancing of our staff and customers and restarted remote video interviewing for adults from 17th July 2020.</p><p>On 21st September 2020, we recommenced with face to face substantive interviews for adults. On the same date, we also commenced remote video interviewing for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC).</p><p>We are focused on increasing the number of interviews at pace and working towards returning back to pre-COVID-19 levels as soon as we are able.</p><p>Information on video conference interviews with UASCS is not routinely published.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp grouped question UIN 99678 question first answered 19/10/2020 16:10:31 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4505 label Biography information for Peter Kyle

1240819

registered interest
date	06/10/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many video conference interviews her Department has conducted with unaccompanied asylum seeking children since August 2020.
tabling member constituency	Hove
tabling member printed	Peter Kyle
uin	99678
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/10/2020 answer text <p>The Home Office takes the wellbeing of asylum seekers extremely seriously and has put in place a range of measures to support asylum seekers affected by the covid-19 outbreak.</p><p>Asylum Operations have been clear it would not restart substantive asylum interviews until it was safe to do so. We are now able to ensure safe social distancing of our staff and customers and restarted remote video interviewing for adults from 17th July 2020.</p><p>On 21st September 2020, we recommenced with face to face substantive interviews for adults. On the same date, we also commenced remote video interviewing for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC).</p><p>We are focused on increasing the number of interviews at pace and working towards returning back to pre-COVID-19 levels as soon as we are able.</p><p>Information on video conference interviews with UASCS is not routinely published.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp grouped question UIN 99677 question first answered 19/10/2020 16:10:31 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4505 label Biography information for Peter Kyle

1240849

registered interest
date	06/10/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Police: ICT
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which senior police officer is responsible for the police’s national strategy for digital Intelligence and investigations including online abuse.
tabling member constituency	Basingstoke
tabling member printed	Mrs Maria Miller
uin	99541
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/10/2020 answer text <p>Commissioner Ian Dyson, City of London Police and Chair of IMORCC (Information Management &amp; Operational Requirements Coordination Committee), is the senior police officer who led on the development of the National Policing Digital Strategy (Digital, Data and Technology Strategy 2020-2030).</p><p>One key ambition of the Strategy is investment to ensure policing, from leadership through to the front line, are equipped with the right digital knowledge, skills and tools to deal with increasingly complex crimes. A further ambition of the Strategy is to harness the power of digital technologies and behaviours to identify the risk of harm and protect the vulnerable in both the physical and the digital world.</p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse question first answered 16/10/2020 13:29:18 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
tabling member	1480 label Biography information for Dame Maria Miller

1240929

registered interest
date	06/10/2020
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	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many resettlement decisions were outstanding in the latest period for which figures are available; and what recent estimate she has made of the average waiting time for resettlement decisions.
tabling member constituency	Bermondsey and Old Southwark
tabling member printed	Neil Coyle
uin	99627
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/10/2020 answer text <p>The Home Office is committed to publishing data in an orderly way as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. However, the Home Office does not publish the data that is being requested.</p><p> </p><p>Due to coronavirus (COVID-19) related restrictions and pressures, both overseas and in the UK, it is not currently possible to undertake any refugee resettlement activity. This has inevitably impacted both the processing of refugees through the system and their resettlement to the UK. However, refugees who have been accepted for resettlement remain eligible and we are working with our international partners to ensure they are able to access any additional support they may need during the pause. We will resume resettlement arrivals to the UK as soon as safe to do so.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 19/10/2020 15:16:33 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4368 label Biography information for Neil Coyle

1240970

registered interest
date	06/10/2020
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, further to the remarks by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 5 October (HL Deb, col 407), what criteria are being used by Public Health England to assess when it will be safe to restart refugee resettlement.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL8794
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/10/2020 answer text <p>Due to coronavirus (COVID-19) related restrictions and pressures, both overseas and in the UK, it is not currently possible to undertake any refugee resettlement activity. We continue to evaluate how to respond given these restrictions and pressures, but we expect to resume refugee resettlement activity when safe to do so.</p><p>We are continuing to engage with international and domestic partners on plans to restart arrivals, including Public Health England who, in turn, are engaged with other Public Health bodies, both in the UK and in other countries.</p><p>To clarify, guidance from PHE is just one of the factors our plans to restart resettlement arrivals are dependent on. Other factors include the lifting of restrictions imposed by the governments of host refugee countries, local authority and central government capacity, and recovery of the asylum system from the impact of COVID-19.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford grouped question UIN HL8796 question first answered 20/10/2020 15:13:52 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1240972

registered interest
date	06/10/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Refugees: Coronavirus
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 5 October (HL Deb, col 407), what discussions Public Health England has had with comparable public health bodies in other countries which have restarted refugee resettlement about how they assessed the public health implications of doing so in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL8796
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/10/2020 answer text <p>Due to coronavirus (COVID-19) related restrictions and pressures, both overseas and in the UK, it is not currently possible to undertake any refugee resettlement activity. We continue to evaluate how to respond given these restrictions and pressures, but we expect to resume refugee resettlement activity when safe to do so.</p><p>We are continuing to engage with international and domestic partners on plans to restart arrivals, including Public Health England who, in turn, are engaged with other Public Health bodies, both in the UK and in other countries.</p><p>To clarify, guidance from PHE is just one of the factors our plans to restart resettlement arrivals are dependent on. Other factors include the lifting of restrictions imposed by the governments of host refugee countries, local authority and central government capacity, and recovery of the asylum system from the impact of COVID-19.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford grouped question UIN HL8794 question first answered 20/10/2020 15:13:52 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1240982

registered interest
date	06/10/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Crime: Borders
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 steps being taken to address cross-border crime involving (1) people, and (2) fuel smuggling, between the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
tabling member printed	Lord Hay of Ballyore
uin	HL8811
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/10/2020 answer text <p>The UK’s approach to the Common Travel Area (CTA) is that there are no routine immigration controls on journeys to the UK from Ireland and the Crown Dependencies. Both the UK and Irish Governments are committed to taking all necessary measures to continue to protect this joint agreement and secure the CTA.</p><p>The Home Office, Ireland’s Garda National Immigration Bureau and Border Management Unit, the Police Service of Northern Ireland and other police forces work together to tackle abuse of the Common Travel Area by conducting intelligence-led checks and enforcement operations.</p><p>Our priority will always be to keep the British public safe and we are determined to remove foreign criminals from the UK wherever it is legal and practical to do so.</p><p>The Government remains committed to tackling all forms of tax evasion and avoidance. The estimated tax gap for diesel in Northern Ireland remains at 6% maintaining an all-time low.</p><p>Extensive multi-agency, cross border cooperation is a key element of the operational response to fuel fraud. HMRC chairs a multi-agency cross border Smuggling Group, a sub-group of the NI Organised Crime Task Force. The group shares intelligence and information, and coordinates targeted joint operations to tackle criminals who deal in illicit fuel and cheat the exchequers in the UK and Ireland.</p><p>HMRC has maintained its capacity for fuel testing and investigation of fuel fraud in NI. HMRC activity focuses on detecting and deterring outlets facilitating the supply of illicit fuel, with special units performing risk-based interventions throughout the fuel supply chain; at fuel retailers, wholesalers, and at “huckster” sites.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 20/10/2020 16:49:24 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	4352 label Biography information for Lord Hay of Ballyore

1240162

registered interest
date	05/10/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Offences against Children: Internet
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to enact new laws designed to protect children who are at risk of sex abuse online.
tabling member printed	Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown
uin	HL8740
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/10/2020 answer text <p>Nothing is more important than the safety of our children. The UK Government is committed to stamping out all forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse and continuing to be a global leader in tackling child sexual exploitation and abuse.</p><p>Last year we announced an additional £30 million to safeguard children from child sexual exploitation and abuse, both at home and online. This includes £9.86 million to the National Crime Agency (NCA) to improve its ability to tackle perpetrators seeking to offend against children via the Dark Web and £3.36 million to further improve our understanding and tackle all aspects of the threat.</p><p>Recognising the unprecedented challenge posed by the impact of COVID-19 and restrictions to prevent its spread, the Prime Minister hosted a cross-Government Hidden Harms Virtual Summit, to bring together key decisions makers and agree actions to combat hidden crimes, including child sexual abuse. We have also worked across government, with law enforcement and the third sector to provide information and advice about child sexual exploitation and abuse to schools, parents, carers and children and to ensure that victims and survivors continue to have access to the greatest possible support.</p><p>For example through the NCA’s #OnlineSafetyAtHome campaign and their ThinkUKnow resources, as well as published guidance on GOV.UK. We have also galvanised industry and international partners to raise awareness of online safety in response to COVID-19 and formally launched the Voluntary Principles to Counter Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse.</p><p>In the Queen’s Speech in December 2019, the Government committed to develop legislation to improve internet safety for all. This will build on the proposals in the Online Harms White Paper, published in April 2019 which set out our plans for world-leading legislation to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online.</p><p>We intend to establish in law a new duty of care on companies towards their users, overseen by an independent regulator. The duty of care will require companies to put in place appropriate systems to deal with harmful content on their services and keep users safe. Companies will be required to take particularly robust action on tackling online child sexual exploitation and abuse.</p><p>On 12 February the Government published an initial response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation. We are working on a full Government response, which will be published shortly. This will be released alongside an interim code of practice to tackle online child sexual exploitation and abuse. This code will set out steps that companies can take to tackle online child sexual exploitation and abuse on a voluntary basis, ahead of any regulatory system introduced following the proposals in the Online Harms White Paper.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 19/10/2020 14:24:05 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	655 label Biography information for Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown