Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1130948

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Forced Marriage
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department has taken to help people trapped in forced marriages.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
	uin	262233
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>The UK is a world-leader in the fight to stamp out forced marriage, with our dedicated Forced Marriage Unit leading efforts to combat it both at home and abroad</p><p>The Government has significantly strengthened the law on forced marriage. We have introduced a new forced marriage offence, criminalised the breach of Forced Marriage Protection Orders and introduced anonymity for victims</p><p>In November 2018, the Home Secretary launched the Forced Marriage Awareness Campaign, which highlights that forced marriage is a crime and directs victims and concerned parties to contact the Forced Marriage Helpline for support.</p><p>The joint Home Office and Foreign &amp; Commonwealth Office Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) provides support and advice for victims, those at risk, and professionals, through its public helpline. In 2018, the FMU gave advice or support related to a possible forced marriage in 1,764 cases. Since 2012, the FMU has provided support to between approximately 1,200 and 1,400 cases per year. The Home Office does not hold data on the number of people currently living in forced marriages in the UK. Further information on the FMU’s 2018 statistics can be found at the following link: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/804044/Forced_Marriage_Unit_Statistics_2018_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/804044/Forced_Marriage_Unit_Statistics_2018_FINAL.pdf</a></p><p>We recognise that forced marriage can constitute modern slavery, as we examined in the Home Office Typology report, but not in all cases, so we must assess each on a case by case basis. Potential victims can be deceived about the nature of their relationship with the trafficker, not understanding that they would be exploited in the marriage. The exploitation can take place through domestic servitude which occurs alongside domestic abuse and sexual exploitation.</p><p>The Home Office Typology Report can be found here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/652652/typology-modern-slavery-offences-horr93.pdf%20" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/652652/typology-modern-slavery-offences-horr93.pdf </a></p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins grouped question UIN 262231 262232 question first answered 01/07/2019 16:26:14 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
	tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1130947

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Forced Marriage
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people are living in forced marriages in the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
	uin	262232
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>The UK is a world-leader in the fight to stamp out forced marriage, with our dedicated Forced Marriage Unit leading efforts to combat it both at home and abroad</p><p>The Government has significantly strengthened the law on forced marriage. We have introduced a new forced marriage offence, criminalised the breach of Forced Marriage Protection Orders and introduced anonymity for victims</p><p>In November 2018, the Home Secretary launched the Forced Marriage Awareness Campaign, which highlights that forced marriage is a crime and directs victims and concerned parties to contact the Forced Marriage Helpline for support.</p><p>The joint Home Office and Foreign &amp; Commonwealth Office Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) provides support and advice for victims, those at risk, and professionals, through its public helpline. In 2018, the FMU gave advice or support related to a possible forced marriage in 1,764 cases. Since 2012, the FMU has provided support to between approximately 1,200 and 1,400 cases per year. The Home Office does not hold data on the number of people currently living in forced marriages in the UK. Further information on the FMU’s 2018 statistics can be found at the following link: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/804044/Forced_Marriage_Unit_Statistics_2018_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/804044/Forced_Marriage_Unit_Statistics_2018_FINAL.pdf</a></p><p>We recognise that forced marriage can constitute modern slavery, as we examined in the Home Office Typology report, but not in all cases, so we must assess each on a case by case basis. Potential victims can be deceived about the nature of their relationship with the trafficker, not understanding that they would be exploited in the marriage. The exploitation can take place through domestic servitude which occurs alongside domestic abuse and sexual exploitation.</p><p>The Home Office Typology Report can be found here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/652652/typology-modern-slavery-offences-horr93.pdf%20" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/652652/typology-modern-slavery-offences-horr93.pdf </a></p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins grouped question UIN 262231 262233 question first answered 01/07/2019 16:26:14 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
	tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1130946

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Forced Marriage
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of recognising forced marriage as a form of modern day slavery.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
	uin	262231
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>The UK is a world-leader in the fight to stamp out forced marriage, with our dedicated Forced Marriage Unit leading efforts to combat it both at home and abroad</p><p>The Government has significantly strengthened the law on forced marriage. We have introduced a new forced marriage offence, criminalised the breach of Forced Marriage Protection Orders and introduced anonymity for victims</p><p>In November 2018, the Home Secretary launched the Forced Marriage Awareness Campaign, which highlights that forced marriage is a crime and directs victims and concerned parties to contact the Forced Marriage Helpline for support.</p><p>The joint Home Office and Foreign &amp; Commonwealth Office Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) provides support and advice for victims, those at risk, and professionals, through its public helpline. In 2018, the FMU gave advice or support related to a possible forced marriage in 1,764 cases. Since 2012, the FMU has provided support to between approximately 1,200 and 1,400 cases per year. The Home Office does not hold data on the number of people currently living in forced marriages in the UK. Further information on the FMU’s 2018 statistics can be found at the following link: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/804044/Forced_Marriage_Unit_Statistics_2018_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/804044/Forced_Marriage_Unit_Statistics_2018_FINAL.pdf</a></p><p>We recognise that forced marriage can constitute modern slavery, as we examined in the Home Office Typology report, but not in all cases, so we must assess each on a case by case basis. Potential victims can be deceived about the nature of their relationship with the trafficker, not understanding that they would be exploited in the marriage. The exploitation can take place through domestic servitude which occurs alongside domestic abuse and sexual exploitation.</p><p>The Home Office Typology Report can be found here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/652652/typology-modern-slavery-offences-horr93.pdf%20" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/652652/typology-modern-slavery-offences-horr93.pdf </a></p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins grouped question UIN 262232 262233 question first answered 01/07/2019 16:26:14 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
	tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1130833

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Election Offences: Prosecutions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 3 July 2017 (HL3), 15 September 2017 (HL1448), and 13 October 2017 (HL1671), and by Lord Duncan of Springbank on 21 December 2017 (HL3975), 16 March 2018 (HL6045), 20 November 2018 (HL11393 and HL11394), and 17 May (HL15556), what has been the total number of criminal charges for electoral abuse in (1) Northern Ireland, and (2) elsewhere in the UK, since 2010.
	tabling member printed	Lord Maginnis of Drumglass
	uin	HL16200
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2019 answer text <p>The Home Office holds data for the outcomes of crimes recorded by police forces in England and Wales.</p><p>Since 2010 there have been 231 known recorded charges for the Home Office criminal offence codes which cover crimes related to electoral abuse. <br>This does not include offences of tampering with nomination or ballot papers which cannot be separately identified in the data held centrally.</p><p>As policing is a devolved matter, data for Scotland and Northern Ireland are not held by the Home Office.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 24/06/2019 15:10:18 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
	tabling member	648 label Biography information for Lord Maginnis of Drumglass

1130839

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Paedophilia: Social Media
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, or intend to take, to address the number of paedophiles operating on Twitter and other social media platforms.
	tabling member printed	Lord Moonie
	uin	HL16206
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2019 answer text <p>The Government set out plans for tackling online harms and keeping children safe online, including from child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA), in the Online Harms White Paper. The White Paper sets out our plans for world-leading legislation to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online and hold companies to account for tackling a wide range of online harms.</p><p>This includes an overarching statutory duty of care on companies: this will place a legal responsibility on companies in scope to take reasonable steps to keep their users safe and tackle illegal and harmful activity on their services. This will be overseen and enforced by an independent regulator.</p><p>The regulator will issue codes of practice that set out what companies should do to fulfil their new duty of care. Reflecting the threat to national security or the physical safety of children, the regulator will require companies to take particularly robust action to tackle terrorist or CSEA content. The Government will publish interim codes of practice providing guidance about tackling terrorist activity and online CSEA later this year</p><p>In addition, the Home Secretary has been clear with industry that they should be proactive in combatting child sexual exploitation. The Home Secretary set out five key demands of industry at his speech at the NSPCC on 3 September, including stopping online grooming and live-streaming of abuse.</p><p>As part of this commitment to protect children from online harms, in November the Home Secretary co-hosted the Microsoft-led Hackathon in the US, where he met with leading industry stakeholders to identify robust ways to tackle and prevent child sexual abuse on the internet. A prototype tool was developed at the Hackathon that can be used to automatically flag potential conversations taking place between online groomers and children, which will be licensed free of charge to technology companies worldwide. In June the Home Secretary also announced an additional £300,000 to take forward new technological innovations to target livestreaming of child abuse.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 24/06/2019 15:09:47 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
	tabling member	621 label Biography information for Lord Moonie

1130830

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Visas: Africa
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they made of the letter, published in The Observer on 9 June, from 70 senior leaders from universities and research institutes across the UK warning that “visa refusals for African cultural, development and academic leaders ... [are] undermining 'Global Britain’s' reputation as well as efforts to tackle global challenges"; and what steps they intend to take in response.
	tabling member printed	Lord Judd
	uin	HL16197
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2019 answer text <p>All visa applications are considered on their individual merits and on the basis of the evidence available, in line with the immigration rules. We welcome international academics and recognise their contribution to the UK’s world-leading education sector.</p><p>When we are informed of large academic events, UKVI strategic engagement teams can assist event organisers and attendees with the visa application process.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 24/06/2019 15:01:49 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
	tabling member	1660 label Biography information for Lord Judd

1131099

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Financial Services: Fraud
	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 ensure the provision of compensation to victims of financial fraud.
	tabling member constituency	Romford
	tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
	uin	262275
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>The Government recently welcomed publication of the Contingent Reimbursement Model industry code, which came into effect on 28 May. This marks a significant step forward in the fight against Authorised Push Payment (APP) frauds, which involve customers being tricked into sending monies to a fraudster via a Payment Service Provider (PSP).</p><p>The code will ensure all customers transferring money between payment service providers that are signatories to the code will be fully reimbursed if the consumer has done everything they should to prevent the scam occurring. This code will also provide a greater level of protection for customers considered to be vulnerable to this type of fraud.</p> answering member constituency Wyre and Preston North answering member printed Mr Ben Wallace question first answered 18/06/2019 15:42:20 answering member 1539 label Biography information for Mr Ben Wallace
	tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1131117

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Financial Services: Fraud
	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 fraud in the financial sector.
	tabling member constituency	Romford
	tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
	uin	262293
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>Fraud poses a major threat to the UK, with over 3.6 million estimated inci-dents of fraud in 2018. The Government is committed to tackling this crime, but no single body can do this alone. This work demands a truly collaborative approach within both the public and private sector.</p><p>The Joint Fraud Taskforce (JFT) was established in 2016 as a coalition of government, regulators, law enforcement and the private sector to tackle fraud collaboratively. It has delivered initiatives like the Banking Protocol, which is a rapid response scheme between high-street banks and the police to identify frauds in action. This initiative has prevented over £48m from falling into fraudsters’ hands, leading to over 400 arrests.</p><p>Further action is being taken by regulators and industry to increase payments security and reduce fraud. From 14 September of this year, supplementary rules to the second Payment Services Directive - the Strong Customer Au-thentication regulatory technical standards – will apply. Payment service providers (e.g. banks) will be required to apply multi-factor authentication to higher-value and higher-risk electronic transactions, which should reduce incidents of fraud.</p><p>The payments industry is undertaking further work to help prevent Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams from occurring. The Confirmation of Payee (CoP) initiative is the industry agreed way of ensuring that names of recipients are checked before payments are sent and received. Industry are developing the service so that CoP can be implemented by payment providers during 2019.</p> answering member constituency Wyre and Preston North answering member printed Mr Ben Wallace question first answered 18/06/2019 15:40:14 answering member 1539 label Biography information for Mr Ben Wallace
	tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1131101

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Terrorism: Unmanned Air Vehicles
	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 tackle the potential use of drones in terrorist attacks.
	tabling member constituency	Romford
	tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
	uin	262277
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>The Home Office is leading work across government to ensure a robust ap-proach to the illegal misuse of drones.</p><p>This includes developing policy over how counter-measures can be best used to respond to malicious and illegal drone use, and accelerating work with the security community and industry to test and evaluate counter-drone technologies. We are working closely with UK sectors at risk to determine how they can be best protected, reducing the likelihood and impact of malicious incidents.</p><p>To further strengthen our ability to tackle drone misuse, an Unmanned Aircraft Bill is currently being prepared which will give the police enhanced powers to enforce drone-related rules. From 30 November 2019 a registration requirement will also come into force for all operators of drones weighing 250 grams or more, as will a requirement for remote pilots of drones to take a competency test.</p><p>The Department for Transport has also extended the restriction zone around airports where the flying of drones is prohibited. The new zones, which came into force in March this year, cover an airport’s aerodrome traffic zone and 5km extensions from the end of runways. This builds on the government’s changes to the law last year, which made it illegal to fly a drone above 400 feet or within 1 km of an airport.</p> answering member constituency Wyre and Preston North answering member printed Mr Ben Wallace question first answered 18/06/2019 15:36:20 answering member 1539 label Biography information for Mr Ben Wallace
	tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1131056

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Drugs: Organised Crime
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of resources allocated to (a) police services in England and Wales and (b) the National Crime Agency to (i) all investigate active branded county lines and (ii) adopt an investigative focus on identifying and charging individuals involved in conspiracy to commit offences under the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
	tabling member constituency	West Ham
	tabling member printed	Lyn Brown
	uin	262324
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>We are committed to ensuring the police and the National Crime Agency have the resources they need to carry out their vital work. In 2019/20, total police funding will increase by over £1 billion including council tax and the £100 million Serious Violence Fund. We continue to work closely with law enforcement in order to better understand the evolving issue of county lines drug dealing and develop effective responses.</p><p>Through the Serious Violence Strategy published in April 2018, we provided £3.6m to establish the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre, a joint initiative between the National Crime Agency and policing, to enhance the intelligence picture and support cross border efforts to tackle county lines. Since its launch in September 2018, it has carried out three separate weeks of operational intensification leading to over 1600 arrests, over 2100 individuals safeguarded and significant seizures of weapons and drugs.</p><p>The Government made £8.5m of additional funding available from the police transformation fund to support the establishment of the Modern Slavery Police Transformation Unit (MSPTU) in October 2016. The programme supports a bespoke modern slavery intelligence hub, regional analysts and operational coordinators, improved training and dedicated thematic experts to support individual police forces. The Government is continuing to support the programme through an additional £3.1m of funding for the current financial year. During 2019/20 the Programme will aim to support the police services to increase the focus on prevention activity and improving investigations.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 18/06/2019 13:26:19 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
	tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown