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1712621

registered interest
date	22/04/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Drugs: Smuggling
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that online sales representatives, working for illicit Chinese pharmaceutical and chemical companies, are producing and smuggling illegal drugs into the UK, what action they are taking to combat the sale and advertisement of such drugs on the internet, and what response they have received from any representations they have made to the government of China in this regard.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL3982
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2024 answer text <p>Illicit production of synthetic drugs is a growing global concern, and we assess that criminal groups involved in illicit production are present in numerous countries around the world, including China. UK law enforcement agencies regularly engage with counterparts in countries where websites supplying and advertising illicit drugs are hosted. We have provided additional resources to the National Crime Agency (NCA) and Home Office international networks in key source and transit countries to work with other governments to identify and disrupt criminal groups who seek to exploit the UK. We are also working closely with partners to monitor developments in source countries, to assess how changes are likely to affect the drugs threat to the UK.</p><p>With regards to action being taken to combat the sale of illicit drugs on the internet, our Online Safety Act will introduce measures requiring platforms to remove content relating to the sale of illegal drugs online and prevent users from being exposed to it. If they fail to comply, they risk stiff financial penalties or in the most serious cases, having their sites blocked by the independent regulator, Ofcom.</p><p>Additionally, the NCA, along with policing colleagues across the UK target key offenders operating online and work to ensure they have the resources and powers they need to keep our country safe. For example, proposals are being taken forward in the Criminal Justice Bill to create a new power enabling law enforcement to suspend IP addresses and/or domain names being used for criminal purpose, including the sale of illicit drugs. This new power will allow agencies to obtain a court order to formally request action by organisations both domestically and outside of the UK.</p> answering member printed Lord Sharpe of Epsom question first answered 07/05/2024 14:35:25 answering member 4888 label Biography information for Lord Sharpe of Epsom
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1712622

registered interest
date	22/04/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Devon and Cornwall Police: Community Policing
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) police officers, and (2) police community support officers, were employed in neighbourhood policing in Devon & Cornwall Police in each year from 2010 to present.
tabling member printed	Lord Berkeley
uin	HL3983
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2024 answer text <p>The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the function of police workers, as at 31 March each year, in the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin which can be accessed here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales</a>.</p><p>Since 2012, the Home Office has published statistics on the functions of police workers which includes a “neighbourhood policing” function. From 31 March 2015 onwards, the Home Office replaced the ‘old’ functions framework with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s (CIPFA) Police Objective Analysis (POA) framework. The POA framework also includes a “neighbourhood policing” function although the two frameworks are not directly comparable.</p><p>Data on the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) in neighbourhood policing roles, collected under the CIPFA POA framework, in Devon and Cornwall, between 31 March 2015 and 2023, can be found in Tables F1 and F3 of the data tables accompanying each publication. The Home Office do not hold directly comparable data on the number of police officers and PCSOs employed in neighbourhood policing roles for years prior to 2015.</p><p>Table 1 shows the number of FTE police officers and PCSOs employed in neighbourhood policing roles in Devon and Cornwall between the 31 March 2015 and 2023. As at 31 March 2023, there were 264 FTE police officers employed in neighbourhood policing roles in Devon and Cornwall, an increase of 1.6% (4 FTE) compared to March 2015. The number of officers in neighbourhood policing roles had been declining between 2015 and 2018, when it reached a low of 220 FTE, before increasing year on year to levels seen in March 2015. Whilst the number of officers in neighbourhood police officers is similar to 2015, the proportion has decreased by 1.2 percentage points from 8.9% in 2015 to 7.7% in 2023.</p><p>As at 31 March 2023, there were 129 FTE PCSOs employed in neighbourhood policing roles, a decrease of 61.2% (204 FTE) compared to March 2015 when there were 333 FTE PCSOs employed in neighbourhood policing roles. Whilst the number of PCSOs has been declining, the proportion of PCSOs employed in neighbourhood policing roles has remained consistent.</p><p><strong>Table 1: Number and proportion of full-time equivalent police officers and PCSOs employed in neighbourhood policing roles, as at 31 March 2015 to 2023, Devon and Cornwall</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td rowspan="2"><p><strong>As at 31 March</strong></p></td><td colspan="2"><p><strong>Police officers</strong></p></td><td colspan="2"><p><strong>PCSOs</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Number</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Proportion (%)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Proportion (%)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015</p></td><td><p>260</p></td><td><p>8.9</p></td><td><p>333</p></td><td><p>100.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016</p></td><td><p>240</p></td><td><p>8.4</p></td><td><p>339</p></td><td><p>100.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017</p></td><td><p>231</p></td><td><p>8.2</p></td><td><p>300</p></td><td><p>100.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018</p></td><td><p>220</p></td><td><p>7.7</p></td><td><p>245</p></td><td><p>100.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019</p></td><td><p>228</p></td><td><p>7.9</p></td><td><p>203</p></td><td><p>100.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020</p></td><td><p>228</p></td><td><p>7.7</p></td><td><p>189</p></td><td><p>100.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021</p></td><td><p>236</p></td><td><p>8.0</p></td><td><p>164</p></td><td><p>100.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2022</p></td><td><p>253</p></td><td><p>7.9</p></td><td><p>154</p></td><td><p>99.4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2023</p></td><td><p>264</p></td><td><p>7.7</p></td><td><p>129</p></td><td><p>100.0</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong><br> </strong>Some forces are not able to make a clear distinction between certain subfunctions and therefore record the majority of, or all, employees under one function. This is particularly apparent for the ‘Neighbourhood Policing’ (1a) and ‘Incident (Response) Management’ (1b) functions, so the Home Office recommends using the wider function of “Local Policing”. Data for local policing is shown in Table 2 below.</p><p><strong>Table 2: Number and proportion of full-time equivalent police officers and PCSOs employed in local policing roles, as at 31 March 2015 to 2023, Devon and Cornwall</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td rowspan="2"><p><strong>As at 31 March</strong></p></td><td colspan="2"><p><strong>Police officers</strong></p></td><td colspan="2"><p><strong>PCSOs</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Number</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Proportion (%)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Proportion (%)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015</p></td><td><p>1,393</p></td><td><p>47.5</p></td><td><p>333</p></td><td><p>100.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016</p></td><td><p>1,310</p></td><td><p>45.8</p></td><td><p>339</p></td><td><p>100.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017</p></td><td><p>1,259</p></td><td><p>44.9</p></td><td><p>300</p></td><td><p>100.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018</p></td><td><p>1,291</p></td><td><p>45.5</p></td><td><p>245</p></td><td><p>100.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019</p></td><td><p>1,304</p></td><td><p>45.0</p></td><td><p>203</p></td><td><p>100.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020</p></td><td><p>1,416</p></td><td><p>47.6</p></td><td><p>189</p></td><td><p>100.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021</p></td><td><p>1,459</p></td><td><p>49.5</p></td><td><p>164</p></td><td><p>100.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2022</p></td><td><p>1,522</p></td><td><p>47.7</p></td><td><p>154</p></td><td><p>99.4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2023</p></td><td><p>1,679</p></td><td><p>48.8</p></td><td><p>129</p></td><td><p>100.0</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Data for the ‘as at 31 March 2024’ publication will be published in July 2024 as part of the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin.</p> answering member printed Lord Sharpe of Epsom question first answered 07/05/2024 12:45:20 answering member 4888 label Biography information for Lord Sharpe of Epsom
tabling member	3526 label Biography information for Lord Berkeley

1712636

registered interest
date	22/04/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Counter Terrorism Command: Finance
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total allocation of funds to the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command in (1) the current, and (2) previous, financial year; and what proportion of those funds in each period was allocated to the War Crimes Unit.
tabling member printed	Lord Mendelsohn
uin	HL3997
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2024 answer text <p>Budget allocations are set by Counter-Terrorism Policing Headquarters, who work with the Home Office and police forces to advise on funding for the counter-terrorism police network, including for specific units. Breakdowns of allocations to police forces or specific units are not provided publicly for national security reasons.</p> answering member printed Lord Sharpe of Epsom question first answered 07/05/2024 15:13:03 answering member 4888 label Biography information for Lord Sharpe of Epsom
tabling member	4286 label Biography information for Lord Mendelsohn

1712652

registered interest
date	22/04/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Identity Cards
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have given any consideration to the use of ID cards.
tabling member printed	Lord Swire
uin	HL4013
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2024 answer text <p>The Home Office is not considering ID cards at this time.</p> answering member printed Lord Sharpe of Epsom question first answered 07/05/2024 14:21:12 answering member 4888 label Biography information for Lord Sharpe of Epsom
tabling member	1408 label Biography information for Lord Swire

1712657

registered interest
date	22/04/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Youth Mobility Scheme: EU Countries
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, following news that they have rejected an offer by the European Commission for a youth mobility scheme, what factors they considered when deciding to reject the offer.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL4018
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2024 answer text <p>The UK notes the publication by the European Commission on 18 April 2024 setting out a proposal to EU Member States and seeking their agreement to negotiate a UK/EU wide Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS). This is currently a matter for the EU and its Member States and the UK has not been formally approached.</p><p>The UK currently operates 13 successful bilateral YMS schemes with international partners, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand, and continues to believe bilateral schemes with international partners are the most effective and efficient way of facilitating opportunities for young people.</p> answering member printed Lord Sharpe of Epsom question first answered 07/05/2024 13:52:12 answering member 4888 label Biography information for Lord Sharpe of Epsom
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1712661

registered interest
date	22/04/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Immigration Controls: Republic of Ireland
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 is taking to ensure the border between the UK and Republic of Ireland is secure against the passage malign foreign actors.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	22945
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/04/2024 answer text <p>We continue a high level of cooperation on border security with Ireland; working closely together to identify and tackle those who seek to abuse arrangements from entering the Common Travel Area.</p><p>Schedule 3 to the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019 allows a Counter-Terrorism Police Officer to stop, question and, when necessary, detain and search, individuals and goods travelling through UK ports and the “border area” for the purpose of determining whether the person (or the goods) appears to be someone who is, or has been, engaged in hostile activity.</p><p>In Northern Ireland, a place is within the “border area” if it is no more than one mile from the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland or it is the first place at which a train travelling from the Republic of Ireland stops to let passengers off.</p><p>Individuals who seek to abuse the Common Travel Area arrangements are liable to be detained, and if unlawfully entering the UK, removed.</p> answering member constituency Tonbridge and Malling answering member printed Tom Tugendhat question first answered 30/04/2024 14:25:09 answering member 4462 label Biography information for Tom Tugendhat
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1712672

registered interest
date	22/04/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Youth Mobility Scheme: EU Countries
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 publish a response to the proposal of 18 April 2024 by the EU Commission to open negotiations to facilitate youth mobility visas between the EU and the UK.
tabling member constituency	Westmorland and Lonsdale
tabling member printed	Tim Farron
uin	22932
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/04/2024 answer text <p>The UK notes the publication by the European Commission on 18 April 2024 setting out a proposal to EU Member States and seeking their agreement to negotiate a UK/EU wide Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS). This is currently a matter for the EU and its Member States and the UK has not been formally approached.</p> answering member constituency Corby answering member printed Tom Pursglove question first answered 30/04/2024 13:05:55 answering member 4369 label Biography information for Tom Pursglove
tabling member	1591 label Biography information for Tim Farron

1712673

registered interest
date	22/04/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Youth Mobility Scheme: EU Countries
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 22 November 2023 to Question HL130 on Youth Mobility Scheme: EU countries, whether he has had discussions with EU Member state counterparts on establishing bilateral youth mobility schemes.
tabling member constituency	Walthamstow
tabling member printed	Stella Creasy
uin	22938
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2024 answer text <p>The UK remain open to negotiating new bilateral Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) arrangements with other countries and territories, including all EU Member States. However, as each YMS is subject to a bilateral, reciprocal arrangement which also provides benefit to UK nationals, with the details agreed between the relevant parties, we are unable to disclose the status of negotiations as they occur.</p><p>We remain committed to expanding our YMS to more nations, including but not limited to those within the EU. Further details of additional YMS agreements will be announced once they are concluded.</p> answering member constituency Corby answering member printed Tom Pursglove question first answered 25/04/2024 11:07:41 answering member 4369 label Biography information for Tom Pursglove
tabling member	4088 label Biography information for Stella Creasy

1702389

registered interest
date	19/04/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Overseas Students: English Language
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 that universities are following English proficiency requirements for foreign students.
tabling member constituency	Darlington
tabling member printed	Peter Gibson
uin	22818
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/04/2024 answer text <p>UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), as part of their compliance activities, conduct on-site audits of sponsors and check what assessment methods sponsors have used and their relevant evidence. Where there are any compliance breaches, UKVI take compliance action which can include formal action plans or revocation of the sponsor licence. English language assessments are also considered as part of the Basic Compliance Assessment which sponsors are required to pass on an annual basis.</p> answering member constituency Corby answering member printed Tom Pursglove question first answered 26/04/2024 09:13:14 answering member 4369 label Biography information for Tom Pursglove
tabling member	4754 label Biography information for Peter Gibson

1702394

registered interest
date	19/04/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Knives: Amnesties
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 introducing a knife amnesty.
tabling member constituency	East Londonderry
tabling member printed	Mr Gregory Campbell
uin	22701
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>Many police forces provide amnesty bins all year round to provide the public with a facility to safely dispose of unwanted knives and other offensive weapons. It is for Chief Constables, directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and Mayors with PCC functions to make operational decisions including how to allocate resources based on their local knowledge and experience.</p><p>The Government continues to encourage police forces to undertake a series of coordinated national weeks of action to tackle knife crime under Operation Sceptre. The operation includes targeted stop and searches, weapon sweeps of hotspot areas, surrender of knives, including through amnesty bins, test purchases of knives from retailers, and educational events. The latest phase of the operation took place between 13 to 19 November 2023 and saw 12,149 knives surrendered or recovered.</p><p>On 25 January we laid the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) (Amendment, Surrender and Compensation) Order 2024 in Parliament. Subject to parliamentary approval, this will prohibit the manufacture, supply, sale and possession of zombie-style knives and machetes in England and Wales from 24 September 2024. From 26 August 2024 to 23 September 2024 we will be running a surrender and compensation scheme so that those who own zombie-style knives and machetes which will be banned, can surrender them and receive compensation.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 24/04/2024 16:25:18 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	1409 label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell