Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the potential introduction of a medical marker on GP records for people in possession of a gun certificate.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government received a wide range of views in response to last year’s consultation on firearms licensing. We are carefully considering all the comments received before publishing our response, which will set out what action we intend to take to further strengthen the controls on firearms. I cannot give an exact timescale for publication but I expect this to be shortly.
The Home Office worked with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England to introduce a digital firearms marker, which is placed on GP patient records. The digital marker enables the doctor to advise police if a firearm certificate holder begins to experience a medical condition which could affect their suitability to possess firearms, so that the police can review whether the person remains suitable. The digital marker has been rolled-out to GP practices since May 2023 and the Home Office is working with the DHSC and NHS England to obtain monitoring data about operation of the marker across the country.
His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services currently plans to carry out a thematic inspection of police firearms licensing arrangements in its 2024-25 inspection programme. The Home Office will assist the Inspectorate with any guidance or information it requires ahead of the inspection.
Work is underway with the police on a programme of work to improve reliability of the National Firearms Licensing Management System, including establishing links with the Police National Database.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance his Department has provided to His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services on the performance of firearms licensing divisions within police forces.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government received a wide range of views in response to last year’s consultation on firearms licensing. We are carefully considering all the comments received before publishing our response, which will set out what action we intend to take to further strengthen the controls on firearms. I cannot give an exact timescale for publication but I expect this to be shortly.
The Home Office worked with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England to introduce a digital firearms marker, which is placed on GP patient records. The digital marker enables the doctor to advise police if a firearm certificate holder begins to experience a medical condition which could affect their suitability to possess firearms, so that the police can review whether the person remains suitable. The digital marker has been rolled-out to GP practices since May 2023 and the Home Office is working with the DHSC and NHS England to obtain monitoring data about operation of the marker across the country.
His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services currently plans to carry out a thematic inspection of police firearms licensing arrangements in its 2024-25 inspection programme. The Home Office will assist the Inspectorate with any guidance or information it requires ahead of the inspection.
Work is underway with the police on a programme of work to improve reliability of the National Firearms Licensing Management System, including establishing links with the Police National Database.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what his expected timetable is to publish his Department's response to its consultation on firearms licensing.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government received a wide range of views in response to last year’s consultation on firearms licensing. We are carefully considering all the comments received before publishing our response, which will set out what action we intend to take to further strengthen the controls on firearms. I cannot give an exact timescale for publication but I expect this to be shortly.
The Home Office worked with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England to introduce a digital firearms marker, which is placed on GP patient records. The digital marker enables the doctor to advise police if a firearm certificate holder begins to experience a medical condition which could affect their suitability to possess firearms, so that the police can review whether the person remains suitable. The digital marker has been rolled-out to GP practices since May 2023 and the Home Office is working with the DHSC and NHS England to obtain monitoring data about operation of the marker across the country.
His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services currently plans to carry out a thematic inspection of police firearms licensing arrangements in its 2024-25 inspection programme. The Home Office will assist the Inspectorate with any guidance or information it requires ahead of the inspection.
Work is underway with the police on a programme of work to improve reliability of the National Firearms Licensing Management System, including establishing links with the Police National Database.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
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.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Defending Democracy Taskforce will continue to review the effectiveness of arrangements for protective security of elected representatives.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
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.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
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.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of introducing a new Safety of Women at Night Fund.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The independent evaluation of the Safety of Women at Night (SWaN) Fund, worth £5 million and delivered over the 2021/22 financial year, was published on 10 April.
Learnings from the SWaN Fund were incorporated into rounds Four and Five of the Safer Streets Fund, worth £50m and £35m respectively, which included a primary objective around combatting violence against women and girls in public spaces, and have funded a range of interventions including CCTV, streetlighting and educational initiatives with a focus on changing attitudes and behaviours. Round five is currently ongoing.
Asked by: Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of the Animals in Science Regulation Unit's Annual Report 2022 on 25 April, what assessment they have made of the adequacy of sanctions such as inspector advice and compliance letters in response to animal welfare failings, including animals dying because of a lack of food or water.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office takes non-compliance with the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 very seriously. The Animals in Science Regulation Unit responds to and applies sanctions in cases of non-compliance in accordance with its compliance policy, which aims to reduce the risk of future non-compliance. More rigorous sanctions are used in cases where animal welfare is impacted or there are significant systems failures.
The Animals in Science Regulation Unit will continue to assess the proportionality of its responses to cases of non-compliance.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
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.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
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.
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.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of projected trends in the number of hotels being used as temporary accommodation for asylum seekers between 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office has a statutory obligation to accommodate asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute and accommodation needs are kept under continuous review.
Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation (including in contingency hotels and other contingency accommodation) is published in table Asy_D11 here: Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab). Data is published on a quarterly basis.
Asked by: Baroness Gohir (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
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.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on how people move through the immigration system in the Migrant Journey 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.
The Home Office publishes data on grants of extensions of stay in the UK, in the Immigration system statistics quarterly release.
Table Exe_D02 shows the number of grants of extensions of stay in the UK, by current and previous category of leave, available from Immigration system statistics data tables. 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.
Please note, the published statistics relate to the number of grants, not applications.