Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of synthetic opioids; and what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policies of (a) related crises and (b) governmental responses in (i) the USA and (ii) Canada.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Tackling Class A drugs, including synthetic opioids, is a priority for the Government due to the harm caused to users, society and the economy.
We assess that the scale of trafficking of synthetic opioids into the UK remains low, including relative to countries like the USA and Canada where they have caused devastation. Sadly, nitazenes have been linked to more than 100 deaths in the UK during the last year, and we are taking action.
The cross-Government Synthetic Opioids Taskforce is working with partners, such as the NCA, the Department for Health and Social Care and the National Police Chiefs Council to deliver an evidence-based response to the risk posed by synthetic opioids, and to implement effective action to stem the demand and supply of these dangerous substances.
We regularly meet bilaterally with our partners in the USA and Canada to understand the tragic situation in North America and to learn from their responses. We are key members of the US-led Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats, and I recently attended the UN’s Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna to meet with and learn from partners across the world.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of (a) expansion and (b) potential roll-out across the UK of the WEDINOS laboratory drug-testing service.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has not made a formal assessment of the benefits of drug testing services but it recognises the potential harm reduction benefits of them. The Government facilitates drug testing services provided that the possession and supply of controlled drugs are licensed by the Home Office Drugs and Firearms Licensing Unit or, exceptionally, relevant exemptions under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 may apply.
Ministers are clear that drug testing services must not condone drug use and should only be delivered where licensed and operated responsibly, in line with Government policy to ensure that they discourage drug use and signpost potential users to treatment and support.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle the (a) theft of and (b) selling of stolen tools.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Crime Survey for England and Wales data shows that neighbourhood crime is down 48% when comparing findings from the Crime Survey to year ending September 2023 with the year ending March 2010.
The Government is tackling acquisitive crime as a priority and is committed to reducing the ability for criminals to profit from crime, making it less attractive for offenders to commit thefts of goods, including tools. The theft of tools can have a significant impact on victims, particularly those who rely on their tools to earn a living.
The Government supported the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023, which will require certain specified equipment to be marked and registered before it is sold to the first owner. The Home Office consulted on extending the legislation to include tradespeople's power tools to help prevent theft and assist police forces with identifying and proving ownership of stolen property. The Government's response to the consultation will be published shortly.
The Government is working with the police-led National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) and the Combined Industries Theft Solutions to explore ways to prevent the theft of tools from tradespeople's vans. The NBCC and Police Crime Prevention Initiatives (Secured By Design) have also published crime prevention guidance to help tradespeople prevent theft: https://nbcc.police.uk/crime-prevention/crime-prevention-guides and https://www.securedbydesign.com/guidance/crime-prevention-advice/vehicle-crime/vans-tool-theft.
We are also working with partners to make tradespeople's vans more secure. Following engagement with the Home Office and National Vehicle Crime Working Group, Thatcham Research has agreed to add to their New Vehicle Security Assessment (NVSA), locks and alarms on the back of vans (previously NVSA only covers the cab area of vans) and a motion sensor on the load area of the van.
In addition, through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group, a network of vehicle crime specialists has been established, involving every police force in England and Wales, to ensure forces can share information about emerging trends in vehicle crime and better tackle regional issues.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department is taking steps to support (a) businesses and (b) other organisations whose numbers are used by (i) nuisance callers and (ii) criminals in number spoofing scams.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
A central pillar of the Government’s Fraud Strategy is blocking individuals and groups from attempting to impersonate other organisations and institutional bodies. As part of this work, the Government has introduced a new measure to the Criminal Justice Bill to strengthen law enforcement capabilities to tackle scam text messages. The Bill will create a new offence for supplying or possessing “SIM farm” devices (which allow criminals to send scam texts to thousands of individuals and businesses at the same time), without good reason or undertaking adequate due diligence.
In addition, the Government and Industry have signed the Telecommunications Fraud Sector Charter, a voluntary agreement to improve counter-fraud efforts. As a result of the Charter, the sector has introduced firewalls that detect and stop scam texts from reaching customers. Since January 2022, the firewalls have stopped 960 million scam text messages.
Law enforcement are also working tirelessly to tackle criminal number spoofing operations at source. Last year, Operation Elaborate led by the Metropolitan police took down iSpoof, a website that was used to make 10 million spoof calls impersonating individuals and businesses. The international joint action led to 142 arrests and the main administrator of the website was sentenced to 13 years and 4 months of imprisonment.
In April this year, in another successful joint operation codenamed Stargrew, the Met took down LabHost; a major criminal website, which fraudsters used to create over 40,000 fake phishing websites impersonating businesses. So far the operation has led to 37 arrests, and over 25,000 victims in the UK have been contacted.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make it his policy to exempt people who arrived in the UK before 1 January 2024 from the new earnings threshold for skilled worker visa applications.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government position was originally set out on 8 December 2023. Updated details are available here: homeofficemedia.blog.gov.uk/2024/02/01/reducing-net-migration-factsheet-december-2023/.
Those already in the Skilled Worker route before the Immigration Rules changes are exempt from the new median salary levels when they change sponsor, extend, or settle. We would, however, expect their pay to progress at the same rate as resident workers; therefore, they will be subject to the updated 25th percentiles using the latest pay data when they next make an application to change employment, extend their stay, or settle. This is in line with normal practice.
Anyone switching into the Skilled Worker category after 4 April will be subject to the new salary requirement. This includes those in the UK switching from other immigration routes.
Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department is taking steps to support Birmingham City Council’s efforts to tackle street cruising.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The exercise of powers under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 by local authorities is a local matter.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to (a) review and (b) increase the number of staff recruited to his Department's Family and Human Rights Unit in the context of trends in the proportion of people relying on their rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights in applications for family visas.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Yes, we have both recruited new staff and redeployed existing staff to this area of work.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of (a) the increase in (i) visa and (ii) Immigration Health Surcharge fees and (b) the removal of the ability of taught masters students to bring dependants on trends in the level of demand for graduate visas.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office produced Impact Assessments (IA) alongside the visa and Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) fee changes and the package of Student route reforms, including the change to dependant eligibility.
The Migration Advisory Committee are undertaking a review of the Graduate route. We will consider any evidence put forward by the MAC very closely.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Home Office:
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.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
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.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what funding is being made available to Operation Grange into the disappearance of Madeline McCann in the financial year 2024–25; how many police officers are currently involved in the investigation; when the next review of funding will occur; and what are the total costs of the police operation to date.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
For the year 2024-25 the Home Office has agreed to provide up to £192,000 to the Metropolitan Police Service through Special Grant funding for Operation Grange, the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. At 31 March 2024, the total cost of the investigation was £13.2m.
Operation Grange’s Special Grant budget currently funds a team of three police officers and one member of police staff, all of whom operate on a part-time basis.
Special Grant funding is reviewed annually by the Home Office. The Department also liaises regularly with the Operation Grange investigation team to assess progress and challenge the use of funds as necessary.