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 the removal of the ability of taught masters students to bring dependents on trends in the number of overseas female applicants for graduate visas.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office considers its Public Sector Equality Duty in the development of all policy. An Impact Assessment (IA) was also produced for the student dependant reforms.
In addition, the Migration Advisory Committee are currently undertaking a review of the Graduate route. We will consider any evidence put forward by the MAC very closely.
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 the Ukrainian government has requested that boats used for illegal channel crossings be offered to that country.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The Home Office is not aware of any formal request from the Ukrainian government for these lethally dangerous and unseaworthy craft, though it has repeatedly made clear the unsuitability of these boats to those who have advocated that they be sent to Ukraine.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the press statement by the Prime Minister of 22 April 2024, with which airline commercial charter planes for specific slots to remove people to Rwanda have been booked.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The Department engages with commercial partners where required to deliver on its responsibilities. The details of any such discussions are both operationally and commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department has taken to (a) reduce crime and (b) improve community safety in Birmingham.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is committed to cutting crime, keeping our streets safe, and restoring confidence in the criminal justice system.
Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), as the locally elected and democratically accountable individual, are responsible for the totality of policing in their area. They set local policing and crime objectives in partnership with their communities and key stakeholders and hold the Chief Constable to account for the delivery of efficient and effective policing.
The Government is funding a range of initiatives in Birmingham and the wider West Midlands police force area to reduce crime. Through the Safer Streets Fund, the West Midlands has received just over £3.7m of investment through five rounds of the Fund. As part of the current Round Five, the West Midlands PCC has been allocated £819k to deliver interventions aimed at targeting neighbourhood crime, anti-social behaviour, and violence against women and girls.
To tackle the drivers of serious violence, the Home Office has invested over £20m since 2019 to develop the West Midlands Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), including funding of over £4.38m in 2023/2024. The West Midlands VRU delivers a range of preventative interventions, cognitive behavioural therapy programmes, and sports-based diversionary programmes.
During the Police Uplift, West Midlands recruited 1,376 additional uplift officers against a total three-year allocation of 1,218 officers. As at 30 September 2023, there were 7,982 police officers in West Midlands, a total growth of 1,291 additional officers against the baseline (6,691) at the start of the Police Uplift.
Overall, the West Midlands will receive up to £790.4 million in 2024/2025 from the police funding settlement, an increase of up to £51.1 million when compared to 2023/2024.
Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that there are an adequate number of firefighters with (a) adequate and (b) reliable equipment to tackle fires in cities in England.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is committed to ensuring Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) have the resources they need to do their important work. Overall, Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs) will receive around £2.87 billion in 2024/25. Standalone FRAs will see an increase in core spending power of £95.4m in 2024/25. This is an increase of 5.6 per cent in cash terms compared to 2023/24.
Decisions on how FRSs are run, and how their resources are allocated, including crewing numbers and the procurement of equipment, are for the local Chief Fire Officers and their democratically elected FRA. They are responsible for ensuring the needs and demands of their local community are met and are able to direct their resources where they are needed most.
All FRAs have a statutory duty to produce a Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) in which they set out the key challenges and risks facing their communities and how they intend to meet and reduce them. This is in line with the Fire and Rescue National Framework, which is the document by which the Home Office sets strategic requirements for the FRA.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 November 2023 to Question 359 on Abortion: Demonstrations, what progress his Department has made on implementing safe access zones.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recently ran a public consultation on non-statutory guidance to support the introduction of the offence of interference with access to or provision of abortion services, which closed on 22 January. We are now considering the responses received and will publish the final guidance in due course.
We anticipate commencing Section 9 of the Public Order Act 2023 no later than Spring 2024.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to introduce legislation protecting shopworkers from serial or abusive shoplifters.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government’s plan – "Fighting retail crime: more action" was launched on 10 April, and includes a new standalone offence for assaults on retail workers and electronic monitoring for prolific shoplifters. This builds on the police-led Retail Crime Action Plan, launched in October 2023.
We will legislate through the Criminal Justice Bill, currently before Parliament, to introduce a presumption towards electronic monitoring as part of a sentence served in the community for those who repeatedly steal from shops.
The new bespoke offence of assaulting a retail worker will also be introduced via the Criminal Justice Bill. The offence will have a maximum penalty of six months in prison, or an unlimited fine – and upon conviction, it is expected that courts will make a Criminal Behaviour Order, which could bar offenders from visiting affected shops or premises. Breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order is a criminal offence and carries a five-year maximum prison sentence.
Those who repeatedly assault retail workers will be electronically monitored after their third offence, to crack down on reoffending and ensure those continuing down a path of violent behaviour will be met with further consequences. For the most serious violent offenders of assault, custodial sentences of up to five years in prison are already available.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the (a) coronavirus extension concession and (b) exceptional assurance concession on the average length of decision periods for applications for indefinite leave to remain.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
On 4 April 2024 a change was made to the Immigration Rules to provide that:
(a) Time spent in the UK during the Coronavirus extension concession grace period (1 August and 31 August 2020) would be considered as lawful presence where an applicant’s permission expired immediately before the grace period; and
(b) Overstaying in the UK when a person held an exceptional assurance concession would be disregarded during the period of grant of exceptional assurance.
Following this Immigration Rules change, decisions on applications for settlement where the person spent time in the UK for a period covered by these concessions are now being prioritised.
Where cases fall outside service standards, the Home Office write to the applicant to inform them of this.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he is taking steps to enhance the enforcement capabilities at borders to prevent the smuggling of puppies and kittens into the UK.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Border Force’s number one priority is to keep our borders safe and secure, and we will never compromise on this. Border Force officers work tirelessly, working closely with law enforcement agencies to share intelligence.
Border Force has extensive powers to examine and control traffic for a wide variety of purposes, and through its work at the border is able to examine vehicles and freight and ensure detections of illegal imports are referred to the most relevant authority or enforcement agency for action.
If live animals are detected, Border Force is responsible for the detention of the animals and vehicle, and then referring to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) at the appropriate border control post for further enforcement action.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he is aware of delays in casework decisions where further advice on policy is sought.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Our priority is to consider claims as efficiently and fairly as possible. This is best for claimants, but also reduces the number of people on asylum support, and in turn, the burden on taxpayers. There may be circumstances which may delay the progression of a case, for example waiting for evidence that is of importance in deciding a claim, or a change in country situation requiring an update in country and policy information notes leading to a pause in deciding cases.
In these circumstances, regular reviews are undertaken at appropriate intervals, dependant on the reason why the claim cannot be progressed. As soon as the reason why the claim cannot be progressed is lifted, consideration of the claim is continued.