Asked by: Baroness Afshar (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the response by Baroness Williams of Trafford to Baroness Kennedy of Cradley's oral question on 22 October, what plans they have to establish, as points of contact for minority women who are at risk of exploitation, specific individuals who are familiar with the cultural practices of minority ethnic groups.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The Ministry of Justice provides funding to specialist sexual violence services to support victims to cope and, where possible, recover from the impact of crime. On 18 September, we announced an additional £5m to support victims of sexual violence, which commits £32m over three years.
In addition, local Commissioners (be they Police and Crime Commissioners, Local Authorities or health commissioners) will also seek to provide specialist support to victims in their area. To support this, in December 2016 we published the National Statement of Expectations, which sets out a blueprint for local service provision, including how Commissioners can best respond to the needs of minority or marginalised groups.
In 2016/17 MHCLG also provided £300k to Imkaan to build capacity and strengthen specialist BAME organisations, including through training, quality standard accreditation and access to the tools they need to measure their impact.
On 18th September we appointed Nicole Jacobs as the first Designate Domestic Abuse Commissioner, who will raise awareness of domestic abuse, stand up for victims, and drive up consistency in the response to domestic abuse. The Commissioner is required to appoint a specific thematic lead within her office to consider and address the needs of BAME victims.
We are also exploring ways to improve support for BAME victims as part of our work to tackle racial disparity in the Criminal Justice System.
Asked by: Baroness Afshar (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of current police officers are from BAME backgrounds; and what assessment they have made of how familiar police officers are with the cultural practices of the communities they are policing.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The Home Office collects and publishes information on the ethnicity of police officers on an annual basis in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.
The latest data show that, as at 31 March 2019, there were 8,329 BAME police officers in the 43 forces in England and Wales, representing 6.9% of all officers who stated their ethnicity.
Police professional training standards are set and maintained by the College of Policing which the Government established as the first professional body for the police in 2012.
Asked by: Baroness Afshar (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the costs in each of the last three years of repatriating to the UK British nationals who are convicted of criminal offences overseas; and whether they intend to pay the same costs for British nationals forced into marriage overseas; and if not, why not.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Costs associated with the deportation/return of British citizens to the UK at the end of a criminal sentence abroad are borne by the country seeking to deport/return them.
Victims of forced marriage who are helped to return to the UK by the Forced Marriage Unit will no longer be asked to take out a loan for their repatriation costs. From now on, no one who is assisted by the Forced Marriage Unit - and would previously have been offered a loan - will have to cover the costs of their repatriation. Where possible, the Government will continue to seek to ensure the costs fall on the perpetrators by means of Forced Marriage Protection Orders (FMPOs). The Government has also agreed to ensure that those victims who have outstanding loans will have no further costs fall to them.
Asked by: Baroness Afshar (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether their planned domestic abuse legislation will consider and provide for domestic abuse in communities where men assume that abuse is sanctioned by their faith.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The Government is clear that domestic abuse is a crime irrespective of whether that abuse is claimed to be sanctioned by faith.
We will be publishing a response to our public consultation on domestic abuse, together with a draft Domestic Abuse Bill, later this Parliamentary session.
The draft Bill will clearly define the types of behaviours that comprise domestic abuse be they controlling, coercive, threatening or violent and recognise that abuse can encompass psychological, physical, sexual, economic and emotional harms.
Asked by: Baroness Afshar (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 18 June, whether they will take steps to improve the treatment by immigration officers of British citizens accompanying non-British born spouses entering the UK; and what those measures will be.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Border Force expects high standards of professionalism of its officers in their dealings with all members of the public, regardless of their nationality or status.
Border Force follows strict guidelines with regards to discrimination, and officers undergo intensive training prior to taking up their positions. Border Force does not tolerate any breach of these principles.
Complaints about Border Force and the services it provides are treated seriously and are used as an opportunity to improve services.
Asked by: Baroness Afshar (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the safe and timely return of passports submitted to the Home Office by spouses of British citizens wishing to come to the UK.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Passports submitted by the spouses of British Citizens who are applying to come to the UK are usually held at an UKVI Decision Making Centre pending a decision being made.
The passports are stored securely and returned to customers directly by courier or via a Visa Application Centre at various locations overseas once the consideration process is completed. The transfer and transit of passports between Decision Making Centres and the Visa Applications Centres is closely monitored and records of each shipment move are kept.
There is also the opportunity where UKVI can assess applications from digital images of passports. However, the physical passport is required for UKVI to affix a vignette when a decision is made.
In most locations there is an option for customers to keep their passport until a decision has been made on their application with payment of an additional fee.
Asked by: Baroness Afshar (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
Her Majesty's Government, in the light of the attack outside the Muslim Welfare House, near Finsbury Park mosque, what measures they are taking to prevent further violence in the name of religion.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Violence of any kind is abhorrent and the Government will do what is necessary to ensure the safety of its citizens and protect national security. The Government is taking action against all forms of terrorism and extremism, including the major threat from Islamist violent extremism. Our response includes the Counter Extremism strategy, the new Commission for Countering Extremism, and the hate crime action plan.
We are also reviewing our Counter Terrorism strategy to ensure we have all the powers and measures we need to keep our communities safe. In 2015, the Chancellor announced that cross-government spending on Counter-Terrorism would be increased by 30% - increasing CT spending from the protected £11.7bn over five years to £15.1bn over the same period. We have dedicated funding to help protect places of worship who have been subject or vulnerable to a hate crime.
Asked by: Baroness Afshar (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 27 February (HL Deb, col 575), what measures they have taken to ensure that, at the point of entry into the UK, passport controllers focus on the legitimate passports presented by passengers and do not ascribe an assumed identity to visitors in terms of their dress code, nationality or religion.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Border Force officers undertake mandatory checks on all passengers arriving in the United Kingdom. Checks include conducting an examination of the person’s passport or other documents to establish their right to enter the United Kingdom. Border Force officers receive training and have access to comprehensive guidance to ensure the correct right of entry to the United Kingdom is applied. Border Force also employs a robust assurance programme to ensure passengers are dealt with correctly, consistently and without unlawful discrimination.