Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 1 July (HC Deb, col 329) that holders of a British National (Overseas) passport resident in Hong Kong are to be offered the chance to settle in the UK and apply for citizenship, whether that provision extends to Hong Kong Military Service Corps veterans and their families.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Following the imposition by the Chinese Government of a national security law on Hong Kong that restricts the rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong in breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the UK Government has confirmed new immigration arrangements will be put in place for British Nationals (Overseas).
As announced by the Foreign Secretary on 1 July, a new bespoke immigration route will allow BN(O)s to apply to come to the UK without the current 6 month limit, granting them 5 years limited leave to remain, with the ability to live and work in the UK, after which they may apply for settled status and a year later citizenship. This is a special bespoke set of arrangements, developed for the unique circumstances we face and in light of our historic commitment to BN(O)s in Hong Kong.
Further details of the new immigration route will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 14 May 2019 (HL Deb, col 90GC), what steps they have taken to ensure better data on the scale of child sexual abuse; and what progress they have made in establishing a national prevalence survey on child sexual abuse.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office collects and publishes data on crimes recorded by the police, including crimes related to child sexual abuse. These are published quarterly in the Office for National Statistics bulletin “Crime in England and Wales”. The latest data are available here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingdecember2019
The ONS have recently published additional statistics and commentary on child sex abuse. There are available here https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/childsexualabuseinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2019. The most recent Crime Survey for England and Wales estimates that in the year ending March 2019, approximately 3.1 million adults aged 18 to 74 years experienced child sexual abuse before the age of 16 years. This is equivalent to 7.5% of the population aged 18 to 74 years.
The ONS is currently carrying out a feasibility study to determine whether a new survey could effectively measure the current scale and nature of child abuse and neglect, including child sexual abuse. Findings from the first stage of the research are due to be published later in 2020.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 4 April (HL14728), what were the findings of their investigation into reports which indicated that some asylum decisions were not drafted in accordance with Home Office policy guidance on how asylum decision-makers are expected to approach religious-based claims.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
After reports indicated that an asylum decision was not drafted in accordance with Home Office policy guidance, Asylum Operations conducted an investigation into this matter. A small number of religious conversion cases were sampled and no further cases were identified during this sampling exercise.
All such decisions are currently subject to further scrutiny, pending the roll out of additional specialist training, which has been developed in collaboration with the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for International Freedom of Religion or Belief.
The Asylum Learning and Development Team started to deliver the specialist training package on religious claims on Monday 8 April, which will be mandatory for all asylum decision-makers.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures are in place to ensure that officials assessing asylum applications have sufficient theological information to interrogate claims made by those seeking refuge from persecution on account of their faith.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The UK has a proud history of providing protection to those who need it, in accordance with our international obligations under the Refugee Convention and European Convention on Human Rights.
Asylum decision-makers carefully assess protection needs following an interview by considering all available evidence provided by the claimant in light of published country information. They receive extensive training on considering asylum claims and must follow published Home Office policy guidance. Guidance on interviewing and decision making are provided in published policy instructions on gov.uk:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/asylum-decision-making-guidance-asylum-instructions and
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/considering-asylum-claims-and-assessing-credibility-instruction
The Home Office have worked closely with the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for International Freedom of Religion or Belief and the Asylum Advocacy Group (AAG) for many years, to help improve their approach to religious based claims and have recently worked with them to develop and produce a specialist training package.
The aim of this course is to ensure that where religion or belief is raised in an asylum claim, asylum decision makers appropriately consider all the available evidence in accordance International, European & Domestic law and Home Office Asylum Policy, when interviewing asylum applicants and making decisions on their claims.
The course will be rolled out to Asylum Senior Caseworkers and Technical Specialists in April 2019 and all asylum Decision Makers over the course of the subsequent three months.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that the Home Office refused asylum applications because of (1) quotations used by applicants from the Bible which “are inconsistent with your [the applicant’s] claim that you converted to Christianity after discovering it is a ‘peaceful’ religion...”; and (2) a candidate “affirmed in your Asylum Interview Record that Jesus is your saviour, but then claimed He would not be able to save you from the Iranian regime. It is therefore considered that you have no conviction in your faith and your belief in Jesus is half-hearted”.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
We are urgently investigating reports which indicate that some asylum decisions were not drafted in accordance with our policy.
Published Home Office policy guidance contains detailed instructions on how asylum decision makers are expected to approach religious based claims. Our policy makes clear that when assessing such claims, decision makers are expected to ask appropriate and sensitive questions based on an understanding of religious concepts, philosophical viewpoints and forms of persecution a person may suffer due to their religion, belief or lack of belief.
Where credibility of a conversion to a faith needs to be established, an interview should be far more an exploration of a claimant’s personal experiences and journey to their new faith, both in their country and in the UK, rather than a test of religious facts.
The Home Office have worked closely with the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for International Freedom of Religion or Belief and the Asy-lum Advocacy Group (AAG) for many years, to help improve their approach to religious based claims and have recently worked with them to develop and produce a specialist training package.
The aim of this course is to ensure that where religion or belief is raised in an asylum claim, asylum decision makers appropriately consider all the available evidence in accordance International, European & Domestic law and Home Office Asylum Policy, when interviewing asylum applicants and making decisions on their claims.
The course will be rolled out to Asylum Senior Caseworkers and Technical Specialists in April 2019 and all asylum Decision Makers over the course of the subsequent three months.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance they provide to the police in relation to preaching in public places.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government does not prevent individuals from following their religious beliefs or cultural traditions provided they do so within the law. The diversity of modern Britain is one of our strengths and many British people of different faiths follow religious codes and practices.
The right to freedom of expression is a vital part of a democratic society. It is a long-standing tradition in this country that people are free to share their views with others.
Decisions on arrests are an operational matter for the police working within the provisions of the legal framework set by Parliament.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications for freedom of speech of the arrest of Christian street preacher Oluwole Ilesanmi.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government does not prevent individuals from following their religious beliefs or cultural traditions provided they do so within the law. The diversity of modern Britain is one of our strengths and many British people of different faiths follow religious codes and practices.
The right to freedom of expression is a vital part of a democratic society. It is a long-standing tradition in this country that people are free to share their views with others.
Decisions on arrests are an operational matter for the police working within the provisions of the legal framework set by Parliament.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) Guiding Principle 11(30)(a), (2) Guiding Principle 11(30)(b), (3) Guiding Principle 11(30)(c), (4) Guiding Principle 11(30)(f), and (5) Guiding Principle 11(30)(j), as set out in the 2018 Addendum to the 2015 Madrid Guiding Principles.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The UK supports UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2396 and the associated Madrid Guiding Principles, and contributed to the drafting of both. We encourage Member States to fully implement UNSCR 2396.
We work with a number of multilateral bodies such as UN, Global Counter Terrorism Forum, and the Global Coalition against Daesh amongst others.
The Government published its updated counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST, in July 2018. As the Home Secretary set out, it is through working together, with the police, security and intelligence agencies, the private and public sectors, civil society, international partners, and the public, that we will reduce the risk of terrorism and ensure that terrorists cannot and will not change our way of life.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Guiding Principle 9(28)(c) as set out in the 2018 Addendum to the 2015 Madrid Guiding Principles.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The UK supports UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2396 and the associated Madrid Guiding Principles, and contributed to the drafting of both. We encourage Member States to fully implement UNSCR 2396.
We work with a number of multilateral bodies such as UN, Global Counter Terrorism Forum, and the Global Coalition against Daesh amongst others.
The Government published its updated counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST, in July 2018. As the Home Secretary set out, it is through working together, with the police, security and intelligence agencies, the private and public sectors, civil society, international partners, and the public, that we will reduce the risk of terrorism and ensure that terrorists cannot and will not change our way of life
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to hasten the provision of financial support to survivors of sexual exploitation in Rotherham and their families.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Secretary has committed to working closely with local authorities in Rotherham to encourage as many victims as possible to come forward and to ensure that appropriate support is available when they do. The Government has empowered local commissioners to deliver services for victims and they are best place to assess the support needs in the local area and to commission services to meet those needs.
To help address the increased demand for victims’ services in Rotherham the Department for Education is providing additional funding of up to £2m to children’s social care. The Ministry of Justice has provided £1.6m to the Police and Crime Commissioner to commission local victims’ services and around £549k extra funding to provide specialist support, including Independent Sexual Violence Advisers. NHS England has worked with regional Health and Justice Commissioners to reconfigure existing resources to support victims in Rotherham, providing £500k up to 2020.