Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of the Western Balkans as a transit route for irregular migration, arms smuggling and drug trafficking; and what concrete steps they have taken since June 2024 with European allies to strengthen partnerships aimed at disrupting criminal networks in the Western Balkans that facilitate irregular migration.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Western Balkans is a notable transit route for third country nationals being trafficked to the UK, as well as being a route of concern for the trafficking of illicit commodities.
Since July 2024, this Government has sought to further cooperation across the region to target a range of threats from organised crime groups based in the Western Balkans. This has included agreeing a series of joint operational initiatives with Albania in December 2024 to further our work on preventing irregular migration and the smuggling of illicit commodities, and in November 2024 reaching new agreements with Kosovo and Serbia on preventing organised immigration crime, and with North Macedonia on working together to disrupt the activities of organised criminals who seek to undermine border security.
The UK is hosting the Berlin Process later this year, bringing together Western Balkan states and other European partners to discuss shared solutions to these issues.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the measures relating to hare coursing introduced by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 since they came into force.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Official figures are not held on the number of instances of violent crime or intimidation related to hare coursing or poaching. Hare coursing or poaching are not crimes which the police are required to notify to the Home Office. However, where violence or intimidation is used in connection with an incident of hare coursing or poaching this would be recorded under the relevant violence against the person or public order offence classification. However, it is not possible to separately identify those that are connected to hare coursing or poaching in the data held centrally by the Home Office.
It is standard practice for primary legislation to be subject to a post-implementation review after sufficient time has passed to assess its impact.
The National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) Wildlife and Rural Crime Strategy aims to target hare coursing through better preventative action, improved intelligence, and enforcement activity.
The Government is committed to driving down rural crime and the Home Office continues to work closely with the National Rural Crime Unit to help ensure an effective police response to rural crime.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with, and what guidance they have issued to, the National Police Chiefs’ Council about tackling hare coursing.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Official figures are not held on the number of instances of violent crime or intimidation related to hare coursing or poaching. Hare coursing or poaching are not crimes which the police are required to notify to the Home Office. However, where violence or intimidation is used in connection with an incident of hare coursing or poaching this would be recorded under the relevant violence against the person or public order offence classification. However, it is not possible to separately identify those that are connected to hare coursing or poaching in the data held centrally by the Home Office.
It is standard practice for primary legislation to be subject to a post-implementation review after sufficient time has passed to assess its impact.
The National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) Wildlife and Rural Crime Strategy aims to target hare coursing through better preventative action, improved intelligence, and enforcement activity.
The Government is committed to driving down rural crime and the Home Office continues to work closely with the National Rural Crime Unit to help ensure an effective police response to rural crime.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many instances of violent crime or intimidation related to hare coursing or poaching were recorded by police in each of the past five years.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Official figures are not held on the number of instances of violent crime or intimidation related to hare coursing or poaching. Hare coursing or poaching are not crimes which the police are required to notify to the Home Office. However, where violence or intimidation is used in connection with an incident of hare coursing or poaching this would be recorded under the relevant violence against the person or public order offence classification. However, it is not possible to separately identify those that are connected to hare coursing or poaching in the data held centrally by the Home Office.
It is standard practice for primary legislation to be subject to a post-implementation review after sufficient time has passed to assess its impact.
The National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) Wildlife and Rural Crime Strategy aims to target hare coursing through better preventative action, improved intelligence, and enforcement activity.
The Government is committed to driving down rural crime and the Home Office continues to work closely with the National Rural Crime Unit to help ensure an effective police response to rural crime.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are giving to (1) the National Wildlife Crime Unit, and (2) the National Rural Crime Unit, to address hare coursing and poaching.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Official figures are not held on the number of instances of violent crime or intimidation related to hare coursing or poaching. Hare coursing or poaching are not crimes which the police are required to notify to the Home Office. However, where violence or intimidation is used in connection with an incident of hare coursing or poaching this would be recorded under the relevant violence against the person or public order offence classification. However, it is not possible to separately identify those that are connected to hare coursing or poaching in the data held centrally by the Home Office.
It is standard practice for primary legislation to be subject to a post-implementation review after sufficient time has passed to assess its impact.
The National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) Wildlife and Rural Crime Strategy aims to target hare coursing through better preventative action, improved intelligence, and enforcement activity.
The Government is committed to driving down rural crime and the Home Office continues to work closely with the National Rural Crime Unit to help ensure an effective police response to rural crime.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Afghans awaiting resettlement in the UK or decisions on eligibility under (1) the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, and (2) the Afghan Citizens Refugee Scheme, are currently in Pakistan; and what steps they are taking to ensure that they are not deported back to Afghanistan.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We will continue to honour our commitment to bring eligible Afghans to the UK and plans are underway to relocate these families as soon as possible.
There is no publicly available data on the number of individuals currently awaiting resettlement from Afghanistan and third countries such as Pakistan, including those awaiting a decision on eligibility.
Afghans in third countries including in Pakistan who are eligible for resettlement to the UK continue to be supported by the UK Government, and flights from Pakistan to the UK continue to take place.
The UK Government is aware of recent announcements made by the Government of Pakistan regarding Afghans being illegally present in Pakistan. We have engaged intensively with the Government of Pakistan to secure assurances that none of those eligible under Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) will be subject to deportation while they await relocation to the UK.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many refugees have been resettled in the UK under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme via (1) Pathway 1, (2) Pathway 2, and (3) Pathway 3; and for each pathway, how many of those have been resettled (a) in total, (b) between January to July 2023, and (c) since July 2023.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The UK has made an ambitious and generous commitment to help at-risk people in Afghanistan and, so far, we have brought around 24,600 people to safety, including thousands of people eligible for our Afghan schemes. We continue to honour our commitments to bring eligible Afghans to the UK.
The data published within: immigration system statistics release (year ending June 2023, published 24 August 2023) provides a breakdown of arrivals by quarter. The number of individuals resettled under the schemes is as follows: 9,676 individuals under ACRS Pathway 1, 66 individuals under ACRS Pathway 2 and 41 individuals under ACRS Pathway 3.
Afghan Operational data is viewable at: Afghan Resettlement Programme: operational data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)
Afghan operational data is released quarterly with the next publication due around the 23 November 2023.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people are currently waiting for decisions on eligibility under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme; and how many people approved for resettlement in the UK under the scheme are currently awaiting resettlement.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We will continue to honour our commitment to bring eligible Afghans to the UK and plans are underway to relocate these families as soon as possible.
There is no publicly available data on the number of individuals currently awaiting resettlement from Afghanistan and third countries such as Pakistan, including those awaiting a decision on eligibility.
Afghans in third countries including in Pakistan who are eligible for resettlement to the UK continue to be supported by the UK Government, and flights from Pakistan to the UK continue to take place.
The UK Government is aware of recent announcements made by the Government of Pakistan regarding Afghans being illegally present in Pakistan. We have engaged intensively with the Government of Pakistan to secure assurances that none of those eligible under Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) will be subject to deportation while they await relocation to the UK.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many children currently residing in the UK (1) do not have a British citizenship, (2) do not have legal permission to live in the UK, and (3) are entitled to register as British citizens under the British Nationality Act 1981 but have not yet done so.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
The current immigration status of a child currently resident in the UK or their potential entitlement to register as a British citizen depends on their individual circumstances. Therefore, this data is not available.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sharpe of Epsom on 14 March (HL5987), what assessment they have made of the impact of the difficulty of assessing bruises on darker skin on (1) documenting and prosecuting cases of domestic violence, and (2) providing treatment and support to victims of domestic violence.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This Government recognises that Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), including domestic abuse, affects a wide range of people. Some victims, especially those with specific needs and vulnerabilities, including ethnic minority victims, may experience additional barriers to identifying, disclosing, seeking help or reporting abuse.
That is why in tackling domestic abuse a “one size fits all” approach is not appropriate to support all victims. We also understand the importance of specialist and ‘by and for’ services in providing tailored support and understanding that ethnic minority victims and survivors of VAWG offences and domestic abuse need. These are services that are led, designed and delivered ‘by and for’ the users and communities they aim to serve. As a result, these organisations have the necessary skills and experience to provide appropriate support.
On 22 November 2022, we commenced an open commercial competition (VAWG Specialist and Support Services Fund) for ‘by and for’ and specialist services. This will enable vital services, who are based in the communities they serve, to support victims often facing the greatest barriers to getting the help they need. We are able to fund this competition with up to £8.4 million (in total) to run over financial years 2023/24 and 2024/25, with up to £6 million ring-fenced grant funding for ‘by and for’ services over the two years.
Whilst there is current international research on how colorimetry can assist the assessment of bruising in adults and children with darker skin this has yet to impact on NICE Guidance on bruising as of March 2021, or contemporary Royal College of Emergency Medicine Guidance.