Knife Crime: Stop and Search

Debate between Lord Hanson of Flint and Lord Dubs

Tuesday 1st April 2025 Lords Chamber

[The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Hanson of Flint) (Lab)]

Stop and search is a fundamental tool for tackling knife crime, but it must be used fairly and effectively. Getting that balance right as part of a basket of measures is critical to this Government’s objective of halving knife crime in 10 years and restoring public trust in the police.

[Lord Dubs (Lab)]

My Lords, today the Metropolitan Police has published its stop and search charter, which refers in particular to tensions between the black community and the police. Would the Minister consider urging that the police be equipped with hand-held metal detectors as an efficient and more sensitive method of conducting stop and search?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

My noble friend raises an important point. The Home Office is working with industry partners, as it has been for a while, to develop the technology to detect from a distance knives concealed on the person. There are trials in place, and phase 1 is expected to be delivered by the end of May this year, resulting in a prototype system that could be used to do exactly what my noble friend says. Chief constables will have to decide on the use of that downstream, but I hope that will be of help to my noble friend. As part of the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Police Race Action Plan, it is looking again at the very point he mentioned—the disproportionate stopping of people from black and minority ethnic communities.

Asylum Hotels and Illegal Channel Crossings

Debate between Lord Hanson of Flint and Lord Dubs

Wednesday 26th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

If the noble Lord visits the Library and asks which benefits migrants receive, he will find that the Government have a responsibility to pay certain amounts of resource for upkeep but it is not a question of access to a benefits system. We are trying to ensure that we assess those individuals extremely quickly. If he is interested in illegal working then, as I mentioned earlier, we have increased visits and working arrests for those who have slipped into the country and are now working here illegally by 38%.

[Lord Dubs (Lab)]

My Lords, everybody—with one or two exceptions—knows that the Government inherited an incredible mess. Are we satisfied that we are doing everything we can to ensure maximum co-operation with the French and with Interpol in catching the people traffickers? Secondly, surely in anything but the very short term we must have wider international co-operation, particularly with our EU friends, to deal with the problem of asylum seekers in a more sensible and balanced manner.

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

I am grateful to my noble friend. My right honourable friend the Home Secretary has met her French, Belgian and Dutch counterparts and is looking at a group which we have named, imaginatively, the “Calais group” to see how we can act on these issues. That co-operation has led to increased convictions and arrests of people traffickers and will do so further. There are discussions with the German Government to see what we can do downstream about some of the equipment that is being supplied in Germany. When the immigration Bill comes before this House, noble Lords will recognise that there are measures in it which further criminalise those gangs and give further powers to the state to take assets from criminals who are people trafficking.

UK Airports: British Passport Holders

Debate between Lord Hanson of Flint and Lord Dubs

Monday 3rd March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

That is an extremely sensible suggestion and one that I advocated 15 years ago when we were in government in 2009-10 and looking at that issue. I see my noble friend Lord West nodding; he was in the Home Office with me at that time. It is important that we know who comes in and goes out. One of our current migration challenges is people overstaying, so a main focus for the Government is how we can reduce that impact and make sure that people are in the UK legally at all times.

[Lord Dubs (Lab)]

My Lords, can my noble friend comment on the proposed new arrangements governing travel between the UK and the EU? Can he say a bit more about when those arrangements will come into force? Are we ready to meet the bureaucratic and other difficulties that will follow from introducing them?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

The European Union, as is its right, is introducing an ETA for non-European Union members. One of the consequences of Brexit is that we are a non-EU member, so citizens of the United Kingdom will have to face that challenge in due course. As of now, there is no specific date for the introduction of the European transit arrangements, but that is coming downstream, so we need to examine it and take cognisance of it and its impact on a range of issues in relation to the United Kingdom.

Citizenship Applications

Debate between Lord Hanson of Flint and Lord Dubs

Wednesday 12th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

Like the Prime Minister, I am not going to discuss individual cases over the Dispatch Box. The noble Lord will know that there are general principles, which we apply, for the provision of asylum. If those principles are broken or if the courts uphold a decision that the Government do not support, they will self-evidently appeal that decision. Today’s Private Notice Question from my noble friend Lord Blunkett is about the specific guidance issued on Monday, which is available to this House. In answer to a point from the noble Lord which I did not cover, it is guidance which does not require legal back-up or consultation. Self-evidently, he and my noble friend can make representations to the Government at any time, as can any Member of this House, about the implementation of that guidance.

[Lord Dubs (Lab)]

My Lords, of course we all support the Government in taking tough action against the people traffickers as vile individuals, but can the Minister explain what the purpose of all this is? Is it meant to deter a young man in Calais who is hoping to get to this country? Will that young man look at the debate and say, “If I can’t get British citizenship, I’m not coming to the UK”? Of course not. Given the terrible circumstances that people have fled from, finding safety is surely much more important to them than the technicality of a passport, worthy as a passport is.

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

My noble friend has a long history of interest in and support for refugees and asylum seekers, and I respect and understand his position. The Government are trying to set down some basic red lines on a range of issues. The first red line is that people trafficking is a crime and will be pursued vigorously. The second is that the Rwanda scheme was ineffectual, and the third is that British citizenship is not a right but a privilege. That privilege will come to citizens if they enter this country under legal asylum routes or apply for citizenship through legal routes, but not if they have entered the country through an illegal route.

Asylum Seekers: Accommodation

Debate between Lord Hanson of Flint and Lord Dubs

Thursday 16th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

I will update the noble Lord in due course. As a rough estimate from memory, around 90 children are still unaccounted for. The importance of safeguarding in asylum accommodation is critical. It is ultimately the responsibility of the local authority where those children are placed. However, I take on board his suggestions and concerns; I will look into them and write to him. It is key to ensure that the safeguarding of unaccompanied children and accompanied children who are at risk is paramount.

[Lord Dubs (Lab)]

My Lords, whether it is a local authority or the Home Office, there is the difficulty for families who are moved around too much that the children lose their education and friends. It is very dislocating and destabilising. Can we have some continuity and awareness of that difficulty?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

It is vital, as my noble friend says, that we ensure continuity. The key point is that we get people out of asylum hotels and into dispersed accommodation as quickly as possible and, ultimately, speed up the asylum system so that people have a decision on whether they can stay or have to leave. If they can stay, that stability is there and, as the noble Lord, Lord German, mentioned, they can contribute to work and potentially help fill some of the labour shortages this country faces.

Immigration: Human Rights

Debate between Lord Hanson of Flint and Lord Dubs

Monday 13th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

I agree with the noble Baroness that climate change is a potential driver. The noble Lord, Lord Alton, has mentioned this on a number of occasions as well, and we agree that those issues drive asylum and refugee claims. She might be interested to know that the highest numbers of people claiming asylum last year were from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. However, I accept her point; we need to address the wider climate change issue in relation to those who claim asylum or refugee status in this country

[Lord Dubs (Lab)]

My Lords, I have been waiting 14 years to say to a Home Office Minister, “I like his answers”. The Minister mentioned a forthcoming White Paper on asylum and refugees. Can he use his influence to ensure that the rights of children who are asylum seekers to join their families here will be high up on the list?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

I am really pleased that the noble Lord likes the answers—we have been waiting 14 years to give them, and it is a great pleasure to be here. We are progressing on the matter of child migrants; there are specific issues that we will look at on that. The number of unaccompanied child migrants is currently approximately 4,000, which is still too high. We need to look at the points that the noble Lord has mentioned. I hope that I will be able to give him some satisfactory answers in the future.

Small Boat Crossings

Debate between Lord Hanson of Flint and Lord Dubs

Wednesday 13th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

I cannot give the noble Lord an exact figure today, but I will ensure that I write to him with an updated figure. We had this debate a couple of weeks back with a Member from the Liberal Democrat Benches. I included a figure then but I do not have a figure in front of me, so I will need to update that and give it to the noble Lord. As we did in the debate we had in this place two to three weeks ago, I will set out in that reply how we are seeking to protect children appropriately by ensuring that we deal with local authorities in Kent and elsewhere—and to find those missing children, of whom there are approximately still 90, who went missing under the previous Government’s regime.

[Lord Dubs (Lab)]

My Lords, my question is based on having been to Calais about a year and a half ago and talked to the NGOs working with people who were trying to get on the boats. Their feeling was that some of the people who got to Calais went because they had no advice about what was in their best interests. If there were some social workers or others in the Calais area, they might be able to give these people—young people, many of them—some better advice than simply saying that the only future for them is to get on the boats. But that is a sensible policy only if it is backed up by our willingness to take in those who have a connection with this country, particularly on the basis of family reunion.

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

My noble friend speaks with authority on this matter. This Government are trying to better engage with our European partners, and France in particular, on how we deal with this problem in Calais and other parts of northern France. One of those issues will be not just the policing and action at ports or on beaches but what we need to do up stream. The Prime Minister will be engaged with a number of European nations to try to look at that upstream element. It is important that we do that.

Because the figure is now in front of me, I can say to the noble Lord, Lord Baker, that we have had 9,400 returns since 5 July this year, which indicates that economic movement is not acceptable behaviour when there are legal routes for application to come to the United Kingdom.

Unaccompanied Migrant Children

Debate between Lord Hanson of Flint and Lord Dubs

Wednesday 30th October 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

There was an enhanced incentivised funding programme in operation for Kent County Council, which gave support of £15,000 for transfers within two working days and £6,000 for transfers within five working days. Those schemes are coming to an end because the pressure is not there as it was, but that support was put in place to help Kent to deal with the initial challenges.

[Lord Dubs (Lab)]

My Lords, what the Minister said about the hotels being cleared is of course good news. What is happening to any children who arrive at the moment? If they are not going to hotels, is he satisfied that local authorities have the resources and the foster families to look after them?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

Currently, in the event of unaccompanied children arriving at a port of entry in the United Kingdom, the first port of call is to provide support via local authorities, which give proper safeguarding opportunities and responsibilities for those individual under-18s. Again, my objective overall and that of the Government in having the border control system is to ensure that we help to reduce the number of children coming here, exploited by gangmasters and by others, and that we deal with those who come here in a humane and effective way.

Illegal Migrants

Debate between Lord Hanson of Flint and Lord Dubs

Wednesday 9th October 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

The noble Lord hits a very strong button on that issue. He will know, I hope, that my right honourable friend the Home Secretary visited Italy only this week—or maybe at the end of last week—for a meeting of the G7 that looked at the whole issue of tackling criminal gangs, but also at some of the long-term underlying causes and why those movements are taking place. It is in all our interests to ensure that we tackle that, and stop the flow that then falls prey to those criminal gangs that exploit very vulnerable people from countries such as the one he mentioned. Those gangs take money from them for a visit that is futile because, if they are in this country illegally and do not have asylum claims, they will be returned to their home nation.

[Lord Dubs (Lab)]

My Lords, I welcome the thrust of what my noble friend said, but I ask him to confirm that we must be careful about the use of “illegal” as applied to people who have crossed the channel. The traffickers are reprehensible people, but that does not mean that anybody who comes across the channel is an illegal person. They are still entitled to claim asylum.

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

Absolutely—my noble friend makes a valid point. My concern is that criminal gangs exploit people who either wish to come here illegally or are being duped when they potentially have legal asylum routes. We need to tackle those gangs at source, which is why we have put £75 million into border control, why we are working with international partners to deal with those issues, and why, slow though progress is initially, we will make an indent in that criminal gang activity.