Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether (1) the suitability requirements, and (2) the threshold of criminality, for the EU Settlement Scheme apply to children; and if so, (a) how, and (b) what type of offences will be taken into account.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Applicants to the EU Settlement Scheme under the age of 18 are not required to answer questions relating to suitability. Applicants under the age of 10 are not subject to the automated criminal record check.
The suitability requirements for the scheme apply to all applicants under the age of 18. However, under the relevant provisions of the Immigration (European Economic Area Regulations) 2016, children under the age of 18 benefit from a higher level of protection and can only be deported on imperative grounds of public security.
There is no single definition of the type of offences likely to satisfy this higher threshold, but offences with a cross-border dimension which disclose particularly serious characteristics are more likely to do so.
Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether children applying for settled status are subject to automatic criminal records checks; and whether such children are required to declare (1) if they have been convicted of an offence, and (2) that they are subject to criminal proceedings.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Applicants to the EU Settlement Scheme under the age of 18 are not required to answer questions relating to suitability. Applicants under the age of 10 are not subject to the automated criminal record check.
The suitability requirements for the scheme apply to all applicants under the age of 18. However, under the relevant provisions of the Immigration (European Economic Area Regulations) 2016, children under the age of 18 benefit from a higher level of protection and can only be deported on imperative grounds of public security.
There is no single definition of the type of offences likely to satisfy this higher threshold, but offences with a cross-border dimension which disclose particularly serious characteristics are more likely to do so.
Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of male mentors needed to befriend and support boys and young men growing up without a father in the home in areas with high prevalence of knife crime or gang membership.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government’s Serious Violence Strategy sets out our analysis of the drivers of serious violence and risk factors of involvement in violent crime. There are a range of complex factors behind the recent increases in serious violence, and the analysis in the strategy sets out that a major factor has been changes in the drugs market. The strategy also sets out the key risk factors which may mean a young person may have a greater propensity to get involved in crime than would otherwise be the case such as school absence, peer pressure and family circumstances.
We are supporting a range of locally led community projects through the anti-knife crime Community Fund and Early Intervention Youth Fund to intervene early with young people at risk of criminal involvement, gang exploitation and county lines. While no specific assessment of numbers have been made, a number of these projects make use of male mentors who are able to gain the trust of young people and who are more likely to convey the right messages in appropriate ways to deter young people from making the wrong choices.
We are also introducing a new £200 million Youth Endowment Fund, to be delivered over 10 years to support further interventions in this area to steer young people away from becoming serious offenders. We are also piloting a new community advocate programme within priority areas in London and Manchester to help equip trusted adults with advice and messages to support and signpost young people who can be hard to reach in having #knifefree conversations.
Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their policy on the recruitment of male mentors for boys and young men growing up without a father in the home in areas of high incidence of knife crime or gang membership.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government’s Serious Violence Strategy sets out our analysis of the drivers of serious violence and risk factors of involvement in violent crime. There are a range of complex factors behind the recent increases in serious violence, and the analysis in the strategy sets out that a major factor has been changes in the drugs market. The strategy also sets out the key risk factors which may mean a young person may have a greater propensity to get involved in crime than would otherwise be the case such as school absence, peer pressure and family circumstances.
We are supporting a range of locally led community projects through the anti-knife crime Community Fund and Early Intervention Youth Fund to intervene early with young people at risk of criminal involvement, gang exploitation and county lines. While no specific assessment of numbers have been made, a number of these projects make use of male mentors who are able to gain the trust of young people and who are more likely to convey the right messages in appropriate ways to deter young people from making the wrong choices.
We are also introducing a new £200 million Youth Endowment Fund, to be delivered over 10 years to support further interventions in this area to steer young people away from becoming serious offenders. We are also piloting a new community advocate programme within priority areas in London and Manchester to help equip trusted adults with advice and messages to support and signpost young people who can be hard to reach in having #knifefree conversations.
Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the World Bank report on unsafe working conditions and the use of child labour on plantations run by Amalgamated Plantations Private Limited, whether they intend to investigate the extent to which tea from those plantations is being sold in the UK or otherwise distributed by UK companies.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government believes that businesses and consumers have a key role to play in eradicating all forms of labour exploitation, including modern slavery, from global supply chains.
The Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires all commercial organisations with an annual turnover of £36m or more, operating in the UK, to set out what steps they have taken to ensure that there is no modern slavery in their business or supply chains. The Government is unable to comment on individual companies.