Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration

James Cleverly Excerpts

Wednesday 21st February 2024 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (James Cleverly)]

I have terminated the appointment of David Neal, the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, after he breached the terms of appointment and lost my confidence.

Mr Neal was informed that his appointment would be immediately terminated yesterday, on 20 February 2024. Mr Neal’s term of appointment was due to end on 21 March 2024.

The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration is a highly important position. A candidate will be appointed following robust competition, in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments.

The planned recruitment process for the next Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration is in progress.

The Home Office is committed to publishing the reports submitted by the former Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration and will provide responses in due course.

[HCWS269]

Independent Review of Prevent: One Year On Progress Report

James Cleverly Excerpts

Tuesday 20th February 2024 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (James Cleverly)]

The Government are today publishing a progress report on our implementation of the Independent Review of Prevent recommendations.

Prevent is a fundamental part of the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, known as Contest. Prevent aims to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. It does this by tackling the ideological causes of terrorism, intervening early to support those susceptible to radicalisation, and enabling people who have already engaged in terrorism to disengage and rehabilitate.

The “Independent Review of Prevent”, published on 8 February 2023, was conducted by Sir William Shawcross. It made 34 recommendations, which the Government accepted. In the Government response, published on the same day, we set out how we would implement the recommendations. We committed to delivering a renewed Prevent capability, which holds the mission of tackling terrorist ideologies at its core and responds confidently to emerging threats facing the UK.

In the 12 months since the publication of the independent review, we have made significant progress with 30 of the 34 recommendations completed in full, and 115 of the 120 sub-actions delivered.

We have delivered a number of key changes, as part of a broader programme to strengthen and reorient Prevent, that include:

New Prevent duty guidance that came into effect on 31 December 2023, following parliamentary approval. The new guidance responds to several recommendations and was developed in conjunction with a range of key Government partners and frontline practitioners.

Refreshing existing training to reflect the recommendations in the independent review, alongside developing new training packages that increase understanding of extremist ideologies. This new training offer equips statutory partners in fulfilling their obligations more effectively and supports them to make better decisions on when Prevent support is needed.

A new Prevent assessment framework, developed by the expert Counter Terrorism Assessment and Rehabilitation Centre, that is based on the most up to date evidence and learning. This ensures that decision-making on all Prevent referrals is rigorous, consistent, proportionate, and that only those that pose a counter-terrorism risk are supported by Prevent.

New Channel duty guidance that was published on 9 October 2023, that reflects the findings of the IRP, strengthens the Home Office’s quality assurance of how Channel is delivered, and responds swiftly to tackle any disparities in operational practice.

An independent Standards and Compliance Unit, that has been stood up as a stand-alone part of the Commission for Countering Extremism. The Standards and Compliance Unit provides a clear and accessible route for the public and practitioners to raise concerns about Prevent activity where it may have fallen short of the high standards we expect. It will be active from the 28 February, with people able to make initial contact through the website.

A significant change programme has already been implemented, but there is still more to do to ensure change is firmly embedded across Government and frontline sectors. We will continue to work at pace to implement the remaining four recommendations and five sub-actions.

Additionally, we will monitor the implementation of the recommendations to ensure that Prevent continues to hold itself to the high standards we have committed to, and remains agile in responding to the ever-changing threat picture in the UK.

A copy of the progress report will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses and published on www.gov.uk.

[HCWS265]

Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Bill [Lords]

James Cleverly Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 19th February 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (James Cleverly)]

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.

The first duty of Government is to keep our citizens safe. The United Kingdom faces an enduring threat from terrorists, hostile actors and organised criminal groups, and that threat is evolving and becoming more sophisticated. It is not enough for us to keep pace with those who would do us harm; we must endeavour to get and then stay ahead of them. The investigatory powers are the legal powers available to law enforcement, the intelligence services, MI5, the Secret Intelligence Service, GCHQ and other public authorities where appropriate to obtain communications and data about communications.

The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 provides a clear legal framework for the use of those powers, combining world-leading safeguards and oversight with giving agencies the tools they need to protect us. There is a double lock for the most sensitive IPA powers, meaning that an independent judicial commissioner must approve a decision by the Secretary of State to issue a warrant under the IPA. The use of any of these powers must be assessed as necessary and proportionate, with strong independent oversight by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner. The Investigatory Powers Tribunal provides a robust mechanism for providing redress in respect of any unlawful use of those powers.

[Mr Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland) (LD)]

The Home Secretary will be as aware as I am that very occasionally those in charge of our intelligence and security services do not act in the best traditions of this country in their offices, and I am thinking of cases such as Belhaj and Boudchar. Where people have been the victim of mistreatment—as a consequence of UK complicity with foreign powers, for example—should there not be a right for those people to have access to the information about that?

[James Cleverly]

I listened carefully to the right hon. Gentleman’s point. I am not sure it is directly relevant to this matter, but I take on board the points that he makes. He will forgive me if I do not address them directly at this point; I want to consider them properly.

The IPA is sound legislation, but the nature of these threats has evolved since 2016, and we are confronted by greater global instability and technological advances, and they demand that we act. Terrorists, child abusers, organised criminals and malign actors from hostile states have exploited technological advances. Our job is to ensure that the UK’s investigatory powers framework remains fit for purpose. The changes that this Bill proposes were informed by the independent review of the IPA published by Lord Anderson of Ipswich in June 2023. The Bill received cross-party and Cross-Bench support as it passed through the other place. Every Government amendment was accepted, and I thank the members of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament for the productive way they engaged with and helped to shape the Bill.

In particular, we have agreed to tighten the drafting of clauses 22 and 23 in line with amendments proposed by the Intelligence and Security Committee. Those changes put beyond doubt that the Prime Minister may delegate warrants for the purposes of obtaining communications of parliamentarians in two, and only two, exceptional circumstances: the personal incapacity of the Prime Minister and a lack of access to secure communications. There is also a limit of five Secretaries of State to whom this responsibility could be delegated in those circumstances. Further to that, in respect of new part 7A, parliamentary scrutiny will be enhanced through a statutory requirement for the Secretary of State annually to inform the Intelligence and Security Committee about the new regime for bulk personal datasets.

[Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend mentioned the ISC’s scrutiny of these matters. He will understand the concern about widening the number of people who can play the role previously played exclusively by the Prime Minister. I understand the reasons for that, but has he considered limiting that to those Secretaries of State who have warranting powers?

[James Cleverly]

We looked at that. There is a balance to be struck, and actually the bulk of those Secretaries of State to whom the function could be delegated in those two exceptional circumstances do have warranting powers—I think the Secretary of State for Defence is the only one who does not. My right hon. Friend’s point is a fair one, but the scope of the Bill is not much greater than that.

[Mr Kevan Jones (North Durham) (Lab)]

As a member of the ISC, I welcome the Government’s acceptance of our recommendation. However, I would like to understand why they are not accepting our other, simple proposal: that when a delegation takes place, the Prime Minister would be informed about that afterwards.

[James Cleverly]

I think it is inconceivable that the Prime Minister of the day would not be informed of the use of a delegated authority.

[Mr Jones]

It is not about the Prime Minister not being informed about the delegation; it is about the Prime Minister looking at the case afterwards—they would not be second-guessing it, obviously, because it would already have been agreed. We suggested that, as a matter of course, the Prime Minister should be informed afterwards of the contents of that warrant. For some reason, the Government are resisting that. I cannot understand why.

[James Cleverly]

I understood the point that the right hon. Gentleman was making—perhaps my answer was not clear—but I suggest that it is inconceivable that the Prime Minister would not routinely be informed of the exercise of this power. Ultimately, that is a level of granularity that would add complexity to the Bill without utility. But, as I have said, through the passage of the Bill thus far, we have listened carefully to the Committee’s suggestions, and although we may not always agree, I can reassure him, other members of the Committee and Members of the House that we will continue to act in listening mode in relation to the Committee’s suggestions.

[Joanna Cherry (Edinburgh South West) (SNP)]

On that point, will the Home Secretary give way?

[James Cleverly]

I will, but I do want to make some progress.

[Joanna Cherry]

I thank the Home Secretary for giving way. He mentioned listening to scrutiny by the ISC. The Joint Committee on Human Rights has issued a call for written evidence on the Bill, and as he will know from the human rights memorandum, the Bill raises important human rights issues relating to the rights to privacy and to freedom of expression, and possibly the right to an effective remedy. Will he therefore undertake to look closely at any correspondence that the Joint Committee might send him when we have completed our scrutiny of the Bill?

[James Cleverly]

I reassure the hon. and learned Lady that we will do exactly that.

I turn to the measures in the Bill. We are creating a new regime for bulk personal datasets that have low or no expectation of privacy: for example, certain datasets that are widely publicly or commercially available. Bulk personal datasets are an essential tool to support our intelligence services in identifying fragments of intelligence within a large quantum of data, in order to disrupt threats such as terrorism and hostile state actors. The Bill seeks to create a new statutory oversight regime for how the intelligence services access and examine bulk personal datasets held by third parties. It will place that oversight on a statutory footing, increasing the transparency of the regime. The regime will be subject to strong safeguards, including the double lock.

We are also making changes to the notices regime that will help the UK anticipate and address the risk to public safety of companies rolling out technology that precludes lawful access to data. We want to work with those companies to achieve common goals, but we must have the tools available when collaboration falls short.

[Suella Braverman (Fareham) (Con)]

I know that the Home Secretary wants to make progress, but I am grateful for the opportunity to comment.

These reforms to the IPA are necessary to upgrade our world-class regime and ensure that our frameworks are kept up to date with evolving threats and, importantly, technology. We know that the terrorists, the serious organised criminals, the fraudsters and the online paedophiles all take advantage of the dark web and encrypted spaces: to plan their terror, to carry out their fraudulent activity and to cause devastating harm to innocent people such as children, in the field of online paedophilia. Does he share my concern and indeed frustration with companies such as Meta and Apple? The former has chosen to roll out end-to-end encryption without safeguards and the latter has rolled out advanced data protection, which will allow these bad actors to go dark, which will severely disable agencies and law enforcement from identifying them and taking action, and will enable—indeed it will facilitate—some of the worst atrocities that our brave men and women in law-enforcement agencies deal with every day.

[James Cleverly]

My right hon. and learned Friend—and immediate predecessor—makes incredibly important points. Digital technology and online technology have been a liberator in so many ways, but, sadly, as has been the case with technology throughout time, it has also been used by those who would do people harm. Indeed, she mentioned in particular the harm done to children. We take that incredibly seriously. We value the important role of investigatory powers and will continue to work with technology companies—both those well established at the moment and those of the future—to maintain the balance between privacy and security, as we have always done, and ensure that these technology platforms do not provide a hiding place for terrorists, for serious criminals and those people taking part in child sexual exploitation.

The three types of notices under the existing IPA are data retention notices, technical capability notices and national security notices. Those notices must be both necessary and proportionate, and they are of course subject to the double lock. The Bill does not introduce any new powers for the acquisition of data. The changes are about ensuring that the system is up to date and remains robust. The Bill will create a notification notice allowing the Secretary of State to place specific companies under an obligation to inform him or her of proposed changes to their telecommunications services or systems that could have an impact on lawful access. This is not a blanket obligation, and it will be used only where necessary and proportionate, and then only on a case-by-case basis.

The notice does not give the Secretary of State any powers to veto or intervene in the roll-out of a product or services. It is intended to ensure that there is sufficient time for appropriate consideration of the operational impact of the proposed changes, and potentially for discussions with the company in question about them. The public, rightly, would want their representatives to know in advance if companies were proposing to do something that would put public safety at risk, and responsible companies will work with Governments to avoid endangering people, who are of course also their customers.

The Bill will also amend the IPA to require the company to ensure that existing lawful access is maintained. That means the company cannot legally take any action that would negatively affect the level of lawful access for our operational partners during the review period. In the other place, the Government tabled an amendment to allow a timeline for review of a notice to be specified in regulations. We also gave the judicial commissioner further powers for managing the review process. Taken together, they ensure that companies are clear on the length of time that a review can take, which reduces uncertainty for their business as well as providing greater clarity for the review process. In the other place, my noble colleague Lord Sharpe of Epsom also committed to a full public consultation before amending the existing regulations on the review of notices, and laying new regulations relating to the notification notices.

The Bill also clarifies the definition of a telecommun-ications operator, to make it clear that companies with complex corporate structures that provide or control telecommunications services and systems in the UK fall within the remit of the IPA. These changes do not directly relate to any particular technology, including end-to-end encryption, but are designed to ensure that companies are not able to unilaterally make design changes that compromise exceptional lawful access.

The Bill makes changes to the powers of public authorities to acquire communications data. Section 11 of the IPA made it an offence for a relevant person in a relevant public authority to knowingly or recklessly obtain communications data from a telecoms operator or a postal operator without lawful authority. The Bill will set out examples of the acquisition routes that amount to lawful authority outside the IPA, giving greater clarity to public authorities that they are not inadvertently committing an offence. Further targeted amendments will ensure that public sector organisations are not unintentionally prevented or discouraged from sharing data. Further changes will allow bodies with regulatory functions to acquire communications data.

The Bill also creates a new condition for the use of internet connection records—ICRs—by the intelligence services and the National Crime Agency. The IPA currently requires certain thresholds to be met on the known element of an investigation, such as exactly when a website has been accessed. That limits the ability of operational partners to use the ICRs to detect previously unknown criminals, terrorists or state threat actors who are acting online. The proposed measure will allow greater detection of high-impact offenders by removing the requirement to unequivocally know a specific time or times of access and service in use, and instead will allow these factors to be specified within the application.

[Mr Jones]

I understand the use of the measure for the security services, but the Bill broadens the scope of how many people could be dragged into it. There is no judicial oversight of the Security Service or whoever is using it. The Bill states that the measure is for national security and economic wellbeing—that is a catch-all for quite a lot of things. Although the intent is right, there need to be some safeguards to prevent innocent people being dragged into that potentially broad measure.

[James Cleverly]

I understand the right hon. Gentleman’s point. Innocent people’s data is often acquired in dataset capture, and it is always deleted. Economic wellbeing merely reflects the language that is used in other parts, for consistency across our various strands of work.

[Mr Jones]

I thought we were here today to scrutinise the Bill. It should not be a chore for the Home Secretary to be asked questions. The definition of wellbeing could be quite broad. I understand the meaning of national security, as I think he does, and the House, but wellbeing could have quite a broad definition and I am not convinced that I have seen what it is. I am not sure that consistency with other legislation is a great argument for including it in this Bill.

[James Cleverly]

The simple truth of the matter is that I disagree. In legislation of this nature, maintaining consistency of language with previous relevant legislation, including the Intelligence Services Act 1994, is incredibly important to clarity of intent. I recognise that the right hon. Gentleman has given thought to this, and we do not disregard his point, but we have thought through the importance of consistency of language, which is why we have maintained it.

[Dame Angela Eagle (Wallasey) (Lab)]

A general listener to our proceedings might worry that the new powers could be used for fishing expeditions, rather than the very specific powers that they replace. Could the Home Secretary give some words of reassurance from the Dispatch Box that the broadening of bulk data collection without specific dates will not be used for fishing expeditions, which might affect the privacy of ordinary citizens who have done nothing wrong?

[James Cleverly]

The hon. Lady makes an important point, but the powers could be applied to any bulk dataset collection, of which she knows there are many across Government. Provisions are in place to ensure that innocent people’s data is not held but deleted, and that our security services and other organisations that will utilise these powers always do so carefully and cautiously. There are relevant safeguards in place, as I have made reference to—the Investigatory Powers Commissioner and the tribunal—if there is wrongdoing. The proposals are put forward for a very specific reason. The Government have given thought to mission creep and broader expansion, and we feel that this is a modest extension that will give significantly greater protection to the British people.

[Mr Jones]

As my hon. Friend the Member for Wallasey (Dame Angela Eagle) just said, we need to give confidence to the public that what we are rightly doing to protect ourselves has that level of security in it. There is no judicial oversight of internet connection records. If we are to give these powers to the Security Service—which I approve of—we should be able to say to the public that they are proportionate and that there is an independent process to ensure that they cannot be abused. Surely, judicial oversight throughout should be important.

[James Cleverly]

The right hon. Gentleman specifically spoke about judicial oversight, but there is oversight—

[Mr Jones]

There isn’t.

[James Cleverly]

There is oversight by the Secretary of State through the warrant process, and oversight of the whole process by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner. Through the Committee on which the right hon. Gentleman sits, there is oversight of the Secretary of State’s function.

[Mr Jones]

I agree, and I support that oversight, even though this Government have not made our job on the ISC easy. Unless I am missing something, there is no judicial oversight of internet connection records in the Bill. If we want to give people confidence, that backstop of judicial oversight should be important.

[James Cleverly]

As I said, I noticed that the right hon. Gentleman specifically said that there is no judicial oversight—

[Mr Jones]

There isn’t.

[James Cleverly]

I am not disagreeing, but there is oversight. The Committee on which the right hon. Gentleman sits is part of that oversight process.

[Holly Lynch (Halifax) (Lab)]

The Home Secretary has just touched on the importance of the oversight role of the ISC, particularly in relation to these additional provisions. I wonder whether he remembers the passing of the National Security Act 2023. During the final stages of that important piece of legislation, the Government tabled an amendment in lieu promising that they would progress a review of the memorandum of understanding within six months of the Act coming into force to ensure there was an updated and robust relationship between the ISC and the Government, and the Prime Minister in particular, the ISC having been unable to secure a meeting with the Prime Minister since 2014, remarkably. Given the nature of the ISC’s important role in these provisions, I wonder whether the Home Secretary could update us on that review.

[James Cleverly]

That is not an element of this Bill. On a commitment for the Prime Minister to meet with the Committee, I will look at the details.

[Yvette Cooper (Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford) (Lab)]

Will the Home Secretary give way?

[James Cleverly]

I want to make progress to ensure that everyone who wishes to speak in this debate is able to do so, but I will give way to the right hon. Lady.

[Yvette Cooper]

On that point, will the Home Secretary encourage the Prime Minister to go before the Intelligence and Security Committee at the soonest opportunity? My understanding is that that has not happened for 10 years.

[James Cleverly]

I cannot make a commitment on the Prime Minister’s behalf. Members of the Committee will know that I appeared before the Committee in my previous role, and I think it is important that Government do make themselves available for this scrutiny. As I say, it would be inappropriate for me to demand of the Prime Minister attendance anywhere, but I will pass on the right hon. Lady’s point.

[Sir Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

I will assist the Home Secretary with a little context. When I was a ranking member of the Intelligence and Security Committee between 2010 and 2015, it was a matter of routine that the Committee went to see the Prime Minister once a year, usually in the Cabinet Room. That stopped in 2014. Successive Prime Ministers have failed to reinstate it, although it must be said that the shortest-lived of them did offer to meet with the Committee, but sadly ceased to be Prime Minister before that became possible.

[James Cleverly]

The lengths that some people will go to to avoid Committee scrutiny. I am trying to remember where I was; it has been such a long time since I looked down the page of this speech. All such applications must be necessary and proportionate and subject to independent authorisation or inspection.

The Bill will also strengthen safeguards for journalistic material within the Investigatory Powers Act’s bulk equipment interference regime, aligning it with changes to the bulk interception regime that are under way to ensure compliance with obligations under the Human Rights Act 1998. Prior judicial authorisation will be needed before material obtained through bulk equipment interference can be selected for examination using criteria where the purpose is to identify, or is highly likely to identify, confidential journalistic material or confirm a source of journalistic material. Prior judicial approval is also necessary before such material may be retained for purposes other than its destruction. The other measures in part 5 of the Bill will ensure that the resilience and protections of the regime are maintained and enhanced.

The Bill will also make improvements to support the Investigatory Powers Commissioner in effectively carrying out their role, ensuring that the world-leading oversight regime remains resilient, including powers to enable the IPC to appoint deputies, delegate some of their functions to judicial commissioners and the newly created deputies, and put certain functions on a statutory basis. The Bill will ensure there is a clearer statutory basis for reporting errors to the IPC.

[Joanna Cherry]

I sense that the Home Secretary is coming to the end of his speech. We have mentioned parliamentarians and journalists, but I want to talk about another important group: trade unions. Some people fear that the Bill will open the door even further than its parent Bill on the surveillance of trade unions. Does the Home Secretary agree that there should be no place for the surveillance of trade unions in a democracy? If so, will he consider amendments to the Bill to ensure that that does not happen, including a redraft of clause 5?

[James Cleverly]

I take the point that the hon. and learned Lady puts forward. There are a number of organisations not explicitly mentioned in the Bill where that argument could be made, and I am not sure it would necessarily be useful or right to list them all, but I will take on board the point she makes in good faith—genuinely.

The Bill will bring the Investigatory Powers Act up to date with the modern age, provide greater clarity, make the system more resilient and retain the world-leading safeguards of civil liberties and commercial integrity. Above all, the Bill will mean that the men and women who work so incredibly hard to keep us safe, often without recognition, have the tools they need to do so in the modern era. I therefore commend the Bill to the House.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Sir Roger Gale)]

I call the Opposition Front-Bench spokesperson.

National Crime Agency Remuneration Review Body

James Cleverly Excerpts

Wednesday 7th February 2024 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (James Cleverly)]

I am today announcing the Government’s decision on pay for the National Crime Agency (NCA) for 2023-24, supporting the Government’s manifesto commitment to strengthen the NCA.

The NCA remuneration review body (NCARRB) report on pay for NCA officers at grades lower than deputy director for the NCA will be laid before Parliament today and published on gov.uk.

I would like to thank the chair and members of the review body for their work on gathering evidence from the NCA, the Home Office, HM Treasury and the trade unions, resulting in their detailed, comprehensive report. The Government value the independent expertise and insight of NCARRB and take on board the useful advice and principles set out in response to my remit letter of 15 August 2023.

This Government are committed to supporting the NCA in its fight against serious and organised crime (SOC) and on 13 December 2023 announced their new five-year SOC strategy. The NCA plays a pivotal role in leading the SOC law enforcement system to disrupt and dismantle the most harmful organised crime groups operating in and against the UK. In particular I would like to highlight the key contribution of NCA officers towards disrupting the organised crime groups that facilitate small boat crossings. A strengthened NCA needs to be able to set clear strategic and operational direction and develop shared capabilities to drive efficiencies. A strong pay framework is vital to the NCA being able to deliver this role and maintain its operational performance.

SOC is evolving rapidly in both volume and complexity, and I have been clear that the NCA needs to transform to meet new and evolving threats, and to tackle the highest harm offenders, head on. Part of this transformation includes being able to attract, recruit and retain the right people, particularly those with technological skills.

I have accepted the review body’s recommendations in full. The award for 2023-24 is as follows:

A total consolidated pay award of 7% in remuneration costs (IRC) for all officers grade 1-6. The spot rates for grades 1 to 5 and the minima and maxima of the standard pay ranges for grades 1 to 6 will also be raised by 7%.

A 7% increase to the London and south-east weighting allowance.

Building upon the NCA’s overall pay strategy and exceeding the historically high pay uplift given in 2022-23, this award represents the highest settlement the agency has received in its history.

In reaching this decision, I have given due consideration to a number of factors including: the value NCA officers add to the public by protecting them against the threat of serious and organised crime, the impact of inflation on officer pay, and delivering value for the taxpaying public. The award will be fully funded within the NCA’s existing budget. I am positive that the award for NCA officers will support the agency in its mission to disrupt and dismantle the most harmful organised crime groups operating in and against the UK.

[HCWS249]

Home Office Funding 2023-24

James Cleverly Excerpts

Thursday 1st February 2024 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (James Cleverly)]

The Home Office net cash requirement for the year exceeds that provided by the main estimate 2023-24. The supplementary estimate has not yet received Royal Assent.

The Contingencies Fund advance is required to meet commitments until the supplementary estimate receives Royal Assent, at which point the Home Office will be able to draw down the cash from the Consolidated Fund in the usual way, to repay the Contingencies Fund advance.

Parliamentary approval for additional resources of £2,600,000,000 will be sought in a supplementary estimate for Home Office. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £2,600,000,000 will be met by repayable cash advances from the Contingencies Fund.

[HCWS235]

Independent Office for Police Conduct: 2022-23 Annual Report

James Cleverly Excerpts

Tuesday 30th January 2024 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (James Cleverly)]

I am today, along with my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Nigel Huddleston), publishing the annual report and accounts of the Independent Office for Police Conduct. The report has been laid before the House and copies will be available in the Vote Office.

[HCWS223]

Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill

James Cleverly Excerpts

3rd reading
Wednesday 17th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (James Cleverly)]

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.

I of course echo the tributes to Sir Tony.

The Prime Minister, the Government and I have been clear that we will do whatever it takes to stop the boats, and we have of course been making progress on that pledge, reducing small boat arrivals by over a third last year, but to stop the boats completely and to stop them for good we need to deter people from making these dangerous journeys—from risking their lives and from lining the pockets of evil, criminal people-smuggling gangs.

The new legally binding treaty with the Government of the Republic of Rwanda responds directly to the Supreme Court’s concerns, reflecting the strength of the Government of Rwanda’s protections and commitments. This Bill sends an unambiguously clear message that if you enter the United Kingdom illegally, you cannot stay. This Bill has been meticulously drafted to end the merry-go-round of legal challenges; people will not be able to use our asylum laws, human rights laws or judicial reviews to block their legitimate removal. And the default will be for claims to be heard outside of this country. Only a very small number of migrants who face a real and imminent risk of serious and irreversible harm will be able to appeal decisions in the UK.

[Mr Tobias Ellwood (Bournemouth East) (Con)]

As things stand, can the Home Secretary confirm that if this Bill receives Royal Assent it will not breach international law; yes or no?

[James Cleverly]

My right hon. Friend raises an important point and it gives me an opportunity to be unambiguous and clear. As drafted, as we intend this Bill to progress, it will be in complete compliance with international law. The UK takes international law seriously and the countries we choose to partner with internationally also take international law seriously.

[Sir William Cash (Stone) (Con)]

The previous intervention was extremely apposite. Will the Foreign Secretary be kind enough to give me the advice as to why he said what he just did about no breaches of international law?

[James Cleverly]

My hon. Friend will know that the Government do not make their legal advice public. We have put forward, of course, an explanation of our position but I am absolutely confident that we will maintain our long-standing tradition of being a country that not just abides by international law but champions and defends it.

Under our new legislation migrants will not be able to frustrate the decision to remove them to Rwanda by bringing systemic challenges about the general safety of Rwanda.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

Can the Home Secretary assure us that if this Bill is passed tonight there will be a system in place that accurately tests its success, month by month and week by week, so that we know that all this anger, all this frustration, all this work is not for nothing?

[James Cleverly]

The hon. Gentleman certainly speaks for a number of Members in the House, although maybe not too many on his own Benches, because it sounds as if he wants this to work, whereas plenty of Opposition Members have tried to frustrate our attempts to deal with illegal migration. But we will of course want to assess the success because we want to be proud of the fact that this Government, unlike the Opposition parties, actually care about strengthening our borders and defending ourselves against those evil people smugglers and their evil trade.

To be clear, we will disapply the avenues used by individuals that blocked the first flight to Rwanda, including asylum and human rights claims. Without that very narrow route to individual challenge, we would undermine the treaty that we have just signed with Rwanda and run the very serious risk of collapsing the scheme, and that must not be allowed to happen. But if people attempt to use this route simply as a delaying tactic, they will have their claim dismissed by the Home Office and they will be removed.

The Bill also ensures that it is for Ministers and Ministers alone to decide whether to comply with the ECHR interim measures, because it is for the British people and the British people alone to decide who comes and who stays in this country. The Prime Minister said he would not have included that clause unless we were intending and prepared to use it, and that is very much the case. We will not let foreign courts prevent us from managing our own borders. As reiterated by the Cabinet Office today, it is the established case that civil servants under the civil service code are there to deliver the decisions of Ministers of the Crown.

The Bill is key to stopping the boats once and for all. To reassure some of the people who have approached me with concerns, I remind them that Albanians previously made up around a third of small boat arrivals, but through working intensively and closely with Albania and its Government, more than 5,000 people with no right to be here have been returned. The deterrent was powerful enough to drive down arrivals from Albania by more than 90%. Strasbourg has not intervened, flights from Rwanda have not been stopped and the House should understand that this legislation once passed will go even further and be even stronger than the legislation that underpins the Albania agreement.

[Yvette Cooper (Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford) (Lab)]

We obviously support the Albania agreement, but will the Home Secretary confirm that only 5% of Albanians who have arrived in the country over the past few years on small boats have been returned or removed? What has happened to the other 95%?

[James Cleverly]

As I have said, it is about deterrence, and the deterrent effect is clear for anyone to see, with a more than 90% reduction in the number of Albanians who have arrived on these shores.

I am glad that the shadow Home Secretary chose this point to intervene, because it reminds me that the Labour party has no credible plans at all to manage our borders. The Opposition have tried to obstruct our plans to tackle illegal migration over and over again—more than 80 times. They even want to cut a deal with the EU that would see us receive 100,000 extra illegal migrants each and every year. [Interruption.] They cheer. The shadow Home Secretary is pleased with the idea that we are going to receive an extra 100,000 every year. They can laugh, but we take this issue seriously, because it is not what our country needs and it is not what our constituents want.

We are united in agreement that stopping the boats and getting the Rwanda partnership up and running is of the utmost importance. Having a debate about how to get the policy right is of course what this House is for. That is our collective job, and I respect my good friends and colleagues on the Government Benches for putting forward amendments in good faith to do what they believe will strengthen the Bill. While my party sits only a short physical distance from the parties on the Opposition Benches, the gulf between our aspiration to control our borders and their blasé laissez-faire attitude to border control could not be more stark. Stopping the boats is not just a question of policy; it is a question of morality and of fairness. It is this Government—this Conservative party—who are the only party in this House taking this issue as seriously as we should. I urge this House to stick with our plan and stop the boats.

Oral Answers to Questions

James Cleverly Excerpts

Monday 15th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Wendy Chamberlain (North East Fife) (LD)]

15. What steps he is taking to reduce the backlog of asylum applications.

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (James Cleverly)]

Last year we cleared the equivalent of 90,000 legacy claims and processed a total of more than 112,000 claims—the largest volume in two decades. The total asylum backlog is now at its lowest point since December 2022. The improvement of processes continues, and we will continue to review and improve them to accelerate the decision making from hereon in.

[Andy Carter]

I am grateful to the Home Secretary for that update, but there are still four hotels in and around Warrington housing asylum seekers. Will he give us an update on the closing of hotels, and will he also tell us what steps he is taking to speed up the processing of refugees when they are in hotels awaiting the outcome of their claims?

[James Cleverly]

My hon. Friend made an important link between the speed of asylum processing and the need for asylum accommodation in various forms, including hotels. We are moving away from using hotels as that type of accommodation, thus reducing the cost to the public purse, and we will maintain recruitment levels and improve processes so that the speed of processing that we are seeing now can be continued. Although I cannot make commitments about the specific hotels in my hon. Friend’s constituency, he should rest assured that we are seeking to drive down the number of hotels on which we rely.

[Wendy Chamberlain]

My constituent arrived in the UK 15 months ago and was interviewed, but has been waiting for more than a year to receive a final response. He is not alone: according to the Refugee Council, 33,085 asylum cases have been lodged in the last six months alone, putting ever more strain on a broken system. The Home Secretary said that the legacy backlog was going down, but what about those more recent cases? What is being done to deal with them?

[James Cleverly]

The improved processes and the increased number of Home Office officials working on this issue mean that not only the legacy cases but the current ones will be dealt with more quickly, which will reduce the need for asylum accommodation of all types. I cannot comment on individual cases because the circumstances are different in each one, but the hon. Lady should rest assured that the lessons we have learned about the increased speed of processing will benefit those who are already in the system. Of course, we are also determined to drive down the number of people who come here in the first place, reducing the pressure on our asylum processing system in doing so.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

No, it is not “thank you”. I have to get a lot of people in and this is totally unfair. The question was very, very long, and I was coughing to get the hon. Gentleman to stop, not to continue. That is the signal we need to understand. If the hon. Gentleman does not want a particular Back Bencher to get in, I ask him please to point them out, because this is giving me that problem.

[James Cleverly]

The mask has slipped. The Labour party has said that even if the Rwanda scheme were to be successful, it would not keep it. That shows what Labour Members really think about this. They have no plan, they have no commitment, and they have even said that if something was working they would scrap it. [Interruption.]

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

2. What steps he is taking to help reduce levels of fraud.

--- Later in debate ---

[Stephen Crabb (Preseli Pembrokeshire) (Con)]

23. What steps he is taking to reduce net migration.

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (James Cleverly)]

On 4 December, I announced a new package of measures to further reduce legal net migration, including limitations on family dependants being brought in by workers and students, creating a salary threshold and raising the minimum income requirement progressively over the next few years.

[Martin Vickers]

My right hon. Friend will know that the net migration figure of over 700,000 is completely unsustainable. Were it to continue, that would represent the creation of 10 new parliamentary constituencies each year. What co-operation does his Department have with the public services that have to meet the demands from the newcomers?

[James Cleverly]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that we must be conscious of the impact of the level of net migration on local populations and local authorities. We recognise that the figure is too high and we are taking action to bring it down. We work closely with other Government Departments to deliver on that, but while Opposition Front Benchers criticise the headline figures, they also oppose every single step we take to bring that figure down.

[Sir David Evennett]

I commend my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and my hon. Friend the Minister for Legal Migration and the Border for all their work towards delivering on our manifesto commitment to reduce net migration. My constituents are now looking for the results of all their hard work. Will the Home Secretary outline how his new legal migration package will make the most of our post-Brexit points-based immigration system?

[James Cleverly]

This country has always had a global outlook: the ethnic composition of the Government at the most senior levels is a direct reflection of our global connectivity and those human bridges across the world. We want to ensure this country is able to benefit from the expertise, knowledge and work of the brightest and best from around the whole world in a manner that is controlled, fair, predictable and well enforced.

[Stephen Crabb]

It is good that the Government want to ensure that the brightest and best can continue to come to the UK to study, but does my right hon. Friend recognise that the changes to the family dependant rules for students risk causing enormous damage to some of our elite business schools, which compete in the global marketplace for experienced, outstanding professionals? What work is he doing with the sector to try to overcome some of those challenges?

[James Cleverly]

My right hon. Friend is right to highlight the fact that we are in a globally competitive environment when it comes to this country’s quality higher education postgraduate offer. I have no doubt that we are still highly competitive. We will continue to work with the university sector on this and ensure that the people we bring to the UK are here to study and add value, and that no institution in our higher education sector mistakes its role—they are educators, not a back-door visa system.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

I beg the Home Secretary to spread those more enlightened views to some of his colleagues. Migration should not be a dirty word. I am the son of a migrant. I migrated myself to the United States at one stage. My DNA tells me that I am 34% Irish and 32% Swedish. Can every Member of this Parliament have their DNA published so that we can bring some sense to this discussion about migration?

[James Cleverly]

I am not sure that the Government are able to compel such widespread disclosure—perhaps the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority might have a view on such things. Both sides of my family are of immigrant stock: my mother came to the UK in the 1960s, and my father’s family in 1066. This country has benefited from controlled immigration in a fair system, where people who play by the rules are rewarded and we say no to those who refuse to play by the rules.

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

I am a legal migrant, too. Bath has a vibrant hospitality industry that caters for local people and tourists from all over the world, but many of our hotels, restaurants, bars and pubs are already struggling to find enough staff or are under threat of reduced working hours and closure. How will the Home Secretary ensure that the proposed new salary thresholds and measures to reduce legal migration do not worsen those staff shortages?

[James Cleverly]

We liaise very closely with other Government Departments to ensure that our system, which is transparent and fair, also supports the British economy. We work particularly closely with the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure that those who have talent and ambition but who, for whatever reason, are currently unable to fully engage in the job market are enabled to do so. I myself have a background in the hospitality industry, and we want that industry to continue to thrive. It is not the case that we should automatically rely on overseas labour for that; we can have home-grown talent as well.

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

The Home Secretary talked about people coming to UK universities to study. Many people also come to our universities to carry out ground-breaking and economically important research, and they are worried about the rise in the minimum income thresholds, because that means they will be unable to bring their families with them. What assessment has he made of the impact of the new changes on our universities’ important research work?

[James Cleverly]

We recognise the contribution of the international pool of talent. Indeed, when I was Foreign Secretary I signed up to a deal with India for talented postgraduates to exchange experience in our respective countries. We will always look to support the genuine draw on talent, but we will also ensure that the higher education system is not used as a back-door means of immigration. The system is about research and education, not a back-door means of getting permanent residence in this country.

[Chris Elmore (Ogmore) (Lab)]

8. What recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of neighbourhood policing levels.

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (James Cleverly)]

Giving the police the resources they need to police local communities and fight crime remains a Government priority. We have delivered on our commitment to recruit 20,000 additional police officers; indeed, we have surpassed that. Decisions about how they are deployed are, of course, a matter for discussion between chief constables, police and crime commissioners, and mayors, who are responsible for their local communities.

[Chris Elmore]

The legacy of Government cuts has left police forces across England and Wales with a £3.2 billion cash shortfall, and 6,000 officers have now been taken away from frontline policing duties in order to fill the roles of former police staff. Can the Home Secretary start to acknowledge the effect of Tory cuts? How will he rectify that and get more frontline police back into our neighbourhoods across the United Kingdom?

[James Cleverly]

As I said, decisions on how a police force balances its important back-office roles and frontline policing roles are rightly decisions for the chief constable. We have given additional resource, and we have delivered on our commitment to have more police officers. Of course we are looking at police funding formulas to ensure that they remain well resourced, but there are more than 20,000—in fact, 20,947—additional police officers in England and Wales. That will ensure that there are more police on the frontline.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Alex Norris (Nottingham North) (Lab/Co-op)]

As my hon. Friend the Member for Ogmore (Chris Elmore) said, to this day we are feeling the devastating impact of the Tories’ decision to cut 20,000 police officers. Ministers such as the Home Secretary seem to expect credit for desperately trying to reverse it, but the National Police Chiefs’ Council was right that the efforts at reversal have moored 6,000 warranted officers in roles traditionally filled by civilians. Again, we have heard from the Home Secretary that we have never had it so good, but there are still 10,000 fewer neighbourhood police. Why will the Government not match our commitment to get 13,000 more police officers and police community support officers out on the beat?

[James Cleverly]

Unless Labour has a plan for paying for those figures, it is just empty rhetoric. The simple truth is that there are record numbers of officers in police forces across the country, including Essex Police, which I visited this morning—it has never had more police officers than it has currently. It is right that chief constables decide how to deploy those police officers. Again, unless we hear a plan to pay for those additional officers, I will not trust Labour’s figures.

[Richard Thomson (Gordon) (SNP)]

9. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to visa income thresholds on the university sector.

--- Later in debate ---

[Simon Jupp (East Devon) (Con)]

16. What recent progress his Department has made on reducing neighbourhood crime.

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (James Cleverly)]

This Government recognise the impact of neighbourhood crime. It is the crime that most affects people’s confidence—the confidence of individuals, businesses and communities. The strategic response to this is evidence-based and targeted, and getting policing right in this area is incredibly important for maintaining community confidence.

[Selaine Saxby]

I have seen for myself how successful the Government’s safer streets fund was in Barnstaple, and I am delighted that it will be extended into Ilfracombe this year. Will my right hon. Friend ensure that councils have the funding to help support those schemes?

[James Cleverly]

I thank my hon. Friend for highlighting that point. I am proud of the fact that, since 2010, neighbourhood crime is down by 51% because of the kind of interventions that she highlighted. I reassure her that we will continue to look at what works, to fund and support, and to make every effort to drive down neighbourhood crime even further.

[Simon Jupp]

Police numbers across Devon and Cornwall are at record levels and deserve our praise. In a recent survey, my constituents in East Devon said that tackling neighbourhood crime is an absolute priority, as ranging from burglaries to thefts from vehicles. Will my right hon. Friend outline what progress this Conservative Government have made on cracking down on neighbourhood crime?

[James Cleverly]

I am very pleased that my hon. Friend’s local community is feeling the positive impact of the decisions we have made. Since coming into Government, we have seen serious violence reduced by 26%, and neighbourhood crime down by 27% since the start of this Parliament. We have seen a 36% reduction in domestic burglary, an 18% reduction in vehicle-related theft and a 61% decrease in robbery. We have reduced homicide by 15%, have taken action on drugs and are committed to—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Secretary of State—I said the same to the Minister—please, you were very slow at the beginning; you will not be slow at the end, I am sure.

[James Cleverly]

We have a retail crime action plan. We have ensured that assaults against shop workers is an aggravating factor and we have made it clear to police forces across the country that we expect them to take action on neighbourhood crime like that and to pursue every reasonable line of inquiry. We are determined to drive down retail crime.

[Ms Marie Rimmer (St Helens South and Whiston) (Lab)]

17. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the safer streets fund on the safety of women and girls.

--- Later in debate ---

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (James Cleverly)]

This year, the Home Office will continue to build on our progress on the public priorities: a 36% fall in small boat crossings last year, 86 arrests of small boat pilots, 246 arrests of people smugglers, the biggest-ever international operation resulting in 136 boat seizures and 45 outboard motors being seized, the illegal migration package announced, more than 2,000 county lines drugs lines smashed and the introduction of the Criminal Justice Bill to give police leaders more powers. We are relentlessly focused on delivering community safety on behalf of the British people.

[Kerry McCarthy]

Now that we have the Home Secretary here to answer for himself, can he tell us whether he is aware that the police are receiving more than 560 reports of spiking every month, and in December the Home Office said that the reason the crime is so prevalent is that it is seen as funny and a joke? How can we have any confidence in the Home Secretary to deliver action on spiking when he thinks it is a joke?

[James Cleverly]

I am the Home Secretary who has actually introduced action on this. In my first week in the job, I visited Holborn police station to see the work of the Metropolitan police in tackling violence against women and girls. I made it clear to the Home Office that my priority was the protection of women and girls. I am taking action on this issue, and I am absolutely determined to continue doing so.

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

T3. I am sure the Home Secretary would agree that anti-extremism training in Departments is extremely important. What more can the Government do to ensure that it is training to tackle extremism, rather than anti-Government and party bias training?

--- Later in debate ---

[Yvette Cooper (Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford) (Lab)]

We welcome the proscription of Hizb ut-Tahrir.

Five more lives were tragically lost in the channel this weekend. As criminal gangs profit from those dangerous boat crossings, it shows how vital it is to stop them, but we need the Home Office to have a grip. The Home Secretary gave no answer earlier on the 4,000 people he has lost from the Rwanda list. Can he tell us if he has also lost the 35,000 people he has removed from the asylum backlog? How many of them are still in the country?

[James Cleverly]

I join the right hon. Lady in expressing sadness and condolences for those who lost their lives in the channel. That reinforces the importance of breaking the people-smuggling gangs. The fact is that we are driving down the numbers of people in the backlog: we are processing applications more quickly and ensuring that decisions are made so that those who should not be in this country can be removed either to their own country or a safe third country. That is why the Rwanda Bill is so important, and why we will continue working on these issues.

[Yvette Cooper]

Returns have dropped 50% since the last Labour Government. The Home Secretary is still not telling us where those missing people are. He appears to have lost thousands of people who may have no right to be in the country, and lost any grip at all. In the ongoing Tory asylum chaos, we have Cabinet Ministers, countless ex-Ministers and the deputy Tory chair all saying that they will oppose the Home Secretary’s policy this week—a policy that we know he and the Prime Minister do not even believe in. If the deputy Tory chair this week votes against the Home Secretary’s policy, will he be sacked, or is the Prime Minister so weak that he has lost control of asylum, lost control of our borders, and lost control of his own party, too?

[James Cleverly]

Conservative Members of Parliament are absolutely united in our desire to get a grip of this issue. I am not the person who has held up a sign saying, “Refugees welcome”; I am not the person whose colleagues oppose each and every rhetorical flourish. Until the Labour party comes up with a credible plan, I will not take its criticism any more seriously than it deserves.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

T4. The British people welcome people who come to this country to work and contribute to our economy. But those who abuse our hospitality, commit violent offences and are then sent to prison need to be deported at the end of their sentences. Will my right hon. and learned Friend update the House on how many were deported last year, and what action he will take to ensure that foreign nationals who are violent offenders are automatically deported when they leave prison?

--- Later in debate ---

[Sir Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

How many times must a demonstration in the same cause be repeated, week in and week out, before the well-funded organisers become liable to pay for at least part of the policing costs?

[James Cleverly]

Of course, we recognise that there is legitimacy to public protests. We also recognise that the unprecedented and unwarranted pressure that this is putting on policing around the country is having an impact on communities. My view is that the organisers have made their point, and repeating it does not strengthen their argument. Unfortunately, we are also seeing some deeply distasteful people weaving themselves in among those protesters, who are protesting on issues that they feel passionately about, but whose good will is being abused by others.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

Will the Home Secretary urgently meet his hon. Friend and constituency neighbour the Member for Harwich and North Essex (Sir Bernard Jenkin) and me to speak about why it is that, although the whole House passed the Public Order Act 2023 with an amendment to ensure safe access zones for women using abortion clinics, this is now subject to a consultation that would gut the legislation? Can he meet us urgently? The consultation is due to end on 22 January, and it would not actually do what all MPs in this House voted for.

[James Cleverly]

If the hon. Lady writes to me on this issue, I will endeavour to find out the details of the point she has made.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

Safe and Legal Routes to the UK

James Cleverly Excerpts

Thursday 11th January 2024 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (James Cleverly)]

In accordance with my obligations under section 61 of the Illegal Migration Act 2023, I am today laying before Parliament a report on safe and legal routes to the United Kingdom. The report will also be available on gov.uk.

The UK has a proud history of providing protection for the most vulnerable. Since 2015, we have offered over half a million people safe and legal routes into the UK. This includes those from Hong Kong, Syria, Afghanistan, and Ukraine, as well as family members of refugees.

Through our global resettlement schemes, which includes the UK resettlement scheme, the community sponsorship scheme and the mandate resettlement scheme, we have welcomed over 28,700 refugees since 2015. Through this period, we are the sixth largest recipient of United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) referred refugees, third only to Sweden and Germany in Europe.

This report reaffirms the Government’s commitment to providing safe and legal routes for those most in need. Under the Illegal Migration Act, the only way to come to the UK to claim protection will be through safe and legal routes. This will take power out of the hands of criminal gangs and protect vulnerable people.

As part of this commitment, section 60 of the Illegal Migration Act commits the Government to introducing a cap, in consultation with local authorities, on the number of people brought to the UK through safe and legal routes each year.

This is so that we can get a realistic picture of the UK’s capacity to welcome, integrate and accommodate resettled refugees. It is only by determining a realistic picture on capacity that the UK can continue to operate safe and legal routes and ensure these routes form part of a well managed and sustainable migration system. This is in recognition of the significant pressures facing local authorities and public services right now, including as a direct result of highly resource-consuming illegal migration. The cap is amendable should there be an international crisis that warrants a bespoke UK response.

The consultation to set the cap has now closed. The Government are currently reviewing responses from local authorities across the UK. A consultation summary report will be produced in the spring with draft regulations laid in Parliament before the summer recess. Parliament will then have an opportunity to debate and vote on the cap before it comes into force from 2025.

Through the establishment of the cap, and by bearing down on illegal migration, we will be able to do more for some of the most vulnerable refugees from across the globe, receiving more refugees from UNHCR direct from regions of conflict and instability. As we get control on numbers, we will keep under review whether we are able to do more to support vulnerable refugees and whether we need to consider new safe and legal routes.

[HCWS179]

Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse: Update

James Cleverly Excerpts

Wednesday 10th January 2024 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (James Cleverly)]

I would like to update the House on the Government’s progress in implementing commitments made in response to the recommendations of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse, following on from the publication of the Government’s response to the inquiry’s final report in May last year.

The final report concluded seven years of investigations. It exposed widespread child sexual abuse and significant institutional failings spanning several decades. It captured harrowing accounts from victims and survivors—over 7,000 of them—who bravely came forward to share their testimonies with the inquiry.

When the Government published their response to the inquiry’s final report last May, the then Home Secretary was clear that our response did not represent our final word on the inquiry’s findings, but rather the start of a new chapter. We remain focused on delivering on our commitments and being transparent about the progress we have made, but also where there is more to do. We owe that to all victims and survivors.

Mandatory reporting (Recommendation 13)

The Government are taking concerted action on several of the inquiry’s recommendations, including a central recommendation to introduce a new mandatory reporting duty for those engaging with children across England to report known or witnessed incidents of child sexual abuse. As the inquiry’s findings made clear, there is no excuse for those who actively try to cover up child sexual abuse or try to evade proper scrutiny and justice.

We have engaged extensively with those likely to be impacted by this duty through our call for evidence in May and consultation in November to inform how best it can be implemented. We have identified the Government’s Criminal Justice Bill, announced by His Majesty the King in November, as a legislative vehicle for introducing the duty.

Redress scheme (Recommendation 19)

The inquiry’s findings laid bare how vulnerable children, over many decades, were systematically raped, sexually abused and exploited in children’s homes and other institutions responsible for their care, health and wellbeing.

In May, the Government committed to establishing a redress scheme for victims and survivors of non-recent child sexual abuse. This will require significant join-up and collaboration across Government to work through the many complexities involved in delivering a scheme that is sensitive to victim and survivor needs and provides a non-adversarial, trauma-informed route to seeking redress. My Department has been engaging extensively with experts in this area—victim and survivor representative organisations, academics, lawyers, insurers and redress schemes operated by other national and local Governments —to scope the potential options and costs of establishing a redress scheme in England and Wales. I will work with my ministerial colleagues to deliver the scheme and to ensure the voices of victims and survivors are at the heart of this process.

Criminal injuries compensation scheme (Recommendation 18)

A redress scheme needs to form one part of a much wider package of improvements to existing routes in England and Wales for victims and survivors to pursue compensation for the abuse they have suffered. The Ministry of Justice has conducted a public consultation on whether to amend the scope and time limits for submitting an application to the criminal injuries compensation scheme (CICS), which closed in September last year. The Government are carefully considering our response to this and to our previous consultations in 2020 on CICS as a whole and in 2022 on the CICS unspent convictions eligibility rule. We will publish a single response to all three consultations as soon as practicable.

Therapeutic support (Recommendation 16)

The Government recognise the significant role therapeutic support can play in helping victims and survivors to recover from the devastating—and often lifelong—impacts of their abuse. But we also recognise the challenges many victims and survivors face when trying to access this support.

The Home Office is continuing to provide £4.5 million to voluntary organisations providing nationally accessible services to support victims and survivors of child sexual abuse through the support for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse (SVSCSA) fund. In August last year, the Ministry of Justice also recommissioned the rape and sexual abuse support fund, which is providing £26 million over 20 months—from August 2023 to March 2025— to more than 60 specialist victim support services. These services offer tailored support programmes, including counselling, therapeutic services, advocacy, outreach and group activities to victims and survivors of all ages, including children, to help them cope with their experiences, and move forward with their lives.

The Ministry of Justice is providing funding to the independent centre of expertise on child sexual abuse to deliver resources to improve the provision of services to sexually abused children, young people and adult survivors of non-recent child sexual abuse in England and Wales. This includes a directory of support services and a data hub, ensuring data on child sexual abuse and support is readily available and accessible to all. These tools will help commissioners to make effective commissioning decisions by improving their understanding of victim and survivor needs and the services available to them. Victims and survivors will also be able to access up-to-date information about accessing the right help.

The Ministry of Justice is also investing in the Bluestar Project at the Green House, a specialist sexual violence support service, to improve the quality of the support available to children pretrial. The Bluestar Project will provide training to 60 community-based support providers, to build knowledge and confidence to remove barriers to children and survivors accessing pre-trial support services.

The crucial support that victims of domestic and sexual abuse need to move forward with their lives is currently commissioned across a range of public sector bodies. Through the Government’s Victims and Prisoners Bill, we will facilitate a more strategic and co-ordinated approach, by placing a statutory duty on these bodies to collaborate on victim support services for victims of domestic abuse, sexual abuse and serious violent crime in England. The duty to collaborate creates a framework to drive forward better strategic multi-agency collaboration on commissioning, to help local areas map their local needs and target resources more effectively. This will reduce duplication and improve strategic co-ordination of services so that victims get the timely and quality support that they need.

Child protection authority (Recommendation 2)

The Government accepted the need for a stronger safeguarding system by ensuring existing mechanisms work as effectively and cohesively as possible to properly safeguard, support and protect children from child sexual abuse and other harms. Many of the reforms set out in our ambitious children’s social care programme, “Stable Homes, Built on Love”, will contribute towards fulfilling the desired effect of the inquiry’s recommendation to create a new child protection authority in England and Wales. These reforms include actions which will improve practice in child protection, including updating “Working Together to Safeguard Children” guidance and publishing national multi-agency child protection standards. I am pleased that both have recently been published.

In addition, the national child safeguarding practice review panel is launching a project to investigate how safeguarding partners are delivering local child safeguarding practice reviews (LCSPRs) and how their quality can be improved. This project is aimed at improving the delivery of LCSPRs and providing safeguarding partners with the support they need to ensure their review processes make a real difference to children’s lives and improve practice on the ground. Alongside this, the panel has launched a new national review into child sexual abuse within the family environment. This review will consider how safeguarding partners can improve practice to better prevent, identify and respond to this kind of abuse and to better protect children from harm.

As part of wider reforms, the Department for Education is driving forward a package of work to enhance safeguarding in out-of-school settings, which can include tuition centres and private tutors, extra-curricular clubs and activities, sports clubs, uniformed youth organisations and religious settings offering education or tuition in their own faith. In September last year, the Government published an updated safeguarding code of practice for providers of these settings, as well as guidance to support parents in making informed choices about the settings their children attend and how they can raise any concerns.

The Department for Education will also be launching a free-to-access e-learning package for providers to complement the code of practice and is in the process of reviewing existing guidance for local authorities on safeguarding in out-of-school settings, to ensure they are fully utilising their legal powers and those of multi-agency partners to identify and intervene in out-of-school settings of concern. A call for evidence to examine how safeguarding can be further strengthened in out-of-school settings will also be published in the coming weeks.

Data (Recommendation 1)

We continue to drive improvements in data quality and collection, including through funding dedicated child sexual abuse analysts in every policing region. This week the vulnerability knowledge and practice programme, which is funded by the Home Office, has published the national analysis of police-recorded child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE) crimes report. The report provides an in-depth analysis of crime during 2022, highlighting the scale and threat of child sexual abuse.

We are working with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to understand whether a new survey could more effectively measure the current scale and nature of child abuse and neglect, including child sexual abuse. ONS is currently developing the questionnaire and safeguarding procedures for the proposed survey, which will then be piloted.

The Home Office established the child sexual exploitation police taskforce in April last year, which is supporting forces to improve identification of crimes and data recording. The taskforce is collaborating with the tackling organised exploitation programme, which we continue to fund to provide dedicated intelligence and analytical expertise for forces undertaking complex organised exploitation investigations.

In summer last year, the Department for Education published the “Improving Multi-Agency Information Sharing” report, setting out the barriers to information sharing and the proposed next steps to overcome these. They are now working with colleagues in the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to scope and shape a pilot scheme to test the use of the NHS number as a consistent identifier for children. The Department for Education also published the “Children’s Social Care Data and Digital Strategy”, setting out a long-term plan for improving the use of data, information and technology to support services, develop insights and improve outcomes for children, young people and families. And the “Information Sharing Advice for Safeguarding Practitioners” is also being updated following a public consultation and a revised version will be published in due course.

Through our continued investment in the independent centre of expertise on child sexual abuse, an update to the centre’s annual trends in official data report will be published early this year. This will bring together 2022-23 data from children’s social care, policing, criminal justice and health to build a picture of how agencies identify and respond to child sexual abuse and will provide important insights into changing trends in practice.

Children’s Minister (Recommendation 3)

We champion the best interests of children at the most senior levels of Government, with the Secretary of State for Education fulfilling the role of a Cabinet Minister for children. The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chichester (Gillian Keegan), works across Government to raise the profile of issues affecting children to ensure they are front and centre of relevant policy and decision making. Her efforts are bolstered by the child protection ministerial group (CPMG), established in October 2022, which brings together Ministers from the Department for Education, Department of Health and Social Care, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Ministry of Justice and Home Office to drive a co-ordinated Government response on child protection and safety.

The CPMG most recently met in September and discussed the Government’s proposals for the new mandatory reporting regime and updates on establishing a redress scheme in England and Wales. It will meet again later this month to continue to drive forward the Government’s commitments to the inquiry’s findings.

Public awareness campaign (Recommendation 4)

The Government are raising the profile of child sexual abuse through our work to deliver on the inquiry’s recommendations. We are continuing to encourage a wider national conversation, building on the inquiry’s work, by raising awareness of the scale and nature of child sexual abuse and—crucially—how to respond to it, including through our call for evidence and consultation on mandatory reporting.

We have dedicated resources to more targeted campaigns and programmes which have raised awareness of child sexual abuse more widely. In September, the Home Office highlighted to parents and guardians the risks of social media companies implementing end-to-end encryption (E2EE) without robust child safety measures in place on their platforms. The next phase of the Lucy Faithfull Foundation’s “Stop It Now!” campaign, funded by the Home Office, launched in November with a focus on online grooming. The Home Office continues to fund the prevention programme, which launched the latest phase of its #LookClose campaign focused on improving public and business sector awareness of child sexual abuse and exploitation in public spaces, and how they can report concerns and support victims and survivors. And the Home Office is providing funding to supplement the work of the NSPCC helpline, including a national campaign encouraging members of the public and professionals to report concerns around child sexual abuse.

Pain compliance (Recommendation 5)

The Government did not accept the inquiry’s specific recommendation to prohibit the use of any technique that deliberately induces pain in custodial settings, but we share the inquiry’s aim of ensuring children are properly safeguarded across all settings, including custodial. It is also necessary to ensure staff working in these settings are properly trained and equipped to protect children from harm, including self-harm or causing physical harm to other children.

In the Government’s response to the inquiry, we set out our progress in piloting revisions to the “Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint” syllabus, which staff are trained to use in under-18 youth offender institutions and secure training centres, so that it only includes training on behaviour management and restraint. Staff are trained to use pain-inducing techniques separately as an “exceptional safety measure”, and only to prevent risk of serious harm.

The training pilot—which took place at Wetherby young offender institution—has now concluded, with early indications indicating that pain-inducing techniques have been used to restrain children less often. The youth custody service will proceed with rolling this out to other sites in the near future, starting with Oakhill secure training centre, where this process has recently commenced. We will of course continue to keep the policy and use of restraint, including pain inducing techniques, under constant review.

In our response, we also committed to publishing a new framework to provide a consistent approach to the use of force and restraint for staff in all settings across the youth custody service. This framework was published in August last year.

Amendment to the Children’s Act (Recommendation 6)

The Government accepted unequivocally the need for children and young people to have their voices heard, to feel empowered to raise concerns and challenge any aspect of their care.

That is why we are prioritising work to update national standards and statutory guidance for the provision of children’s advocacy services. In September, we launched a consultation on our proposals, including extending the scope of the standards to apply to special residential settings and introducing a new standard on non-instructed advocacy for children who are non-verbal. This consultation closed in December. We also remain committed to reviewing and strengthening the independent reviewing officer and regulation 44 visitors’ roles and continuing to engage with stakeholders on different options.

Staff registration (Recommendations 7 and 8)

The inquiry exposed critical gaps in workforce regulation, including inconsistent registration regimes, and rightly called for these to be plugged to improve the quality of care and protection of vulnerable children.

The Department for Education is continuing to explore introducing professional registration of the children’s homes workforce to better protect children in residential settings. Alongside this, we are working to develop a programme to support improvements in the quality of leadership and management in the children’s homes sector and will announce further details in due course.

The Ministry of Justice is assessing how a new internal register could operate for the workforce in youth offender institutions and secure training centres. The Ministry of Justice is also currently reviewing and strengthening recruitment and vetting practices in the youth secure estate and enhancing the standards to which all staff working in these sites must adhere.

Disclosure and barring scheme (Recommendations 9, 10 and 11)

The disclosure and barring regime, operated by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), plays a crucial role in the safeguarding of children, and the Government are determined to ensure the regime remains effective at this. The Government are carefully considering the recommendations from the inquiry, alongside those from the independent Bailey review of the disclosure and barring regime.

We are investigating how we can ensure that all those who work closely with children can obtain the highest-level DBS checks, including whether that person is barred from working with them. We are reviewing current criminal record disclosure arrangements for those working with children overseas, to consider the scope of further strengthening the regime. We have engaged extensively with stakeholders around safeguarding relating to those in self-employed or overseas roles, where working closely with children. We are committed to ensuring, through working with DBS and regulatory bodies, that those who have a statutory duty to inform the DBS about individuals who work closely with children and may pose a risk of harm to them, fulfil that duty. Through its outreach activity and work with regulatory bodies, the DBS is ensuring that all those subject to the duty are fully aware of their responsibilities and are protecting the children and young people within their care.

Compliance with victims code (Recommendation 14)

The criminal justice joint inspectorates have included an inspection on the experiences of victims of child sexual abuse of the criminal justice system in their 2023-25 inspection programme, with victims code compliance proposed to feature.

The Government’s Victims and Prisoners Bill will also introduce a power for the Home Secretary, Justice Secretary and Attorney General to require that the inspectorates carry out a joint inspection assessing victims’ experiences and treatment and also introduce a new duty on the inspectorates to consult the Victims’ Commissioner in developing their inspection programmes. This will support a clearer and sharper focus on how victims and survivors are treated across the system, allowing issues to be identified and solved.

Civil statute of limitation laws—personal injury claims (Recommendation 15)

The Government recognise, as reinforced by the inquiry, that it might take years—and in many cases decades—for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse to come forward and feel ready to disclose their trauma. We will publish a consultation paper shortly, setting out options for reforming limitation law in child sexual abuse cases, as well as examining how the existing judicial guidance in child sexual abuse cases could be strengthened.

Access to records (Recommendation 17)

Recognising the difficulties experienced by many victims and survivors in accessing records about their non-recent abuse, the Government committed to engaging with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on introducing, as recommended by the inquiry, a code of practice on retention of and access to records known to relate to child sexual abuse. Options are now being worked through to see what is feasible.

Online Safety Act (Recommendations 12 and 20)

The Government’s world-leading Online Safety Act 2023, containing measures that respond to many of the inquiry’s proposals, received Royal Assent in October. This groundbreaking legislation introduces the strongest duties for technology companies to prevent, identify and remove harmful child sexual abuse and exploitation content from their services and platforms. It will also provide better protections for children from harmful and age-inappropriate content by requiring technology companies, if their services are likely to be accessed by children, to have robust safety measures in place and to enforce age limits and age verification measures. Ofcom has now formally taken on its role as the regulator for online safety and is consulting on the codes of practice which will guide companies on how to fulfil the safety duties in the Act. The Act will also bring into force a new role for the National Crime Agency, which is preparing to receive reports of child abuse direct from industry, strengthening the UK policing response to online child sexual abuse.

While the regulator gets up to speed, we continue to call on industry to step up their efforts in combating child sexual abuse on their platforms now. The Government have been steadfast in our resolve to challenge global social media companies, like Meta, to not willingly blind themselves to the horrific exploitation and sexual abuse occurring on their platforms and instead introduce robust safety measures to protect children, as they roll out notionally privacy enhancing technologies like end-to-end encryption. The Government have also invested in initiatives like the safety tech challenge fund to illustrate how technology solutions can be developed which balance privacy with child safety, and we are also working closely with our international partners, including through the Five Country Ministerial, to tackle the sickening rise of child sexual abuse images generated by artificial intelligence and stop their spread online.

Concluding remarks

I would like to reassure the House that where we can act quickly, we are doing so. Where more time is required, we are dedicating resources to disentangle complex issues and ensure we deliver what victims and survivors need.

The voices of victims and survivors of child sexual abuse —whether they shared their stories with the inquiry or not—ring through each of the inquiry’s recommendations and will continue to inform the Government’s efforts to implement them. They strengthen our resolve to eradicating this heinous crime from our society, once and for all.

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