Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to launch a consultation on the proposed national supported housing standards and licensing regulations under the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023, and whether they will consider producing interim guidance in the meantime to ensure sufficient supply of supported accommodation.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is committed to consulting on the implementation of measures in the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023. We will provide an update on our next steps in relation to the implementation of measures in the Act shortly.
The Department will shortly be publishing research on the supply and demand for supported housing. The Department will consider the findings of this research as it formulates future government policy on supported housing supply.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support junior police cadet schemes.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recognises and values the professionalism, dedication and sacrifice shown by volunteers in policing. Volunteers enhance the effectiveness of policing by bringing diverse and valuable skills that complement the roles officers and staff play in delivering the best service to the public.
Police forces are responsible for running their local volunteering programmes, including volunteer police cadet schemes.
The annual Lord Ferrers Awards ceremony, which will take place on 5 December, is organised by the Home Office to recognise the time and effort that volunteer police cadets and other volunteers contribute to their local communities.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to define the concept of the grey belt and to develop related policies.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government set out its proposed approach to grey belt in its consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework, which closed on 24 September.
Officials in my department are now analysing the responses with a view to publishing the Government’s conclusions, alongside a revised Framework, before the end of the year.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to provide the Mayor of London with additional support for housebuilding.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is committed to working in partnership with the Mayor of London to significantly increase housing delivery in London. This includes working collaboratively with the Mayor to deliver an ambitious London Plan and provide additional support to unlock stalled sites through the New Homes Accelerator.
The Government has also allocated £4 billion of the £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme to London as well as £203 million of the Brownfield, Infrastructure and Land Fund to unlock strategic housing sites in London.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to require lenders to consider rental payment history when making decisions on mortgage applications.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK benefits from a competitive mortgage market, including products that are based on a tenant’s history of rental payments. Any prospective first-time buyer should speak to a mortgage broker, who will be able to assist them in finding the best possible product for their circumstances.
The pricing and availability of mortgages is a commercial decision for lenders in which the Government does not intervene. Lenders need to balance the risk of default and losses when making their decisions, which is why mortgage affordability assessments consider a range of factors.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that immigration lawyers and law firms are not involved in (1) coaching claimants, or (2) encouraging them to make false statements to deceive the immigration system.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office Professional Enablers Taskforce was created in March 2023 to investigate the activities of all Professional Enablers, who may be using their expertise or position to abuse the immigration system. This includes legal professionals and immigration advisers.
Where unethical and illegal practices are identified and evidence exists that obligations have been breached, the taskforce may refer legal practitioners to the relevant regulatory body or to law enforcement partners, where criminality is evident for consideration of sanctions or penalties.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the asylum seekers' appeal system is not intentionally undermined, with the result that rejected applications are subsequently accepted.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Where a person has been refused asylum and makes further submissions, there will only be a right of appeal if the further submissions amount to a fresh claim. There will be a fresh claim only if the further submissions have not previously been considered and, taken together with the previously considered material, created a realistic prospect of success. In the vast majority of cases where there is a right of appeal, the Home Office is represented by Presenting Officers who are specially trained on immigration law and practice, including cross-examination, to ensure any credibility issues are raised before the tribunal, and that decisions are robustly defended at appeal where it is right to do so.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to criminalise the (1) production, and (2) possession, of AI-generated deepfake sexual images and videos involving real individuals.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office is currently working with the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to review the extent to which existing criminal law provides coverage of AI-enabled offending and harmful behaviour, including the production and distribution of deepfake material using generative AI.
With respect to material concerning public figures, the new Online Safety Act introduces ‘false communications’ and ‘threatening communications’ offences that could cover the sending of deepfake content produced via AI, so long as the conditions are met. Other offences may also apply, such as impersonating a police officer.
If the review suggests alterations to the criminal law are required to clarify its application to AI-generated synthetic and manipulated material then amendments will be considered in the usual way.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to (1) address, and (2) criminalise, the production of deepfake video and audio recordings involving public figures.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office is currently working with the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to review the extent to which existing criminal law provides coverage of AI-enabled offending and harmful behaviour, including the production and distribution of deepfake material using generative AI.
With respect to material concerning public figures, the new Online Safety Act introduces ‘false communications’ and ‘threatening communications’ offences that could cover the sending of deepfake content produced via AI, so long as the conditions are met. Other offences may also apply, such as impersonating a police officer.
If the review suggests alterations to the criminal law are required to clarify its application to AI-generated synthetic and manipulated material then amendments will be considered in the usual way.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to make (1) the generation, and (2) the possession, of AI-generated sexual images and videos of children a punishable offence.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government remains firmly committed to tackling all forms of child sexual abuse online and in our communities across the UK and internationally. Our approach is underpinned by the Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Strategy which sets out firm commitments to drive action across the whole system.
The law in the UK is very clear with regards to production of child sexual abuse material. It is an offence to produce, store, share or search for any material that contains or depicts child sexual abuse, regardless of whether the material depicts a ‘real’ child or not. This prohibition also includes pseudo-imagery that may have been computer-generated.
Possession of indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children carries a maximum sentence of 5 years’ imprisonment. In addition, the offence of taking, making, distribution and possession with a view to distribution of any indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph of a child under 18 carries a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment.
Home Office investment supports the National Crime Agency to use its unique capabilities to disrupt the highest harm offenders, safeguard children and remove the most horrific child sexual abuse material from the internet, including on the dark web.
The Home Office has recently rolled out new tools linked to our world-leading Child Abuse Image Database to support law enforcement to identify offenders and safeguard victims more quickly. This includes Fast Forensic Triage – a tool that enables police officers to identify known indecent images of children on suspects’ devices up to 100 times faster than before.
In October, the Home Office, in partnership with the Internet Watch Foundation, hosted an AI Safety Summit side event to discuss the growing threat of generative artificial intelligence in tackling online child sexual abuse. As part of the event, the Home Office issued a joint statement on tackling the proliferation of AI-generated child sexual abuse material, with 33 signatories, including tech companies such as Snapchat, TikTok and Stability AI.