Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what national or local (1) organisations, and (2) agencies, have been funded in the last 12 months in respect of the promotion of British values and associated work; and what guidance has been given to the Office for Standards in Education in relation to (a) inspection reporting on citizenship, British values and character building, as part of the national curriculum, and (b) the judgements made on the quality of education in both primary and secondary schools.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office’s Building a Stronger Britain Together (BSBT) Programme was established in early 2016 to deliver Pillars 1 and 2 of the Government’s Counter Extremism Strategy (countering extremist ideology, and building a partnership with those opposed to extremism). The Programme is designed to fulfil the Government’s commitment to ‘develop a new network, linking individuals and groups around Britain who are already standing up to extremists in their communities’. Its objectives include reducing the number of people holding attitudes, beliefs and feelings that oppose shared values; an increased sense of belonging and civic participation at a local level; and more resilient communities.
Fifty-three groups have been awarded support from the first round of applications under BSBT. The Home Office will announce the groups and publish details of the projects it is supporting shortly.
DfE and the Home Office are jointly funding Breakthrough Media to manage the Educate Against Hate website, which aims to provide teachers, school leaders and parents with the information, guidance and support they need to challenge radical views and keep their children safe, including supporting the promotion of fundamental British values.
In 27 January 2017, the Department for Education awarded a contract to the Association of Citizenship teaching to produce 6 resource packs to include high quality guidance for teachers to hold knowledge-based debates on topical issues relating to fundamental British values (democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different beliefs and those without faith), citizenship and equality.
The general reporting areas for school inspection are set out in section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Within this context, HM Chief Inspector is responsible for Ofsted’s common inspection framework and school inspection handbook, which set out how inspectors consider and report on these matters. In developing the framework and handbook, the Chief Inspector takes account of Departmental guidance to schools. This includes guidance on schools’ promotion of fundamental British values.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which reports commissioned by her Department from external bodies between 1 September 2010 and 31 December 2014 have not yet been published; when each such report was commissioned; what the nature of the research so commissioned was; from which individual or body each such report was commissioned; what the value was of each report so commissioned; on what date each such report was received by her Department; for what reasons the research has not yet been published; and when she plans to publish each such report.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The available centrally held information is shown in the following table.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what account her Department took of the effects of and reasons for the removal of embarkation procedures in 1996 when making the decision to re-establish such procedures in the current Parliament.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Embarkation controls were abolished partially in 1994 and completely in 1998, as the paper-based checks were deemed outdated and checks were not carried outon all modes of transport.
There have been considerable technological advances since the 1990s. Moreover, there are expanding and differing requirements and challenges for border services in the modern world. The Government’s commitment to introduce exit checks takes full account of these developments.
The new approach will make effective use of electronic systems that are able to support technology-based checks on those leaving the UK and produce more accurate and increasingly valuable information for immigration and border security purposes.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to implement the ruling pertaining to the immigration case of the hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough, Home Office Reference Number SI733366.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Home Office has reached a decision on your constituent’s case and wrote to the family’s legal representatives on 24 February 2015, inviting them to enrol their biometric information. Subject to successful enrolment and a number of final checks, a grant of leave to remain will be issued.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2015 to Question 219411, if she will discuss with the Secretary of State for Education the reasons for that Department's decision to update categorisation of the ethnicity of school pupils from January 2016.
Answered by Mike Penning
The categorisation of the ethnicity of school children is a matter for the Secretary of State for Education.
Home Office Ministers have regular meetings with Ministerial colleagues and others as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2015 to Question 219411, what policy considerations led to the decision to retain the Census 2001 framework.
Answered by Mike Penning
The Home Office, taking advice from senior officers, has decided against the transition to the Census 2011 classification for the forces of England and Wales at this time on the grounds that the costs involved in changing the current classifications would be considerable and disproportionate. However, the Home Office and policing partners will continue to keep the situation under careful review.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential benefits of the adoption by the police of ethnic category codes currently defined in the 2011 census in respect of the Roma, Gypsy and Traveller population as part of their collection of data in accordance with Section 95 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991.
Answered by Mike Penning
The Census categories for ethnicity are assessed each year as part of the Home Office’s process of agreeing each year’s Annual Data Requirement (ADR) of mandatory collections of statistical data from the police. This process
includes consultation with stakeholders of the Ministry of Justice biennial release Race and the Criminal Justice System, produced in accordance with section 95 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991.
The ADR collections currently use the Census 2001 ethnicity framework, and there are no plans at present to move to the Census 2011 framework, which would add a separate category of ‘Gypsy or Irish Traveller’