Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to reopen hotels to house migrants crossing the Channel in small boats.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The accommodation estate is under constant review, as the Home Office continues to identify a range of options to minimise the use of hotels and ensure better use of public money, whilst maintaining sufficient accommodation to meet demand.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many migrants have entered the UK in small boats since the general election; and how many entered the UK in small boats in the five months up to the general election.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
From 5 July 2024 until 17 October 2024, a total of 13,983 migrants arrived in the UK having crossed the Channel in small boats. Between 5 February 2024 (five months before the election) and 4 July, the total was 12,239.
It has been the normal pattern since the start of the small boat crossing in 2018 for arrivals in the summer months to exceed those in the earlier part of the year.
The table below provides the equivalent figures for the same time periods in prior years.
Year | Arrivals 5 Feb – 4 July | Arrivals 5 July – 17 October |
2023 | 10,035 | 14,683 |
2022 | 11,561 | 24,199 |
2021 | 6,370 | 12,686 |
2020 | 2,399 | 4,802 |
2019 | 547 | 784 |
2018 | 4 | 17 |
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of reported burglaries have resulted in a suspect being taken to court in England and Wales in the last year, and how this compares with the rest of the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of burglary offences recorded by the police in England and Wales, and their investigative outcomes, including the number of charge/summons. This information is published on a quarterly basis, and can be accessed here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables
The Home Office does not hold information on the number of suspects taken to court. Statistics on prosecutions and convictions in England and Wales, including burglary, are published by the Ministry of Justice, in the release Criminal Justice System Statistics Quarterly, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly
Scotland have a different method of counting burglary offences to England and Wales but information on crimes and offences recorded by the police, including clear ups of crimes, can be accessed here:
https://www.gov.scot/publications/recorded-crime-scotland-2022-23/
Information on crimes and offences recorded by the police in Northern Ireland, including investigative outcomes, can be accessed here:
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to stop dangerous and illegal Channel crossings and to ensure criminal gangs can no longer assist illegal immigration into the UK, and when they expect such crossings to end.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government continues to work closely with domestic and international partners to reduce the incidence of these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary crossings, and to prosecute those who profit from them.
Crossing attempts have decreased by a third this year, and large numbers of suspected facilitators have been arrested. Violence is now being increasingly employed by migrants and facilitators when crossing attempts are disrupted by French law enforcement, suggesting that these efforts are having an impact on criminals.
The Illegal Migration Act, enacted in July this year, marks a vital step forward in ending these crossings by removing the incentives for using these dangerous, illegal, and unnecessary routes.
A timescale for the ending of these crossings cannot currently be given, but in 2023 for the first time we have seen a reduction in arrivals.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what new counter-terrorist measures are being proposed to deal with the threat from IS and al-Qaeda against the UK.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
On Tuesday 18 July, the Home Office published an updated version of the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST.
This strategy identifies the persistent and evolving threat from Islamist terrorist groups overseas, and sets out our response to it working closely with international allies and partners. The document is available at gov.uk
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, if any, to provide protection for Christians who are running for public office.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is committed to ensuring the safety and security of all those participating in the democratic process, including those who decide to stand for election. This commitment extends to individuals of all faiths (or none). Any particular added protection for individuals or groups would be determined on a threat-led basis. The physical security of those taking part in elections is organised at the local level.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what further steps they will take to stop the criminal drug trade within the UK.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Drugs devastate lives, ruin families and damage communities. This Government is determined to tackle this threat and that is why we published a ten-year Strategy to combat illicit drugs. This Strategy sets out a whole system approach of how the Government is doing more than ever to cut off the supply of drugs by criminal gangs and give people with a drug addiction a route to a productive and drug-free life reducing the recreational use of drugs
Underpinned by significant investment, we will reduce drug-related crimes, deaths, harms and overall drug use. This includes £300m of dedicated investment from the Home Office over the next three years to drive work on tackling drug supply
The strategy is on the gov.uk page.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent the elderly from being attacked in their own homes.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Making our communities safer and reducing crime is a key priority for the Government, which includes protecting elderly people from crime.. That is why we are delivering on the people’s priorities by recruiting an additional 20,000 police officers to give the police the resources they need, of which 11,053 have already been recruited. We have also increased funding for policing this year by £636m compared to 20/21.
In July, we published the Beating Crime Plan, which sets out our strategy for protecting the law-abiding majority, swiftly bringing criminals to justice, and managing offenders with rigour and discipline. It also commits all of Government to do everything within its power to drive crime down. Moreover, the first two rounds of the Safer Streets Fund were designed to prevent neighbourhood crimes such as burglary, robbery and theft. The fund supports communities in England and Wales that are disproportionately affected by these crimes to implement well-evidenced crime prevention initiatives, such as street lighting and home security.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what further steps they plan to take to de-radicalise terrorist extremists.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The Desistance and Disengagement Programme (DDP) is part of Prevent. DDP focuses on rehabilitating individuals who have been involved in terrorism or terrorism-related activity and reducing the risk they pose to the UK. The programme offers a suite of tailored interventions drawing on the skill sets of multiple intervention providers including practical mentors and theological & ideological specialists as well as provides support through psychological intervention where this need is identified.
It focusses on those who have served prison sentences for terrorist or terrorist related offences and are due to be released on probation licence; those on Terrorism Prevention Investigation Measures (TPIMs): and those who have returned from conflict zones in Syria or Iraq and are subject to Temporary Exclusion Orders (TEOs).
The Home Office seeks to drive improvements to our programmes on a continuous basis and is currently undertaking a review of the programme by the way of an independent evaluation.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to counter ransomware attacks against businesses (1) in the UK, and (2) in other Western countries.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government’s priority, working alongside law enforcement and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), is to do all we can to mitigate any harm to the UK from ransomware.
The Home Office provides funding for cyber teams in Regional Organised Crime Units (ROCUs) across England and Wales, to bolster the regional response to crime, provide protect advice to businesses and individuals, and to divert people vulnerable to cyber criminality.
The NCSC as the UK’s technical authority for cyber threats, continually reviews its advice and guidance to reflect new trends and how individuals and organisations can protect themselves, as well as providing swift support to organisations which fall victim to ransomware attack.
The National Crime Agency’s (NCA) National Cyber Crime Unit (NCCU) provides the focus for our national response to combating serious cyber criminals. It is using its operational resources to deliver arrests and disruption, using the NCA’s enhanced intelligence picture to target criminals where they are most vulnerable.
The NCSC and NCA continue to monitor and respond to the cyber threat, including ransomware.
The Government is working collaboratively with our international partners specifically the Five Eyes to address the ransomware threat.