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Written Question
Terrorism
Thursday 26th October 2023

Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how they define the terms (1) ‘terrorist’ and (2) ‘terrorism’.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.


Written Question
Undocumented Migrants: Sahel
Wednesday 27th September 2023

Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of migrants who arrived in the UK via irregular routes from countries in the Sahel during the past 12 months.

Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth

The Home Office publishes statistics on detected irregular arrivals to the UK by method of entry and nationality (which may differ from country of origin), in the ‘Irregular migration to the UK statistics’ release on gov.uk. These statistics are published in table Irr_D01 of the irregular migration to the UK detailed datasets, which can be downloaded via the table attached.

The latest data goes up to the end of June 2023.


Written Question
Police Custody: Travellers
Monday 18th September 2023

Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether those who identify as (1) Gypsy, (2) Roma, or (3) Traveller, in custody have any special needs recognised.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Data on people detained in police custody was published for the first time in November 2022, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-powers-and-procedures-other-pace-powers-england-and-wales-year-ending-31-march-2022.

For the year ending March 2023 the Home Office collected ethnicity data from forces using the 2021 Census categories, which includes the ‘Gypsy and Irish traveller’ and ‘Roma’ groups.

In addition, for the year ending March 2022 data, information was published on the ethnicity of people detained in custody and separately on whether a person was considered vulnerable and whether an appropriate adult was called. As this was the first year the data was collected the statistics were still in development and therefore an ethnic breakdown of vulnerable adults in custody was not published. Home Office analysts will assess the quality of the data collected for the year ending March 2023 and depending on the outcome will publish this breakdown as part of the ‘Police Powers and Procedures: Other PACE bulletin’, which is scheduled for release in November/December 2023, as pre-announced on Gov.uk, here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/police-powers-and-procedures-other-pace-powers-england-and-wales-year-ending-march-2023.

Police custody officers should carry out an assessment of the risk and vulnerability of everyone in custody, on an individual basis. This assessment should take into account the person’s behaviour, any signs of illness or injury, their communication, including information from all available sources and the circumstances and environment in which they were found.


Written Question
Metropolitan Police
Monday 6th March 2023

Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of whether the size and structure of the Metropolitan Police has a positive or negative impact on its performance.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Government is focused on supporting the existing policing system to operate in a more efficient and effective way. More could be done in the current policing structures to achieve this, and we are working with policing to ensure it works better as one system to manage new threats, build national capability and deliver more consistent standards. We have no current plans to review policing structures.

Reform of the Metropolitan Police Service is vital in order to restore the public’s trust, better protect London’s communities from harm and prevent those not fit to serve from ever entering the force. It is the responsibility of the Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, to address the concerns of His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) about the force’s performance. We will continue to work closely with him to ensure that the people of London get the quality of service they deserve.


Written Question
Hourglass
Friday 25th November 2022

Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of (1) the work of the charity Hourglass, and (2) its helpline for older people.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

This government recognises that, although anyone can suffer from domestic abuse, for older victims, abuse may be more hidden and disguised or compounded by other age-related factors such as ill health.

When tackling domestic abuse, we also understand the importance of specialist and ‘by and for’ services (specialist services that are designed and delivered by and for the users and communities they aim to serve) are vital in providing the tailored support that victims and survivors of domestic abuse need.

We work closely with and fund organisations providing this support, including Hourglass, which supports elder victims of abuse, including domestic abuse.

Since 2018, the Home Office has funded Hourglass to enhance their helpline, provide casework support, and train specialist Independent Domestic Violence Advisers. As with all our funded programmes, we hold regular monitoring meetings with Hourglass to understand the impact of this funding. In 2021/22, Hourglass supported over 3,000 cases.


Written Question
Passports: Applications
Tuesday 14th June 2022

Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the time taken to (1) issue new passports, and (2) renew current passports.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

Since April 2021, people have been advised to allow up to ten weeks when applying for their British passport as more than 5 million people delayed applying due to the pandemic.

Between March and May, over 90% of applications processed were completed within six weeks, with approximately 98.5% completed within ten weeks.


Written Question
Armed Conflict: Ukraine
Tuesday 5th April 2022

Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the (1) help, and (2) refuge, that can be given by the UK to those fleeing the Ukraine, following the Russian invasion of that country.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

The United Kingdom stands firmly with the people of Ukraine.

This Government has introduced two new schemes: the Ukraine Family Scheme announced on 4 March, and the ‘Homes for Ukraine’ Scheme announced by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities on 14 March.

The Ukraine Family Scheme is fee-free and allows British nationals and people settled in the UK to bring family members to the UK, covering immediate family members plus parents, grandparents, children over 18 and siblings, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, cousins and in-laws. Individuals will be granted leave for three years and will be able to work and access public services and benefits.

The ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme will allow individuals, charities, community groups and businesses in the UK to bring Ukrainians to safety – including those with no family ties to the UK. There is no limit on the number of arrivals, and those who come to the UK on the scheme are granted permission to live and work here for up to three years. They will also have access to public services and benefits. This government will work closely with international partners on the ground to support displaced Ukrainians in need of a home.

The Home Office will work closely with international partners on the ground to support displaced Ukrainians in need of a home.


Written Question
Police: Ministers of Religion
Wednesday 3rd November 2021

Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of police practice regarding affording priests and religious ministers access to the (1) dead, or (2) dying, at the scene of a crime.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

The College of Policing, in their role as the professional body for policing, have produced Authorised Professional Practice (APP) in relation to the management of crime scenes.

Their APP includes guidance on the preservation and security of a scene in order to maintain the integrity and provenance of any material which may be recovered from it. It sets out that investigators should be mindful of the impact that securing and managing a scene can have on a community. However, decisions taken in relation to the management of a crime scene are an operational matter for the Force responding to the incident. In making decisions, we would expect officers to consider the APP and use their professional judgement based on the specific circumstances and demands of the investigation.

The College of Policing have confirmed that while there are no plans at present to amend or provide additional guidance in relation to this area unless the law changes, they would welcome further engagement with faith, community leaders or others who have concerns about the current APP to understand their views and consider possible next steps. They can be contacted via stakeholders@college.police.uk.


Written Question
Dangerous Dogs
Wednesday 28th April 2021

Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of attacks by dogs on children and adults reported in each of the last five years in England; and how many dogs were ordered to be humanely destroyed in each of those years.

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 collects data from police forces in England and Wales on the number of offences recorded by the police where an owner, or person in charge, allowed a dog to be dangerously out of control, injuring any person or assistance dog. Data for those forces in England able to supply data can be found below, for the most recent five years where full data is held (2015-2019).

Year

Number of offences*

2015

9729

2016

12406

2017

13675

2018

13808

2019

14478

*Excludes Humberside, Kent, Greater Manchester, and Wiltshire Police. The data has not been subject to the same level of quality assurance checks as data published by the Home Office.

The Home Office does not collect data on the number of dogs which were ordered to be humanely destroyed.


Written Question
Metropolitan Police: Religious Buildings
Monday 26th April 2021

Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether specific training is given to Metropolitan Police Officers on procedures to be followed (1) before, and (2) upon entering, public places of worship.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

The Metropolitan Police Service is responsible for the training of individual officers. The Home Office does not hold this information.