Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what powers the independent inquiry into grooming gangs will have to compel the production of evidence.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs is a statutory inquiry, under the Inquiries Act 2005, with full powers to compel evidence.
The Home Secretary has published draft Terms of Reference, which include consideration of ethnicity, religion and culture. The Chair is currently consulting on these draft terms; however, the Home Secretary has made clear that the inclusion of ethnicity, religion and culture is not subject to change.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will amend the terms of reference of the independent inquiry into grooming gangs to examine the role of religion and culture in the abuse.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs is a statutory inquiry, under the Inquiries Act 2005, with full powers to compel evidence.
The Home Secretary has published draft Terms of Reference, which include consideration of ethnicity, religion and culture. The Chair is currently consulting on these draft terms; however, the Home Secretary has made clear that the inclusion of ethnicity, religion and culture is not subject to change.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Afghans who have been granted asylum in the UK have subsequently returned to Afghanistan for a holiday or to visit relatives.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government does not publish information on how many Afghans who have been granted asylum in the UK have subsequently returned to Afghanistan for a holiday or to visit relatives.
Where an individual returns to their country of origin, this will usually indicate voluntary re-availment and may lead to revocation of refugee status under paragraph 339A(i)-(vi) or humanitarian protection under paragraph 339GA of the Immigration Rules. Cases are considered on a case-by-case basis.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of teaching at police training colleges, in particular in regard to teaching about hate speech and free speech.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is committed to ensuring there are consistent, high standards in police training and leadership to help maintain public trust and confidence. That is why the Home Office continues to fund the College of Policing to deliver support to forces and improvements to leadership and training standards through the National Police Leadership Centre.
The College of Policing sets national guidance and standards for policing in England and Wales, which includes publishing Authorised Professional Practice (APP) on hate crime. This APP provides guidance on how police should respond to hate crimes and promotes a proportionate and consistent approach that upholds the rights of victims and protects free speech.
While the College sets the overall framework, individual police forces are responsible for determining their own local delivery of training.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of risk that Islamism, as portrayed by the religionofpeace.com website, poses to the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
In the context relevant to the Home Office's responsibility for tackling terrorism, the terrorist threat we see today is more diverse and complex. The UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST, outlines that in the UK the primary domestic terrorist threat comes from Islamist terrorism, with the remainder driven by Extreme Right-Wing Terrorism.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what disciplinary action, if any, they plan to take against investigators in the Home Office following the successful appeal of “Maria” in the Upper Tribunal, whose case was covered by GB News in May.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Everyone working for the Home Office must go through the national security vetting process (NSV) to be granted security clearance. This includes permanent and temporary staff and contractors.
All Civil Servants must adhere to the Civil Service code and values when carrying out their responsibilities and duties, including any Staff Network activity. Any breaches of the Civil Service code are addressed through relevant HR policies and processes. Additionally, Civil Servants must follow the guidance on Diversity and Inclusion and Impartiality for Civil Servants.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what checks are made on the religious backgrounds of Home Office employees responsible for assessing asylum applications; and what percentage of them are Muslims.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Everyone working for the Home Office must go through the national security vetting process (NSV) to be granted security clearance. This includes permanent and temporary staff and contractors.
All Civil Servants must adhere to the Civil Service code and values when carrying out their responsibilities and duties, including any Staff Network activity. Any breaches of the Civil Service code are addressed through relevant HR policies and processes. Additionally, Civil Servants must follow the guidance on Diversity and Inclusion and Impartiality for Civil Servants.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether there is a Muslim network in the Home Office; and what assessment they have made of the influence of any such network on the Home Office’s policy and operations, and of any bias in favour of Muslims in asylum applications.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Everyone working for the Home Office must go through the national security vetting process (NSV) to be granted security clearance. This includes permanent and temporary staff and contractors.
All Civil Servants must adhere to the Civil Service code and values when carrying out their responsibilities and duties, including any Staff Network activity. Any breaches of the Civil Service code are addressed through relevant HR policies and processes. Additionally, Civil Servants must follow the guidance on Diversity and Inclusion and Impartiality for Civil Servants.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether there is any process to ensure that asylum applications from converts to Christianity from Islam are not assessed by Muslim Home Office employees.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Everyone working for the Home Office must go through the national security vetting process (NSV) to be granted security clearance. This includes permanent and temporary staff and contractors.
All Civil Servants must adhere to the Civil Service code and values when carrying out their responsibilities and duties, including any Staff Network activity. Any breaches of the Civil Service code are addressed through relevant HR policies and processes. Additionally, Civil Servants must follow the guidance on Diversity and Inclusion and Impartiality for Civil Servants.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any abuse of Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 in detaining journalists.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
There is rigorous and independent oversight of Schedule 7 to the Terrorism Act 2000, and strong and specific safeguards are in place to protect journalists.
Schedule 7 is subject to significant independent oversight by the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation (IRTL), Jonathan Hall KC. The IRTL provides independent oversight, scrutiny, and transparency in the use of counter-terrorism legislation, including Schedule 7, by operational partners.
Any person, irrespective of their profession, can be subject to an examination under Schedule 7 if the statutory conditions set out in the primary legislation are met. The code of practice governing the use of Schedule 7 powers by counter-terrorism police is clear that the decision to select a person for examination must not be arbitrary. An individual subject to the power cannot be detained for more than six hours.
Schedule 7 also includes additional safeguards to protect journalists who have been selected for a Schedule 7 examination. For example, to ensure Article 10 ECHR compliance, the code of practice provides that protected material, including confidential journalistic material, cannot be examined by counter-terrorism police officers.