Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential role of technology in tackling theft and violence in convenience stores across the UK.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government recognises the significant impact shoplifting and violence towards shopworkers has on businesses, communities, and consumers, and supports the use of emerging technologies to prevent and detect crime where it is necessary, proportionate, and fair.
In October, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) published the Retail Crime Action Plan. Through this Plan, all forces across England and Wales have committed to prioritise police attendance at the scene where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by police personnel.
The plan encourages the use of technology; where CCTV or other digital images are secured, police will run this as standard through the Police National Database using facial recognition technology to further aid efforts to identify prolific offenders or potentially dangerous individuals.
Innovative technologies have huge potential to cut crime and reduce the cost of crime to businesses, as well as making workplaces and communities safer. The Government is keen to support increased adoption of these technologies, to prevent crime, recognising this must be done in a lawful and proportionate way with due consideration given to privacy. We are continuing to work closely with retail businesses, security representatives, trade associations and policing through the National Retail Crime Steering Group to discuss how technology can be used to tackle retail crime.
The National Business Crime Centre has been running workshops with retailers and Digital Evidence Management System (DEMS) providers to support the use of DEMS to help assist in sharing evidence with the police.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the Migration Advisory Committee's report Rapid review of the Immigration Salary List, published in February, what assessment they have made of the impact of the increased salary threshold for the Skilled Workers Visa on the ability of UK employers to fill jobs in key shortage areas.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Analytical work has been undertaken across Government to support decision making on the increases to the salary threshold for Skilled Workers, and an Impact Assessment will be developed in due course.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following reports that the UK has nearly reached a cooperation agreement with the EU's border protection agency, Frontex, whether they have any plans to make legislative or regulatory changes relating to illegal migration as a result of that agreement.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government currently has no plans to make legislative or regulatory changes as a result of the working arrangement with Frontex. The arrangement is not legally binding, in keeping with other working arrangements between Frontex and third countries.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce net migration while maintaining access to skilled workers in critical sectors.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Skilled workers will continue to have access to the full range of routes available on the Points Based System.
Details of the net migration measures announced in December are available here: https://homeofficemedia.blog.gov.uk/2024/02/01/reducing-net-migration-factsheet-december-2023/.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of a correlation between the 2023 migration deal with France and a doubling in the number of migrants who have drowned crossing the English Channel; and what plans they have to review the deal in this regard.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The UK’s cooperation with France to prevent small boat crossings of the English Channel led to a reduction in crossing numbers of 36% last year when compared to 2022. It is vital that we continue to work with French partners to put an end to the evil criminal gangs who are profiting from encouraging migrants to make increasingly dangerous crossing attempts in unseaworthy vessels. UK and French officials work together to continuously monitor the impact of the three-year deal agreed by the Prime Minister and President Macron in March 2023.
Ensuring the safety of lives at sea is paramount to our operations, in line with international obligations.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that police forces across the UK have sufficient funding to meet the needs of their communities.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is proposing a total police funding settlement of up to £18.4 billion in 2024-25, an increase of up to £842.9 million when compared to 2023-24. Assuming full take up of precept flexibility, overall police funding available to PCCs will increase by up to £922.2 million (6.0% in cash terms).
Decisions about the allocation of police resources locally, are a matter for Chief Constables and directly elected local policing bodies (including Police and Crime Commissioners, Mayors exercising with PCC functions and the London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime).
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the UK–Rwanda treaty for the provision of an asylum partnership aligns with the UK's international human rights commitments, including safeguarding the rights of asylum seekers.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The treaty was drafted with close care and attention by both the UK and Rwanda to ensure that the detailed approach and processes set out in detail in the treaty meet our international human rights commitments, including those under the Refugee Convention.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the decision to raise the minimum salary threshold for skilled worker visas does not harm businesses and the broader economy.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is mindful of the need to balance the impacts on economic growth and the needs of the labour market with this package of measures.
Analysis has been undertaken across Government on this package of measures and a Regulatory Impact Assessment will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the demonstration against antisemitism which took place in London on 26 November, what steps they are taking to (1) combat hate crimes, and (2) ensure safety for minority communities.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This Government is clear that all forms of hate crime are completely unacceptable. We have a robust legislative framework and expect the police and CPS to fully investigate these abhorrent offences and ensure perpetrators are brought to justice. We are supporting the police by providing them with the resources they need, including having recruited 20,000 additional police officers by March 2023. We expect the police to enforce the law where appropriate to protect communities and maintain public order.
In response to the spikes in antisemitic and anti-Muslim hatred across the UK as a result of the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, we are providing the Community Security Trust (CST) with additional funding of £3 million to provide security at Jewish schools, synagogues and other Jewish community sites, bringing total funding for CST through the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant to £18 million in 2023/24.
This level will be maintained for 2024/25. The Government is also providing £7 million over the next three years to ensure that more support is in place for schools and universities to tackle antisemitism. We have made £4.9 million available to provide additional protective security at mosques and Muslim faith schools, bringing the total funding to £29.4 million this year; this level of funding will also be maintained for 2024/25. In January 2023, the Department for Education invited headteachers of all DfE-registered Muslim faith schools to register for protective security measures: 116 Muslim faith schools have enrolled to date.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address abuse faced by retail employees and ensure their safety and wellbeing.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
On 23 October, the National Police Chiefs Council launched their Retail Crime Action Plan; which includes a police commitment to prioritise attending the scene of retail crime instances where violence has been used; where an offender has been detained; or where evidence needs to be promptly secured and can only be done in person by police personnel.
The Government also took a significant step and legislated to introduce a statutory aggravating factor for assault against any public facing worker via section 156 of the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. This ensures the public facing nature of a victim’s role will be considered an aggravating factor when it comes to sentencing for assault offences.
The National Retail Crime Steering Group has published practical resources (https://brc.org.uk/nrcsg-against-shop-worker-abuse-and-violence) to assist with the reporting of crime, employee safety, and guidance on how to effectively share information with the police, including how to make use of Victim Impact Statements to ensure the full impact of a crime can be considered by the court.