Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Ireland concerning asylum seekers returning from that country to the UK; and what impact this has on the Common Travel Area agreement.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
There is a high level of cooperation on migration and border security between the UK and Irish Government. The Home Office regularly discuss asylum trends and work to respond to these trends with our counterparts in the Department of Justice in order to protect the Common Travel Area.
In 2020, we agreed non-legally binding operational arrangements which allow for the return and readmission of asylum seekers where this is agreed by both participants.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following news that they have rejected an offer by the European Commission for a youth mobility scheme, what factors they considered when deciding to reject the offer.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The UK notes the publication by the European Commission on 18 April 2024 setting out a proposal to EU Member States and seeking their agreement to negotiate a UK/EU wide Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS). This is currently a matter for the EU and its Member States and the UK has not been formally approached.
The UK currently operates 13 successful bilateral YMS schemes with international partners, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand, and continues to believe bilateral schemes with international partners are the most effective and efficient way of facilitating opportunities for young people.
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 economic impact of the upcoming strikes by Border Force officers at Heathrow Airport on (1) businesses, and (2) tourism.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Border Force has made no such assessment as to the strikes’ impact on tourism and business, as this is not within Border Force’s remit. Border Force will continue to work closely with Heathrow Airport to ensure we have robust plans in place to minimise any delays if strike action goes ahead. We will deploy suitable resources to meet critical demand and support the flow of passengers and goods through our border. Border Force’s priority during industrial action, as with at any other time, is to maintain the security of the UK border and nothing will compromise this.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the recent increase in cases of advance fee mortgage scams, what steps they are taking to prevent such scams.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
As part of our Fraud Strategy, we have worked closely with the financial services industry to protect customers against a variety of fraud types, including advance fee scams. This includes the Retail Banking Fraud Sector Charter which has delivered ambitious and innovative actions to prevent authorised fraud and protect customers. We have also agreed similar charters with the telecommunications, accountancy and online sectors.
According to the Crime Survey of England and Wales, ‘Advance fee fraud’ has decreased by 33% in the year ending September 2023 from 546,000 to 367,000 offences.
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).