Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to counter Iranian state influence in the United Kingdom including in political, academic and community spheres.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
On the 4th March, the Security Minister announced to Parliament a concerted package of measures to counter the threat from the Iranian Intelligence Services. This includes our decision to specify Iran on the Enhanced Tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS), which will require individuals and organisations directed by Iran to conduct activity in the UK to register with the Home Office. Failure to do so will be a criminal offence.
In concert with partners, the UK Government will continue to use all appropriate tools at our disposal to protect the UK and its people against any threats from the Iranian state, including malign influence.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the security implications of the annual al-Quds day marches which this year resulted in the arrest of 10 people on charges of racial hatred, public order offences and the assault of an emergency worker.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
During this year's Al Quds day march and counter-protest, the Metropolitan Police Service put public order conditions in place. While there were 10 arrests at last year's Al Quds day protest, in 2025 one arrest was reported on the day. The Government supports the police in using their powers to respond to unlawful behaviour, but the use of these powers is a matter for police who are operationally independent.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much of the £27million of COVID-19 related funding allocated to domestic abuse services has so far been paid out; and how much they have allocated for use by such services in each (1) region, and (2) local authority.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Of the £27 million of funds which were earmarked for domestic abuse services affected by COVID-19, government departments have as of 28 October 2020 paid out £25,129,341.
Within the £27 million, of the £15 million earmarked for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to distribute to local domestic abuse services through Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), the breakdown by UK region of the funds is as follows:
UK region | Sum distributed to PCCs in the region in question to distribute to domestic abuse services in their area/£ |
East | 1,465,536 |
East Midlands | 1,297,433 |
London | 2,217,191 |
North-East | 1,001,315 |
North-West | 1,779,688 |
South-East | 2,275,251 |
South-West | 1,199,098 |
Wales | 940,479 |
West Midlands | 1,166,225 |
Yorkshire and the Humber | 1,067,868 |
The above funds were distributed to the following PCCs:
PCC | Sum allocated/£ |
Avon and Somerset | 365,583 |
Bedfordshire | 214,654 |
Cambridgeshire | 209,068 |
Cheshire | 222,793 |
Cleveland | 354,331 |
Cumbria | 152,784 |
Derbyshire | 365,080 |
Devon and Cornwall | 320,775 |
Dorset | 170,710 |
Durham | 303,238 |
Dyfed-Powys | 96,416 |
Essex | 462,273 |
Gloucestershire | 113,933 |
Greater Manchester | 645,461 |
Gwent | 152,199 |
Hampshire | 433,854 |
Hertfordshire | 226,923 |
Humberside | 116,022 |
Kent | 484,381 |
Lancashire | 380,264 |
Leicestershire | 352,997 |
Lincolnshire | 74,881 |
Merseyside | 378,386 |
MOPAC (London) | 2,217,191 |
Norfolk | 191,926 |
North Wales | 178,500 |
North Yorkshire | 203,407 |
Northamptonshire | 188,331 |
Northumbria | 343,746 |
Nottinghamshire | 316,144 |
South Wales | 513,364 |
South Yorkshire | 405,664 |
Staffordshire | 284,632 |
Suffolk | 160,692 |
Surrey | 277,865 |
Sussex | 474,728 |
Thames Valley | 604,423 |
Warwickshire | 153,308 |
West Mercia | 235,586 |
West Midlands | 492,699 |
West Yorkshire | 342,775 |
Wiltshire | 228,098 |
Of the £2 million earmarked for the Home Office to distribute to national and regional domestic abuse services, most of the recipients cover more than one UK region and so it is not possible to delineate the funding by region. The exceptions are one organisation which covers only the South-East, which was allocated £5,000, and three organisations which cover only Wales, which collectively were allocated £192,206.
Of the £10 million earmarked for the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government to distribute to safe accommodation services in England, information is not available on the UK regions to which funds were distributed. This is because the exact locations of refuge and safe accommodation services are not revealed for safety reasons, and so may not match the charity’s registered address.
It is not possible to break any of the three departments’ allocations down to local authority level.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much they estimate the total spend on the #YouAreNotAlone domestic abuse campaign to be; and which media channels they intend to use to disseminate that campaign.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The #YouAreNotAlone campaign signposts victims of domestic abuse to support over the lockdown period with paid media running from mid-April until end of September and via key partners including charities, retailers, employers, banks and post offices.
The Home Office has, so far, committed over £850k to cover COVID-19 related communications on domestic abuse up until the end of September 2020. Online channels, including social media, search advertising and digital display, have played an important role in reaching victims discreetly, to increase confidence that support is available and raise awareness of where and how to get help. Podcast advertising and PR have supplemented the digital activity with community engagement outreach reaching diverse communities who may be less likely to seek support for domestic abuse. The Home Office has also worked with partners and the sector to help disseminate messages via their channels.
Since campaign launch (Apr-Aug), traffic to the gov.uk domestic abuse page has increased by over three times compared to the same period the previous year, which demonstrates that communications are required to continue to help signpost and direct victims and those concerned to help and support.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made on the implementation of their codeword scheme for domestic abuse victims, announced on 21 May; and what assessment they have made of the success of that scheme so far.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
We have been working closely with the domestic abuse sector, pharmacies, retailers and the police to develop a codeword scheme that will enable victims of domestic abuse to access emergency support in their community. To ensure that the scheme provides a safe and effective response to victims, we have worked with domestic abuse specialist organisations to develop training and guidance for retail staff delivering the scheme and are preparing to roll out these materials prior to public launch. An external evaluation will be carried out to assess of the effectiveness of the scheme.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK nationals were deported by another country to the UK in each of the last five years for which records are available.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
We do not hold the data requested.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many UK nationals were deported back to the UK in each of the last five years for which records are available.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
We do not hold the data requested.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Department's guidance entitled Existing UK residence documents for EU citizens, published on gov.uk, and with reference to the statement in that guidance that permanent residence documents will not be a valid proof of residence after 31 December 2020 and people will still need to apply for settled status to continue living in the UK after June 2021 even if they have a permanent residence document, whether that is planned to still be the case in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
In either a deal or no deal scenario, permanent residence (and other) documents which confirm a right to reside under Directive 2004/38EC (the Free Movement Directive) will cease to be valid when EU law ceases to apply. However, EU citizens and their family members who have a documented right of permanent residence can exchange this for settled status free of charge.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the reason is for the invalidation of permanent residence documents after 31 December 2020.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
In either a deal or no deal scenario, permanent residence (and other) documents which confirm a right to reside under Directive 2004/38EC (the Free Movement Directive) will cease to be valid when EU law ceases to apply. However, EU citizens and their family members who have a documented right of permanent residence can exchange this for settled status free of charge.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether (a) permanent residence and (b) settled status will be required to apply for citizenship after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
One of the requirements for naturalisation as a British citizen is that the person is free of immigration time restrictions. This will not change. EU citizens and their family members can currently meet that requirement by having permanent residence under the EEA Regulations. They will be able to apply for indefinite leave to remain in the UK under the EU Settlement Scheme, which will allow them to show that they meet this requirement after the UK leaves the EU.