Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications have been received for the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The Places of Worship Protective Security Funding Scheme provides physical protective security measures, such as CCTV, intruder alarms and secure perimeter fencing to places of worship and associated faith community centres that are particularly vulnerable to religiously or racially motivated hate crime in England and Wales.
In the first seven years of the scheme between 2016 and 2022, the Home Office approved protective security measures at 523 places of worship across England and Wales: 225 mosques, 201 churches, 47 gurdwaras, 38 Hindu temples, and 12 places of worship of other faiths.
The Home Office is currently processing applications for this year’s scheme with a view to informing applicants of the outcome in the near future.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has held meetings in 2023 on (a) Islamophobia and (b) hate crime against Muslims.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
This Government is committed to doing everything we can to tackle anti-Muslim hatred, and all forms of prejudice in our society. Ministers across Government hold meetings covering these important issues regularly.
Details of meetings with external organisations are published on gov.uk.
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he Department has (a) undertaken and (b) commissioned from external consultants modelling of the potential impact of a reduction of the backlog of asylum applications on the number of people applying to (i) come to and (ii) stay in the UK via a refugee family reunion application.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Government’s refugee family reunion policy provides a safe and legal route to bring families together.
We are committed to improving and speeding up processing times for family reunion applications.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has taken recent steps to work with (a) the Duke of Edinburgh Award, (b) other youth award schemes and (c) volunteer programmes to help promote community safety.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The government recognises the vital role that youth services and activities like the Duke of Edinburgh Award play in enhancing young people’s wellbeing, as well as significant benefits to social cohesion and community safety.
The Home Office is committed to working extensively with charities, voluntary organisations and other partners across the sector in our work to reduce crime and keep people safe. The includes, for example, through the Youth Endowment Fund, which funds programmes in England and Wales that aim to prevent children and young people from becoming involved in violence. In addition, Violence Reduction Units are required to operate ‘with and for the community’ and must have someone to represent community, young people’s and the voluntary sector’s interests as part of their governance arrangements.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department collects on the religious affiliations of asylum seekers.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum applications can be found in table Asy_D01 of the ‘asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’.
The Home Office does not publish asylum applicants by religion. Whilst we hold information regarding the religion of asylum claimants, this information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost as it would require a manual trawl of case records to retrieve.
A claimant’s religion will be established during the asylum registration process. Depending on the nature of the claim, further information regarding a claimant’s religion may be requested during a substantive asylum interview.
For further information, please see: Screening and routing.docx (publishing.service.gov.uk) and Asylum interview.docx (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum applications have been submitted by people identifying as Muslim; and if she will provide a breakdown of those figures by sect.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum applications can be found in table Asy_D01 of the ‘asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’.
The Home Office does not publish asylum applicants by religion. Whilst we hold information regarding the religion of asylum claimants, this information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost as it would require a manual trawl of case records to retrieve.
A claimant’s religion will be established during the asylum registration process. Depending on the nature of the claim, further information regarding a claimant’s religion may be requested during a substantive asylum interview.
For further information, please see: Screening and routing.docx (publishing.service.gov.uk) and Asylum interview.docx (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support victims of modern slavery.
Answered by Sarah Dines
Adult victims in England and Wales are supported through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract, led by The Salvation Army, alongside wider state services
Child victims are supported by local authority safeguarding structures and Independent Child Trafficking Guardians provide support and advocate to reflect the best interests of the child in decision-making processes. Guardians are currently in two thirds of local authorities in England and Wales.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people in her Department are responsible for making decisions on family reunion cases.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
In 2022 4,473 family reunion visas were issued to partners and children of those granted protection status. Our family reunion policy has granted more than 44,600 family reunion visas since 2015, with over half issued to children.
We will prioritise applications where there is a particularly urgent or compelling reason to do so.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to bring into force the provisions in the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 on (a) priority removal notices and (b) accelerated appeals.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Work is underway to bring the provisions in the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 relating to (a) priority removal notices and (b) accelerated appeals into force as soon as possible.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to take steps to help ensure that the Hong Kong diaspora living in the UK are able to protest the Hong Kong Finance Minister's 2023 visit without compromise to their personal security.
Answered by Sarah Dines
We continually assess potential threats in the UK, and take the protection of individuals’ rights, freedoms, and safety in the UK very seriously. As you would expect, Home Office officials work closely with the FCDO and DLUHC, as well as other government departments, to ensure that the UK is a safe and welcoming place for both those who hold BN(O) status and other Hongkongers.
Attempts by foreign Governments to coerce, intimidate, harass or harm their critics overseas, undermining democracy and the rule of law, are unacceptable. Anyone who is concerned for their safety should contact the police.