Asked by: Alex Davies-Jones (Labour - Pontypridd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the press release entitled Overhaul of criminal justice system delivers significant improvement for rape victims, published on 10 July 2023, how many extra police officers have been trained in investigating rape and sexual offences.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
We recognise that specialist skills and knowledge is critical to ensuring rape and sexual offence cases are progressed and managed effectively.
We are supporting the College of Policing to improve the learning and development offer available to officers on rape and sexual offences. This includes developing new, academic-informed, training for investigators and officers likely to make initial contact with victims.
In July, we also announced that 2,000 officers will complete new specialist training on investigating these crimes by April, which will mean more officers building stronger cases and placing victims at the heart of their response. The College of Policing are confident that this commitment will be met and we will provide a further update shortly.
Asked by: Alex Davies-Jones (Labour - Pontypridd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of police officers working in Child Abuse Investigation Teams had completed training in rape and sexual offences investigations by 12 March 2024, broken down by police force.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recognises that having police officers with the right skills is critical in ensuring child abuse investigations are progressed and managed effectively. Given policing is operationally independent, it is the responsibility of Chief Constables to manage the allocation of officers to different crime types and to ensure they are appropriately trained and equipped to undertake investigations. The Home Office therefore does not hold the specific information requested.
The Government continues to invest in a range of work to strengthen law enforcement capacity and capability to tackle child sexual abuse, including developing and delivering an effective and victim-focused response. This includes funding policing’s Vulnerability, Knowledge and Practice Programme which aims to improve and coordinate police practice in protecting vulnerable people, including identifying and sharing best practice across police forces, as well as improving partnership responses.
Additionally, the College of Policing has developed the Specialist Child Abuse Investigators: Development Programme (SCAIDIP) - a specialist course aimed at developing investigators working within the child abuse investigation arena.
And in July 2023, the Government also announced that 2,000 officers will complete new specialist training on investigating rape and serious sexual offences by April this year. This will mean more officers building stronger cases and placing victims at the heart of their response. The College of Policing is confident that this commitment will be met.
Asked by: Alex Davies-Jones (Labour - Pontypridd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many individuals claimed indefinite leave to remain through the Destitute Domestic Violence Concession in each year between 2018 and 2023.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
We do not routinely publish the requested information on the concession or immediate settlement for migrant victims of domestic abuse in a reportable format.
Asked by: Alex Davies-Jones (Labour - Pontypridd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the draft Immigration (Health Charge) Amendment Order 2023, what his planned timetable is for the implementation of the immigration health surcharge.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Immigration (Health Charge) (Amendment) Order 2024 will come into force on 6 February.
Asked by: Alex Davies-Jones (Labour - Pontypridd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department has used to train AI systems used in immigration decision-making; and if she will publish that data.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
In the areas of immigration, immigration intelligence and immigration enforcement, we do not use machine learning or other forms of artificial intelligence to make decisions on whether to grant or refuse leave, or to take immigration enforcement action.
Where such algorithmic tools are used within business processes, they will be typically trained on the data used in the business process itself.
To safeguard our operations, we do not routinely publish the data that is used and for external providers it will depend on their development processes.
Asked by: Alex Davies-Jones (Labour - Pontypridd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications were (a) received and (b) granted for people seeking an (i) International Sportsperson visa and (ii) Creative Worker (Temporary Work) visa so they could participate in wrestling performances in each year since 2010.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office publishes data on visas in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on international sportspersons and temporary worker visas are published in tables ‘Vis_D01’ for applications and ‘Vis_D02’ for outcomes of the Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes detailed datasets, as part of the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’.
Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to year ending June 2023. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Wrestling in the UK is governed by the British Wrestling Association and holders of International Sports Persons visas may enter the UK to coach and compete in competitions.
Those performers appearing in the UK in professional exhibitions may apply under the Creative Worker (Temporary Worker) visa route.
However, the published data does not record the applicant’s sport.
Asked by: Alex Davies-Jones (Labour - Pontypridd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to review the minimum income requirement threshold for Family visas.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
We keep all our immigration routes under review.
Asked by: Alex Davies-Jones (Labour - Pontypridd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to review the length of Graduate visas.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
We keep our immigration policies under constant review.
Asked by: Alex Davies-Jones (Labour - Pontypridd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to ensure that the financial requirement threshold for international students applying for a Student Route Visa does not discriminate against those from low-income countries or regions.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
To access the Student route, international students must demonstrate in their application they meet the requirements of the route, including their ability to financially support themselves throughout their stay in the UK, unless differentiation arrangements apply.
The addition or removal of countries and competent authorities to the list of differentiated nationals is based on objective data. We keep the list of differentiated nationals under review, adding and removing countries and competent authorities from this list.
An Impact Assessment was prepared to accompany the launch of the Student route. This can be found at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/916601/IA_-_students.pdf
We keep our immigration policies under constant review to ensure they reflect our priorities and ensure we have a system that works in the UK’s best interests.
Asked by: Alex Davies-Jones (Labour - Pontypridd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the impact of the financial requirement threshold for international student applications to higher education institutes.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
To access the Student route, international students must demonstrate in their application they meet the requirements of the route, including their ability to financially support themselves throughout their stay in the UK, unless differentiation arrangements apply.
The addition or removal of countries and competent authorities to the list of differentiated nationals is based on objective data. We keep the list of differentiated nationals under review, adding and removing countries and competent authorities from this list.
An Impact Assessment was prepared to accompany the launch of the Student route. This can be found at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/916601/IA_-_students.pdf
We keep our immigration policies under constant review to ensure they reflect our priorities and ensure we have a system that works in the UK’s best interests.