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Written Question
Bank Services: Freezing of Assets
Tuesday 19th March 2024

Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of financial institutions he expects to participate in the suspended accounts scheme.

Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)

We are committed to developing a scheme that satisfies the objectives of both industry and government and it will be open to members across the whole financial sector.

As a voluntary scheme, we are currently working closely with the financial sector on the detail, to ensure that it is attractive to as many participants as possible.


Written Question
Home Office: Civil Proceedings
Friday 15th March 2024

Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to paragraphs 7.16 and 7.17 of the Ministerial Code, on how many occasions Ministers in his Department have informed the Law Officers that they are the defendants in a libel action in (a) their personal capacity, (b) their official position and (c) both since 19 December 2019.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

The fact that the Law Officers have advised or have not advised and the content of their advice must not be disclosed outside Government without their authority.


Written Question
Visas: Care Workers
Friday 12th January 2024

Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made an assessment of the prevalence of certificates of sponsorship for care workers being sold overseas.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The Home Office is aware of allegations of the selling of Certificates of Sponsorship to care workers overseas. All allegations of abuse are investigated but no wider assessment of the prevalence of this activity has been undertaken.


Written Question
Crimes of Violence: Eritrea
Monday 23rd October 2023

Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to prevent (a) harassment and (b) violence against (i) women and (ii) elderly people from the UK's Eritrean community.

Answered by Sarah Dines

Public sexual harassment is an appalling crime, and the Government has already taken significant action to tackle it. We have ensured that new guidance was published for police and prosecutors on existing offences, have provided £120 million through the Safer Streets and Safety of Women at Night Funds to make our streets safer, have created the new SafeStreet tool which allows people to pinpoint where they have felt unsafe and the police to take action.

The Government also supported the Protection from Sex-Based Harassment in Public Act 2023, which makes public sexual harassment a specific offence. The Act received Royal Assent on 18th September 2023.

Tackling violence against women and girls is a government priority. It is unacceptable and preventable, and an issue which blights the lives of millions. In July 2021, we published our cross-Government Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy to help ensure that women and girls are safe everywhere -- at home, online, at work and on the streets.

Older people and women from the Eritrean community who are victims and survivors of VAWG have access to a range of support provided through the Government’s Domestic Abuse Plan and VAWG Strategy. This support includes:

  • Over £2 million to provide specialist support to victims of VAWG from ethnic minority communities, undertaking a range of activities, including delivering training sessions and frontline professional services.
  • In the 2023-24 and 2024-25 financial years, up to £361,000 and £432,000 respectively to Hourglass who support older victims of domestic abuse. This will provide enhanced helpline support with a focus on reaching marginalised communities across England and Wales.
  • Up to £1.4 million annually until March 2025 to the Support for Migrant Victims Scheme, which provides wraparound support services for migrant victims of domestic abuse, including accommodation, subsistence, counselling and legal advice.

Written Question
Knives: Crime
Thursday 19th October 2023

Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the types of (a) knives and (b) other sharp instruments that have been used in (i) homicides and (ii) other offences involving those instruments in the latest period for which data is available.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office Homicide Index holds detailed data on homicides recorded by the police in England and Wales. Information on the type of sharp instrument used in a homicide was added to the collection in April 2022. These data, for the year ending March 2023, are due to be published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in February 2024.

The Home Office does not routinely collect information on the types of knives or sharp instruments used in other offences.

The year ending June 2023 Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) published by the ONS shows that violent incidents have fallen by 52% since the year ending March 2010.


Written Question
Swords and Daggers: Crime
Thursday 19th October 2023

Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of (a) homicides and (b) other offences involved the use of a ninja sword in the last three years.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office Homicide Index holds detailed data on homicides recorded by the police in England and Wales. Information on the type of sharp instrument used in a homicide was added to the collection in April 2022. These data, for the year ending March 2023, are due to be published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in February 2024.

The Home Office does not routinely collect information on the types of knives or sharp instruments used in other offences.

The year ending June 2023 Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) published by the ONS shows that violent incidents have fallen by 52% since the year ending March 2010.


Written Question
Drugs: Organised Crime
Thursday 19th October 2023

Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate she has made of when the targeted stakeholder engagement exercise on the proposed offence of cuckooing will conclude.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

The exploitation and degradation that is associated with the pernicious practice of cuckooing is wholly unacceptable and this Government is determined to tackle it.

Cuckooing is most commonly associated with the county lines drug distribution model. That’s why, as part of our ambitious 10-year Drugs Strategy, we are investing up to £145m over three years to tackle drugs supply and county lines activity, building on our successful County Lines Programme, launched in November 2019.

In March 2023, as part of the Government’s Anti-Social Behaviour action plan, we announced that we would be engaging with stakeholders on the scope of a potential new criminal offence.

The targeted stakeholder engagement exercise has revealed there are a range of powers and tools available to disrupt cuckooing activity and Home Office officials continue to work closely with police and wider partners to both raise awareness of cuckooing and share effective practice to tackle this abhorrent practice.


Written Question
Fire and Rescue Services
Monday 11th September 2023

Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department have taken to promote awareness of the survey of (a) Fire Risk Assessors and (b) Responsible Persons to potential participants.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

On 3 July 2023, the Home Office launched two surveys, one for Fire Risk Assessors (FRAs) and one for Responsible Persons (RPs) surveys were launched by Home Office on 3 July 2023. The aim of the FRA survey is to increase our understanding of the FRA sector and inform our work to improve FRA capacity and capability, while the aim of the RP survey was to increase our understanding of RP behaviour when appointing FRAs and to aid our understanding of their awareness of, and experiences in relation to, recent changes in fire safety legislation.

To help promote the surveys and ensure we reach as many FRAs and RPs as possible we have taken the following steps:

  • We sent both surveys directly to all relevant stakeholders who have expressed an interest in being contacted in this way;
  • Major industry bodies such as the Fire Sector Federation (FSF), the Fire Industry Association and the Fire Protection Association (FPA) were asked to promote the surveys through their contacts and media channels;
  • The FSF also shared the surveys on our behalf via LinkedIn;
  • We asked attendees at our sector engagement forums, which include representatives from both the FRA and RP sectors, to promote the surveys via their contacts;
  • We attended trade events such as Firex and the Institute of Fire Safety Managers (IFSM) Trade and Technical Event to directly promote the surveys;
  • We included articles promoting the surveys in our Fire Safety Reform Bulletin;
  • A number of fire safety training providers shared the surveys with current and former course attendees;
  • Four fire safety magazines including Fire Safety Matters, International Fire and Safety Journal, FIRE Magazine and International Fire Professional Magazine, were asked to publish promotional articles;
  • FRA certification and registration bodies shared the surveys with their members and sought their support in promoting them;
  • We sent the survey to users of the Home Office’s Fire Risk Assessment Prioritisation Tool (FRAPT), and;

Other government Departments (or regulators) were asked to share the surveys with their own relevant contacts.


Written Question
Discrimination
Tuesday 7th March 2023

Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle (a) discrimination on the basis of (i) race and (ii) religion and (b) the impact of that discrimination on victims.

Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)

The Government is committed to tackling all forms of discrimination, including that based on race and religion, which has no place in our society. We can achieve this by tackling discriminatory behaviour where it might exist and adopting policies that build trust and promote fairness.

We have one of the strongest legislative frameworks in the world to protect communities from hostility, violence, and bigotry, and to deal with the perpetrators of hate crime.

Inclusive Britain was published by the Cabinet Office, in response to the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities in March 2022. It sets out their action plan to tackle negative disparities, promote unity and build a fairer Britain for all.

The Government Equalities Office lead on discrimination policy, including the Equalities Act 2010, which legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and wider society.


Written Question
Nuisance Calls
Wednesday 1st March 2023

Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to prevent scam calls.

Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)

Tackling fraud requires a unified and co-ordinated response from government, law enforcement and the private sector and we will shortly publish a new strategy to address the threat of fraud, including through scam calls.

The Government has already taken a range of actions to reduce the number of scam calls. We have sanctioned the banning of cold calls from personal injury firms and pension providers, unless the consumer has explicitly agreed to be contacted, and introduced director liability for companies in relation to nuisance calls.

Through the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) we have imposed strict obligations on organisations that make direct marketing calls, live or automated, to individuals in the UK.

We continue to support National Trading Standards on the roll out of call blocking devices to vulnerable people and the National Economic Crime Centre have recently provided further funding for the delivery of additional devices. These devices have helped to provide protection against nuisance and scam calls.

We are working closely with Ofcom, the telecoms and financial industries, and law enforcement to identify further measures to tackle fraudulent calls and number spoofing, and to block fraudsters operating overseas from making calls to defraud the public.

We strongly advise anybody who suspects a call to be suspicious to report this to the National Cyber Security Centre, by logging an information report here: https://report.ncsc.gov.uk/, and to Action Fraud, the UK’s reporting service for fraud. Silent or abandoned calls can be reported to Ofcom, while recorded marketing calls can be reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).