Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to improve the accuracy of individual identification carried out by the technical infrastructure which performs border checks.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This Government’s priority is to maintain strong border security and steps are always taken to constantly improve the accuracy of individual identification before arrival and at the border.
Border Force checks all passengers arriving at the UK border on scheduled services to identify individuals who pose, or are suspected to pose, a risk to the national interest.
Identities, and combinations of names and dates of birth, are not necessarily unique. Individuals who share names with persons of interest may experience closer examination than those who do not, and Border Force Officers may ask them additional questions to establish their identity and allow them to proceed as quickly as possible.
Enhancements to the technical infrastructure for border checks are being rolled out to assist Border Force officers as they make their decisions.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the treatment that people with similar names to other individuals on watchlists receive during border checks at airports.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Our priority is to maintain a secure border. Border Force performs checks on all passengers arriving at the UK border on scheduled services to identify individuals who pose, or are suspected to pose, a risk to the national interest.
Identities, and combinations of names and dates of birth, are not necessarily unique. Individuals who share names with persons of interest may experience closer examination than would otherwise be the case.
The Home Office is making significant investment to improve the underlying technical infrastructure which performs border checks to identify individuals more precisely. This will reduce the number of individuals incorrectly matched to persons of interest and enable Border Force to identify more quickly individuals who are not to be confused with persons of interest. We expect these improvements to start having effect over the summer.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many fire station closures there have been in each local authority in each year since 2016.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
For the latest available data, to year ending March 2021, there were 1,390 fire stations, compared with 1,400 in year ending March 2016, a reduction of 10 stations over the period for the whole of England.
Table 1: Number of Fire Stations in England, by year
Year ending March | Number of Fire Stations | England-wide Annual Change |
2016 | 1,400 | |
2017 | 1,400 | 0 |
2018 | 1,394 | -6 |
2019 | 1,395 | +1 |
2020 | 1,393 | -2 |
2021 | 1,390 | -3 |
Change 2016 to 2021 | -10 | |
Data on fire stations is published in FIRE1403, available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/634d2ed6e90e0731aa0fcc59/fire-statistics-data-tables-fire1403-201022.xlsx. The number of fire stations is not collected by local authority but is available by fire and rescue service (FRS) by year for England.
The data since March 2021 is under review as we are working on ways to ensure the quality and accuracy of the data provided.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many individuals that have been issued a notice of intent of inadmissibility have subsequently been admitted to the asylum system since 1 January 2022.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson
The Home Office does not routinely publish data on those who are admitted to the UK asylum system after a notice of intent has been issued.
General data on inadmissibility is published as part of the quarterly immigration system statistics and can be found at How many people do we grant protection to? - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many individuals that have been detained for removal to Rwanda have also been served an (a) notice of inadmissibility and (b) inadmissibility decision.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson
The Home Office will not be providing a running commentary on ongoing operational activity. However, all individuals will have their cases considered in line with the published inadmissibility guidance:
Inadmissibility – third country cases: caseworker guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the capacity of the immigration detention estate was on (a) 8 May 2024, (b) 8 January 2024 and (c) 8 July 2023.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson
Immigration detention capacity figures are not static and are subject to operational demands.
Management information shows that detention capacity on 8 July 2023 was c2158 immigration removal centre (IRC) beds, rising to c2219 IRC beds on 8 January 2024. As of 24 April 2024, there is a capacity to detain c2200 people in IRCs, including those liable for removal to Rwanda, with more coming online in the coming months.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that people with similar names to people on watchlists are not harassed during border checks at airports.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Our priority is to maintain a secure border. We will not compromise on this. Border Force performs checks on all passengers arriving at the UK border on scheduled services to identify individuals who pose, or are suspected to pose, a risk to the national interest.
Identities, and combinations of names and dates of birth, are not necessarily unique. Individuals who share names with persons of interest may experience closer examination than would otherwise be the case.
The Home Office is making significant investment to improve the underlying technical infrastructure which performs border checks to identify individuals more precisely. This will reduce the number of individuals incorrectly matched to persons of interest and enable Border Force to identify more quickly individuals who are not to be confused with persons of interest. We expect these improvements to start having effect over the summer.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the treatment that people with similar names to people on watchlists receive during border checks at airports.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Our priority is to maintain a secure border. We will not compromise on this. Border Force performs checks on all passengers arriving at the UK border on scheduled services to identify individuals who pose, or are suspected to pose, a risk to the national interest.
Identities, and combinations of names and dates of birth, are not necessarily unique. Individuals who share names with persons of interest may experience closer examination than would otherwise be the case.
The Home Office is making significant investment to improve the underlying technical infrastructure which performs border checks to identify individuals more precisely. This will reduce the number of individuals incorrectly matched to persons of interest and enable Border Force to identify more quickly individuals who are not to be confused with persons of interest. We expect these improvements to start having effect over the summer.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police stations have been tested for reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The police are operationally independent and therefore it is the individual responsibility of each police force to manage their estate and ensure it is compliant with the relevant legislation. This includes duties to maintain a safe workplace, as set out in relevant health and safety legislation.
Last year the National Police Estates Group, working with Home Office officials, conducted a stocktake of all police forces in England and Wales regarding the presence of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) across their respective estates. This identified a small number of forces with instances of RAAC, most relating to single building locations. All have reported that remedial action has been taken to mitigate potential risk.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police stations has reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete been identified in.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The police are operationally independent and therefore it is the individual responsibility of each police force to manage their estate and ensure it is compliant with the relevant legislation. This includes duties to maintain a safe workplace, as set out in relevant health and safety legislation.
Last year the National Police Estates Group, working with Home Office officials, conducted a stocktake of all police forces in England and Wales regarding the presence of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) across their respective estates. This identified a small number of forces with instances of RAAC, most relating to single building locations. All have reported that remedial action has been taken to mitigate potential risk.