Asked by: Amanda Solloway (Conservative - Derby North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the incidence of cyber-fraud; and by what means she plans to advise the public of the steps to take to protect themselves against such fraud.
Answered by Ben Wallace
In February this year the Government launched the Joint Fraud Taskforce, a partnership of government, law enforcement and the banks to collectively tackle fraud. The Taskforce is looking at new ways to ensure individuals have the tools and knowledge to protect themselves from fraudsters. A Joint Fraud Taskforce partner, Financial Fraud Action UK, recently launched a nation-wide fraud prevention campaign ‘Take 5’ which advises that individuals take five minutes to consider what they are being asked to do, especially if being pressured to take an unusual course of action such as transferring funds to an unknown individual.
The Government’s Cyber Aware campaign aims to help small business and individuals protect themselves from cyber criminals by adopting simple secure online behaviours such as having a strong password and always downloading the latest software updates. Cyber Aware works with a range of public and private sector partners to embed cyber security advice into a range of every day touch points, including Get Safe Online, whose remit is to help individuals and small businesses safeguard themselves against fraud and other online data threats.
The Home Office has also invested in new IT for the Action Fraud / National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) capability. Benefits of the new system will include an improved reporting system and better information for victims as well as more disseminations of crime packages to forces, and better identification of vulnerable victims.
Asked by: Amanda Solloway (Conservative - Derby North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing mandatory identification checks for people purchasing pay-as-you-go SIM cards to assist in tackling terrorism and crime.
Answered by Sarah Newton
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I given to the hon. Member for Twickenham on 7 September 2016, UIN 44233.
Asked by: Amanda Solloway (Conservative - Derby North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the suitability of the 28 day period given to people granted the right to remain in the UK to find housing and employment.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute are supported by the Home Office under section 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
If they are granted refugee status, this support ends 28 days later because they are given permission to work and can apply for any welfare benefits and local authority housing assistance for which they may be eligible.
We are working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions and others to ensure that newly recognised refugees engage promptly with Jobcentre Plus and the local authority about these matters.
Asked by: Amanda Solloway (Conservative - Derby North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of spit hoods; and what assessment she has made of the extent of use of such hoods by police forces.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The use of ‘spit hoods’, as with any other use of restraint or force, is an operational matter for Chief Officers. The Home Office is clear that all uses of force or restraint must be necessary and proportionate.
In recognition of the importance of ensuring transparency in how police forces use various means of restraint, the former Home Secretary asked Chief Constable David Shaw to review what data should be collected and published. The review recommended that forces record a range of data in all instances when significant force is used, including restraint techniques and the use of spit hoods.
The data to be collected includes the age, gender, ethnicity and sex of the subject, the type of force used, reason for the use of force, and the outcome of the incident.
Asked by: Amanda Solloway (Conservative - Derby North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to locate missing refugee children in the UK.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The government takes the issue of missing children extremely seriously and has published a cross government strategy on missing children and vulnerable adults.
Migrant children over the age of 5, including asylum seeking children have their biometrics captured by the Home Office. If a child goes missing, the local police and UK Missing Persons Bureau will be notified and the child’s details will be circulated on the Police National Computer.
Home Office guidance requires staff to maintain contact with the local authority and the police until the child is found.
Asked by: Amanda Solloway (Conservative - Derby North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will take steps to tackle the abuse of anabolic steroids for image and performance enhancing purposes; and if she will bring forward legislative proposals to make the recreational use of such drugs illegal.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Information and advice about anabolic steroids, including the health risks associated with using anabolic steroids, is provided by Talk to FRANK and NHS Choices.
In July 2015, Public Health England published advice for local authorities on commissioning services to prevent and treat harms caused by image and performance enhancing drugs (http://www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/providing-effective-services-for-people-who-use-image-and-performance-enhancing-drugs.pdf).
Specified anabolic steroids are controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 as class C drugs. The Government has no current plans to review the legislative framework on anabolic steroids to include the possession offence. We are keeping the situation under review working closely with our independent experts, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.