Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether further resilience measures are planned for the Emergency Services Network following recent storms in the North East of Scotland.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) works closely with user organisations and EE to enhance levels of resilience across the ESN network. This includes enhancing power resilience across the ESN network by deploying standby alternative power solutions in the event of mains power being lost.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with representatives of EE on improving the resilience of the Emergency Services Network following Storms Arwen, Malik and Corrie.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Regular discussions are ongoing between the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESCMP) and EE to ensure the ESN network is resilient in the event of major disruption. The Programme is providing additional investment to enhance resilience of the ESN network in addition to what has already been provided by EE.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with her counterparts in (a) the EU, (b) the US, (c) Canada and (d) Israel on their classification of Hamas as a terror group in its entirety.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The UK Government does not routinely comment on intelligence matters.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department takes to distinguish between the military and political wings of Hamas; and if she will review her assessment of the functions of Hamas' Political Bureau.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The UK Government does not routinely comment on intelligence matters.
While we work closely with our international partners in the global fight against terrorism, any executive action must be underpinned by intelligence which satisfies the UK’s criminal and statutory thresholds.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether a decision has been taken on the expansion of the Youth Mobility Scheme to European nationals.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The UK currently operates nine Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) arrangements with Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Korea, San Marino, Japan, Monaco, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
As each YMS is subject to a bilateral, reciprocal agreement which also provides benefit to UK Nationals, the Home Office will not add nations to the scheme unilaterally in the absence of such an agreement.
Looking to the future, we have indicated our desire to negotiate a youth mobility arrangement with the EU, or with individual countries within it if a collective agreement is not possible.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of full surveillance of a convicted terrorist after release from prison.
Answered by James Brokenshire
For security reasons we do not disclose the breakdown of counter-terrorism police funding for specific capabilities.
The Government is committed to supporting our superb police, security and intelligence agencies, who work round the clock to keep us safe.
That is why the Government increased resources to the intelligence community in the 2015 Spending Review. By 2021, the security and intelligence agencies will have invested an additional £2.5bn in their capability to deliver against national security priorities.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a Fisheries Workers Scheme, alongside the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The UK Government will introduce a points-based immigration system that works in the interests of the whole of the United Kingdom. As part of this we will consider the needs of specific sectors and industries.
The Government commissioned the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to advise on salary thresholds and how points could be awarded to prospective migrants under a new points-based immigration system. The MAC published its report on 28 January and the Government will consider carefully their findings and recommendations before setting out further detail in due course.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to tackle far-right extremism in the UK.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government is committed to tackling extremism in all its forms.
The 2015 Counter-Extremism Strategy sets out a four year programme of work for defeating extremism at source. Since 2015 the Government has funded additional security measures in 129 places of worship, including places targeted by far-right extremists; excluded and refused entry to the UK to known far-right extremists; created a network of more than 160 civil society partners confronting extremism in their communities; and supported Local Authorities tackling far-right extremism. The newly established independent Commission for Countering Extremism has been given a clear remit to identify and challenge extremism in all its forms.
In December 2016, the neo-Nazi group National Action became the first extreme right-wing group to be proscribed by Government as a terrorist organisation. The Government’s updated and strengthened Counter-Terrorism Strategy (CONTEST) addresses all forms of terrorism and confirms that extreme right-wing terrorism is a growing threat. Since 2017, the police and the security and intelligence agencies have disrupted four extreme right-wing terrorist plots. CONTEST confirms the Security Service will have greater involvement in the assessment and investigation of extreme right-wing terrorism.