To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Retail Trade: Crime
Monday 26th February 2018

Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the cost of retail crime to the UK economy in 2017; and what steps her Department is taking to tackle retail crime.

Answered by Nick Hurd

The Government recognises the impact that retail crime has on businesses. The British Retail Consortium, for example, estimated that the direct financial cost of crime to the UK retail industry was £660 million in 2015-16. We do not yet have data for the estimated cost of retail crime to the UK retail industry in 2017.

We work closely with the retail sector through the National Retail Crime Steering Group, which brings together representatives from industry, Government and the Police. This includes the British Retail Consortium and the Association of Convenience Stores to understand better the crime issues that affect the sector and how we can best work together to prevent and respond to these crimes.


Written Question
Retail Trade: Crimes of Violence
Thursday 22nd February 2018

Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce incidences of knife crime against shop workers.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

Tackling knife crime is a priority for the Government. Our work to tackle knife crime is centred on four key strands – working with the police on operations and enforcement, work on the legislative framework, work with retailers on responsible sales, and early intervention and prevention. All this work is designed to protect the public wherever they are and wherever they work.

All acts of violence and abuse against retail staff are serious matters whenever and wherever they occur. All such incidents should be reported to the police and taken seriously, investigated and, where appropriate, the perpetrators taken through the courts and met with tough sentences.

At the national level, we are working with the police and the retail sector to identify what more can be done to prevent and respond to violence and abuse against retail staff, as part of the work of the National Retail Crime Steering Group. The Steering Group is jointly chaired by the Home Office and the British Retail Consortium.


Written Question
Pedicabs
Thursday 18th January 2018

Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment the Government has made of the effectiveness of hostile vehicle mitigation measures in relation to pedicabs.

Answered by Nick Hurd

The police and our security services monitor vehicle attack threats closely, and act on intelligence. All forces have reviewed security measures in place, and additional physical security measures have been put in place at some locations, for example in busy city centres and on bridges. All police forces have access to the National Barrier Asset (NBA), which is a central resource of temporary Hostile Vehicle Mitigation barriers, gates and fences that provide protection against vehicle based attacks.
The Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) provide the guidance and specifications for Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (HVM) where testing of HVM takes into account weight and speed of a vehicle. The NBA is compliant with these specifications.


Written Question
Pedicabs: Road Traffic Offences
Thursday 18th January 2018

Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many pedicab riders have received cautions or arrests for the last twelve months for which records are available.

Answered by Nick Hurd

The Home Office does not hold this information centrally.


Written Question
Retail Trade: Crime
Thursday 20th April 2017

Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department provides to businesses on preventing retail crime; and what the total cost of retail crime was in 2016.

Answered by Sarah Newton

The Government recognises the impact that retail crime has on businesses. The British Retail Consortium has, for example, estimated that the direct financial cost of crime to the UK retail industry was £660 million in 2015-16.

We have not issued general guidance on preventing the different forms of crime that can impact on businesses, which includes shoplifting, criminal damage and fraud. We do, however, work closely with the retail sector and I [the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Vulnerability, Safeguarding and Countering Extremism] have met with representative bodies including the British Retail Consortium and the Association of Convenience Stores, who are also represented on the National Retail Crime Steering Group, to understand better the crime issues that affect the sector and how we can best work together to prevent and respond to these crimes.


Written Question
Detainees: EU Nationals
Wednesday 29th March 2017

Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many EU nationals were detained in prison under immigration powers in each quarter of (a) 2014, (b) 2015 and (c) 2016.

Answered by Robert Goodwill

The following link provides published data issued by the Ministry of Justice as at 31 December 2016. Data regarding foreign nationals detained in prison can be found in tab 1.6. Data on specific nationalities can be found in tab 1.7.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/585874/prison-population-31-dec-2016.xlsx


Written Question
Detainees: EU Nationals
Tuesday 28th March 2017

Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the cost of detaining EU nationals in immigration removal centres in each of the last five years.

Answered by Robert Goodwill

The average cost per day of immigration detention and this was last published on 23rd February 2017 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-enforcement-data-february-2017


Written Question
Asylum
Tuesday 21st March 2017

Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 8 March 2017 to Question 65944, on asylum, for what reasons her Department does not record that data; for what reasons the target was set at 28 days; and by what measure targets on asylum seekers' access to benefits, employment and accommodation are met.

Answered by Robert Goodwill

All those granted refugee status in the UK are given access to the labour market and benefits, and are encouraged to access organisations that can assist with integration. It is a matter for individuals as to when and where they choose to exercise these rights. Data on the processing times of mainstream benefit applications is a matter for the Department for Work and Pensions. Following the final determination of a claim for asylum, the grace period during which support continues is prescribed in Regulation 2 of the Asylum Support Regulations 2000 and was developed with input from a range of stakeholders.


Written Question
Asylum: Housing
Monday 20th March 2017

Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 8 March 2017 to Question 65944, on asylum, for what reasons her Department set a 19-day target within which asylum seekers should move from initial accommodation to dispersed accommodation; and how her Department records the transfer of asylum seekers to dispersed accommodation from initial accommodation.

Answered by Robert Goodwill

The transfer of asylum seekers from initial accommodation to dispersal accommodation is managed and delivered by individual accommodation providers. The Home Office measures and monitors the performance of suppliers based against a suite of KPIs, including the timeliness and quality of service provision. The 19-day turnaround for dispersal from Initial Accommodation is an internal management expectation based on established process timescales. UKVI monitors the transfer of asylum seekers to dispersed accommodation using a variety of sources.


Written Question
Asylum
Wednesday 8th March 2017

Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 21 February 2017 to Question 63970, how many asylum claims lodged in the UK have been rejected in each year since 2014; and what proportion and how many claims lodged were correctly decided upon the first time in each such year.

Answered by Robert Goodwill

The Home Office publishes figures on the outcome of asylum claims made during each calendar year in table as_06 of the Immigration Statistics release.

The Home Office also publishes figures on asylum appeals and determinations, in table as_14_q of the quarterly Immigration Statistics release.

A copy of the latest release, Immigration Statistics July to September 2016, is available from https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release

All asylum claims lodged in the UK are carefully considered on their individual merits against a background of relevant case law and up to date country information. We ensure that claimants are given every opportunity to disclose information relevant to their claim before a decision is taken, even where that information may be sensitive or difficult to disclose.

We are working to improve the quality of decision-making to ensure that we properly consider all the evidence provided and get decisions right the first time. UK Visas and Immigration has an internal audit process, consisting of reviews by senior case workers and independent auditors, which assesses whether Home Office policy has been followed.

An allowed appeal is not in itself an indication that our decision was incorrect at the time it was made though we aim to reduce the allowed appeal rate by analysing the reasons why appeals are allowed and using this to further improve guidance and training.