Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration’s report entitled An inspection of the immigration system as it relates to the social care sector, if her Department will undertake a review of the (a) sponsor licensing application and (b) decision-making process in collaboration with social care industry leads and sector experts.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Prior to the report from the ICIBI, work was underway between UKVI and the social care sector to improve and develop their processes. This focussed on both the development of the sponsor licencing application process, and improvement of decision-making processes in relation to adult social care cases.
Regular engagement sessions between the Home Office and the sector also allow clear examples of good practice to be shared. This is happening alongside the trial of a support process whereby providers are able to seek a letter of support from the local Director of Adult Social Services confirming any requests are proportionate to the business model. We will continue to examine new ways to tackle exploitation in the immigration system, including in social care.
Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
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 the Border Force Operational Notification forms.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Operation Notification Form (ONF) is used by Immigration, Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) teams outside the Metropolitan Police area
Its purpose is to enable Immigration Enforcement (IE) to request local police assistance for an enforcement visit or notify the police of a planned enforcement visit where no additional local police assistance is required. It is used by IE to gather intelligence held by the police regarding the subjects and addresses they plan to visit. In addition, it enables local police to carry out an equalities and community impact assessment of the proposed visit and allows IE to notify police of the result of the visit using the intelligence feedback report
Operational business assurance standards provide officers with guidance relating to the use of ONFs / equivalent police checks. Assurance checks for ONFs have been conducted in past operational assurance reviews
Published guidance on the ONF can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/powers-and-operational-procedure/enforcement-planning-assessments-accessible.
The role of ‘Operational Support Officer’ is not a standard position within every operational team / unit within IE, therefore the department would not consider creating a standardised best practice guide for this position
Guidance for officers dealing with immigration enforcement matters is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/enforcement-instructions-and-guidance.
Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will publish standardised best practice guides for Border Force Operational Support Officers.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Operation Notification Form (ONF) is used by Immigration, Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) teams outside the Metropolitan Police area
Its purpose is to enable Immigration Enforcement (IE) to request local police assistance for an enforcement visit or notify the police of a planned enforcement visit where no additional local police assistance is required. It is used by IE to gather intelligence held by the police regarding the subjects and addresses they plan to visit. In addition, it enables local police to carry out an equalities and community impact assessment of the proposed visit and allows IE to notify police of the result of the visit using the intelligence feedback report
Operational business assurance standards provide officers with guidance relating to the use of ONFs / equivalent police checks. Assurance checks for ONFs have been conducted in past operational assurance reviews
Published guidance on the ONF can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/powers-and-operational-procedure/enforcement-planning-assessments-accessible.
The role of ‘Operational Support Officer’ is not a standard position within every operational team / unit within IE, therefore the department would not consider creating a standardised best practice guide for this position
Guidance for officers dealing with immigration enforcement matters is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/enforcement-instructions-and-guidance.
Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the extent of (a) violence towards and (b) abuse of (i) shop staff and (ii) volunteers in the charity retail sector.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Police recorded crime figures recorded 430,104 shoplifting offences for year ending December 2023, an increase by 37% in the 12 months leading up to. The British Retail Consortium Crime Report 2024 showed there were around 475,000 incidents of violence and abuse in 2022-23. Shoplifting continues to increase at an unsatisfactory level, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers to do this. Violence and abusive behaviour towards any worker, particularly those who provide a valuable service to the public, is never acceptable. The Government will not stand for this.
Through the Crime and Policing Bill, the Government will introduce a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores. We will also end the effective immunity that has been granted to low level shoplifting of goods under £200.
Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who absconded from ports of entry after being detained by Border Force officers were subsequently recovered in each year since 2010.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office are unable to provide the requested data. This is on the basis the information requested is not available in a reportable format.
The Home Office are relentless in the pursuit of those who seek to enter the UK illegally. Our extensive security measures include robust, specialist measures from both Border Force and Immigration Enforcement.
Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people absconded from ports of entry after being detained by Border Force officers in each year since 2010.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office are unable to provide the requested data. This is on the basis the information requested is not available in a reportable format.
The Home Office are relentless in the pursuit of those who seek to enter the UK illegally. Our extensive security measures include robust, specialist measures from both Border Force and Immigration Enforcement.
Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration’s report entitled An inspection of the immigration system as it relates to the social care sector, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Skilled Worker route for social care workers; and whether she has plans to (a) review and (b) reform the Skilled Worker visa.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The previous government accepted the recommendations of the ICIBI report and we will continue to take this work forward. The Home Office has undertaken activity since 2023 to address issues in the sector including commissioning the Migration Advisory Committee to undertake a review of the Immigration Salary List and requiring those sponsoring care workers in England to be registered with the Care Quality Commission.
The Government is committed to reducing historically high levels of legal migration and addressing the root causes. We recognise the need to cut reliance on international recruitment in sectors like social care.
We will introduce measures to upskill workers and improve working conditions in the UK, ensuring quicker responses to labour market challenges and reducing the need for international recruitment.
We will continue to work across government, and with the adult social care sector to develop an understanding of the sector to inform our policies and decision making in relation to cases from it.
There are regular engagement sessions between the Home Office and the sector whereby clear examples of good practice are shared alongside the trial of a support process where providers are able to seek a letter of support from the local Director of Adult Social Services confirming any requests are proportionate to the business model.
Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much money has accrued to the public purse in confiscation orders in each year since 2010; and how much of that money was allocated in compensation to victims of crime in each year.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The total value of confiscation order receipts and compensation paid to victims through confiscation order receipts for 2011/12 to 2022/23 is £1.7 billion and £281.7 million respectively, with the annual breakdown given below. Data for financial years 2011/12 to 2022/23 can be found in the annually published Asset recovery statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) We do not hold 2010/11 in a readily accessible format. The next publication covering financial year 2023/24 is due to be published in September. Table 1: Value of proceeds of crime recovered from Confiscation Orders and value of compensation paid to victims through confiscation order receipts in the jurisdictions of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, financial years 2011/12 to 2022/23
|
Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of promoting community-owned energy projects in the East of England to (a) help achieve Net Zero targets and (b) provide greater support for infrastructure construction in localities affected.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Community projects will play a crucial role in the Government’s mission to make the UK a clean energy superpower, by saving families money and improving communities’ energy security.
Through the Government’s Local Power Plan, which will be delivered by Great British Energy, we will put local communities and stakeholders at the heart of the energy transition. Great British Energy will collaborate with private energy companies, local authorities, and cooperatives to roll-out small and medium-scale clean energy projects. This will save families money and ensure communities directly benefit from local developments.
Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much was allocated to (a) each police force in England and Wales, (b) each government department, (c) each local authority and (d) other bodies through the Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme in each year since 2010.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Allocations from the Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme (ARIS) with breakdowns for police forces, government departments, local authority and other bodies that participate in ARIS is only available from financial year 2016/17 to 2022/23
Published data from financial year 2016/17 to 2021/22 can be found in tab 9 of the data tables: Reporting force and agency data - assets recovered: September 2022.
Published data from financial year 2017/18 to 2022/23 can be found in tab 10 of the data tables: Asset Recovery Statistics, financial years ending 2018 to 2023: Data Tables.
The total value of ARIS allocations to police forces, government departments, local authority and other bodies from 2016/17 to 2022/23 is £679.7m
The next publication covering financial year 2023/24 is due to be published in September.