Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State of 17 January 2018, Official Report, Column 348WH, on County Lines, when she plans to launch the nationwide awareness-raising campaign.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The nationwide awareness-raising communications activity on county lines was launched on 9 April. The activity is targeted to young and vulnerable people on how to avoid becoming involved and exploited by gangs.
The Home Secretary also launched the Serious Violence Strategy on 9 April, which builds upon the significant programme of work already underway to tackle county lines and other forms of serious violence. The Strategy sets out a new balance between prevention and the rigorous law enforcement activity already happening up and down the country.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent meetings her Department has had with social media companies on tackling online hate crime.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
On 19 December 2017 the Minister responsible for Hate Crime Baroness Williams attended a seminar on online hate that was arranged by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The seminar included representatives from Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter.
Officials will continue to engage with social media companies about what more they can do to tackle online hate crime.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the Government’s policy on room sharing with reference to accommodation for dispersed asylum seekers.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Accommodation providers must comply with national and local housing regulations including those regarding room sharing. The accommodation contracts set out who may share a room, which includes allowing room sharing for couples, unrelated adults of the same sex and related children depending on their genders and ages. Providers are contractually required to take account of any particular circumstances and vulnerability of those that they accommodate and an assessment is made on a case-by-case basis depending on the specific needs of the individual.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funding her Department has allocated to provide long-term support to victims of sexual abuse identified in Operation Sanctuary.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Government is committed to ensuring that victims of crime have access to the support services they need to help them cope with and, as far as possible, recover from the effects.
This year, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is providing £12.5m funding for services for victims and survivors of sexual violence. This includes £7m funding for victims of child sexual abuse (CSA). In Northumbria, MoJ is providing £265,870 (including £60,000 CSA uplift) to four rape support centres, and a further £116,423 has been delegated to the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) to spend on service for victims of child sexual abuse (CSA).
Overall, MoJ is spending £96m this year to fund support services for victims of crime. Around £68m of this has been allocated to PCCs to locally commission or provide support services for victims of crime. The grant to Northumbria PCC, including the CSA provision, was almost £1.7m.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of refugees residing in the UK who have been separated from their family due to not being eligible for family reunification.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The UK Immigration Rules have a comprehensive framework for refugees and their families to be safely reunited in the UK. Our family reunion policy allows immediate family members of those granted protection here to reunite with them. The Immigration Rules also provide for relatives with protection in the UK to sponsor children in serious and compelling circumstances. The Mandate resettlement scheme also allows those recognised by the UNCHR as refugees to join close family members here in the UK.
In addition, there is provision in the policy to grant visas outside the Rules in exceptional circumstances, which caters for extended family members who otherwise do not qualify under the Rules.
We do not believe there are unnecessary barriers to family reunion for refugees. Over the last five years there have been 24,700 family reunion visas issued –and this is in addition to the numbers granted asylum here or resettled here under our resettlement schemes.
We are listening carefully to concerns raised on this issue by Non-Governmental Organisations and others, we are currently reviewing our approach to family reunion as part of the Government’s wider asylum and resettlement policy.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to implement any of the recommendations of the report, Joint Serious Case Review Concerning Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adults with Needs for Care and Support in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, published by the Newcastle Safeguarding Children Board and Newcastle Safeguarding Adults Board.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Child sexual exploitation is abhorrent and the crimes perpetrated in Newcastle have had a devastating impact on the lives of the victims. The Government acknowledges the seriousness of the issues raised in this serious case review and is committed to improving the national response to tackling sexual exploitation.
We have already taken significant action to tackle this issue. In February 2017, the Government published its Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation: Progress Report and announced a £40m package of measures to protect children and young people from sexual abuse, exploitation and trafficking, and to crack down on offenders.
This included £7.5m for a new, ground-breaking Centre of Expertise that will identify, generate, and share high quality evidence of what works to prevent and tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation. The recommendations of the review cover a wide range of issues, which we will consider carefully in the context of this existing programme of work.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the third report of the Home Affairs committee, Home Office delivery of Brexit: immigration, published on 14 February 2018, HC 421, when her Department plans to publish final guidance on the Government’s immigration plan after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Government is considering a range of options for the future immigration system and will set out initial plans in due course. In December, we reached a deal with the EU on citizens’ rights - and our priority now must be to agree the detail of the Implementation Period.
We will make decisions on the future immigration system based on evidence and engagement.
That is why we have asked the independent Migration Advisory Committee to advise on the economic and social impacts of the UK’s exit from the EU and also on how the UK’s immigration system should be aligned with a modern industrial strategy.
The Government will have plenty of time to take account of the MAC’s advice when making any final decisions about our future immigration system, which would not be implemented until after the Implementation Period in 2021.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the UK will continue to apply the Dublin III Regulation when the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The UK’s future co-operation with the EU on the area of asylum and migration will be a matter for the negotiations. The UK remains fully committed to co-operation with Member States of the EU on migration and asylum.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funding was allocated to Northumbria Police in each year since 2010-11.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The 2015 Spending Review protected overall police spending in real terms, and the 2017-18 police funding settlement maintained that protection.
Every Police & Crime Commissioner who maximised their local precept income in 2016-17 and 2017-18 is receiving at least the same direct resource funding in cash that they received in 2015-16. Forces funding is made available to Parliament each year in the statement.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers were employed by Northumbria Police in (a) March 2010 and (b) March 2017.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Home Office collects and publishes statistics on the number of police officers employed by each police force in England and Wales on a bi-annual basis. These data are published in the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletins, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales