Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visa applications under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme are awaiting a decision; and how many of these have been outstanding for more than (a) 6 and (b) 12 weeks.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The number of applications currently awaiting a decision under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme is published weekly and can be found at: Ukraine Family Scheme, Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine) and Ukraine Extension Scheme visa data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The Home Office does not publish data on the number of applications outstanding for more than 6 and 12 weeks. However, the Homes for Ukraine Scheme has a Service Level Agreement of 15 days for straightforward applications.
Additionally, the transparency data published 22 August 2024 does include a range of processing data and the latest data can be found at: Visas and citizenship data: Q2 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many European Arrest Warrants have been issued to the United Kingdom in the last 12 months for which information is available; and how many of these have been executed.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
European Arrest Warrants were replaced by arrest warrants under Title VII of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). The National Crime Agency deals with arrest warrants issued in accordance with the TCA, as the designated authority for cases which fall under Part 1 of the Extradition Act 2003.
The NCA holds the data relating to arrest warrants issued and executed, not the Home Office.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will hold discussions with Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau on the potential merits of opening a criminal investigation into crimes with reference numbers NFRC240606737247 and NFRC240606733631.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
Due to the operational independence of law enforcement partners, the government is not able to comment on any specific case that is currently under review.
Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau will ensure that any case is dealt with appropriately with the necessary action taken.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2024 to Question 17274 on Offences against Children, on what evidential basis the National Crime Agency has stated that the number of child sex offenders in the UK is between 550,000 and 800,000.
Answered by Laura Farris
The National Crime Agency publishes an overview of the Child Sexual Abuse threat annually as part of the National Strategic Assessment. This includes an estimate of the number of UK based adult offenders who pose varying degrees of risk to children. An explanation of the CSA Scale Methodology has been published as an Annex to the National Strategic Assessment.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate he has made of the number of serious child abuse offences committed in the last 12 months.
Answered by Laura Farris
The term child abuse covers a broad range of offences including, but not limited to, sexual offences, violence against the person and cruelty and neglect. It is not possible to identify all child abuse offences recorded in official data.
In January 2020, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published experimental analysis which looked at a range of indicators from different data sources to enable understanding of child abuse. This report can be found here:
Child abuse in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk).
As the Home Secretary stated in his written statement of 10 January 2024, we are working with the ONS to explore whether a new survey could more effectively measure the current scale and nature of child abuse and neglect, including child sexual abuse. The ONS is currently developing the questionnaire and safeguarding procedures for the proposed survey, which will then be piloted.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much and what proportion of refugee integration loans have been repaid in each of the last 5 years.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The Home Office does not hold the data requested in a reportable format and it would require a manual search of records which would incur a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugee integration loans were made in each of the last 5 years for which information is available.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The Home Office does not hold the data requested in a reportable format and it would require a manual search of records which would incur a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the value of refugee integration (a) loans and (b) repayments made since January 2007 is.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
Refugee Integration Loans were introduced in 2007 following a public consultation and is intended to help people with the costs of integrating into UK society. They are funded by the Home Office who make the initial decisions on applications. They are then administered and recouped by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Refugee integration loans are interest-free loans with favourable repayment terms for individuals who are over 18 and meet the following eligibility criteria:
Individuals are currently able to borrow between £100 and £500. Between £100 to £780 can be borrowed if submitting a joint application with a partner.
The Home Office does not hold data for the value of refugee integration repayments made since January 2007 in a reportable format and it would require a manual search of records which would incur a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 13 September to Question 197940 on Asylum: Greater London, for what reasons the information requested is not reportable.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The information requested in relation to Question 197940 could only be obtained at disproportionate cost as it would require a manual trawl of case records to retrieve.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason refugee integration loans are interest free.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The loans ensure that those refugees with the greatest integration needs are able to get financial assistance to obtain specific items or activities that will help address those needs. As the payments take the form of a loan, money recovered can be recycled to ensure a continuous fund for new refugees.