Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 May to Question 26458 on Oppression, if he will publish his speech to the Hong Kong Symposium on 27 April 2024.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, whether he plans to meet with Figen Murray to discuss Martyn's Law.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
My thoughts continue to be with all the victims of the terrible attack that took place in Manchester Arena in 2017. I pay tribute to Figen Murray for her courage and the bravery of her campaigning in Martyn’s memory.
I spoke to Figen Murray after becoming Prime Minister to discuss Martyn’s Law, and more recently, she met the Minister for Security (my right hon. Friend, the Member for Tonbridge and Malling). As set out in The King’s Speech, this government is committed to bringing in Martyn’s Law.
Details of my official engagements will be announced by my Office is the usual way.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Minister for Legal Migration and the Border's Oral Statement of 8 May 2024 on Passport e-Gates Network Outage, Official Report, column 592, if he will publish a report of the investigations into the failure of passport e-gates on 7 May 2024.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
It has never been Government practice, for reasons of law enforcement, to comment on operational issues relating to border security and immigration controls. This includes offering commentary on the performance of border systems and of ePassport Gates data specifically.
The Home Office has a number of contingency arrangements in the event of a system failure, including technical and business contingency measures.
In the UK, all arriving passengers need to establish their eligibility for admission. Every passenger is required to establish their nationality and identity. To maintain a safe and secure border, a passenger’s passport or national identity card is checked electronically. The eGates and face-to-face checks are two methods of conducting the same process.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the adequacy of security at passport e-gates.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
It has never been Government practice, for reasons of law enforcement, to comment on operational issues relating to border security and immigration controls. This includes offering commentary on the performance of border systems and of ePassport Gates data specifically.
The Home Office has a number of contingency arrangements in the event of a system failure, including technical and business contingency measures.
In the UK, all arriving passengers need to establish their eligibility for admission. Every passenger is required to establish their nationality and identity. To maintain a safe and secure border, a passenger’s passport or national identity card is checked electronically.
The eGates and face-to-face checks are two methods of conducting the same process.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 14 May 2024 to Question 24982 on Oppression, if he will publish the details of future reforms made to the systems and processes for tackling transnational repression.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The UK will not tolerate transnational repression (TNR) and will stand up for the rights of all people to live here safely and freely. The National Security Act 2023 strengthens our legal powers to counter foreign interference, and provides the security services and law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to deter, detect, and disrupt modern-day state threats.
The Defending Democracy Taskforce, is reviewing the UK’s response to TNR to ensure we have a robust and joined up response across government and law enforcement.
The review is nearing completion and I will be updating Parliament in due course. The review is an in-depth exploration of the issue, including material which is classified, it would therefore be inappropriate to publish the document in full. I intend to provide the House with a statement which summarises the key findings and recommendations.
It is crucial that those who believe themselves to be victims of state-backed threats report concerns to the police. At the UK - Hong Kong Symposium on 27 April, I set out that the police are in the process of finalising a new suite of resources to raise awareness and capabilities of frontline officers across the UK, which will be launched over the next few months. This will enable frontline officers to increase their understanding of the threats that foreign powers present, support their engagement with communities who may be at risk, and respond appropriately to reports from members of the public.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 14 May 2024 to Question 24982 on Oppression, what his expected timetable is for the publication of his Department's review on transnational repression.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The UK will not tolerate transnational repression (TNR) and will stand up for the rights of all people to live here safely and freely. The National Security Act 2023 strengthens our legal powers to counter foreign interference, and provides the security services and law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to deter, detect, and disrupt modern-day state threats.
The Defending Democracy Taskforce, is reviewing the UK’s response to TNR to ensure we have a robust and joined up response across government and law enforcement.
The review is nearing completion and I will be updating Parliament in due course. The review is an in-depth exploration of the issue, including material which is classified, it would therefore be inappropriate to publish the document in full. I intend to provide the House with a statement which summarises the key findings and recommendations.
It is crucial that those who believe themselves to be victims of state-backed threats report concerns to the police. At the UK - Hong Kong Symposium on 27 April, I set out that the police are in the process of finalising a new suite of resources to raise awareness and capabilities of frontline officers across the UK, which will be launched over the next few months. This will enable frontline officers to increase their understanding of the threats that foreign powers present, support their engagement with communities who may be at risk, and respond appropriately to reports from members of the public.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 14 May to Question 24982 on Oppression, on what date his Department announced new training for front line officers.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The UK will not tolerate transnational repression (TNR) and will stand up for the rights of all people to live here safely and freely. The National Security Act 2023 strengthens our legal powers to counter foreign interference, and provides the security services and law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to deter, detect, and disrupt modern-day state threats.
The Defending Democracy Taskforce, is reviewing the UK’s response to TNR to ensure we have a robust and joined up response across government and law enforcement.
The review is nearing completion and I will be updating Parliament in due course. The review is an in-depth exploration of the issue, including material which is classified, it would therefore be inappropriate to publish the document in full. I intend to provide the House with a statement which summarises the key findings and recommendations.
It is crucial that those who believe themselves to be victims of state-backed threats report concerns to the police. At the UK - Hong Kong Symposium on 27 April, I set out that the police are in the process of finalising a new suite of resources to raise awareness and capabilities of frontline officers across the UK, which will be launched over the next few months. This will enable frontline officers to increase their understanding of the threats that foreign powers present, support their engagement with communities who may be at risk, and respond appropriately to reports from members of the public.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will commission a report on the potential impact of AI on (a) democracy and (b) elections.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government takes the threat disinformation and AI digitally manipulated content poses very seriously.
We have already seen examples of AI-driven election interference across the globe targeting elected leaders and seeking to influence democratic debate. To mitigate these risks, as part of the Defending Democracy Taskforce, DSIT is working across government to ensure we are ready to respond to risks to the UK’s democratic processes.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that changes to parent fines for missing school do not unintentionally impact children who are absent from school due to prolonged illness.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Legislation and the government’s ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance state that a penalty notice can only be issued when the absence constitutes an offence under section 444 of the Education Act 1997. Where a pupil cannot attend due to illness, this is not an offence and so legal enforcement action cannot be taken. This position will not change when the new rules for penalty notices come into force on 19 August 2024. The full guidance can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65f1b048133c22b8eecd38f7/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance__applies_from_19_August_2024_.pdf.
More generally, the department expects schools and local authorities to take a ‘support first’ approach to improving attendance, only using penalty notices for absence that is classed as unauthorised and when support has already been provided and not worked or been engaged with, or in the case of holidays taken in term-time, is not appropriate. The vast majority of penalty notices for unauthorised absence (89% in the 2022/2023 academic year) are issued for term time holidays.
Whatever the cause of absence from school, school staff should work with families and pupils to understand the barriers to attendance and provide support where possible. This might include providing pastoral support or making reasonable adjustments where a pupil has a disability. In the case of prolonged illness, as soon as it is clear that a child will be away from school for 15 school days or more because of their health needs, the local authority should arrange suitable alternative provision. It is important that all pupils’ right to a full-time education is protected, whilst acknowledging that some pupils require more support than others.
The department is providing a series of training events and webinars throughout the summer term for schools and local authorities to ensure that the new rules regarding penalty notices are understood and implemented in line with the ‘support first’ approach.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2024 to Question 902272 on Disinformation, how many information threats the Defending Democracy Taskforce has responded to.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In 2022 the Defending Democracy Taskforce, chaired by the Security Minister, was established to further drive forward work to protect the UK from the full range of threats facing our democratic institutions and processes, including interference with the UK democratic process. The Taskforce engages across government and with Parliament, the UK’s intelligence community, the devolved administrations, local authorities, the private sector, and civil society.
It would not be appropriate to comment publicly on the volume of information threats the departments which support the Taskforce team have responded to, in part because doing so would give malign actors insight into the scale of the UK’s capabilities to identify and tackle such threats to our democratic processes.