Asked by: Dan Tomlinson (Labour - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to take steps to increase protection for victims of stalking when the perpetrator has a mental health condition.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This Government is fully committed to tackling stalking and doing all that it can to protect victims and robustly manage perpetrators.
On 3 December, the Government announced a raft of new measures to tackle stalking by putting victims first and increasing the protections available to them. This includes plans to increase the use of Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs) by legislating to provide for the courts to impose them of their own volition on conviction or acquittal. Currently only the police can apply for an SPO to a magistrate's court.
SPOs are an essential tool designed to protect victims of stalking at the earliest possible opportunity and address the perpetrator's behaviours before they become entrenched or escalate in severity. They allow positive requirements to be imposed and this can include the perpetrator attending mental health support, but also a perpetrator programme to address the root causes of their offending.
Asked by: Dan Tomlinson (Labour - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the new visa requirements for Colombian citizens on UK citizens who are intending to return to the UK with children born through surrogacy in Colombia.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The status of British Citizens is not affected by the reintroduction of a visa requirement for Colombian nationals. The new visa requirements introduced on 26 November 2024 relate to visitors and passengers in transit only. The visa requirements for those who intend to settle in the UK or enter for any other reason have not changed. Full consideration was given to the likely impact of the change on Colombian nationals. British Citizens who intend to return to the UK with a child born through surrogacy are advised to seek specialist immigration advice.
Asked by: Dan Tomlinson (Labour - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle car theft.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is determined to drive down vehicle crime and we are working closely with the automotive industry and police to ensure there is a robust and rapid response whenever people have their cars stolen.
We will also bring forward legislation in the upcoming Crime and Policing Bill to ban electronic devices used to steal vehicles, empowering the police and courts to target the criminals using, manufacturing and supplying those devices.