Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Government plans to phase out the use of EEA national identity cards as a valid form of identification at the UK border.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The documents that EEA and Swiss nationals need to travel to the UK will not change until at least 2021.
We will announce further details of our plans to phase out the use of EEA national identity cards in due course.
However, EU Settlement Scheme status holders and others who are protected by the Withdrawal Agreement and equivalent agreements with the EFTA states will continue to be able to use national identity cards for travel to the UK until at least December 2025, in accordance with the terms of those agreements. Thereafter, they will continue to be able to travel here on their national identity card, provided it meets International Civil Aviation Organisation standards.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect of climate change on the work of her Department; and what steps she is taking in response to that effect.
Answered by James Brokenshire
My Department recognises the importance of climate change with regard to policy development. We are keeping the effects of climate change on Home Office business under consideration. We have also been mindful of the Greening Government Commitments.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the ability of fire authorities to respond to fires in (a) electric and (b) hydrogen vehicles.
Answered by James Brokenshire
It is the responsibility of each fire and rescue authority to determine their operational response based on its analysis of risk and local circumstances, and drawing on national operational guidance provided by the National Fire Chiefs Council.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the accuracy of reports that police forces have conducted searches of Clearview AI’s facial recognition database; and what assessment she has made of the legal basis for police forces to conduct such searches in the course of their investigations.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The use of suppliers and systems by the police to carry out a search of a database is a matter for the relevant police force, operating in accordance with the law.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has (a) live and (b) historic contracts with (i) Clearview AI and (ii) subsidiaries of that company.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Our records show that the Home Office has no (a) live or (b) historic contracts with (i) Clearview AI or (ii) the 2 identified subsidiaries, Smartcheckr or Insight Camera.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Home Office has plans to provide EU citizens with physical documentation confirming their settled status after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Home Office issues all EU citizens granted status under the EU Settlement Scheme with a written notice of their immigration status and their conditions of leave for staying in the UK, by email or letter, which is an official document that individuals can keep. However, due to the possibility of fraud and abuse, this document cannot be used to evidence an individual’s immigration status to work or access services. EU citizens will be able to continue using their passports and national identity cards to evidence their status in the UK until the new immigration system is introduced in 2021. EU citizens granted status under the scheme can view that status, as recorded digitally by the Home Office, and will be able to share it with others to access services they are entitled to, via an online status checking service. This digital status forms part of the move towards digital products in the UK immigration system. It is more secure and enables individuals to keep their information up to date, share it in real time, and only share the information that is required, which is not possible with a card.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans he has for individuals who employ (a) carers and (b) other types of domestic help to have sponsorship and guarantor rights under the Tier 2 regulations.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Government has no plans to allow individuals to sponsor carers or other types of domestic help.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to review the immigration exemption at schedule 2, paragraph 4 of the Data Protection Act 2018.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The operation of the immigration exemption will be reviewed after it has been in force for twelve months. The review will commence after 25 May 2019.
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Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to reduce the time taken to process DBS checks for potential care workers.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Sector level information is not collected on a mandatory basis by the DBS as part of its checks, therefore it is not possible to provide or assess this information.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to prevent the misuse of smart home and internet-connected devices to enable domestic violence.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Last year we launched a public consultation on the Government response to domestic abuse in which we asked about the risk of technology being used to perpetrate abuse.
We will be publishing a response to the consultation and draft Domestic Abuse Bill soon.
The Government will also shortly publish a white paper detailing how we will tackle online harms, including domestic abuse.
We have also provided Refuge with £250,000 of funding through the Tampon Tax to provide specialist nationwide support to staff and survivors who experience technologically facilitated abuse.