Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle (a) domestic abuse and (b) parental abuse experienced by LGBTQ+ youth during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
We are acutely aware of the need to put victims at the heart of our approach to tackling domestic abuse at this time. We are working closely with domestic abuse charities to monitor and assess impacts and needs.
The Government has posted advice regarding national helplines, including specialist helplines, on gov.uk to guide victims to the most appropriate support for their individual needs (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/domestic-abuse-how-to-get-help ). This has been extensively promoted through our awareness raising campaign #YouAreNotAlone.
The Home Office has announced £2m of funding to help bolster helplines at this time; £1.2m of this has already been allocated to provide Covid-19 support. This includes an additional £71,000 to Galop, which runs the National LGBT Domestic Abuse helpline, to ensure that the service continues to be available to LGBT+ victims during this period.
This is in addition to the £750 million funding package announced by the Chancellor, £76 million of which will support survivors of?domestic abuse, sexual violence and modern slavery?as well as ensure that vulnerable children and young people continue to get the help they need. From this funding the HO launched a £2m fund for national and regionally based domestic abuse organisations. £793,000 of this has already been allocated to 13 organisations and additional bids are currently being assessed.
As part of its ongoing support for victims of domestic abuse, the Home Office has, in addition, provided £120,000 of funding each year since 2016 for the LBGT Domestic Abuse helpline, which provides emotional and practical support for LGBT+ people who are experiencing or have experienced domestic abuse.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to improve LGBT+ representation in senior positions in her Department.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Home Office Diversity & Inclusion Strategy sets a target of 6% representation for Lesbian, Gay and Bi staff in senior positions by 2025. We will assess a target for Trans staff when we are able to capture this data soon.
We have a comprehensive programme of activity underway led by a senior LGBTI+ Champion including an inclusive language pack to improve understanding of the importance of appropriate language in the workplace, a new recruitment model for LGBTI+ apprentices and Career Watch pilots for LGBTI+ staff, focused on active sponsorship of staff to build the talent pipeline to senior levels.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the feasibility of releasing detainees from immigration detention centres to (a) prevent and (b) contain the transmission of covid-19 in those centres.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The safety and health of those in immigration removal centres is of the utmost importance but we remain committed to removing foreign national offenders or those who violate our immigration rules. Detention plays a key role in securing our borders and maintaining effective immigration control.
Decisions to detain an individual are made on a case by case basis and are based on all of the information known at the time of the review. As circumstances of the case change, detention is reviewed in light of these changes and release may then become appropriate.
The Home Office is following all Public Health England guidance and have robust contingency plans in place including measures such as protective isolation to minimise the risk of COVID-19 spreading in the immigration detention estate. Further measures including shielding, single occupancy rooms and the cessation of social visits have been introduced in line with the Government direction on social distancing.
There are currently no cases of Covid-19 in the immigration detention estate.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to ensure that people with no recourse to public funds are (a) safeguarded and (b) able to self-isolate during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office is working closely with other government departments to support people, including migrants with no recourse to public funds, through this crisis. We are taking a compassionate and pragmatic approach and will continue to review the situation to consider if more can be done.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will help firms continue to keep people, including workers with no recourse to public funds, in employment with the government paying 80% of furloughed workers wages up to a cap of £2,500.
There are a number of measures in relation to rent and mortgage protections, food vouchers, and protections for the homeless, all of which are not considered public funds. Local Authorities may also provide basic safety net support if it is established that there is a genuine care need that does not arise solely from destitution, for example, where there are community care needs, migrants with serious health problems or family cases.
Covid-19 has been added to the list of infectious diseases so anyone experiencing symptoms, regardless of their immigration status, will be treated for free.
People granted leave under the family and human rights routes can apply to have a condition lifted or for access to benefits if their financial circumstances change.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of the police introducing affirmative action to tackle failures on diversity in police forces.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Trust and legitimacy are vital elements of British policing by consent. The police have worked hard to improve equality and diversity in policing. The workforce is more representative than ever before and there is a Code of Ethics in place. While recognising these significant improvements, we are not complacent.
Our drive to recruit 20,000 officers over three years gives us a significant opportunity to attract a wide range of people into a career in policing and support the police to become even more representative of the communities they serve. Work is already underway by forces and key partners to ensure they can attract a more representative workforce as part of the uplift in officer numbers.
The College of Policing has delivered a major programme of work to support forces in their efforts to address under-representation in the recruitment, retention and progression of officers, including those from BAME backgrounds, and has published advice on the lawful use of positive action to address under-representation in policing. This work includes measures to improve diversity at the most senior levels in policing, where there is the greatest disparity.
The Government has also supported innovative schemes such as Police Now which are making the police workforce more diverse than ever before; showing that we can attract the brightest and best into policing, whilst introducing new perspectives into policing from some of the country’s most challenging neighbourhoods.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council published its first Diversity, Equality and Inclusion strategy in October 2018. This is complemented by a workforce representation toolkit which includes practical actions forces can take to increase the recruitment, retention and progression of officers from under-represented groups in policing. This is a welcome demonstration of policing taking the lead in implementing action to increase diversity and In addition, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has agreed to focus more closely on how forces are performing on diversity and inclusion as part of its next round of Integrated Peel Assessments this year.
The Equality Act 2010 includes positive action provisions to enable employers to address identified under-representation of protected groups in the workplace, as is the case for BAME officers in the police. There is much greater scope than has been the case so far for the police to use the positive action provisions of equalities legislation to improve BAME recruitment and progression.
Some forces (such as the Metropolitan Police Service, Bedfordshire Police, West Midlands Police and Greater Manchester Police) have made significant improvements in the rate of BAME joiners through successful positive action measures. Other forces should be learning the lessons of the successful measures being used in these forces.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of whether institutional racism exists in the police force.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Trust and legitimacy are vital elements of British policing by consent. The police have worked hard to improve equality and diversity in policing. The workforce is more representative than ever before and there is a Code of Ethics in place. While recognising these significant improvements, we are not complacent.
Our drive to recruit 20,000 officers over three years gives us a significant opportunity to attract a wide range of people into a career in policing and support the police to become even more representative of the communities they serve. Work is already underway by forces and key partners to ensure they can attract a more representative workforce as part of the uplift in officer numbers.
The College of Policing has delivered a major programme of work to support forces in their efforts to address under-representation in the recruitment, retention and progression of officers, including those from BAME backgrounds, and has published advice on the lawful use of positive action to address under-representation in policing. This work includes measures to improve diversity at the most senior levels in policing, where there is the greatest disparity.
The Government has also supported innovative schemes such as Police Now which are making the police workforce more diverse than ever before; showing that we can attract the brightest and best into policing, whilst introducing new perspectives into policing from some of the country’s most challenging neighbourhoods.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council published its first Diversity, Equality and Inclusion strategy in October 2018. This is complemented by a workforce representation toolkit which includes practical actions forces can take to increase the recruitment, retention and progression of officers from under-represented groups in policing. This is a welcome demonstration of policing taking the lead in implementing action to increase diversity and In addition, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has agreed to focus more closely on how forces are performing on diversity and inclusion as part of its next round of Integrated Peel Assessments this year.
The Equality Act 2010 includes positive action provisions to enable employers to address identified under-representation of protected groups in the workplace, as is the case for BAME officers in the police. There is much greater scope than has been the case so far for the police to use the positive action provisions of equalities legislation to improve BAME recruitment and progression.
Some forces (such as the Metropolitan Police Service, Bedfordshire Police, West Midlands Police and Greater Manchester Police) have made significant improvements in the rate of BAME joiners through successful positive action measures. Other forces should be learning the lessons of the successful measures being used in these forces.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to increase diversity in the police force.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Trust and legitimacy are vital elements of British policing by consent. The police have worked hard to improve equality and diversity in policing. The workforce is more representative than ever before and there is a Code of Ethics in place. While recognising these significant improvements, we are not complacent.
Our drive to recruit 20,000 officers over three years gives us a significant opportunity to attract a wide range of people into a career in policing and support the police to become even more representative of the communities they serve. Work is already underway by forces and key partners to ensure they can attract a more representative workforce as part of the uplift in officer numbers.
The College of Policing has delivered a major programme of work to support forces in their efforts to address under-representation in the recruitment, retention and progression of officers, including those from BAME backgrounds, and has published advice on the lawful use of positive action to address under-representation in policing. This work includes measures to improve diversity at the most senior levels in policing, where there is the greatest disparity.
The Government has also supported innovative schemes such as Police Now which are making the police workforce more diverse than ever before; showing that we can attract the brightest and best into policing, whilst introducing new perspectives into policing from some of the country’s most challenging neighbourhoods.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council published its first Diversity, Equality and Inclusion strategy in October 2018. This is complemented by a workforce representation toolkit which includes practical actions forces can take to increase the recruitment, retention and progression of officers from under-represented groups in policing. This is a welcome demonstration of policing taking the lead in implementing action to increase diversity and In addition, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has agreed to focus more closely on how forces are performing on diversity and inclusion as part of its next round of Integrated Peel Assessments this year.
The Equality Act 2010 includes positive action provisions to enable employers to address identified under-representation of protected groups in the workplace, as is the case for BAME officers in the police. There is much greater scope than has been the case so far for the police to use the positive action provisions of equalities legislation to improve BAME recruitment and progression.
Some forces (such as the Metropolitan Police Service, Bedfordshire Police, West Midlands Police and Greater Manchester Police) have made significant improvements in the rate of BAME joiners through successful positive action measures. Other forces should be learning the lessons of the successful measures being used in these forces.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Women of 11 July 2019, Official Report column 439, what forms of documentation have been provided to each of the more than 6,400 applicants to the Windrush scheme.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Home Secretary provides the Home Affairs Select Committee with monthly updates on the work of the department in connection with Windrush. This includes information on decisions made by the Taskforce under the Windrush Scheme. The correspondence can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/correspondence-on-the-work-of-the-home-office-windrush
The published Windrush guidance confirms what documentation is provided to the applicant dependent on the individual’s circumstance. The guidance can be found at:
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many outstanding Windrush scheme applications there are.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Home Secretary provides monthly updates on the work of the Windrush Taskforce to the Home Affairs Select Committee. The correspondence can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/correspondence-on-the-work-of-the-home-office-windrush
It is intended that updates on the number of outstanding application will be provided in the future.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will provide a breakdown of the type of documentation received by the 4,200 successful applications through the Windrush Scheme.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Home Secretary provides the Home Affairs Select Committee with monthly updates on the work of the department in connection with Windrush. This includes information on decisions made by the Taskforce under the Windrush Scheme. The correspondence can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/correspondence-on-the-work-of-the-home-office-windrush
The published Windrush guidance confirms what documentation is provided to the applicant dependent on the individual’s circumstance. The guidance can be found at: