Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Animals in Science Regulation Unit’s change programme, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact on animal welfare of the proposed decrease in unannounced in-person inspector visits to animal testing sites.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Each Establishment Licence Holder has the responsibility at all times for the welfare of the animals within their establishment. Establishment licence holders are required to have governance systems in place to ensure all Personal and Project Licence Holders comply with the requirements of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) and to maintain compliance with the conditions on their own establishment licence. These requirements are defined in the Standard Conditions of licences.
The Regulator’s audit programme for compliance assurance purposes will be delivered in accordance with the requirements defined in the legislation. This includes unannounced visits to licensed establishments.
The Regulator has strengthened its regulatory oversight and published its process of full system audits at: www.gov.uk/guidance/animal-research-technical-advice#process-and-standards-for-establishment-full-system-audits.
The UK legal framework requires each Establishment which uses animals in science to have strong governance systems which are published in the Standard Conditions of licences found on the Regulator’s website at:
www.gov.uk/guidance/research-and-testing-using-animals.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of altering the Ukraine Family Scheme visa application process to enable one form to be filled for one family.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office is continually making efforts to simplify the application process for Ukrainian refugees and keeps this under regular review. However, the Department does not have plans to move to a single form for members of a single family.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason the priority visa service for all application routes remains suspended for Pakistan.
Answered by Kevin Foster
UK Visas and Immigration is currently prioritising applications made under the Ukraine Family Scheme, following its launch and in response to the humanitarian crisis arising from the invasion of Ukraine. As a result, UKVI have temporarily suspended paid for priority and super priority services for new study, work, and family applications.
Customers with standard applications in study, work, and family routes may experience some delays in the processing of their application. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help (a) increase the number of eligible individuals receiving compensation from the Windrush Compensation scheme and (b) decrease the time taking to issue compensation.
Answered by Kevin Foster
To the end of December 2021, we have offered or paid more than £41 million in compensation of which £35.3 million has been paid.
Since April 2019 we have attended or hosted approximately 200 outreach and engagement events, reaching over 3000 people.
In 2020, we launched a new national communications campaign, to make sure those most affected around the UK are aware of the support available to them and how to apply for both schemes.
We have designed the compensation scheme to be as clear and simple as possible, so people do not need legal assistance to make a claim.
We have made the evidential threshold as low as possible and the scheme operates fully on the balance of probabilities.
Our intent is that we ask for the minimum evidence necessary to reduce the burden on individuals whilst maximising the offers we can make.
In doing so we are seeking to strike the right balance between ensuring the scheme is comprehensive and covers the broadest range of circumstances and making it easy to navigate.
For those who want or need support to make a claim the Home Office provides free assistance in making applications through our independent claims assistance provider - We Are Digital.
We are processing claims as quickly as possible - this is our priority. However, we recognise we have more to do to decrease the time between submission and decision on claims.
To do this we are recruiting additional caseworkers, directing resources to maximise final decision output and refining our processes so cases progress as quickly as possible, including revising our data-sharing agreements with other departments.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that British companies found to have supply chains that involve modern slavery receive adequate penalties.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The landmark transparency provisions contained in section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 made the UK the first country in the world to require businesses with a turnover of £36m or more to report annually on the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.
The prevalence of modern slavery and complexity of global supply chains means that it is highly unlikely that any sector or company is immune from the risks of modern slavery. Section 54 therefore does not require organisations to certify that their supply chains are ‘slavery free’ or require the Government to verify the content of modern slavery statements.
The Government expects companies to report transparently about how they are mitigating modern slavery risks and to use their modern slavery statements to demonstrate year on year progress. This enables consumers, shareholders and civil society to scrutinise the efforts being made.
Under the current provisions of section 54, if an organisation does not comply with their legal requirements in relation to producing a modern slavery statement, the Home Secretary can apply for an injunction to enforce compliance.
To enhance the impact of transparency and accelerate action to prevent modern slavery, in the September 2020 Government response to the Transparency in Supply Chains consultation the Government committed to strengthening the reporting requirements contained in section 54. In January 2021 the Foreign Secretary announced that financial penalties will be introduced for organisations who fail to meet their statutory obligations to publish annual modern slavery statements. These measures require primary legislation and will be introduced when parliamentary time allows.
The Government will publish guidance to help organisations prepare for the new reporting requirements when timings of legislation are clear.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether direct relatives of (a) current Chevening scholars and (b) Chevening alumni will be fully eligible for the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) will prioritise those who have assisted UK efforts in Afghanistan and stood up for UK values such as democracy, women’s rights, freedom of speech and rule of law; and vulnerable people such as women and girls at risk, and members of minority groups (including ethnic / religious minorities and LGBT+).
As set out in the oral statement made on 6th January, Chevening alumni who are at risk will be eligible to be considered for resettlement under the ACRS in year 1.
Spouses, partners and dependent children under the age of 18 of identified eligible individuals will be eligible for the scheme.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will make public sexual harassment a specific criminal offence.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Sexual harassment in public places is an appalling practice, which this Government is committed to tackling. Women and girls have the right to both be and feel safe on our streets.
As set out in the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy, published last July, we are looking carefully at where there may be gaps in existing law and how a specific offence for public sexual harassment could address those.
In addition, in order to tackle public sexual harassment:
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had discussions with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner regarding (a) the Metropolitan Police presence at Number 10 on 18 December 2020 and (b) facilitating the Cabinet Secretary's investigation into allegations around social gatherings of staff on that date.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Secretary has regular meetings with the London Metropolitan Commissioner, Dame Cressida Dick to discuss matters of strategic interest.
The Metropolitan Police Service, in common with other police forces, is operationally independent of Government and free from political interference.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that people's civil and political rights are not infringed by the Government's extradition arrangements with other countries.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Extradition Act 2003 is the legislative framework which contains the safeguards and protections available in UK courts to all persons requested for extradition to any overseas jurisdiction.
A requested person will not be extradited if doing so would breach their human rights (including the right to a fair trial) if the request is politically motivated, or if they would be at risk of facing the death penalty. The court can also bar a person’s extradition if, according to a range of factors, including their health, it would not be in the interests of justice for the extradition to take place and can decide that it would be more appropriate to try the case in the UK than in the requesting state.
Additionally, a person cannot be surrendered if extradition would be disproportionate, or if they are likely to face long periods of pre-trial detention. These protections are also enshrined in our new extradition arrangements with the EU under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will reconsider the change in rules that require EU children on school exchanges to have a passport, rather than being allowed to enter the UK as a group with their ID cards and a List of Travellers collective passport.
Answered by Kevin Foster
As part of the changes to the Immigration Rules in September 2021, we no longer accept national identity cards as a valid travel document from EU, EEA and Swiss visitors to the UK.
Almost a year’s notice was provided for this change to allow groups to plan ahead and obtain passports where they do not already have them before they travel.
The experience at the UK Border since the change has been positive, with EU, EEA and Swiss nationals making the switch to using their passport for travel. Using a passport also means most EU nationals making a short visit can also use e-gates where available for a quicker and easier arrival experience.
There are no plans to change our approach.