Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (a) how and (b) with what frequency does her Department plan to report progress in delivering its target of halving violence against women and girls within 10 years.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This Government will treat tackling violence against women and girls as a national emergency and will ensure that every tool is used to target perpetrators and address the root causes of violence and misogyny.
In measuring the level of VAWG we are taking a whole of government approach, building on prevalence measures in the CSTW and working across sectors on the design of metrics to sit behind the government: safer streets mission.
More information will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what methodology she will use to assess progress in halving violence against women and girls within 10 years.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This Government will treat tackling violence against women and girls as a national emergency and will ensure that every tool is used to target perpetrators and address the root causes of violence and misogyny.
In measuring the level of VAWG we are taking a whole of government approach, building on prevalence measures in the CSTW and working across sectors on the design of metrics to sit behind the government: safer streets mission.
More information will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made a recent assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of requiring people to have a valid certificate of medical insurance before being granted an immigration visa.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The Home Office and the Department of Health and Social Care undertake regular discussions on migrant access to healthcare, including the merits of private medical insurance versus other payment models. The government is committed to ensuring migrants make a suitable contribution to the NHS and cover the cost of their healthcare.
Migrants coming to the UK for six month or more to work, study or join family are already required to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge, in lieu of private medical insurance, covering the duration of their immigration permission. The Immigration Health Surcharge is based on the Department for Health and Social Care estimates of the annual cost to the NHS of treating IHS payers.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department are taking to re-coup costs from unpaid medical treatment provided to non-entitled persons.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The Home Office is not responsible for recouping NHS debts. This is solely within the remit of each NHS trust. Migrants who are not entitled to free NHS healthcare are charged at 150% of the cost of treatment where charges apply.
The NHS debtor rule acts as an immigration sanction which is imposed on migrants who accrue debts to the NHS exceeding £500. Migrants with outstanding NHS debts are notified to the Home Office once the debt has been outstanding for a period exceeding two months from date of invoice. An NHS debt may lead to further immigration applications being refused.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much was spent on external speakers at events run by her Department in the last 12 months; and who these external speakers were.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Home Office does not report the information sought to the level of granularity required so identifying spending on external speakers specifically from our financial system can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Identifying all external speakers is not readily available from our management systems as there is no central database for this.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Home Office:
What recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of violent crime in London.
Answered by Sarah Dines
As of June 2022, the latest data for hospital admissions for under 25s for assault with a sharp object – our primary metric for measuring serious violence – is down -17% in London compared to June 2021.
This financial year we have provided £12.7m of funding to the London Violence Reduction Unit – which brings together key partners to tackle violence - and £8m of ‘Grip’ funding to support the Metropolitan Police Service’s response to violence.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 9 March 2022 to Question 132395, what information she holds on (a) FTE staff time and (b) budgets available to recognised staff groups within her Department in each of the last three years.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
There are currently 19 recognised staff groups, managed by staff across the Home Office. However, to retrieve FTE staff time and budgets available to recognised staff groups within the Department in each of the last three years can only be achieved with disproportionate effort.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Answer of 9 March 2022 to Question 132395 on civil service staff networks, what recognised staff groups have been running in her Department over the last three years.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
There are 19 recognised staff groups that have been running in the department over the last three years. The groups are listed below:
A:gender Support Network
ABLE - the Home Office's disability network
Break the stigma - support group for staff affected by mental health issues
EU Nationals Network (EUNN)
Ethos - Home Office sports and social association
Home Office Christian Network
Home Office Hindu Connection
Home Office Islamic Network
Home Office Jewish Network (J-Net)
Home Office Sikh Association
Gender Equality Network
Giving Back (GB) Network
Home Office Retired and Reunited Staff Association (HORSA)
Spectrum: Home Office lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT+) staff support network
Stand 2 Support (veterans group)
The Network
Trade unions
Working Through Cancer Network
Carers' Group (Her Majesty's Passport Office)
UKVI Parental Network
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will provide a list of (a) professional staff networks and (b) social clubs operating within his Department; and if she will provide the (i) budgets and (ii) FTE staff time allocated to each group within each of the last three years.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
There are currently 19 formal staff support networks, managed by staff, across the Home Office, listed below.
A:gender Support Network
ABLE - the Home Office's disability network
Break the stigma - support group for staff affected by mental health issues
EU Nationals Network (EUNN)
Ethos - Home Office sports and social association
Home Office Christian Network
Home Office Hindu Connection
Home Office Islamic Network
Home Office Jewish Network (J-Net)
Home Office Sikh Association
Gender Equality Network
Giving Back (GB) Network
Home Office Retired and Reunited Staff Association (HORSA)
Spectrum: Home Office lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT+) staff support network
Stand 2 Support (veterans group)
The Network
Trade unions
Working Through Cancer Network
Carers' Group (Her Majesty's Passport Office)
UKVI Parental Network
However, to retrieve all staff networks and social clubs operating in the Home Office, as well as their budgets and FTE staff time for each group can only be achieved with disproportionate effort.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps are being taken to eradicate modern slavery in the fast fashion industry.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government is committed to tackling modern slavery in all sectors, including fashion, which is why in 2017 we expanded the remit of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), giving specially trained officers stronger powers under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 to investigate labour market offences across all sectors of the economy in England and Wales. We have also committed to creating a single enforcement body to crack down on employers abusing the law, to protect vulnerable workers and create a level playing field for the majority of employers that comply with the law.
To address risks in the fashion sector specifically, the former Prime Minister launched 'The Apparel and General Merchandise Public and Private Protocol' in 2018. The protocol is a partnership between enforcement bodies such as the GLAA and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and industry partners, including the British Retail Consortium, UK Fashion and the Textile Association, and commits its signatories to working together to eradicate slavery and exploitation in textile supply chains.
We are also committed to improving transparency in domestic and global supply chains. Under section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, the UK became the first country in the world to require large businesses in all sectors to report on how they are tackling modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. We are committed to continuously strengthening our approach and in July 2019 the Home Office launched a public consultation on an ambitious package of measures designed to enhance the impact of transparency, including mandating specific topics organisations must report on, introducing a single reporting deadline and extending transparency to the public sector. The Government response to the consultation will be published this summer.
We are also developing a new gov.uk registry for statements published under the Modern Slavery Act, to enable greater scrutiny from consumers, investors, civil society and others and drive a “race to the top".