Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when his Department plans to publish the results of its 2014 public consultation on the review of Section 24 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The government will issue a response to the consultation on the review of Section 24 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 in due course.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will assess the potential merits of increasing the police pension entitlement for widows from post-retirement marriages.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The current police pension scheme provides survivor benefits regardless of the timing of a member’s marriage. In keeping with other public service pension schemes, this was not the case before 1978, when different rules applied.
Successive governments have made a general presumption against making retrospective changes to public service pension schemes. Therefore there is no entitlement relating to service before 1978 and there are no plans to change this.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions (a) she, (b) other Ministers in her Department and (c) officials in her Department have had with the Surveillance Camera Commissioner about compliance to Principle 1 of the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice 2013 by local authorities in England and Wales.
Answered by Mike Penning
My officials are in regular discussions with the Surveillance Camera Commissioner and his team, and those discussions cover a range of issues in relation to the regulation of overt CCTV and other surveillance camera systems in public places. We are aware that he has recently written to all local authorities reminding them of their obligations under the code and requested that they complete and publish the self-assessment tool, that covers all the principles.
The Commissioner will be presenting his Annual Report to the Home Secretary in the near future, and I anticipate that this will include commentary on the surveillance camera use by local authorities and other relevant authorities under S33(5) of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. That report is intended to provide the Government, Parliament and the public an opportunity to reflect on the regulation of surveillance.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussion she has had with social media companies about anti-Semitic comments on social media forums.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
The Home Office, working through the Inter-Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism which works to tackle all forms of hate crime, has engaged with leading social media companies, related industry representatives and community
groups to discuss the issues of the personal harm caused by offensive material on the internet. This has included work as part of the anti-cyber hate working group. As part of this collaborative process, the group has produced and
recently published ‘Responding to the Challenge of Cyberhate: Best Practices’.
This provides a useful tool to help internet service providers, social media companies and other internet industry organisations to challenge and counter online hatred, whilst recognising the importance of free speech. The government expects social media companies to have robust processes in place to promptly deal with a case when abuse is reported to them. This includes acting quickly to assess the report, removing content which does not comply with the acceptable use policies or terms and conditions that are in place, and where appropriate, suspending or terminating the accounts of those breaching the rules that are in place.
We have supported the development of True Vision, the police-led online reporting facility and information resource, which allows people to report internet hate material directly to the police.
The Government will continue to work with social media and the internet industries in the interests of the public, as we take online hatred very seriously. Online abuse is just as illegal as communications that are offline and anyone who has been a victim of internet abuse should not hesitate to contact the police.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of changes in the number of anti-Semitic incidents in the UK; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
The UK Government takes all forms of hate crime very seriously. We deplore all religious and racially-motivated attacks. Between 2012-13 and 2013-14 police-recorded race hate crime increased by 4% (an increase of 1,595 offences) and religious hate crime by 45% (an increase of 700 offences) in England and Wales. The increase in recorded hate crime shows that more victims are coming forward and that the police are improving the way they identify hate crimes, and we welcome this.
The Community Security Trust monitors levels of antisemitism. Their most recent report, published at the end of July covering the period of January to June 2014, highlighted that there had been a 36% increase in the number of antisemitic incidents recorded compared to the same period in 2013 (307 incidents in 2014, compared to 223 in 2013). Following this, they recorded 314 antisemitic incidents in July, and 229 in August, making the combined total for those two months higher than the total for the whole of 2013.
When these events occur it is vital that the police take action to engage effectively with communities. Police forces in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland have recently been issued with new guidance for dealing with hate crimes, which includes advice on dealing with incidents and how to monitor and deal with community tensions.
We have also established a working group to tackle antisemitism which brings together community representatives and experts from across government to help explore issues affecting these communities.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason Japanese citizens with indefinite leave to remain are experiencing difficulty in obtaining returning residents visas.
Answered by James Brokenshire
UK Visas and Immigration are unaware of any difficulties being experienced by Japanese citizens holding indefinite leave to remain in the UK in obtaining entry clearance as a returning resident. Applications are considered under the relevant immigration rule, and granted where appropriate.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's policy is on collecting fees for visa applications in advance of the application being processed.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Home Department policy is that a fee must be paid prior to the application receiving immigration consideration. An application will only go forward for immigration consideration if it is valid.
For an immigration application to be valid a number of requirements must be met. These include the payment of the application fee, unless the applicant satisfies the criteria for a fee exemption. Where an application is invalid and cannot be processed the application fee is returned to the applicant.