Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Home Office:
o ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many crimes were committed against (a) women and (b) girls in each of the last five years by crime type.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) regularly publishes estimates, from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), on the proportion of women and girls who have been victims of crime. Information from the 2023/24 survey, for 16+ year olds and 10-15 year olds, and for previous years can be accessed in the annual demographic tables here:
Experiences of several crimes which are disproportionately experienced by women and girls are also covered by the CSEW in a separate self-completion section of the survey and presented separately by ONS. The latest prevalence estimates for domestic abuse, sexual assault, stalking and harassment, for people aged 16 and over broken down by sex, are presented in the ONS Annual supplementary tables, which can be accessed here:
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the definition of violence against women and girls.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government’s definition of violence against women and girls (VAWG) covers violence and abuse which disproportionately, but not exclusively, affect women and girls. Crimes and behaviours include sexual offences, domestic abuse, stalking and harassment and can occur online, as well as offline. This is evidenced by prevalence data that shows women and girls are far more likely to experience these crimes.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will bring forward legislative measures to require power tool manufacturers to include unique product code numbers to help deter rural crime.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
We recognise the significant impact the theft of tools can have, especially on people who rely on these to earn a living.
We are committed to implementing the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023, which aims to prevent the theft and re-sale of high-value equipment, particularly for use in an agricultural setting.
The Act requires secondary legislation before it can come into effect. We will be carefully considering the views of those who may be affected by the legislation and its regulations, to understand the potential implications and determine the scope of the legislation.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to ensure that the port of Dover is able to manage its customs clearance operations after the UK leaves the EU without increasing the level of administration undertaken by small businesses.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Government recognises the importance of trade fluidity through the UK’s key ports to the country’s economy, and is committed to ensuring that trade is as frictionless as possible through the Port of Dover, the Channel Tunnel, and the local road network.
Government ministers and officials from several departments have met ports and other relevant stakeholders as part of our comprehensive engagement on EU exit. Most of our detailed engagement with ports and stakeholders has taken place in the context of the Border Delivery Group steering group meetings, and in technical workshops.
The precise nature of any new customs arrangement will be determined in negotiations with the EU.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her policy is on resuming the transfer of unaccompanied refugee children from France under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
In 2016, we transferred over 900 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children to the UK from Europe, including more than 750 from France as part of the UK’s support for the Calais camp clearance. Over 200 of these children met the criteria for section 67 of the Immigration Act.
On 10 March 2017 the Government published the basis on which future transfers under section 67 will take place, up to the specified number of 480. We are fully committed to delivering section 67 and are working very closely with France, Greece and Italy to agree processes for identifying and transferring further children. We have a Home Office secondee in each of Greece and Italy working on transfers of unaccompanied children under section 67 and the Dublin Regulation, who work with a network of partners including the Member State authorities, British Embassies, UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and NGOs. During the Calais operation, at the invitation of the French government, over 200 Home Office officials were deployed to France to interview children for transfer to the UK. Further data on transfers of unaccompanied children from Europe will be published in due course.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff of her Department were seconded to (a) France, (b) Italy and (c) Greece to facilitate the transfer of unaccompanied refugee children under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
In 2016, we transferred over 900 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children to the UK from Europe, including more than 750 from France as part of the UK’s support for the Calais camp clearance. Over 200 of these children met the criteria for section 67 of the Immigration Act.
On 10 March 2017 the Government published the basis on which future transfers under section 67 will take place, up to the specified number of 480. We are fully committed to delivering section 67 and are working very closely with France, Greece and Italy to agree processes for identifying and transferring further children. We have a Home Office secondee in each of Greece and Italy working on transfers of unaccompanied children under section 67 and the Dublin Regulation, who work with a network of partners including the Member State authorities, British Embassies, UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and NGOs. During the Calais operation, at the invitation of the French government, over 200 Home Office officials were deployed to France to interview children for transfer to the UK. Further data on transfers of unaccompanied children from Europe will be published in due course.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied refugee children were transferred from Italy to the UK in (a) 2016 and (b) 2017 under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
In 2016, we transferred over 900 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children to the UK from Europe, including more than 750 from France as part of the UK’s support for the Calais camp clearance. Over 200 of these children met the criteria for section 67 of the Immigration Act.
On 10 March 2017 the Government published the basis on which future transfers under section 67 will take place, up to the specified number of 480. We are fully committed to delivering section 67 and are working very closely with France, Greece and Italy to agree processes for identifying and transferring further children. We have a Home Office secondee in each of Greece and Italy working on transfers of unaccompanied children under section 67 and the Dublin Regulation, who work with a network of partners including the Member State authorities, British Embassies, UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and NGOs. During the Calais operation, at the invitation of the French government, over 200 Home Office officials were deployed to France to interview children for transfer to the UK. Further data on transfers of unaccompanied children from Europe will be published in due course.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied refugee children were transferred from Greece to the UK in (a) 2016 and (b) 2017 under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
In 2016, we transferred over 900 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children to the UK from Europe, including more than 750 from France as part of the UK’s support for the Calais camp clearance. Over 200 of these children met the criteria for section 67 of the Immigration Act.
On 10 March 2017 the Government published the basis on which future transfers under section 67 will take place, up to the specified number of 480. We are fully committed to delivering section 67 and are working very closely with France, Greece and Italy to agree processes for identifying and transferring further children. We have a Home Office secondee in each of Greece and Italy working on transfers of unaccompanied children under section 67 and the Dublin Regulation, who work with a network of partners including the Member State authorities, British Embassies, UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and NGOs. During the Calais operation, at the invitation of the French government, over 200 Home Office officials were deployed to France to interview children for transfer to the UK. Further data on transfers of unaccompanied children from Europe will be published in due course.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied refugee children were transferred from France to the UK in (a) 2016 and (b) 2017 under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
In 2016, we transferred over 900 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children to the UK from Europe, including more than 750 from France as part of the UK’s support for the Calais camp clearance. Over 200 of these children met the criteria for section 67 of the Immigration Act.
On 10 March 2017 the Government published the basis on which future transfers under section 67 will take place, up to the specified number of 480. We are fully committed to delivering section 67 and are working very closely with France, Greece and Italy to agree processes for identifying and transferring further children. We have a Home Office secondee in each of Greece and Italy working on transfers of unaccompanied children under section 67 and the Dublin Regulation, who work with a network of partners including the Member State authorities, British Embassies, UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and NGOs. During the Calais operation, at the invitation of the French government, over 200 Home Office officials were deployed to France to interview children for transfer to the UK. Further data on transfers of unaccompanied children from Europe will be published in due course.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what date the Government plans to ratify the Istanbul Convention.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Coalition Government signed the Istanbul Convention to show its strong commitment to tackling violence against women and girls, and this Government remains committed to ratifying it.
In most respects, the measures already in place in the UK to protect women and girls from violence comply with or go further than the Convention requires.
Further amendments to domestic law, to take extra-territorial jurisdiction over a range of offences, are necessary before the Convention can be ratified. We will seek to legislate when the approach to implementing the extra-territorial jurisdiction requirements in England and Wales is agreed and Parliamentary time allows.