Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help police forces reduce incidences of vehicular-assisted anti-social behaviour; and whether she plans to grant the police additional powers to tackle those incidences.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Enforcement of road traffic law is an operational matter for the Chief Constable based on local policing priorities.
We believe there are sufficient powers to address incidents of vehicular-assisted anti-social behaviour (ASB).
Section 59 of the Police Reform Act 2002 provides the police with the power to deal with ASB when a motor vehicle has caused, alarm, distress or annoyance to members of the public. This includes the power to seize the vehicles.
In addition, the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides the police, local authorities and other local agencies with a range of tools and powers that they can use to respond quickly and effectively to ASB. This includes Civil Injunctions and Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs).
On 27 March 2023 the Government published the Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan. The Plan commits to tackling ASB across five key themes: stronger punishment; making communities safer; building local pride; prevention and early intervention; and improving data, reporting and accountability for action.
It is for local authorities, forces and agencies to decide how best to use these powers depending on the specific circumstances as they are best placed to understand what is causing the behaviour in question, the impact that it is having, and to determine the most appropriate response.
Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to paragraph 3.43 of the Spring Budget 2023, HC1183, published on 15 March 2023, what new short-term business activities will be permitted to be carried out under business visitor rules for periods of up to 6 months; and whether she plans to launch a consultation on these proposals.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
As set out in the Spring Budget, the Home Office is undertaking a review of the current UK visitor rules to make it easier and more attractive to do business in the UK. As part of this review, we continue to work with other government departments and their stakeholders to look at how we can expand the range of short-term business activities that can be carried out for up to 6 months and including on the permitted paid activities visitors can undertake. Changes made to the UK visitor offer will be reflected through updates to the published Immigration Rules from Autumn 2023.
Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement published 15 June 2021, when she plans to introduce the increase in age criteria for the Youth Mobility Scheme.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The UK and Australia signed a side letter on mobility in December 2021 alongside the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement, setting out commitments on their respective Youth Mobility Scheme and Working Holiday Maker programmes.
The UK and Australia will make changes to these schemes so that they are available to people aged 18 to 35 years for a total stay of up to 3 years. Australia will also remove the requirement for UK nationals on their programme to undertake specific types of work.
Both sides agreed to implement these changes within two years of entry into force of the Free Trade Agreement and will jointly decide on a date for these commitments to come into effect.
Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of deterrents to prevent phone call and text message financial scams.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Fraudulent calls and texts can be particularly stressful and damaging for the most vulnerable in society and can provide a gateway to scams, with opportunistic criminals targeting potential victims.
The Government is aware we must improve our response to fraud, and we have been working with partners from law enforcement, the public and private sectors to tackle this growing threat. In February, the Economic Crime Strategic Board agreed an ambitious framework for a fraud action plan which will now be developed and will commit key partners in the public sector and industry to do more to tackle fraud.
We have also been working with Ofcom to disrupt phoneline enabled scams. Ofcom have adopted new rules relating to Call Line Identification (CLI), which means phone numbers used to perpetrate scams will be identified, filtered out and prevented from reaching the recipient. I would also highlight the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) governs unsolicited live or automated direct marketing calls and imposes strict obligations on organisations which make direct marketing calls to individuals in the UK. The ICO has the powers to impose civil monetary penalties of up to £500,000 for serious contraventions of the PECR.
Lastly, to ensure we improve the effectiveness of our response to fraud, the Home Office and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) are in regular discussion with the telecommunication industry on ways to tackle fraud, including text messaging scams known as smishing. In 2019, the Government published a joint public-private Economic Crime Plan which commits us to work in partnership with the private sector to address the vulnerabilities which allows fraud to flourish and to share data and intelligence to better disrupt and prevent fraud. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-crime-plan-2019-to-2022.
Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to increase support available to the police for tackling non-covid-secure protests, illegal gatherings, and other similar breaches of social distancing rules.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government has been clear that it will provide police forces with the support they need to continue protecting the public and keeping communities safe through the coronavirus pandemic.
The government continues to work closely with policing partners on the approach to managing the pandemic and on 8 October the Government announced an additional £30m for police forces in England and Wales to step up their enforcement of COVID-19 restrictions through the autumn and winter months. This includes enforcing against unlicensed music events, unlawful gatherings and protests that do not comply with Covid regulations.