Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had discussions with her Rwandan counterpart since 5 July.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
Yes, the Home Secretary and the Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Olivier Nduhungirehe, have spoken since 5 July. They discussed how they will work together on the process of bringing an end to the Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help tackle online fraud targeted at elderly people.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government takes the issue of online fraud seriously and is dedicated to protecting all members of the public from this devastating crime. We are acutely aware of the impact fraud can have on the lives of vulnerable people, including the elderly.
The Online Safety Act (OSA) will make tech companies responsible for blocking fraud and fraudulent adverts on their platforms, to better prevent the public from encountering fraud at source. The OSA’s final Codes of Practice on illegal harms are expected by end of 2024 with tech firms needing to be compliant a year after (2025). Codes on the Act’s fraudulent advertising duties are set to follow in 2026.
The City of London Police have also created a new police Fraud Protect Network, designed to reduce the threat of fraud and revictimisation by providing consistent advice to victims of fraud. The network will provide targeted safeguarding advice, with a key focus on vulnerable groups.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding her Department plans to allocate to the Border Security Command in each of the next three financial years.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
We are exploring appropriate funding options and models for the new Border Security Command (BSC) moving forward. More detail on the costing will be available after a spending review.
We are working closely with stakeholders including operational partners to determine how much funding will be needed to achieve the objectives of the BSC, ensuring that value for money is achieved for taxpayers. We will smash the gangs – disrupting the supply chain of their boats and engines and prosecuting those responsible.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a licensing regime for the sale and purchase of crossbows.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
A call for evidence on strengthening controls on crossbows on public safety grounds ran from 14 February to 9 April 2024. It tested ideas for whether there should be some form of licensing regime that would provide further controls on the use, ownership and supply of crossbows. The call for evidence also asked whether broadhead arrows should be prohibited.
The call for evidence received 2,991 responses. We are reviewing the responses and considering whether further controls on crossbows need to be introduced,
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will urgently publish the findings of her Department's call for evidence on Controls on the use of crossbows on public safety grounds.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
A call for evidence on strengthening controls on crossbows on public safety grounds ran from 14 February to 9 April 2024. It tested ideas for whether there should be some form of licensing regime that would provide further controls on the use, ownership and supply of crossbows. The call for evidence also asked whether broadhead arrows should be prohibited.
The call for evidence received 2,991 responses. We are reviewing the responses and considering whether further controls on crossbows need to be introduced,
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of trends in the use of crossbows in violent crime.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
A call for evidence on strengthening controls on crossbows on public safety grounds ran from 14 February to 9 April 2024. It tested ideas for whether there should be some form of licensing regime that would provide further controls on the use, ownership and supply of crossbows. The call for evidence also asked whether broadhead arrows should be prohibited.
The call for evidence received 2,991 responses. We are reviewing the responses and considering whether further controls on crossbows need to be introduced,
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of (a) cars and (b) other vehicles used by his Department were made in Britain.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government Car service (GCS) provides vehicles to a number of Government departments. Due to logistical and operational reasons the type of vehicles deployed at each department can vary on a daily or weekly basis. The GCS fleet currently has 122 vehicles, 58 (48%) of which are vehicles made in Britain.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total cost to the public purse was of staff diversity networks in his Department in each of the last five years.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Our financial records show that for the five financial Years 19/20 to 23/24 costs recorded for our staff networks total £215, 835.
This does not include expenditure by all staff networks which may have had costs met through central budgets based on specific business cases and other ad-hoc requests during the period. Disproportionate effort would be required to identify such costs.
In addition, the Government has audited the cost-effectiveness of all equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) activities, through the review of EDI spending announced last June. On 14th May the Minister without Portfolio made a written statement on the latest findings from the review.
In response to these findings, the Cabinet Office has published the Civil Service EDI Expenditure Guidance. This includes an end to all external spending on EDI activity, unless cleared and authorised by Ministers.
The Cabinet Office is also developing new guidance for staff diversity networks. This will outline clear expectations and parameters around the role and function of networks so that they support productivity and are aligned to Civil Service Values, Civil Service D&I Strategy and Government Reform commitments.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what his Department's policy is on the procurement of (a) food and (b) drinks produced in Britain for use in its canteens and restaurants.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Catering services for our canteens and restaurants are provided by our Facilities Management providers on a regional basis. This service provides sustainable and ethical food, adhering to government buying standards.
This compromises of several categories, which include:
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to reduce shoplifting in (a) Lincolnshire and (b) the East Midlands.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government recognises the significant impact shoplifting has on businesses, communities and consumers. The Crime Survey for England and Wales shows neighbourhood crime is down 48% compared to findings from the year ending March 2010.
However, Police Recorded Crime figures show shoplifting offences increased by 37% in the 12 months to December 2023. Statistics also show the number of people charged with shoplifting offences has risen by 46% in the year ending December 2023, showing that police are taking action.
We have recently taken significant steps nationally to improve the police response to retail crime, including shoplifting, and these are being implemented in all police forces across England and Wales.
The Government’s plan – "Fighting retail crime: more action" was launched on 10 April, which highlights five areas of work this Government will drive forward to tackle retail crime:
We will bring forward legislative changes to introduce a presumption towards electronic monitoring as part of a sentence served in the community for those who repeatedly steal from shops. This legislative change will provide that on the third sentencing occasion, an offender would be electronically monitored as part of any community sentence or post-release for the duration of any licence period.
The Government’s plan builds on the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s (NPCC) Retail Crime Action Plan. Through this Plan, all forces across England and Wales have committed to prioritise police attendance at the scene where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by police personnel. Additionally, where CCTV or other digital images are secured, police will run this through the Police National Database to aid efforts to identify prolific offenders or potentially dangerous individuals.
This builds on the NPCC commitment that police forces across England and Wales will follow up all crimes where there is actionable evidence and the chance of identifying an offender, including shoplifting.
October also saw the launch of Pegasus, a unique private-public partnership, which involves retailers providing data, intelligence and evidence to Opal, the national police intelligence unit on organised acquisitive crime, to develop a better strategic picture and help forces crack down on serious offenders.
We are continuing to work closely with retail businesses, security representatives, trade associations and policing through the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG), which meets on a quarterly basis, to ensure the response to retail crime, including shoplifting, is as robust as it can be.