Oral Answers to Questions

Kelvin Hopkins Excerpts

Monday 11th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Browne]

This is frustrating for me, because we have explained this policy so painstakingly and carefully, and the concept is so simple, but let me have one more go. We want every council in the country and other relevant agencies to respond straight away whenever problems are brought to their attention. However, it has been brought to our attention, including in a lot of areas with Labour councils, that people keep bringing complaints, particularly lower-level complaints, about individual incidents that do not always warrant immediate attention. We want to ensure that there is some measure of cumulative impact. That is why we have put this measure in place, and it is popular. In the pilot schemes, people are running with it. I commend it to councils around the country, including Labour-run councils.

[Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North) (Lab)]

15. What recent assessment she has made of the detection rates for violent crimes against the person; and if she will make a statement.

[The Minister of State, Home Department (Mr Jeremy Browne)]

In 2011-12, the police detected more than 353,000 offences of violence against the person. That represents a detection rate of 46.4%, which is up from 44.7% in 2009-10.

[Kelvin Hopkins]

I thank the Minister for his answer, but my statistics suggest that police officer numbers are at their lowest in a decade, and that 7,000 fewer crimes of violence against the person were solved in the past year. Does the Minister understand that simple connection, and is it time to stop and reverse the police cuts?

[Mr Browne]

I took the trouble to look up the crime figures for Bedfordshire, which I know will be of interest to the hon. Gentleman; he can tell the House how he sees the correlation. Recorded crime is falling in Bedfordshire. Figures for the 12 months to September 2012 compared with the corresponding 12 months in 2011 show a total reduction in crime of 12% in just one year. Violence against the person was down by 15%, and the Government should be pleased with that record while not being complacent and trying to drive crime down further.

Immigration Queues (UK Airports)

Kelvin Hopkins Excerpts

Monday 30th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Damian Green]

My hon. Friend hits on exactly the right point. The deployment of staff in a flexible and efficient way, particularly around Heathrow, makes all the difference. That is why we have now set up the central control room, which will enable us to see minute by minute where queues may be building up and where the mobile teams that we have set up in the past few months can best be deployed. In that way, we will get the best possible value out of our many hard-working members of staff.

[Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North) (Lab)]

London Luton airport is seeking to expand and make a greater contribution to south-east airports’ capacity. However, the airport operator, Luton borough council and the staff themselves have serious concerns about undercapacity at immigration control and long queues. Will the Minister give specific attention to Luton airport?

[Damian Green]

Absolutely. We all want better airport capacity in the south-east of England, and I am sure that Luton airport will play an important role in that. One of the jobs of the UK Border Force is to make sure that people get through all airports as fast as possible. I know that e-gates were introduced at Luton airport relatively early, so that we can get the benefits of the technology. We will continue to treat Luton airport very seriously.

Alcohol Strategy

Kelvin Hopkins Excerpts

Friday 23rd March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Sadly, many towns and cities across the country have felt the impact of Labour’s Licensing Act in the same way as Bournemouth. We will enable local authorities to take into account the density of licensed premises in a town centre when they are determining applications. One of the problems in Maidenhead in my constituency was that application after application was given permission. Many residents felt that things started to go wrong through that. All too often, the sort of bars to which problem drinkers went were in our town centres.

[Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North) (Lab)]

As a former chair of the all-party group on alcohol misuse, I think that I was the first Member to table an early-day motion raising the problem of cheap alcohol and its impact on our society. However, the Home Secretary has not mentioned the more than 6,000 babies every year who are born damaged by alcohol consumed by their mothers during pregnancy. In America, every drink canister and bottle has a label warning pregnant women about drinking. Will the Home Secretary take that into account in her consultation?

[Mrs May]

We do indeed. The hon. Gentleman will find that we refer in the alcohol strategy to the issue of pregnant women drinking and the impact on the foetus and therefore on the babies when they are born. The drinks industry—for example, Diageo—has taken several initiatives on research and other aspects of the problem. The hon. Gentleman and I do not often agree on issues, but I am very happy to agree with him on the importance of the matter that he raised.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kelvin Hopkins Excerpts

Monday 19th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Damian Green]

I can give the hon. Gentleman the assurance of the facts. We have made changes to tier 1 —the top end of the immigration system—to encourage investors and entrepreneurs to come to the UK. We have created a special new route for the exceptionally talented in the arts and sciences. At the same time as reducing immigration numbers, we are making a more selective system that will show that Britain is open for business and that the brightest and the best can make a great future in this country.

[Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North) (Lab)]

9. What recent assessment she has made of the level of physical assaults against journalists covering news stories.

[The Minister for Immigration (Damian Green)]

Information on physical assaults against journalists covering news stories is not available from the police recorded crime statistics held by the Home Office. Journalists have the right to do their job in a safe environment and, like all members of the public, are protected by the law. If they are assaulted, the crime will be investigated and dealt with by the police.

[Kelvin Hopkins]

National Union of Journalists members are placed at risk when their material or sources are used by police forces through production orders. Does the Minister accept that journalists are independent news gatherers, not evidence gatherers for law enforcement, and that forcing them to hand over their journalistic material or sources places them at risk of attack? Will he agree to meet me and other members of the NUJ parliamentary group to discuss those matters?

[Damian Green]

As a former journalist and, indeed, a former member of the NUJ, I have every sympathy with journalists whose lives are put in danger. [Interruption.] The shadow Immigration Minister should not dwell on the fact that his Government organised for me to be arrested, because it was not their finest hour. I suggest that he withdraw that remark.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kelvin Hopkins Excerpts

Monday 24th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Lynne Featherstone]

My hon. Friend is entirely right. A great deal of money is spent on chaotic families, who, up to now, have had a series of agencies trying to help them. The move to a single key worker will save an enormous amount. The original estimate was between £250,000 and £300,000, but with a specially allocated key worker and early intervention, the cost could be as low as £14,000.

[Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North) (Lab)]

15. What estimate she has made of the likely change in the number of UK Border Agency staff as a result of the outcome of the comprehensive spending review.

[The Minister for Immigration (Damian Green)]

The UK Border Agency has estimated that the number of UK Border Agency staff will reduce by about 5,200 during the spending review period.

[Kelvin Hopkins]

We deal with hundreds of immigration cases in my constituency every year. While the situation undoubtedly improved under the previous Government, there are still substantial delays in the UK Border Agency’s dealing with cases. May I suggest to the Minister that we need an increase in staff, not a reduction?

[Damian Green]

I am interested to hear that those on the Labour Back Benches are still calling for public spending increases. It will be interesting to see what those on the hon. Gentleman’s Front Bench say about that. He is wrong in several respects. The UK Border Agency is getting better, and it will get better still. It will do that in two ways. First, we will replace the costly and outmoded paperwork that it depended on in the past with the appropriate use of new technology. Secondly, the very use of that technology will mean that we can better target our resources of people and money on those who are most likely to cause harm to the UK. So we will be able to provide a better service, even with fewer staff.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kelvin Hopkins Excerpts

Monday 6th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Lynne Featherstone]

I thank my hon. Friend for that question. Yes, the industry was consulted, and of course there are probably a number of people in the industry who are not cowboys, but unfortunately, given the vast number that were cowboys, the industry brought the change upon itself. That is why we have had to take this action rather than bring in more and more regulations that would not be enforced. Such regulations would put burdens on the police to enforce something that was never truly enforceable, and abuses would continue.

We will not pay any compensation, but the vast majority of clamping companies are already using ticketing. When the ban comes in, the others will be able to transfer to ticketing if they are any good, and private landowners will be able to protect their property anyway.

[Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North) (Lab)]

This very week, private wheel-clampers are in operation in my constituency, extorting vast sums of money from my constituents. May I urge the Minister to go further and abolish private wheel-clamping altogether, and hand it over only to local authorities and police forces so that it can be publicly accountable?