Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect to publish their new drugs strategy.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The new Drug Strategy will be published soon.
We are developing our new Drug Strategy, which will build on work to date to prevent drug use in our communities and help dependent individuals to recover, working across Government and with key partners, including commissioners, treatment providers, service users and our independent experts, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, to identify what further steps we can take to tackle this issue.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Islamist websites suspected of involvement in, or encouragement of, terrorism were removed from the internet in 2016 as a result of UK Government intervention and policy initiatives, including co-operation with internet service providers.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
This Government takes seriously the threat from online terrorist and extremist propaganda, which can directly influence people who are vulnerable to radicalisation.
In the UK our dedicated police Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) refers content that they assess as contravening UK terrorism legislation to industry. If industry agree that it breaches their terms and conditions, they remove it voluntarily. Since it was established in 2010, over 250,000 pieces of terrorist-related material, including websites, have been removed following CTIRU referrals.
Industry cooperation with CTIRU has significantly improved leading to faster and more consistent removal of referred content, and they have established relationships with over 300 Communication Service Providers of differing sizes.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the future role to be played by the Prevent Oversight Board.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Prevent Oversight Board provides scrutiny and independent oversight to the Prevent Programme. It is chaired by the Home Secretary, and membership includes Secretaries of State responsible for the relevant sectors within which Prevent operates including Education, Health, Local Communities and Justice. The Prevent Oversight Board also includes a number of independent members.
Following consideration of the evolving threat and the growing focus on Prevent, the Home Secretary’s decision in September last year to chair the Prevent Oversight Board recognises its essential and ongoing role in driving delivery and scrutinising the Prevent programme to ensure it continues to effectively safeguard people vulnerable to radicalisation.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what they are doing to support harm reduction and support services to improve conditions for sex workers on the street.
Answered by Lord Taylor of Holbeach
We are committed to tackling the harm and exploitation that can be associated with prostitution, and believe that people who want to leave prostitution should be given every opportunity to find routes out.
Local areas and police forces are in the best position to identify and respond to issues around prostitution in their area. We have supported them by reviewing effective practice in terms of policing, exiting, minimising harm, holistic support and general multi agency working. The review is available on the GOV.uk website. The Home Office has also supported the establishment of a National ‘Ugly Mugs’ Scheme to help protect people involved in prostitution from violent and abusive individuals.