Oral Answers to Questions

Mark Logan Excerpts

Monday 22nd November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Tony Lloyd (Rochdale) (Lab)]

8. What recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of her Department’s policies to tackle violent and sexual offences.

[Mark Logan (Bolton North East) (Con)]

15. What recent assessment her Department has made of the progress of its tackling violence against women and girls strategy.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Rachel Maclean)]

Crimes of violence against women and girls are abhorrent and have no place in our society. Maggie Blyth has been appointed as the new policing lead for tackling violence against women and girls. We have launched a £5 million safety of women at night fund, and we will be launching a national communications campaign focused on targeting perpetrators, educating young people and ensuring victims can access support.

[Rachel Maclean]

My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has indicated that she would be very happy to meet the hon. Gentleman. We all recognise the need to tackle these absolutely disgusting crimes, and I am sure that the whole House would support what he is asking for.

[Mark Logan]

Drugs, speeding and ineffective response times were top issues at the crime forum I held in Breightmet and Tonge with the Haulgh, but it was violence against women that gave me pause during that event. What is being done to tackle violence against women in Bolton?

[Rachel Maclean]

I thank my hon. Friend for how he is focusing on this issue. We have a national programme to support women and girls’ safety and, as part of that, Greater Manchester has been awarded £1.5 million from the Home Office’s domestic abuse perpetrator programme fund. The fund works with perpetrators to get them to change their behaviour. It is very difficult but important work, and it is taking place specifically in Bolton. One of the partners is Talk, Listen, Change, which has been accredited by the organisation, Respect, as delivering very high-quality interventions.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mark Logan Excerpts

Monday 8th February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mark Logan (Bolton North East) (Con)]

What steps her Department is taking to reform the asylum system.

[Damian Collins (Folkestone and Hythe) (Con)]

What steps her Department is taking to reform the asylum system.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Chris Philp)]

The asylum system is in need of fundamental reform, and the Home Secretary and I will be introducing legislation in the relatively near future to do exactly that. Too many people come into the UK having first passed through a safe country—for example, France—without having claimed asylum there. We are determined that we are going to have an asylum system that will protect those people in genuine need of protection while preventing the abuse that we sadly too often see.

[Mark Logan [V]]

I completely agree with the Minister: our asylum system needs to change ASAP. My constituents are vocal about how long it is taking to process their applications, often leaving them in limbo for months on end. For example, Shahid suffers from severe depression and has been waiting 16 months while he cares for his disabled wife. He cannot get carer’s allowance while his application is pending. Likewise, Aswad was told that their application would take a maximum of six months to process, but it has now been 13 months. May I ask the Minister to meet me to discuss how we can bring some closure to my constituents?

[Chris Philp]

I would certainly be happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss the particular case that he raises, and I will follow up to arrange that. I agree that we need to do more to speed up the system. Coronavirus has had a significant impact on asylum decision making, as it has on so many other areas of our public life. In the short term, we are hiring considerably more decision makers, we are introducing better IT and we are spending £20 million next year on system transformation, but beyond that, we need to legislate to make the system work more fairly and more efficiently, for the reasons that my hon. Friend has laid out.

Oral Answers to Questions

Mark Logan Excerpts

Monday 13th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Kit Malthouse]

First, on a technical front, perhaps the hon. Lady misunderstands how the precept works. The primary liability, if you like, is covered by the precepting authority, which has by law to pass on the precept in full, notwithstanding any issues it might have with collection. And perhaps, alongside her many skills, she has acquired telepathy and foresight, because she seems to be pre-empting a spending review that has not even started.

[Mark Logan (Bolton North East) (Con)]

What steps her Department is taking to increase the number of police officers.

[Ben Everitt (Milton Keynes North) (Con)]

What steps her Department is taking to increase the number of police officers.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mark Logan [V]]

Speeding complaints are well and truly up in Bolton North East. All this fast is making my constituents furious. On the day I took part in a community speed watch on Ainsworth Lane, 74 mph was recorded in a 20 mph zone. The problem is particularly severe on Blackburn, Halliwell and Turton Roads. Many of these 20 mph areas are located near schools, yet the speed limit is not enforced. Does the Home Secretary agree that regulations should be introduced to ensure speed limits are adhered to and close a very dangerous loophole to keep my residents safe and put an end to the “Fast & Furious” sequels?

[Priti Patel]

I agree with my hon. Friend about the devastating impact that speeding can have on lives and communities, and he is right to highlight the irresponsible speeds being driven, particularly in residential areas and near schools. We do not plan to legislate, but he will know that police enforcement around speeding is a matter for the police authority itself. I would be happy to work with him if he has particular issues or concerns he would like me to pick up.