Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of moving responsibility for drugs policy to the Department of Health and Social Care.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Responsibility for drug policy is shared across a number of departments and both the Home Office and the Department for Health and Social Care have important roles to play in setting policy to tackle drug use and to reduce drug-related crime and drug health harms. The Home Office is the lead department for the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and associated drug legislation, working with other departments as appropriate where changes in the law are required. We have no plans to change this.
Illicit drug use affects the whole of society, and this Government is taking a collective response which will help our key missions to deliver safer streets, improve health outcomes and contribute to opportunities and growth through reducing crime and saving lives.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of imposing civil rather than criminal penalties on people found in possession of drugs for personal use.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
There are no plans to decriminalise illicit drug use. The law allows for the prosecution of those who commit offences, including drug possession and supply. The police have a range of alternative options within the out of court resolution framework (such as community resolutions, cautions and deferred prosecutions) to direct individuals into meaningful interventions to address their drug use, and divert them away from the criminal justice system.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her planned timetable is for the implementation of the Protection from Sex-based Harassment in Public Act 2023.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is committed to halving levels of violence against women and girls in a decade. An important part of this ambition is tackling public sexual harassment which often leaves people, disproportionately women, feeling very unsafe. The Protection from Sex-Based Harassment in Public Act 2023 is intended to make this type of harassment a specific offence.
As with any new criminal justice legislation, an implementation period is necessary to ensure all processes, systems and guidance are updated - including drawing up statutory guidance. We will confirm next steps on implementation of the Act at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 November 2024 to Question 16106 on Overseas Students: Ukraine, whether students who have extended visas under the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme and whose graduation date falls after the expiration of that visa will (a) be allowed to remain to complete their studies and (b) retain home fee status for the duration of their course.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Those granted permission under the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme will receive the same rights and entitlements to access work, benefits, healthcare and education as provided under the existing Ukraine Schemes.
Individuals with permission under one of the Ukraine schemes will have access to standard immigration routes to remain in the UK, in order to complete higher education courses they commence during their initial period of permission.
Where a person's Ukraine scheme permission expires during their course of study and they are granted further permission to remain under one of the standard immigration routes, they will continue to be eligible to access student support and home fee status while they complete their studies.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to bring forward the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
To provide future certainty, Ukrainians who have been provided with sanctuary in the UK under the Ukraine schemes will be able to apply for further permission to remain in the UK through a bespoke Ukraine Permission Extension (UPE) scheme due to open in early 2025. The new route will provide an additional 18 months’ permission.
The scheme will provide the same rights and entitlements as the existing Ukraine Schemes, to access work, benefits, healthcare and education.
Further details on eligibility and application processes will be available before the scheme opens, ensuring that Ukrainians have sufficient time to apply to the scheme.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking with police forces to tackle violence against women and girls.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This Government is determined to treat violence against women and girls as the national emergency it is and we have already taken significant steps to strengthen the police response to these devastating crimes. As part of Raneem’s Law we will put domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms and finally pilot new Domestic Abuse Protection Orders to keep victims safe and ensure perpetrators are properly pursued.