Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of updating the published criteria for exceptional circumstances in leave to remain decisions to include (a) exceptional community work and (b) acknowledgement or honours from the British Government recognising community contribution.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review, in consultation with a wide range of experts and stakeholders.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people employed by the Metropolitan police in (a) counter terrorism and (b) other national responsibility areas are based outside London.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold the requested information. Details of the numbers of Metropolitan Police Services employees in different locations are a matter for the service itself.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Metropolitan Police employees are based outside London.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold the requested information. Details of the numbers of Metropolitan Police Services employees in different locations are a matter for the service itself.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the No Recourse to Public Funds policy on trends in the level of child poverty.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity.
The government is working to develop a strategy to drive forward short and long-term actions to reduce child poverty.
The strategy will consider levers to alleviate poverty experienced by all children in the UK, regardless of immigration status, including children either subject to or impacted by the No Recourse to Public Funds policy.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
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 updating guidance issued to police authorities to allow officers to knock suspected criminals off push bikes, in line with moped guidance.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The College of Policing has issued guidance on when a roads policing pursuit is justified and proportionate, the Home Office has no plans to issue its own updated guidance on roads policing pursuits involving push bikes.
Any decision on when it is appropriate to use tactical contact is an operational matter for the police as outlined in the College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice on Police Pursuits.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made on the potential impact of introducing electronic travel authorisations on British National (overseas) passport holders.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Electronic travel authorisations (ETAs) have been introduced to enhance our ability to screen travellers upstream and stop those who pose a threat from travelling to the UK.
ETAs were expanded to BN(O) passport holders on 27 November 2024 and are currently a requirement for this population when travelling to the UK. But this aspect of the policy remains under review and we will update the House on any changes in due course.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will engage with (a) the British Healthcare Trades Association and (b) other organisations in the first aid industry on the (i) adequacy and (ii) accessibility of first aid provisions in the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill does not include a specific requirement relating to the provision of first aid or associated equipment.
The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 already make requirements for employers, including provision of adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and personnel to ensure their employees receive immediate attention if they are injured or taken ill at work.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) oversee compliance with the regulations. Where appropriate, the HSE engages with a range of stakeholders within the medical and first aid sector, including standard setters in the first aid industry, such as St John Ambulance and the British Red Cross.
Wider work is ongoing to strengthen Healthcare Standards. The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) is working with partners to put in place updated guidance for health care at events. Once published the Event Healthcare Standard will be assessed in partnership with NHS England to determine whether this standard should become a statutory obligation.
The Home Office will continue to engage with sectors within the scope of the legislation, to support them to understand their obligations.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if (a) she and (b) her Department will hold discussions with the British Healthcare Trades Association on the role of first aid kits in ensuring public safety in the context of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill does not include a specific requirement relating to the provision of first aid or associated equipment.
The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 already make requirements for employers, including provision of adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and personnel to ensure their employees receive immediate attention if they are injured or taken ill at work.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) oversee compliance with the regulations. Where appropriate, the HSE engages with a range of stakeholders within the medical and first aid sector, including standard setters in the first aid industry, such as St John Ambulance and the British Red Cross.
Wider work is ongoing to strengthen Healthcare Standards. The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) is working with partners to put in place updated guidance for health care at events. Once published the Event Healthcare Standard will be assessed in partnership with NHS England to determine whether this standard should become a statutory obligation.
The Home Office will continue to engage with sectors within the scope of the legislation, to support them to understand their obligations.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of access to digital gates at Border Control for British National (Overseas) passport holders; and what steps she is taking to ensure equitable treatment for those passport holders.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
e-Passport Gates (eGates) continue to provide a safe, secure and efficient way for millions of British and Irish citizens, and nationals of the EU/EEA, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the USA to enter the UK each year.
We keep eGate eligibility under regular review to ensure we are maintaining border security and effectively managing passenger flow through the UK border. The Government is committed to improving our border security and the passenger experience by continuing to look at options to increase the usage of eGates by those currently eligible and explore innovative technologies to increase the use of automation at the UK border.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to provide police forces with the power to require the removal of (a) dangerous items and (b) content (i) online and (ii) for sale online.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Online Safety Act requires platforms to take action to prevent the proliferation of illegal content online and ensure that their services are not used for offending. This means they will need to proactively mitigate the risk that their services are used for illegal activity or to share illegal content, and to design their services to mitigate the risk of this occurring.
Ofcom has now laid the first edition of the Illegal Harms Codes in Parliament, setting out what platforms need to do to comply with the Online Safety Act. These will come into force, subject to Parliamentary approval, on the 17th of March 2025. Firms do not need to wait for these duties to come into effect and can act now.
Ofcom has a tough suite of enforcement powers to use against companies who fail to fulfil their duties. This includes fines of up to £18 million or 10 per cent of qualifying annual global turnover (whichever is greater).
The Home Secretary has also outlined measures to prevent the online sale of knives and other weapons to children to reduce knife crime. We have already banned deadly zombie-style knives and machetes and are fast progressing with banning Ninja swords. We have also consulted on introducing personal liability measures on senior executives of online platforms and marketplaces who fail to take action to remove illegal content related to knives and offensive weapons off their platforms and marketplaces. The consultation closed on 11 December 2024 and we are currently analysing the responses. The Home Secretary has also announced that the Government intends to strengthen age verification controls and checks for all online sellers of knives at the point of purchase and on delivery.