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 make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of introducing Sectioning Support Officers to the NHS to reduce police officer time spent in hospitals.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Any decisions relating to staffing in the NHS is a matter for the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England.
The Right Care Right Person approach is an approach designed to end inappropriate and avoidable police involvement in cases where people have health and/or social care needs and help ensure that people receive support from the right person, with the right skills, training, and experience to best meet their needs.
The National Partnership Agreement (NPA), signed in July 2023 by Government, NHS England and national policing bodies, sets out the principles of Right Care Right Person and how they can jointly deliver the best care to communities. The NPA sets out that local areas should work towards handovers of care between the police and mental health services taking place within one hour as specified in local plans. This one hour handover will reduce the amount of time spent by police officers with mental health patients in hospital.
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 take steps with the Metropolitan Police to move officers and staff out of the capital whose responsibilities are (a) national and (b) not wholly London-focused.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Decisions on the location of officers and staff in the Metropolitan Police Service are an operational matter for the Commissioner. This includes resources that support existing national units.
Any future proposals on structural reform to policing in England and Wales will be set out in the upcoming white paper on police reform.
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 hypothecate funding saved from hotel closures for legal aid to reduce the backlog of asylum claims.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
As per the Spending Review the Government has committed to delivering savings of £1.1bn by 28/29 from exiting hotels and these savings have been factored into the Home Office budget. The Spending Review settlement includes transformation funding to accelerate the transformation of the asylum system and end the costly use of asylum hotels in this Parliament by clearing the asylum backlog, increasing appeals capacity and continuing to return those with no right to be here. This will deliver the Plan for Change commitment to restore order to the asylum system.
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 steps she is taking to ensure representatives of the People’s Republic of China employed in the (a) UK embassy, (b) consulate and (c) Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London do not engage in (i) supranational suppression and (ii) intimidation tactics against Hong Kongers now living in the UK.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The safety and security of Hong Kongers in the UK is of the upmost importance. The UK will always stand up for the rights of the people of Hong Kong.
We continually assess potential threats in the UK, and take protection of individuals’ rights, freedoms, and safety very seriously. Any attempt by any foreign state, including China, to intimidate, harass or harm individuals in the UK will not be tolerated.
Wherever we identify such threats, we will use any and all measures, including through our world-class intelligence services, to mitigate the risk to individuals.
The UK’s response to tackling state-directed threats is world leading. The National Security Act 2023 ensures that the appropriate tools and system-wide safeguards are in place to robustly counter state threats.
Guidance can be found on GOV.UK providing those who believe themselves to be at-risk of TNR with practical advice for their safety both physically and online.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department will announce the pilot areas for Respect Orders.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
In February, we introduced new Respect Orders through our Crime and Policing Bill. The Bill recently completed Second Reading in the House of Lords, with Committee Stage expected to begin in November.
Respect Orders will be tough behavioural orders aimed at tackling the most persistent adult anti-social behaviour offenders. Further details on next steps for the Respect Order will be provided 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, when her Department plans to launch its consultation on changes to indefinite leave to remain for Hong Kong British National (Overseas) visa holders; and how long her Department expects to run that consultation for.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is committed to supporting members of the Hong Kong community who have relocated to the UK and those who may come here in future.
I welcomed the opportunity to listen to the views of Members around these subjects in the recent 8th September Westminster Hall Debate on settlement.
We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year, and the length of the consultation will be announced at that point. All will be welcome to participate. We will provide details of how the scheme will work after that consultation.
We regularly engage with representatives of the Hong Kong diaspora in the UK on issues related to the BN(O) visa and will continue to do so.
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 exempting people with experience of transnational suppression from proposals to increase the qualifying time for Indefinite Leave to Remain to ten years.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year. All will be welcome to participate. We will provide details of how the scheme will work after that consultation.
Any attempt by any foreign power to intimidate, harass or harm individuals or communities in the UK will not be tolerated.
Wherever we identify such threats, we will use all measures, including through our world-class intelligence services, to mitigate risk to individuals, and we will continue to ensure that robust systems are in place to detect, deter and counter such activity.
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 the Government will work with (a) housing associations, (b) police authorities, (c) mayors, (d) local authorities and (e) other landlords to introduce fast track courts to tackle antisocial behaviour cases.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB) and the harm it causes is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission. Every police force in England and Wales now has a dedicated lead officer for ASB, who will work with communities to develop a local ASB action plan.
Through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are strengthening the powers available to the police and other relevant agencies to tackle ASB quickly and effectively. We will crack down on those making neighbourhoods feel unsafe and unwelcoming by introducing the new Respect Order, which will carry tough sanctions and penalties for persistent adult offenders. Breaching a Respect Order will be a criminal offence, allowing police officers to immediately arrest offenders and disrupt ongoing ASB. We are also extending the maximum exclusion period for dispersal directions from 48 to 72 hours and enhancing the powers for the police to seize nuisance off-road bikes, and other vehicles which are being used in an anti-social manner, without having to first give a warning to the offender.
There are currently no plans to introduce fast-track courts for ASB.
This Government inherited a record and rising courts backlog. We have funded a record-high allocation of 110,000 Crown Court sitting days for this year to tackle the outstanding caseload, including in relation to ASB cases.
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 ask the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation to publish guidance on what constitutes terrorism in the event of an attack by a hostile state.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
To declare an attack as a terrorist incident is an operationally independent decision for the Police, taken in line with the definition of terrorism as set out in Section 1 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
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 (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review, in consultation with a wide range of experts and stakeholders.