Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of asylum accommodation contracts on the private rented housing market in Hertsmere constituency.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
We are working towards a more fair and equitable spread of asylum accommodation across the UK, working in partnership with Local Government through our Place Based engagement structures and asylum accommodation plans.
Under those plans and through that engagement structure, we consider a range of local factors including the housing market. Additionally, accommodation sourced through the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts has set requirements for providers to consult with local authorities before procuring each individual property. This consultation process allows local authorities to raise concerns about potential impacts of accommodation.
The latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated by local authority area, not constituency. These statistics can be found in the Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK(opens in a new tab).
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers are being housed in homes of multiple occupation in Hertsmere constituency.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
We are working towards a more fair and equitable spread of asylum accommodation across the UK, working in partnership with Local Government through our Place Based engagement structures and asylum accommodation plans.
Under those plans and through that engagement structure, we consider a range of local factors including the housing market. Additionally, accommodation sourced through the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts has set requirements for providers to consult with local authorities before procuring each individual property. This consultation process allows local authorities to raise concerns about potential impacts of accommodation.
The latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated by local authority area, not constituency. These statistics can be found in the Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK(opens in a new tab).
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support she is providing to local authorities to help them prevent people from being radicalised.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
All Local Authorities in England, Scotland and Wales receive dedicated support from the Home Office to deliver the Prevent duty effectively and in proportion to the level of local risk and threat. This support includes expertise from a network of region-based Home Office Prevent Advisers who work closely with partners to raise Prevent delivery standards. Prevent Advisers also deliver an annual assurance exercise, assessing the extent to which local authorities are meeting the Prevent duty and identifying areas for further support and improvement.
Currently, the 28 highest threat areas in England and Wales receive Home Office Prevent funding which supports the provision of dedicated Prevent posts within these local authorities. Some of these local authorities also receive additional funding to support regional working and share their Prevent expertise with other neighbouring local authorities.
All local authorities have access to the Preventing Radicalisation Fund. This is a central fund into which local authorities can make bids to support the delivery of targeted Prevent projects in their local area. These projects aim to identify and mitigate local radicalisation risks, including the risk from Islamist Extremism, Extreme Right-Wing and other emerging threats.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to help prevent the radicalisation of young people.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The UK’s counter-terrorism strategy is set out in CONTEST, most recently updated in 2023. Prevent is one of four pillars of that strategy. Prevent seeks to intervene early and provide support to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.
Channel focuses on providing support at an early stage to people who are at risk of radicalisation, with a significant number of young people referred to Prevent for support. In the year ending 31 March 2024, individuals aged 11 to 15 accounted for the largest proportion of the 6,884 referrals to Prevent (2,729; 40%) where age was known, and a slightly larger proportion of both those discussed at a Channel Panel (374; 42%) and those adopted as a Channel case (254; 50%).
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department’s timetable is for publishing the response to the call for evidence entitled Controls on the use of crossbows on public safety grounds, which closed on 9 April 2024.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The responses to the call for evidence on the controls on crossbows have been reviewed and we will publish the Government’s response to this shortly.
The Home Office collects a wide range of data from police forces in England and Wales under the Annual Data Requirement (ADR). These data include information on homicides where the method of killing was by a crossbow or catapult. The Home Office reviews the data required for policy delivery and publication supplied under the ADR on an annual basis with police forces, and we will consider whether wider information on offences involving crossbows should be added to the ADR in the future.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of adding wider information on offences involving crossbows in the Annual Data Requirement.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The responses to the call for evidence on the controls on crossbows have been reviewed and we will publish the Government’s response to this shortly.
The Home Office collects a wide range of data from police forces in England and Wales under the Annual Data Requirement (ADR). These data include information on homicides where the method of killing was by a crossbow or catapult. The Home Office reviews the data required for policy delivery and publication supplied under the ADR on an annual basis with police forces, and we will consider whether wider information on offences involving crossbows should be added to the ADR in the future.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff are dedicated solely to monitoring social media for malicious communications in Hertfordshire Constabulary.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The requested data is not centrally held, and could only be collated for the purpose of answering these queries at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many arrests were made of for online malicious communications in Hertfordshire in 2024.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The requested data is not centrally held, and could only be collated for the purpose of answering these queries at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total cost was of police initiatives to monitor social media for malicious communications in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The requested data is not centrally held, and could only be collated for the purpose of answering these queries at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of police forces have dedicated teams for monitoring social media for malicious communications.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The requested data is not centrally held, and could only be collated for the purpose of answering these queries at disproportionate cost.