Asked by: Ross Thomson (Conservative - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to increase education and awareness of female genital mutilation in the UK.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a crime and it is child abuse. The Government is clear that we will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong suffering to women and girls.
The Home Office’s FGM unit delivers nationwide outreach on FGM. The Unit is providing outreach support to local areas and working to raise awareness of resources available to professionals, including training, best practice examples and information on legislation and policy. Resources include an e-learning package, various communication materials such as leaflets and posters highlighting the legislation and health impacts of FGM, and an online resource pack for local areas.
We ran a communications campaign between October 2018 and February 2019 to tackle FGM. The campaign sought to prevent FGM by changing attitudes among affected communities through raising awareness of the negative long-term health consequences of FGM. The campaign also raised awareness that FGM is a crime and encouraged communities to report via the NSPCC’s FGM helpline. The campaign supported the objectives of the cross-government Violence Against Women and Girls strategy.
Earlier this year, the Home Office trained around 1,300 professionals across the country on FGM and forced marriage protection orders. The events raised awareness of the scope and effectiveness of the orders, along with a practical guide to applying, with the aim of encouraging professionals to always consider them in any safeguarding plans.
Asked by: Ross Thomson (Conservative - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been deported to countries with which the UK holds a Memorandum of Understanding since 2013.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Home Office does not separately record returns by the arrangements that support them including Memoranda of Understanding (MOU), with foreign countries and as such the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost
The UK has a range of returns arrangements with receiving countries including bilateral MOU, EU Readmission Agreements, formal readmission agreements and informal operational arrangements which provide the basis for administrative removal and deportation. There are also formal returns arrangements for third-country nationals to other European countries through the Dublin Regulations.
The latest published statistics for the number of returns to individual countries is available from the GOV.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/803187/returns5-mar-2019-tables.ods
Asked by: Ross Thomson (Conservative - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will commission an independent review of the (a) adequacy, (b) cost effectiveness and (c) effect on the diversity of students of credibility interviews within the student immigration system.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
An internal review of point of application credibility interviews for interna-tional students was conducted in 2018 to ensure that interviews are adding value to the case consideration process and not unnecessarily inconven-iencing customers. Up to date risk information was factored in to this review. Regular engagement with universities and other educational institutions en-sures that feedback is collected in relation to the application process.
Asked by: Ross Thomson (Conservative - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to cooperate with the United States and Canada on tackling transatlantic drug crime.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The UK enjoys close and longstanding cooperation with the USA and Canada in tackling transatlantic drug crime. Joint work involves regular and timely exchange of operational intelligence, enabling the disruption of drug trafficking via air and sea routes across the Atlantic.
Asked by: Ross Thomson (Conservative - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to prevent the illegal sale of knives and other offensive weapons online.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government continues to work with the police and partners, including retailers to ensure we have strong controls in place to prevent sales of knives to under 18s. In March 2016 we agreed a set of commitments with major retailers including Amazon UK and Ebay UK to prevent the underage sales of knives more generally in their stores and online. The commitments include a requirement to have robust measures in place to ensure age verification for sales, in-store and online.
In addition, on 14 October 2017, the Government launched a consultation on new laws on offensive weapons which included proposals to restrict the online sales of knives to further prevent sales to under 18s. The consultation was closed on 9 December and we are now considering the responses.
Asked by: Ross Thomson (Conservative - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to prevent the sale of illegal drugs online.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
We want the UK to be the safest place in the world to be online. Anything that is illegal offline should be illegal online.
The Government and law enforcement agencies take the unlawful advertising and sales of drugs on the internet very seriously. Tough enforcement is a fundamental part of the Government’s drug strategy and we are taking coordinated action to tackle illegal drugs alongside other criminal activity.
Law enforcement agencies continue to work with internet providers to shut down UK-based websites found to be committing offences, building on work already underway to tackle the sale and supply of illegal drugs in the UK and overseas and tackle associated organised crime.
Asked by: Ross Thomson (Conservative - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of UK Home Civil Servants there will be in December 2018.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Home Office constantly reviews its workforce capacity and capabilities in order to deliver the Government’s agenda and meet operational demands. We continue to assess how our priorities will impact on the workforce and capabilities required beyond the 2017/18 financial year.
Asked by: Ross Thomson (Conservative - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what status citizens of the Republic of Ireland will have in the UK after the UK leaves the EU; and whether she plans to review the Ireland Act 1949.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The close historic, social and cultural ties between the UK and Ireland have led to the creation of additional rights above those associated with common membership of the EU. Leaders in the UK and Ireland have confirmed their commitment to protecting these rights enjoyed by UK and Irish nationals when in the other State.
As outlined in the UK Government policy paper released on 26 June, relating to the rights of EU citizens living in the UK, we want to protect the rights enjoyed by UK and Irish nationals when in the other State. Irish citizens residing in the UK will not be required to apply for settled status to protect their entitlements.
While the special status afforded to Irish citizens within the UK is rooted in the Ireland Act 1949 it has been provided for by subsequent primary and secondary legislation, including the Immigration Act 1971, and UK-Ireland bilateral agreements which are distinct from EEA Treaty rights.