Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his oral statement of 12 March 2024 on Update on foreign national offenders, prisons and probation, in what roles the 400 additional caseworkers were previously working.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The additional caseworkers referenced in the oral statement of Secretary of State for Justice on 12 March 2024 are Home Office staff.
The 400 additional caseworkers are external recruits and were not transferred from other roles.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign national offenders who were removed from the UK were imprisoned for (a) sexual offences, (b) homicide and (c) assault in each year since 2019.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The information requested about how many foreign national offenders (FNOs) were removed from the UK following convictions for (a) sexual offences, (b) homicide and (c) assault is not available from published statistics.
The Home Office does publish information on a quarterly bases on FNO returns and this can be found at Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Our priority will always be to keep the British public safe. That is why foreign nationals who abuse our hospitality by committing crimes should be in no doubt of our determination to deport them. Between January 2019 and September 2023, more than 16,000 FNOs have been removed from the UK.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign national offenders were removed from the UK with more than 12 months remaining on their sentence under the Early Removal Scheme in 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The information requested about how many foreign national offenders (FNO)s removed from the UK with more than 12 months remaining on their sentence under the Early Removal Scheme in 2023 is currently not available from published statistics.
Information on the number of FNOs that were returned from the UK under the Early Removal Scheme is available from Table FNO_09 in Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The latest data is published to June 2022.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to respond to the letter sent by the hon. Member for Brentford and Isleworth to the Minister for Immigration on 7 November 2023 regarding a visa application.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office replied on 20 November 2023 under reference MPAM/1043109/23.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has had recent discussions with the Migration Advisory Committee on the number of visas issued to people working as laundry (a) workers, (b) engineers and (c) production managers and supervisors.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government engages regularly with the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) when developing its immigration policies, including on its most recent review of the Shortage Occupation List.
Further details on the number of visas issued for eligible occupations under the UK immigration system can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-september-2023/why-do-people-come-to-the-uk-to-work.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding was provided to Blue Blight Commercial as part of Operation Safeguard.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
BlueLight Commercial is company that is owned by the policing sector. It was set up to provide commercial expertise and assistance to policing and assist forces in identifying and making efficiency savings.
The Government have not provided specific funding to BlueLight Commercial for their work on Operation Safeguard. BlueLight Commercial have direct arrangements with the policing sector to cover administrative costs they have incurred for the work they have delivered.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of changes in the level of infrastructure-related metal thefts in the last four years, and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Office for National Statistics publishes annually a time series of data on metal theft offences recorded by the police. The latest available data covering the year to March 2022 can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/focusonpropertycrimeappendixtables
The Crime Survey for England and Wales for year to December 2022, show that overall thefts is down 47% compared with March 2010.
The Home Office provided funding in the financial year 2020-21 to establish the National Infrastructure Crime Reduction Partnership. The Partnership ensures the national co-ordination of policing and law enforcement partners to tackle metal theft. Membership of the Partnership includes infrastructure companies such as rail, telecoms and utility companies, who work together to monitor trends in metal theft, share intelligence, target offenders and implement crime prevention measures.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the existing legislation to tackle online impersonations for the purpose of coercive control on (a) social media and (b) dating applications.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
We know that perpetrators can use technology to coerce and control victims of domestic abuse. Coercive and Controlling Behaviour legislation may apply if the victim and perpetrator are personally connected and if the behaviour takes place repeatedly or continuously. On 5 April 2023, we extended the offence to remove the co-habitation requirement, so it applies regardless of whether the victim and perpetrator live together.
The landmark Online Safety Bill, which is currently undergoing its passage through the House of Lords, will strengthen users’ protection from coercive control online. All companies that host user-generated content or allow users to interact with one another and search services are in scope of the Online Safety Bill, including social media and online dating platforms.
To ensure that individuals who are a victim of controlling or coercive behaviour (CCB) perpetrated using technology are adequately protected, we have added CCB to the list of priority offences in the Bill. This highlights this form of abuse as one of the most serious and prevalent types of illegal content and activity online, which companies must take proactive measures to tackle.
Finally, through the Online Safety Bill, users will be better able to report abuse, including abuse perpetrated via online impersonations, and they should expect to receive an appropriate response from the platform. This will act against criminals using the internet as a weapon with which to threaten and control individuals online.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many reported vehicle thefts there were in (a) the London Borough of Hounslow and (b) London in the last four years.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of vehicle theft offences reported to and recorded by the police in England and Wales, on a quarterly basis. These are available at the Police Force Area and the Community Safety Partnership Area levels, and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables
The Office for National Statistics’ Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) and its latest estimates shows that the number of incidences of theft of vehicles has fallen by 23% since the year ending March 2010, to 86,000 incidences. The sample size of the CSEW is not large enough to yield estimates at borough or local authority level.
The Government is committed to tackling vehicle crime. We are working closely with police and motor manufacturers through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group (NVCWG), chaired by ACC Jennifer Sims, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime, to take forward a programme of work to prevent and reduce theft of and from vehicles. This includes training police officers on methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles and working with industry to prevent theft. Through the NVCWG a network of vehicle crime specialists has been established, involving every police force in England and Wales, to ensure better sharing of information and intelligence.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is taking steps to raise public awareness of the potential fire risk of lithium batteries in residential buildings.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office is working with the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) and London Fire Brigade on the fire safety impacts of the increased use of lithium-ion batteries in the home.
In November each year, the Fire Kills campaign works with Electrical Safety First to run Electrical Fire Safety Week to promote messages on safe use of electrical goods and appliances. Working in partnership with the NFCC, the Home Office also provides resources and information to support delivery of fire prevention by local fire and rescue services.