Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what amount was spent by each Department on tackling extremism in each of the last three years for which figures are available.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Tackling extremism is a priority for the Government, which is why we expanded the Prevent Strategy in 2010 to tackle non-violent, as well as violent, extremism.
In addition, the Home Secretary has asked the Home Office to prepare a new Extremism Strategy that goes further and addresses extremism in all its forms, working with Departments and Agencies across Government.
The Cabinet Secretary has not commissioned a formal review into cross-government expenditure on tackling extremism. However, normal procedures apply to tracking spending across government.
We have allocated £40 million for Prevent spending in 2014 / 15 which includes work on countering extremism where it creates an environment conducive to terrorism. This is in addition to the work already undertaken by DCLG on
community cohesion and integration that challenges all forms of extremism including non violent extremism. The Extremism Task Force has played a key role and, as part of the additional £130 million announced by the Prime Minister in
November 2014 to strengthen the UK’s capability to combat the increased threat of terrorism, Prevent will receive further funding.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will publish, either redacted or in full, the review commissioned by the Cabinet Secretary of cross-government expenditure on tackling extremism.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Tackling extremism is a priority for the Government, which is why we expanded the Prevent Strategy in 2010 to tackle non-violent, as well as violent, extremism.
In addition, the Home Secretary has asked the Home Office to prepare a new Extremism Strategy that goes further and addresses extremism in all its forms, working with Departments and Agencies across Government.
The Cabinet Secretary has not commissioned a formal review into cross-government expenditure on tackling extremism. However, normal procedures apply to tracking spending across government.
We have allocated £40 million for Prevent spending in 2014 / 15 which includes work on countering extremism where it creates an environment conducive to terrorism. This is in addition to the work already undertaken by DCLG on
community cohesion and integration that challenges all forms of extremism including non violent extremism. The Extremism Task Force has played a key role and, as part of the additional £130 million announced by the Prime Minister in
November 2014 to strengthen the UK’s capability to combat the increased threat of terrorism, Prevent will receive further funding.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to paragraph 2.3 of the report of the Prime Minister's Task Force on Tackling Radicalisation and Extremism, published in December 2013, whether the strengthened powers for the Charity Commission on which the Government plans to consult will include the ability to examine suspicious activity reports.
Answered by Rob Wilson
The Government consulted on a range of new and strengthened powers for the Charity Commission in December 2013. These formed the basis for the draft Protection of Charities Bill published in October 2014, and which is subject to pre-legislative scrutiny by the Joint Committee on the Draft Protection of Charities Bill. Charity Commission access to suspicious activity reports was not included as it does not require legislation.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the fifth bullet point of paragraph 301 of the Report of the Task Force on Tackling Radicalisation and Extremism, published in December 2013, how many people have been excluded since that recommendation was made.
Answered by James Brokenshire
In total the Government has excluded 44 people from the UK since December 2013.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of cross-government spending on tackling extremism since 2010.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Home Office has not conducted an assessment of the effectiveness of cross-government spending on tackling extremism.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question
To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his Answer to Question 68 of his evidence to the Liaison Committee on 16 December 2014, HC 887, whether Ministers have reported back on any failure to implement any of the 25 recommendations of the Extremism Taskforce.
Answered by Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton - Foreign Secretary
The Extremism Task Force, which I chair, enables a cross-Government, coherent response to the threat facing the UK and the pressing need to tackle the poisonous ideology of Islamist extremism. As the chair of the Task Force, each responsible Minister reports to me on their progress in delivering their Departmental priorities to tackle extremism.
The recommendations by the Task Force were published in December 2013 and can be found on the gov.uk website. As I have previously set out, the vast majority of the recommendations have been implemented. The fact that agreement has not been reached across the Coalition on two recommendations - the introduction of civil banning orders in relation to both extremist groups and individuals - is well-documented.
The Task Force is supported by a secretariat in Cabinet Office to drive Departmental progress on actions arising from those discussions. I receive regular updates on implementation.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question
To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to Answer of 9 January 2015 to Question 219820, for what reason that Answer refers to a section of a transcript which does not name the Minister responsible for each of the 25 recommendations of the Extremism Taskforce.
Answered by Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton - Foreign Secretary
The Extremism Task Force, which I chair, enables a cross-Government, coherent response to the threat facing the UK and the pressing need to tackle the poisonous ideology of Islamist extremism. As the chair of the Task Force, each responsible Minister reports to me on their progress in delivering their Departmental priorities to tackle extremism.
The recommendations by the Task Force were published in December 2013 and can be found on the gov.uk website. As I have previously set out, the vast majority of the recommendations have been implemented. The fact that agreement has not been reached across the Coalition on two recommendations - the introduction of civil banning orders in relation to both extremist groups and individuals - is well-documented.
The Task Force is supported by a secretariat in Cabinet Office to drive Departmental progress on actions arising from those discussions. I receive regular updates on implementation.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question
To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to Answer of 9 January 2015 to Question 219820, for what reasons his Answer refers to a section of a transcript which does not contain the 25 recommendations made by the Extremism Taskforce; and how many of these recommendations have been fully implemented.
Answered by Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton - Foreign Secretary
The Extremism Task Force, which I chair, enables a cross-Government, coherent response to the threat facing the UK and the pressing need to tackle the poisonous ideology of Islamist extremism. As the chair of the Task Force, each responsible Minister reports to me on their progress in delivering their Departmental priorities to tackle extremism.
The recommendations by the Task Force were published in December 2013 and can be found on the gov.uk website. As I have previously set out, the vast majority of the recommendations have been implemented. The fact that agreement has not been reached across the Coalition on two recommendations - the introduction of civil banning orders in relation to both extremist groups and individuals - is well-documented.
The Task Force is supported by a secretariat in Cabinet Office to drive Departmental progress on actions arising from those discussions. I receive regular updates on implementation.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question
To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to Answer of 9 January 2015 to Question 219820, for what reason that Answer refers to a section of a transcript which does not name the Minister responsible across Government for overseeing the implementation of the Extremism Taskforce.
Answered by Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton - Foreign Secretary
The Extremism Task Force, which I chair, enables a cross-Government, coherent response to the threat facing the UK and the pressing need to tackle the poisonous ideology of Islamist extremism. As the chair of the Task Force, each responsible Minister reports to me on their progress in delivering their Departmental priorities to tackle extremism.
The recommendations by the Task Force were published in December 2013 and can be found on the gov.uk website. As I have previously set out, the vast majority of the recommendations have been implemented. The fact that agreement has not been reached across the Coalition on two recommendations - the introduction of civil banning orders in relation to both extremist groups and individuals - is well-documented.
The Task Force is supported by a secretariat in Cabinet Office to drive Departmental progress on actions arising from those discussions. I receive regular updates on implementation.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government takes to vet (a) applicants for and (b) holders of civil service posts in central government departments for extremist views.
Answered by Lord Maude of Horsham
All civil servants are subject to recruitment checks (including of unspent criminal records) and are subject to the provisions of the Civil Service Code. Civil servants in sensitive roles are also subject to national security vetting, which involves a wide range of checks including against Security Service and police records. Managers are expected to report concerns about staff, including for example, expressions of support for extremist views, actions or incidents. Further details of the vetting process are available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmg-personnel-security-controls.