Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the cost of Government-arranged accommodation for international arrivals who have not arranged accommodation in which to quarantine for 14 days will be paid for from the public purse.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Where people arrive and are non-symptomatic, they are expected to have arranged their own accommodation.
If for some reason they require different accommodation, they can use the government organised hotel booking service where all costs will fall to the traveller.
Existing immigration rules allow for a traveller who has insufficient funds to support themselves during a visit to be refused entry to the UK.
Where people arrive and are symptomatic, and they do not have suitable accommodation to self-isolate, the government will provide suitable accommodation until such time as they either complete the 14 day period, recover from their symptoms or have a test which confirms they do not have the virus. In this circumstance the traveller will be expected to cover all other expenditure during the period they are in a government quarantine facility.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of preventing people from arriving in the UK if they do not have pre-arranged accommodation in which to spend 14 days in quarantine.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government will require all international arrivals not on a short list of exemptions to self-isolate in their accommodation for fourteen days on arrival into the UK. Where international travellers are unable to demonstrate where they would self-isolate, they will be required to do so in accommodation arranged by the Government.
All international arrivals will be required to supply their contact and accommodation information and they will also be strongly advised to download and use the NHS contact tracing app.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to (a) prevent illegal arrivals through unauthorised crossings of the English Channel and b) remove those people that entered the UK illegally.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Keeping our border secure is the Government’s highest priority and it is committed to doing everything it can to stop these dangerous Channel crossings which are putting vulnerable lives at risk.
Through joint-working with France, the UK has funded the continued deployment of gendarme reservists along the coast of northern France, who are patrolling constantly in order to detect attempted crossings by migrants. Funding has been allocated, among other projects, for further improvements at ports in northern France and on the ground, this now includes drones, specialist vehicles and detection equipment to stop small boats leaving European shores.
Intelligence flows are also key to dismantling the organised crime groups behind crossings. We have restructured and repurposed our approach to support the growing intelligence feeds which is used to inform and direct how and where resource is deployed.
The majority of countries who are signatories to the Dublin Regulations which governs the return of those seeking asylum in the UK to a third country have announced temporary suspension of transfers to and from all EU Member States due to the Coronavirus. Returns to third-countries can still take place where there is a suitable route of return.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reducing foreign nationals' air access to the UK to help tackle the spread of covid-19.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Our approach to international travel and checks at the border must be informed by the scientific and medical evidence and advice provided by SAGE and Public Health England. Any decision to implement additional restrictions on international travel to the UK or on arrival at ports/airports will be made by Ministers based on the consideration and advice of SAGE/PHE.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to encourage recently retired police officers back to service to deal with additional pressures on the force during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
On 22 April, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury made a written statement confirming that the relevant tax rules are temporarily suspended. This means that that retired officers who re-join the police to support Government’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak will not be subject to punitive tax charges which may otherwise deter officers from returning to serve during this period.
The written ministerial statement is available at https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2020-04-22/HCWS196/
The Government is committed to ensuring that police forces and officers have the support and resources they need to meet the increased demands of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to purchase water cannons for use in public disorder situations.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
There are no plans to introduce water cannon into UK policing. The Home Office works closely with the National Police Chiefs Council on police capability and the measures that can be used in response to public disorder.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will take steps to ensure that the College of Policing's Hate Crime Operational Guidance is amended to remove the requirement that police forces record non-crime hate incidents.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The College of Policing has revised its operational guidance on hate crime to help provide clarity on responding to non-crime hate incidents, among other things. The College has consulted on this draft revised operational guidance and plans to publish this in due course to support forces dealing with hate crimes and hate incidents.
The College of Policing is independent from Government and its role is clear: setting high professional standards; sharing what works best; acting as the national voice of policing; and ensuring police training and ethics is of the highest possible quality.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she will take to ensure equitable funding for Suffolk constabulary by changing the police funding formula.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government is committed to supporting the police, including through the 20,000 additional officers announced in the Chancellor’s September 2019 statement.
The funding formula will be considered in the context of the next Spending Review.