Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department plans to take to amend the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 to include decapod crustaceans.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is responsible for the Animal Welfare Act 2006 which provides a framework for animal protection and welfare. Defra is building an evidence base for considering if decapods should have greater protections. The Home Office will be guided by these decisions as to whether decapod crustaceans are regulated under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
The Government is committed to accelerating the development, validation and uptake of non-animal alternatives in science and will publish a strategy later this year. The Government has a manifesto commitment to work towards a vision to phase out animal testing through the acceleration of development and uptake of validated non-animal alternatives.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she intends the offence of assaulting a shop worker to apply to people working in a bureau de change.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Section 156 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 created a statutory aggravating factor in sentencing cases of assault against public facing workers. It applies where an assault is committed against those providing a public service, performing a public duty or providing a service to the public, including public-facing roles in banks, bureau de changes and building societies.
Alongside this, through our Crime and Policing Bill, this Government has introduced a new specific standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker to help tackle the epidemic of shop theft and violence towards shop workers that we have seen in recent years, and protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.
For the purposes of this new offence, our definition of a ‘retail worker’ is intentionally narrow given the vital need to provide legal clarity and ensure there is no ambiguity for courts in identifying whether an individual is a retail worker, and the assault took place in the course of their work.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how she defines mainly by retail in Clause 15 of the Crime and Policing Bill.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Section 156 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 created a statutory aggravating factor in sentencing cases of assault against public facing workers. It applies where an assault is committed against those providing a public service, performing a public duty or providing a service to the public, including public-facing roles in banks, bureau de changes and building societies.
Alongside this, through our Crime and Policing Bill, this Government has introduced a new specific standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker to help tackle the epidemic of shop theft and violence towards shop workers that we have seen in recent years, and protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.
For the purposes of this new offence, our definition of a ‘retail worker’ is intentionally narrow given the vital need to provide legal clarity and ensure there is no ambiguity for courts in identifying whether an individual is a retail worker, and the assault took place in the course of their work.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the findings of her Department's call for evidence entitled Decapods: Call for Evidence, published on 5 July 2023.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government is carefully considering the results from the call for evidence regarding the use of decapods in science to inform future policy options. The Home Office will be guided by decisions made under the Animal Welfare Act regarding any consideration as to whether Decapods are regulated under the Animals (Scientific Procures) Act 1986. There are currently no plans to publish the results from the Call for Evidence.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what options are available to people applying for a Schengen visa who do not have access to their e-Visa due to technical issues.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It is important for all who are travelling to check the entry, exit and transit requirements of other countries, and they may be asked to show evidence of their UK immigration status to authorities in the country they are travelling to. It is a matter for individual countries to set their own policies on what evidence they will accept but we have extensively engaged with them, through FCDO, about what the transition to eVisas mean, and continue to do so. People should check what an individual country’s requirements are before travelling or applying for a visa.
We have advised other countries that there are multiple evidence sources that they may consider accepting as proof of a person’s UK immigration status, including:
As a temporary measure, to reassure people that they will be able
to travel without any issue during the transition period, we will allow carriers such as airlines to accept a BRP or BRC which expires on or after 31 December 2024 as valid evidence of permission to travel, provisionally until 31 March 2025. This will be kept under review. They should also keep their expired BRP as it may be helpful for future applications to stay in the UK. People can use their expired BRP to create their UKVI account and access their eVisa.
We are actively resolving any technical issues as and when they arise. If anyone does have issues accessing their eVisa or UKVI account and they need to prove their UK immigration status when applying for a Schengen visa, there are several options available to them. They should check that their eVisa is correct here: Check your eVisa is correct before you travel - GOV.UK and if not, they can report an error with their eVisa using the ‘Report an error with your eVisa - GOV.UK webform. Alternatively, they can contact the UKVI Resolution Centre for assistance with technical issues related to their online immigration status, and where necessary, to verify their status through alternative means if needed.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 November 2023 to Question 2844 on Animal Experiments: Cosmetics, whether animal testing of chemicals used exclusively as cosmetics ingredients is being conducted in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat
The regulation of animals in science under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 is a transferred matter under the Northern Ireland devolution settlement.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make it his policy to revoke licences for testing cosmetics ingredients on animals issued between 2019 and 2022.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat
The Home Secretary’s written statement of 17 May 2023 announced a ban on new licences for animal testing of chemicals used exclusively as cosmetics ingredients, carried out under chemicals (REACH) regulations for the purpose of worker and environmental safety.
The Home Office has completed its review of existing ‘legacy’ licences and has engaged with the relevant companies. I can confirm that, in Great Britain, no animal testing is being conducted, nor will any testing be authorised, of chemicals that are exclusively intended to be used as ingredients in cosmetics products.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to help ensure that police forces have the resources to tackle illegal dog fighting.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Home Office remains committed to ensuring that the police have the resources they need. However, it is for Chief Constables and directly elected PCCs, and Mayors with PCC functions to make operational decisions based on their local knowledge and experience, including how to allocate resources.
The police now have record ever numbers across England & Wales, and that Police funding is £550m higher this year than last year.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans to revoke existing licences for testing cosmetics ingredients on animals issued between 2019 and 2022.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat
The Government is engaging with the relevant companies to urgently determine a way forward on legacy licences.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of how many (a) outstanding asylum claims there are from people in and (b) refugees there are in Bolton South East constituency as of 30 March 2023.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The requested information is not held in a reportable format and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Whilst the Home Office holds information on the addresses of asylum claimants and those seeking further leave to remain, the number residing in Bolton South East constituency as of 30 March 2023 is not held in a reportable format and would require a manual search through individual records.