Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Sections 14.128-131 of the Modern Slavery Guidance, published in May 2024, if her Department will take steps to amend the prioritisation criteria to ensure her Department prioritises conclusive grounds cases for people in the National Referral Mechanism that have waited the longest.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is committed to tackling modern slavery; ensuring that victims are provided with the support they need to begin rebuilding their lives and that those responsible are prosecuted.
The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is the UK’s framework for identifying and referring potential victims of modern slavery which works to ensure that confirmed victims receive support until they no longer have recovery needs, or until these needs are met by other services, including if this takes 12 months, or longer.
The unprecedented increase in the volume of referrals into the NRM has presented significant challenges in resourcing and workflow, and we recognise that wait times are too long. Work has been done to increase capacity for decision making, improve operational effectiveness and testing alternative approaches to decision making, but recognise that more needs to be done and are considering options. I am as keen as you to ensure that this happens.
We keep all policies and processes under review.
The Modern Slavery Statutory Guidance sets out when access to modern slavery support may be withheld and that potential victims in the NRM can choose to have legal representation. It also sets out the current prioritisation approach and priorities can change periodically in line with Ministerial arrangements under the Equality Act 2010. Any changes to the prioritisation criteria will be reflected in this guidance.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the the rules which prevent peaceful protest at the Drax power station.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The management of protests are matters for the police, who are operationally independent from Government. The Home Office cannot direct the operational activities of the police.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the progress of the Independent Office of Police Conduct in pursuing gross misconduct charges arising from Operation Midland.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Disciplinary proceedings concerning Operation Midland remain ongoing and it would therefore be inappropriate for the Government to comment while that remains the case.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to extend the Domestic Violence Indefinite Leave to Remain and Destitution Domestic Violence Concession to all migrant victims of domestic abuse regardless of immigration status.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Tackling violence against women and girls is a top priority for this government and our mission is to halve levels of violence against women and girls within a decade.
We are reviewing all the issues impacting migrant victims of domestic abuse including the scope of both the Migrant Victims of Domestic Abuse Concession (formerly the Destitution Domestic Violence Concession) and the provisions of Appendix Victim of Domestic Abuse (formerly Domestic Violence Indefinite Leave to Remain).
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 31 July 2024, to Question 1220, on Public Service: Harassment, if she will place in the House of Commons Library a copy of the minutes for the roundtable to discuss political intimidation; and what the policy decisions from that meeting were.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
There are no plans to place a copy of the minutes of the roundtable discussion on political intimidation in the House of Commons Library.
The discussions are considered confidential.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether there are any plans to revisit or otherwise further investigate the operational conduct of Operation Midland.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Police forces and the Independent Office for Police Conduct are independent of government and decisions concerning investigations are operational ones for them to make.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Prime Minister plans to appoint an anti-corruption champion.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
I refer the Rt.Hon Member to my previous response, reference UIN 3572, answered on the 4th September 2024.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many beds are reserved to house irregular migrants; and what the cost is of those beds.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not reserve beds for irregular migrants. In accordance with the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, the Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide destitute asylum seekers with accommodation and subsistence support whilst their application for asylum is being considered. The Government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly and fairly. This includes identifying a range of options to reduce the use of hotels over time and ensuring efficiency and value for money across all accommodation arrangements.
Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including hotels, can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for our most recent stats release: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
As was the case under the previous government, the Home Office does not publish a breakdown of statistics which disaggregates asylum accommodation costs by type. The total expenditure on asylum is published in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, available at HO annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she is taking steps to increase access to resettlement to the UK for Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries who are at risk and cannot return to Sudan.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Over 300 Sudanese nationals have been resettled in the UK through our refugee resettlement schemes.
The UK resettlement schemes are not application based; instead, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) refers individuals for resettlement in accordance with their standard resettlement submission criteria. These are based on an assessment of protection needs or vulnerabilities. The UK does not seek to intervene in or influence UNHCR’s established selection processes.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the findings of the Decapods: Call for Evidence, published on 5 July 2023; and what recent estimate she has made of when the Animals in Science Committee will report on options for the future regulation of the use of decapod crustaceans in research.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
Following earlier research and reports on this issue, the next step is for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to decide whether to regulate Decapods under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
Any decision of publication of earlier research or the commissioning of further advice will follow in due course.