Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the West Midlands Police relied on false intelligence when banning Maccabi Tel Aviv football fans from an Aston Villa match.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
To ensure full independent scrutiny, the Home Secretary has commissioned His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to inspect how police forces in England and Wales provide risk assessment advice to local Safety Advisory Groups and other bodies responsible for licensing high-profile public events. HMICFRS has been asked to provide an initial response on the Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv match by 31 December.
Additionally, the Home Affairs Select Committee held an evidence session on 1 December to examine the decision-making process and intelligence assessments. The government awaits the Committee’s findings.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to reduce the time taken for decisions to be made on applications for the (a) Protective Security for Mosques Scheme and (b) Places of Worship Protective Security Scheme.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
This Government is committed to protecting the right of individuals to freely practise their religion at their chosen place of worship, and to making our streets and communities safer.
Global and domestic events have heightened security concerns within faith communities, which has led to a significant increase in demand for protective security schemes offered by the Home Office. Additionally, following the violent disorder last year, the Home Office set up rapid security services to safeguard mosques and other places of worship. Delivering this support to a large number of places of worship has unfortunately also contributed to delays in processing applications for longer-term security measures.
I can assure you the Home Office is working as quickly as it can to process applications.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to disrupt organised criminal gangs involved in human trafficking.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is committed to tackling all forms of modern slavery, including human trafficking and ensuring that victims are identified and supported and offenders are brought to justice. The Modern Slavery Action Plan for 2025-2026 sets out the Government’s ambition to do this.
Under the Action Plan, we are working closely with law enforcement partners in the UK and internationally, to share intelligence to identify organised criminal gangs and tackle the enablers of human trafficking to disrupt offending. This includes implementing measures through the Online Safety Act; providing support through the Modern Slavery Fund to tackle modern slavery at source and reduce the threat both overseas and to the UK; and commissioning research to better under the nexus between organised immigration crime and modern slavery, to identify new ways to break criminals’ business models.
The National Police Chief Council Lead for Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime is also developing a new national framework for investigating modern slavery, which is designed to support police officers at every stage of the investigative process to secure better outcomes.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the compatibility of the Sentencing Bill with Article 2 of the Northern Ireland Protocol and the Windsor Framework.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
We have carried out an assessment of the compatibility of the Bill with Article 2 of the Northern Ireland Protocol and the Windsor Framework.
The Government is currently appealing the scope and operation of Article 2 of the Windsor Framework before the higher Courts.
It is the Government’s view that [the Bill] is compatible with the Protocol and the Framework.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government to what extent the provisions of the Sentencing Bill which relate to the removal of foreign criminals from the United Kingdom will apply to Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The current deportation regime applies in Northern Ireland as it does in the rest of the UK. It is the government’s view that deportation powers are consistent across the UK and that clause 42 will apply UK wide.
We will do everything we can to remove foreign criminals and protect the public in Northern Ireland and all other parts of the UK.
Asked by: Baroness Pidgeon (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to allow greater automation of border controls at St Pancras station to support increased services through the Channel Tunnel, including to Germany and Switzerland.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government continues to engage with the French Ministry of the Interior and Police aux Frontieres about border control at St Pancras, including on plans for EES and ETIAS. We are working closely with Eurostar and London St Pancras Highspeed to support them in mitigating any disruption. Ultimately outbound border control, including pre-registration for EES and automation at St Pancras is a matter for the French authorities and industry.
For inbound travel to St Pancras, the UK Electronic Travel Authorisation check takes place ahead of travel to the UK, therefore this has no impact on outbound border control at St Pancras.
Asked by: Baroness Pidgeon (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase the use of pre-registration services to enable passengers to complete immigration processes before arriving at St Pancras station.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government continues to engage with the French Ministry of the Interior and Police aux Frontieres about border control at St Pancras, including on plans for EES and ETIAS. We are working closely with Eurostar and London St Pancras Highspeed to support them in mitigating any disruption. Ultimately outbound border control, including pre-registration for EES and automation at St Pancras is a matter for the French authorities and industry.
For inbound travel to St Pancras, the UK Electronic Travel Authorisation check takes place ahead of travel to the UK, therefore this has no impact on outbound border control at St Pancras.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the provisions of the Sentencing Bill which relate to the removal of foreign criminals from the United Kingdom are compatible with Article 2 of the Windsor Framework.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
We have carried out an assessment of the compatibility of the provisions in the Sentencing Bill which relate to the removal of foreign criminals from the UK with Article 2 of the Windsor Framework.
The Government is currently appealing the scope and operation of Article 2 of the Windsor Framework before the higher Courts.
However, it is the Government’s view that the provisions are compatible with Article 2.
Asked by: Baroness Pidgeon (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what work they are undertaking with London St Pancras Highspeed and Eurostar to review border controls at St Pancras station following the introduction of the UK electronic travel authorisation scheme, and the phased roll-out of the EES and ETIAS.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government continues to engage with the French Ministry of the Interior and Police aux Frontieres about border control at St Pancras, including on plans for EES and ETIAS. We are working closely with Eurostar and London St Pancras Highspeed to support them in mitigating any disruption. Ultimately outbound border control, including pre-registration for EES and automation at St Pancras is a matter for the French authorities and industry.
For inbound travel to St Pancras, the UK Electronic Travel Authorisation check takes place ahead of travel to the UK, therefore this has no impact on outbound border control at St Pancras.
Asked by: Lord Lebedev (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the decision to stop investigating non-crime hate incidents on the rate of hate incidents in London, and what data they hold to support that assessment.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
All police forces in England and Wales continue to record non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs) and retain them as intelligence, making local decisions, as appropriate on whether further investigation is appropriate. The Home Office does not collate data on NCHIs.
The College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs’ Council are currently undertaking a review of NCHIs, working closely with the Home Office. We look forward to receiving the final recommendations of the review shortly and will consider them carefully.