Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of suspending the deportation flight to Zimbabwe scheduled for 2 March 2022 in the context of violence against political opposition supporters in that country in recent days.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We make no apology for seeking to remove those with no right to remain in the UK and foreign criminals. That is why we regularly operate charter flights to different countries - to remove foreign criminals who abuse our hospitality by committing crimes here, and those who have no right to be in a country, but refuse to leave voluntarily.
Individuals are only returned to their country of origin where claims have been unsuccessful, and the Home Office and, where applicable, the Courts deem it is safe to do so, with a safe route of return. By definition, those persons do not need protection and are not at risk on return.
We are monitoring the situation there, working with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Our general assessment of risk for political opponents to the government remains set out in our published country policy and information note of September 2021.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to ensure that his Department and its agencies remove all internal covid-19 related policies, restrictions and mask mandates.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The announcement of the ‘Living With Covid’ strategy means all Covid-related restrictions across the courts in England and Wales have been reviewed, and will be removed as quickly as possible.
Throughout the pandemic, all Civil Service employers have followed government guidance in setting out their internal COVID-19 related policies. This includes complying with the ‘Working Safely during Coronavirus (COVID-19): Guidance’ which sets out the key actions organisations should take to protect employees and customers, in order to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading in workplaces, along with carrying out health and safety risk assessments that include the ongoing risk from COVID-19.
On 21 February 2022, the Government published their COVID-19 Response: Living with COVID-19. This document sets out how and when the remaining restrictions will be lifted in England. Government guidance was subsequently amended, including the Working Safely guidance.
The Government’s Working Safely guidance, which was launched on 24 February, continues to require organisations to carry out a risk assessment which includes the risk from COVID-19. It also sets out additional actions organisations can take to protect employees and customers in the workplace, such as ensuring adequate ventilation, frequent cleaning, asking people to wash their hands frequently and asking people with COVID-19 to stay away. The guidance advises that people continue to wear face coverings in crowded and enclosed settings where they come into contact with people they do not normally meet, when rates of transmission are high. Civil Service employers will continue to follow this guidance and align their policies accordingly.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent progress he has made on piloting (a) integrated domestic abuse courts and (b) other new types of family courts.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
We are committed to improving the family court experience for survivors of domestic abuse and their children. On 21 February 2022, we launched the Integrated Domestic Abuse Court pilot in courts in Dorset and North Wales. The pilot is testing a new approach to dealing with certain private law proceedings. It moves away from the adversarial model and towards a more investigative, problem-solving approach based on the features and risk profile of a case. The pilot courts will be able to offer out of court issue resolution for cases with no safeguarding concerns by incorporating referral or signposting to local or digital resources.
Family Drug and Alcohol Courts are another new type of family court. These courts provide a problem-solving approach to care proceedings, specialising in alcohol and substance misuse. In this approach, a team of substance misuse specialists, domestic violence experts, psychiatrists and social workers carry out an early assessment and agree an intervention plan with parents who come before the court in care proceedings. The Family Drug and Alcohol Courts model is delivered by the Centre for Justice and Innovation, and the Department for Education is the lead government department with responsibility in this area.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to reports of the unlawful extradition of Ahmed Jaafar Mohammed Ali from Serbia to Bahrain on 24 January 2022 on the basis of an Interpol red notice, what assessment the she has made of the implications for her policies of that extradition.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
In the UK, the Extradition Act 2003 ensures that all individual extradition requests are subject to the same statutory criteria regardless of where the request is from, or the terms of any international agreement that is in place. As extradition cases are subject to judicial process, it is for the UK courts to consider all relevant legal issues and determine whether extradition is appropriate, based on the safeguards and protections afforded within the Act. A requested person will not be extradited if doing so would breach their human rights, if the request is politically motivated, or if they would be at risk of facing the death penalty.
Any misuse of INTERPOL is taken very seriously by this Government. The UK continues to support INTERPOL’s efforts to ensure systems are in place to protect individuals’ rights and uphold Article 3 of INTERPOL’s Constitution, which forbids the organisation to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of knife crime in (1) urban areas, and (2) rural areas; and what steps they will take as a result of that assessment.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Figures provided by the Office of National Statistics for Crime in England and Wales show in the year ending September 2021, knife or sharp instrument offences were more concentrated in urban areas with the three police force areas with the highest volume of knife-enabled crime being the Metropolitan Police, West Midlands and Greater Manchester. These figures are available on gov.uk.
Tackling knife crime is a priority and the Government is determined to crack down on the scourge of violence devastating our communities. This is why the Government made £130.5m available in 2021 and 2022 to tackle serious violence, including murder and knife crime.
This includes £35.5m for Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) which bring together local partners to tackle the drivers of violence in the 18 areas across England and Wales most affected by serious violence. VRUs are delivering a range of early intervention and prevention programmes to divert people away from violent crime and reached over 300,000 young people in the first two years alone.
It also includes £30m in the same period to support the police to take targeted action in parts of England and Wales most affected by serious violence through the Grip programme, which uses data to identify violence hotspots and target operational activity in those areas. Through the Grip pilot in Essex, Southend-on-Sea, there was a 73.5% drop in violent crime in hot spot areas on patrol days.
The investment includes up to £20m for additional early intervention and prevention programmes to support young people at high risk of involvement in serious violence. We have separately invested £200m over 10 years for the Youth Endowment Fund, which is funding projects to support children and young people at risk of violence and exploitation.
We acknowledge there is more to do which is why the Government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill includes a duty on public sector bodies to take a joined-up approach to addressing serious violence; the requirement for local agencies to review the circumstances when an adult homicide takes place involving an offensive weapon; and Serious Violence Reduction Orders, which give the police the authority to stop and search known knife and weapons carriers.
We have also prohibited certain particularly dangerous types of knife through the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 and have introduced the offence of possessing specified offensive weapons in private. The Act also introduced Knife Crime Prevention Orders which will provide the police with a vital means to steer those most at risk away from serious violence. On 5 July 2021 we introduced a pilot for KCPOs across the Metropolitan Police area.
Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Wealden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2022 to Question 112594 on Xinjiang: Genocide, whether staff in her Department have been tasked with producing a risk assessment of the Xinjiang region in line with that debate's motion agreed by the House.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
As set out in our response to question 112594, the FCDO continues to monitor the human rights situation in Xinjiang closely. The available evidence is used to inform FCDO and broader HMG policy in relation to Xinjiang, and to underpin our robust diplomatic action and domestic policy response. However, it remains the long-standing policy of the British Government not to make determinations in relation to genocide. We keep judgments of competent tribunals and courts on genocide under close review.
Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Wealden)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2022 to Question 112594 on Xinjiang: Genocide, whether the Government has taken steps to begin producing a risk assessment of the Xinjiang region in line with that debate's motion agreed by the House.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
As set out in our response to question 112594, the FCDO continues to monitor the human rights situation in Xinjiang closely. The available evidence is used to inform FCDO and broader HMG policy in relation to Xinjiang, and to underpin our robust diplomatic action and domestic policy response. However, it remains the long-standing policy of the British Government not to make determinations in relation to genocide. We keep judgments of competent tribunals and courts on genocide under close review.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (a) whether his Department has made an assessment of trends in the levels of murder of teenagers by stabbing and (b) what steps he is taking to tackle knife crime amount young people.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government is aware of the number of young victims of knife crime and tackling knife crime is a priority for this Government.
The Office for National Statistics publishes statistics on homicide from the Home Office Homicide Index. Over recent years, there has been an increase in homicides involving sharp instruments, including an increase in younger victims. The data are available here: www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/homicideinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2020
It is vitally important that we prevent young people from being drawn into violent crime. This is why the Government has made £130.5m available this year to tackle serious violence, including murder and knife crime.
This includes £35.5m for Violence Reduction Units which bring together local partners to tackle the drivers of violence in their area. VRUs are delivering a range of early intervention and prevention programmes to divert people away from a life of crime and have reached over 300,000 young people in their first year.
We have invested £30m to support the police to take targeted action in parts of England and Wales most affected by serious violence through the Grip programme, which uses data to identify violence hotspots and target operational activity in those areas. Through the Grip pilot in Essex, Southend-on-Sea, there was a 73.5% drop in violent crime in hot spot areas on patrol days.
We are also investing up to £20m million for new early intervention programmes that will help stop young people from being drawn into violence, including cognitive behavioural therapy, family therapy, as well as specialist support in crisis moments such as when a person is admitted to A&E with a knife injury. We have also established the £3.3 million Creating Opportunities Forum to provide meaningful employment-related opportunities and raise the aspirations of young people at risk of serious violence over the next 2 years.
Longer term investment includes the 10-year Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) which we have invested £200 million in, to test and evaluate what works to support children and young people at risk of exploitation.
We acknowledge there is more to do which is why the Government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill includes a duty on public sector bodies to take a joined-up approach to addressing serious violence; the requirement for local agencies to review the circumstances when an adult homicide takes place involving an offensive weapon; and Serious Violence Reduction Orders, which give the police the authority to stop and search known knife and weapons carriers.
We have also introduced Knife Crime Prevention Orders in London, to help the Metropolitan Police identify and support those most at risk of violence. KCPOs will enable the courts to place restrictions on individuals, such as curfews, geographical restrictions, use of social media, as well as positive interventions requirements and, importantly, explicit prohibition to carry a knife.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the time taken to publish the Child protection at heart of courts review on children living with a parent who is a known perpetrator of domestic abuse.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Work is underway on the review into the presumption of parental involvement in private law proceedings. The review is focused on the application of the presumption, and the statutory exception, in cases where there is evidence to suggest that parental involvement will put the child at risk of harm. Covid-19 has led to delays in the commissioning and delivery of the literature review, qualitative research project, and judgment analysis. All three strands are now on track to complete by the end of the year.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made on the current availability of specialist domestic violence courts.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Since January 2019 all magistrates’ courts across England and Wales have been required to use the Domestic Abuse Best Practice Framework. This introduced an expectation that cross-agency specialists should work together to enhance the service and support provided to, and experience of, those involved in domestic abuse cases. The framework was developed by identifying common components from high performing courts and aims to improve the capacity and capability of the criminal justice system to respond effectively to reports of domestic abuse offending. The framework includes:
Since 2019 all magistrates’ courts are expected to operate in accordance with the Domestic Abuse Best Practice Framework. Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) does not hold data on how many Specialist Domestic Violence Courts sat between 2015 to 2021.
HMCTS does not provide dedicated funding for Specialist Domestic Violence Courts.