Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has sought legal advice on the compatibility of the provisions of the Illegal Migration Bill with habeas corpus.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Any legal advice received by the Home Office is subject to legal professional privilege and, as such, we do not comment on legal advice that may or may not have been sought or received.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to prevent protests from disrupting traffic on the M25.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 is already in force. This raised the maximum penalty for wilful obstruction of the highway, ensuring offenders can receive proportionate sentences for the disruption they cause.
The Public Order Bill is now passing through Parliament and will improve the police’s ability to respond to highly disruptive tactics. For example, lock-on offence and the associated stop and search power will allow the police to pro-actively prevent the selfish minority of protesters causing serious disruption on our roads.
The Government have tabled an amendment to the Bill which will allow the police to intervene before disruption occurs, enabling them to shut down protests before they descend into chaos. The amendment also allows the police to consider the total disruption caused by multiple events occurring at the same time or in close proximity, as well as long-running campaigns designed to cause repeat disruption over a period of days or weeks.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of guns in England and Wales; and how many of those guns are lawfully owned.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Home Office publishes statistics on firearm and shotgun certificates issued by police forces in England and Wales under the Firearms Act 1968. This provides a useful account of the number of firearms that are lawfully owned. The latest figures on the number of firearm and shotguns on issue are available from tables 1 and 3 of the ‘Firearm and Shotgun Certificates in England and Wales Statistics - Financial Year 2017/18’ publication.
Data as at 31 March 2019, will be reported in the ‘Firearm and Shotgun Certificates in England and Wales Statistics - Financial Year 2018/19’ publication. This has been pre-announced on gov.uk to be released in June/July 2019.
In relation to illegal firearms, the National Ballistics Intelligence Service (NABIS) and wider law enforcement regularly assess the volume of illegal firearms used in crime in the UK. NABIS produce quarterly reports on the threat, but their assessment is continuous and key information is shared amongst law enforcement on a real time basis. This information is operationally sensitive and not published.
Annual statistics on the number of firearm and shotgun certificates granted, renewed and revoked by police forces in Scotland are published by the Scottish Government. The figures are considered to be broadly comparable with those for England and Wales, due to the common legislation that governs the certification process.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland lists its statistical outputs on the Statistics page of its website, but there are no series that are directly compara-ble to those for England and Wales.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of guns in the UK; and how many of those guns are lawfully owned.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Home Office publishes statistics on firearm and shotgun certificates issued by police forces in England and Wales under the Firearms Act 1968. This provides a useful account of the number of firearms that are lawfully owned. The latest figures on the number of firearm and shotguns on issue are available from tables 1 and 3 of the ‘Firearm and Shotgun Certificates in England and Wales Statistics - Financial Year 2017/18’ publication.
Data as at 31 March 2019, will be reported in the ‘Firearm and Shotgun Certificates in England and Wales Statistics - Financial Year 2018/19’ publication. This has been pre-announced on gov.uk to be released in June/July 2019.
In relation to illegal firearms, the National Ballistics Intelligence Service (NABIS) and wider law enforcement regularly assess the volume of illegal firearms used in crime in the UK. NABIS produce quarterly reports on the threat, but their assessment is continuous and key information is shared amongst law enforcement on a real time basis. This information is operationally sensitive and not published.
Annual statistics on the number of firearm and shotgun certificates granted, renewed and revoked by police forces in Scotland are published by the Scottish Government. The figures are considered to be broadly comparable with those for England and Wales, due to the common legislation that governs the certification process.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland lists its statistical outputs on the Statistics page of its website, but there are no series that are directly compara-ble to those for England and Wales.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment has been made of trends in the level of dog theft.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government has not specifically assessed trends in the level of dog thefts. The Home Office holds information on notifiable offences recorded by the police including theft offences, but it is not possible to tell from this information how many dogs or pets in general were stolen.
The Government recognises that these are distressing crimes for pet owners and they must be reported to the police so that they can be investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many non-EU nationals who have left the UK with NHS debts of more than £500 outstanding for two months have been refused permission to re-enter the UK.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
This information is not held centrally. The Migration Statistics Quarterly Report (MSQR), which provides a quarterly summary of long-term international migration statistics, includes data relating to general refusals at the UK border. However, this data does not capture details relating to NHS debtor refusals specifically.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the value of fines issued to lorry drivers under section 32 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 has been in each year since 2005.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The value of fines issued to lorry drivers under section 32 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 in each year since 2005 is as follows:
01/04/2005-31/03/2006 £1,105,103
01/04/2006-31/03/2007 £1,898,866
01/04/2007-31/03/2008 £1,946,705
01/04/2008-31/03/2009 £2,552,490
01/04/2009-31/03/2010 £2,609,737
01/04/2010-31/03/2011 £1,083,390
01/04/2011-31/03/2012 £931,618
01/04/2012-31/03/2013 £890,544
01/04/2013-31/03/2014 £4,070,471
01/04/2014-31/03/2015 £6,490,232
01/04/2015-31/03/2016 £5,249,894
This information is from management information reports. The data held on the Civil Penalty data base does not allow the penalty amounts to be separated between driver’s and hauliers, hence the data provided is the total number of penalties imposed for the period.
The number of appeals against fines to lorry drivers under section 32 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 in each year since 2005 is as follows:
01/04/2005-31/03/2006 7
01/04/2006-31/03/2007 8
01/04/2007-31/03/2008 12
01/04/2008-31/03/2009 13
01/04/2009-31/03/2010 9
01/04/2010-31/03/2011 10
01/04/2011-31/03/2012 11
01/04/2012-31/03/2013 0 *
01/04/2013-31/03/2014 24
01/04/2014-31/03/2015 64
01/04/2015-31/03/2016 36
*High Court appeal cases, all appeals were held behind at the time until resolved. Appeals then fell into subsequent years.
This information is from management information reports.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many appeals against fines to lorry drivers under section 32 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 there have been in each year since 2005.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The value of fines issued to lorry drivers under section 32 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 in each year since 2005 is as follows:
01/04/2005-31/03/2006 £1,105,103
01/04/2006-31/03/2007 £1,898,866
01/04/2007-31/03/2008 £1,946,705
01/04/2008-31/03/2009 £2,552,490
01/04/2009-31/03/2010 £2,609,737
01/04/2010-31/03/2011 £1,083,390
01/04/2011-31/03/2012 £931,618
01/04/2012-31/03/2013 £890,544
01/04/2013-31/03/2014 £4,070,471
01/04/2014-31/03/2015 £6,490,232
01/04/2015-31/03/2016 £5,249,894
This information is from management information reports. The data held on the Civil Penalty data base does not allow the penalty amounts to be separated between driver’s and hauliers, hence the data provided is the total number of penalties imposed for the period.
The number of appeals against fines to lorry drivers under section 32 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 in each year since 2005 is as follows:
01/04/2005-31/03/2006 7
01/04/2006-31/03/2007 8
01/04/2007-31/03/2008 12
01/04/2008-31/03/2009 13
01/04/2009-31/03/2010 9
01/04/2010-31/03/2011 10
01/04/2011-31/03/2012 11
01/04/2012-31/03/2013 0 *
01/04/2013-31/03/2014 24
01/04/2014-31/03/2015 64
01/04/2015-31/03/2016 36
*High Court appeal cases, all appeals were held behind at the time until resolved. Appeals then fell into subsequent years.
This information is from management information reports.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many harassment warning notices were issued by police forces in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and how many people who received such notices were subsequently prosecuted for harassment offences.
Answered by Mike Penning
The information requested is not collected centrally. The issuance of Police Information Notices (PINs) is an operational matter for police forces. Responsibility for the publication of information relating to PINs rests with Chief Constables.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the quantity of cannabis recovered from cannabis factories in the UK in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the quantity of cannabis recovered specifically from cannabis factories in the UK. However, the Home Office does hold data on the total quantity of cannabis seized in England and Wales.
The statistical release ‘Drug Seizures in England and Wales, 2014/15’ covers the number and quantity of drug seizures made by both police forces and Border Force in England and Wales from 2006/07 to 2014/15.
The publication contains the number and quantity of seizures of herbal cannabis, resin cannabis, and cannabis plants for England and Wales only. The Home Office does not hold information centrally on the number of drug seizures in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
The publication can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/seizures-of-drugs-in-england-and-wales-financial-year-ending-2015
Data specifically on the quantity of cannabis seizures, made by police forces and Border Force in England and Wales, can be found in Summary Table 2 of the data tables.
Border Force publishes the number and quantity of seizures of drugs at the UK border on Gov.UK:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/border-force-transparency-data-february-2016