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Written Question
Home Office: Written Questions
Tuesday 27th February 2024

Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sharpe of Epsom on 10 January (HL1252), whether they will now answer the question put; namely, what assessment they have made of the number of children likely to be separated from a British parent as a result of the increase to the salary threshold to £38,700 for those applying for spousal or partner visas.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Minimum Income Requirement will initially rise to £29,000 on 11 April 2024, with incremental rises at later dates. A full impact assessment will be published in due course, and we will continue to monitor the policy throughout its implementation. The Immigration Rules also contain provisions for parents of qualifying children to obtain permission to enter or remain in the UK.


Written Question
Animal Experiments: Departmental Responsibilities
Monday 12th February 2024

Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the letter dated 29 August 2023 from Lord Sharpe of Epsom to the Chair of the Animals in Science Committee, what progress they have made in considering the relocation of the portfolio under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

There are no plans to relocate the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 portfolio from the Home Office to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

The Home Office is working with DSIT to advance the Government’s ambitions for the life sciences and the protection of animals used in science.


Written Question
Shellfish: Animal Welfare
Monday 12th February 2024

Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, regarding the Decapods: call for evidence which closed on 13 October 2023, what consideration they have made of the evidence received, when results will be published, and when a policy decision based on this evidence will be made.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Government is carefully considering the results from the call for evidence regarding the current use of decapods in science to inform future policy options.

The Home Office intend to commission the independent advisory body, the Animals in Science Committee (ASC), for advice on this issue. The scope of the commission to the ASC will be made public. We will then publish in due course.


Written Question
Visas: Families
Wednesday 10th January 2024

Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of children likely to be separated from a British parent as a result of the increase to the salary threshold to £38,700 for those applying for spousal or partner visas.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The family Immigration Rules contain an existing provision for exceptional circumstances where there would be unjustifiably harsh consequences for the applicant, their partner, a relevant child, or another family member, if their application were to be refused. This will continue to be the case when the minimum income requirement is increased in spring 2024.


Written Question
Refugees: Diplomatic Service
Monday 18th September 2023

Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of risk facing refugees who are resident in the UK who encounter difficulties abroad; and what plans they have to ensure they receive consular assistance at the same level as UK citizens.

Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth

The Government provides consular assistance to British nationals travelling or living abroad.

We may also help Commonwealth nationals in non-Commonwealth countries where they do not have any diplomatic or consular representation. We cannot help other nationalities, even if they live in the UK or have close connections to the UK.


Written Question
Crimes of Violence: Public Sector
Wednesday 19th July 2023

Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many police (1) callouts, (2) investigations, (3) charges, and (4) convictions, there were to reported incidents of abuse and hostility towards public service workers in the last year for which figures are available.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of police recorded offences, and their investigative outcomes (including charges outcomes), on ‘assaults on a constable’ and the number of ‘assaults on an emergency worker (other than a constable)’ on a quarterly basis and that can be accessed here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables

Information on other public sector workers is not separately identifiable within police recorded crime.

The Home Office does not hold data on police call outs or investigations.

The Home Office has taken a significant step to introduce a statutory aggravating factor for assault against those who are serving the public, via the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. This means the public facing nature of a victim’s role will be considered an aggravating factor when it comes to sentencing for assault offences. This provision commenced in June 2022.

The Office for National Statistics’ Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) and its latest estimates shows that the number of incidences of violence has fallen by 41% since the year ending March 2010, to 1.1 million incidences.

The Ministry of Justice publish information on prosecutions and convictions, including ‘Assault of an emergency worker’ offence. These can be accessed here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2022


Written Question
Asylum: Housing
Wednesday 28th June 2023

Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what guidelines they provide to those providing accommodation to asylum-seekers to ensure that their privacy is respected and safety ensured; and whether any such guidance includes preventing unannounced visits to such accommodation, particularly in relation to accommodation for women and children.

Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth

Asylum seekers receive full induction briefings when arriving at Home Office accommodation. This briefing will include health & safety awareness, security and how access to local supporting organisations is facilitated. Whilst sites have 24/7 security, asylum seeker are permitted to come and go and are able to receive visitors.


Written Question
Animal Experiments
Monday 5th June 2023

Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to Written Answer by Lord Markham on 28 March (HL6448), how many animals, and of what type, are currently used in licensed laboratories for pyrogen testing.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes annual statistics on the use of animals in scientific procedures. The statistics can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-statistics

The most recent statistics for 2021 show that no procedures have been carried on animals for quality control pyrogenicity testing for regulatory use since 2019 (data table 7.1).

Pyrogen testing could be recorded under other categories in the statistics. However, the statistics do not break down the data by test type for non-regulatory or other regulatory purposes.


Written Question
Cosmetics: Animal Experiments
Thursday 1st June 2023

Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many licences, and to whom, they have granted for animal testing of cosmetic ingredients since the start of 2019.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Animal testing of cosmetics for consumer safety has been banned in the UK since 1998 and this remains in force.

On 17 May 2023 the Government announced it is going further by banning, with immediate effect, licences to test ingredients exclusively used in the production of cosmetics for the purposes of worker safety.

The Home Secretary has issued a Written Ministerial Statement, which can be found here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2023-05-17/hcws779.

The Home Office does not publish details of licensed establishments.


Written Question
Counter-terrorism: Public Places
Tuesday 16th May 2023

Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to introducing a (1) registration, or (2) other oversight, scheme for companies providing security services, in association with the introduction of the Protect Duty.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Volume 1 of the report of the Manchester Arena Inquiry recommended that “consideration should be given to whether contractors who carry out security services should be required to be licensed” (Recommendation 8). The Government has given careful consideration to this and is not persuaded that licensing businesses in this way would deliver improvements in public safety that would be proportionate to the significant increases in regulatory burdens that this would entail. Instead, the Government has asked the Security Industry Authority, which regulates the private security industry, to consider how its voluntary Approved Contractor Scheme can help to further drive quality standards in security provision.

Separately, the National Counter Terrorism Office (NaCTSO) are looking to develop a voluntary Competent Person scheme. The Competent Person Scheme will involve a Competent Person in the Workplace qualification and the Counter Terrorism Security Specialist Register. This register will recognise existing skills and qualifications within the sector, whilst also providing reassurances to businesses that a counter terrorism specialist has the necessary skills to appropriately advise on risk and suitable mitigation measures.