Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what impact assessments they conducted when the hostile environment policy for illegal immigrants was adopted.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The term 'hostile environment' was first coined by Alan Johnson when he was Home Secretary. The current Home Secretary has made it clear that he will no longer be using this term.
Successive Governments have brought forward measures to prevent illegal immigration and the misuse of public services and benefits. Impact assessments on the Immigration Acts 2014 and 2016 were published during the passage of the legislation, and key compliant environment measures on immigration checks by employers and landlords have been the subject of public consultations.
Many checks, such as right to rent and right to work, are applicable to everyone in the UK on a non-discriminatory basis. Checks are often conducted independently of the Home Office and so it is not possible for the Government to accurately estimate the number of individuals who have been impacted by these measures.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what internal guidance, if any, was issued by Departments to give effect to the policy of creating a hostile environment for illegal migrants in the United Kingdom; and what evidence formed the basis of that policy.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The term ‘hostile environment was first coined by Alan Johnson when he was Home Secretary. The current Home Secretary has made it clear that he will no longer be using this term.The Compliant Environment is not a new concept; successive Governments have brought forward policies to prevent the misuse of public services and benefits.
In developing Compliant Environment measures, we have worked in collaboration with other government departments and delivery partners. Guidance underpinning these policies has been issued, including for employers and landlords, and published on https://www.gov.uk/
We conduct impact assessments to fully consider policy objectives, intended effects and the Government’s intervention reasoning. Impact assessments were published for both the 2014 and 2016 Immigration Acts. They can be found at: the following links and attached for reference:
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of children of the Windrush generation that might face the threat of deportation to the West Indies.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Since 1973 many of the Windrush generation would have obtained documentation confirming their status or would have applied for citizenship and then a British passport.
The former Home Secretary has put additional safeguards in place to ensure that no-one from the Windrush Generation will be subject to enforcement action, regardless of whether they have documentation or not.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many checks by private landlords have been carried out on private tenants under the terms of the Housing and Planning Act 2016; and how many of those checks have led to immigration enforcement action being taken by the immigration authorities.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
This question references the Housing and Planning Act. Right to rent checks were introduced in the 2014 Immigration Act and strengthened in the 2016 Act and the answer has been framed with that in mind.
The information requested is not held centrally. Landlords and letting agents undertake these checks independently and are not expected to notify the Home Office when they are completed.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance they provide to private landlords completing checks on potential tenants under the terms of the Housing and Planning Act 2016; and what measures are in place to ensure that landlord checks are not used to harass tenants.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Landlords and letting agents undertake right to rent checks in accordance with the 2014 Immigration Act. These are conducted independently of the Home Office.
Guidance for landlords is available as:
https://www.gov.uk/landlord-immigration-check
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-bill-part-3-access-to-services
The codes of practice provides practical guidance on how landlords can
comply with their obligations under the scheme whilst avoiding unlawful
discrimination.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many unaccompanied minors seeking asylum have been successfully transferred to the UK in each month since the introduction of Dublin III in January 2013, and from which countries those transfers were made.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Data on cases progressed under the Dublin III Regulation is recorded on the main immigration database. However, this data is not held in a way that allows it to be reported on automatically and is therefore not currently available.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many disability hate crimes have been reported in the United Kingdom in each year since 2010; and how many of those have been successfully prosecuted, broken down by the year of reporting.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Home Office has collected information on the number of disability hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales since 2011/12. In 2011/2012, the number recorded was 1,757, with 1,843 in 2012/13 and 1,985 in 2013/14. The Home Office does not collect prosecutions data.
Further information on hate crimes can be found at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hate-crimes-england-and-wales-2013-to-2014
(1) The College of Policing (as the professional body for policing) issues Authorised Professional Practice or ‘APP’. This is the official source of professional practice on policing and police officers and staff are expected to have regard to APP in discharging their responsibilities. Disability hate crime training is referenced throughout a number of APP issued by the College, including investigations and public order. In May 2014, the College also published specific Hate Crime Operational Guidance.
(2) CPS have created a training support package focused on disability hate crime and reflecting refreshed legal guidance on disability hate crime. This was piloted on 17 July and is currently being rolled out to all CPS Areas. The aim of the training is to provide prosecutors in CPS Areas with guidance on the key elements of prosecuting disability hate crime, resulting in greater confidence in handling cases and improved prosecution performance. The training has been mandated for all Area prosecutors and will be concluded by the end of the calendar year.
The Government is currently speaking to a number of organisations and individuals to inform the next steps in our strategy to both raise awareness and encourage reporting of disability hate crime. This includes work with the Fulfilling Potential Forum, which is led by the Office for Disability Issues within DWP and is made up of around 40 disability charities, including disabled people’s user led organisations.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to (1) raise awareness of disability hate crimes, and (2) encourage the reporting of disability hate crimes, in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Home Office has collected information on the number of disability hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales since 2011/12. In 2011/2012, the number recorded was 1,757, with 1,843 in 2012/13 and 1,985 in 2013/14. The Home Office does not collect prosecutions data.
Further information on hate crimes can be found at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hate-crimes-england-and-wales-2013-to-2014
(1) The College of Policing (as the professional body for policing) issues Authorised Professional Practice or ‘APP’. This is the official source of professional practice on policing and police officers and staff are expected to have regard to APP in discharging their responsibilities. Disability hate crime training is referenced throughout a number of APP issued by the College, including investigations and public order. In May 2014, the College also published specific Hate Crime Operational Guidance.
(2) CPS have created a training support package focused on disability hate crime and reflecting refreshed legal guidance on disability hate crime. This was piloted on 17 July and is currently being rolled out to all CPS Areas. The aim of the training is to provide prosecutors in CPS Areas with guidance on the key elements of prosecuting disability hate crime, resulting in greater confidence in handling cases and improved prosecution performance. The training has been mandated for all Area prosecutors and will be concluded by the end of the calendar year.
The Government is currently speaking to a number of organisations and individuals to inform the next steps in our strategy to both raise awareness and encourage reporting of disability hate crime. This includes work with the Fulfilling Potential Forum, which is led by the Office for Disability Issues within DWP and is made up of around 40 disability charities, including disabled people’s user led organisations.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what training programmes regarding disability hate crime are available to (1) United Kingdom police forces, and (2) Crown Prosecution Service staff.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Home Office has collected information on the number of disability hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales since 2011/12. In 2011/2012, the number recorded was 1,757, with 1,843 in 2012/13 and 1,985 in 2013/14. The Home Office does not collect prosecutions data.
Further information on hate crimes can be found at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hate-crimes-england-and-wales-2013-to-2014
(1) The College of Policing (as the professional body for policing) issues Authorised Professional Practice or ‘APP’. This is the official source of professional practice on policing and police officers and staff are expected to have regard to APP in discharging their responsibilities. Disability hate crime training is referenced throughout a number of APP issued by the College, including investigations and public order. In May 2014, the College also published specific Hate Crime Operational Guidance.
(2) CPS have created a training support package focused on disability hate crime and reflecting refreshed legal guidance on disability hate crime. This was piloted on 17 July and is currently being rolled out to all CPS Areas. The aim of the training is to provide prosecutors in CPS Areas with guidance on the key elements of prosecuting disability hate crime, resulting in greater confidence in handling cases and improved prosecution performance. The training has been mandated for all Area prosecutors and will be concluded by the end of the calendar year.
The Government is currently speaking to a number of organisations and individuals to inform the next steps in our strategy to both raise awareness and encourage reporting of disability hate crime. This includes work with the Fulfilling Potential Forum, which is led by the Office for Disability Issues within DWP and is made up of around 40 disability charities, including disabled people’s user led organisations.