Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many violent attacks on staff working in retail premises there were in each year since 2015.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government recognises the damaging impact that violence and abuse can have, not only for victims, but also for businesses, and the wider community. We continue to work closely with retailers, the police and others to tackle these crimes.
Some information is available on the number of assaults and threats made against staff in the Wholesale and retail sector working in premises in England and Wales from the Home Office Commercial Victimisation. Annual estimates are available for each year since 2012 and are published in the ‘Crime against businesses’ tables which can be found here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/703372/crime-against-businesses-comparison-2017-tables.ods
On 5 April, the Government launched a Call for Evidence on violence and abuse toward shop staff, to further understand the scale of the issue and in-form our response.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many warrants have been issued under the European Arrest Warrant for prosecution in Northern Ireland by member state of origin in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Home Office does not hold the information requested.
However, statistics on the European Arrest Warrant are published by the National Crime Agency each year. These figures include a breakdown of the numbers of requests made by the UK.
These figures are published at: http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/european-arrest-warrant-statistics
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to ensure all trafficked, separated and unaccompanied children have an independent guardian to help them access their rights.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Independent Child Trafficking Advocates (ICTAs) are an independent source of advice for trafficked children and somebody who can speak up on their behalf.
We have successfully rolled out ICTAs to one third of all local authorities in England and Wales, in line with the commitment we made in July last year. Where the service is available, all children that are potential victims of trafficking are eligible for support.
The Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act led by Frank Field, Baroness Butler-Sloss and Maria Miller has recently considered Section 48 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, which makes provisions for ICTAs. The Review’s interim reports can be found
The Government is currently carefully considering the recommendations for ICTAs, and we remain committed to rolling ICTAs out nationally
Unaccompanied children are looked after by the relevant local authority and are entitled to the same services as any other looked after child. Under these arrangements, unaccompanied children will have a professional social worker and an independent reviewing officer to oversee their care arrangements. All unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in England are referred to the Refugee Council’s Children’s Panel and they are also entitled to legal assistance in pursuing their asylum claim. The Government believes that these arrangements ensure unaccompanied children are provided with the independent support and advice that they need.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what preparations have been made to enhance passport checking systems at each of Northern Ireland's airports.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Border Security is and will remain a departmental priority.
Border Force conducts 100% checks on people entering the UK on sched-uled services, together with risked-based intelligence-led interventions at smaller ports and airfields.
All passengers arriving in the UK at passport control are checked against police, security and immigration watch lists on arrival at the border. The majority of these are checked against our systems before they even travel, through the collection of advanced passenger information (API). API helps protect the UK against terrorist attacks, serious cross-border crime and abuses of the immigration system.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the extent to which mental health issues are present in domestic abuse cases reported to the police in England and Wales.
Answered by Nick Hurd
This Government is committed to transforming the response to domestic abuse. On 21 January, we published a landmark draft Domestic Abuse Bill alongside a wide-ranging package of measures to protect and support victims. We know that domestic abuse can have a severe and lasting impact on mental health, and we would expect police officers to identify this in their initial risk assessment. The College of Policing has designed a revised risk assessment tool for frontline officers to record a clear picture of the nature and intensity of the abuse and asks officers to consider why they have assigned the level of risk and consider aggravating factors (such as mental health). This tool is being introduced across further police forces, following its successful piloting in Sussex Police, West Midlands Police and Humberside Police.
The latest inspection by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Crime, Fires and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has found considerable improvements in the overall police response to victims of domestic abuse since the publication of the first thematic report in 2014.
A training programme has been developed by the College of Policing with the support of SafeLives. Its aim is to enhance the skills, knowledge and effectiveness of first responders in dealing with domestic abuse, and the programme is called Domestic Abuse Matters. An evaluation by the College of Policing has shown a positive impact on officers’ knowledge and attitude following the training.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the level of absenteeism has been for the police in each year since 2015.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of police officers on long-term absence as at 31st March each year. Long-term absence includes officers on leave for 28 days or more.
These data are available in the Absence Open Data tables published alongside the annual ‘Police workforce’ statistical bulletin, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-workforce-open-data-tables
The Home Office also collects information on the number of police officers on short/medium term sick absence as at 31st March each year. Short/medium term absence due to sickness includes officers on leave for 28 days or less.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many officers are currently subject to (a) temporary and (b) permanent duty restrictions in each police force in England.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Home Office collects and publishes statistics on the number of police officers on restricted/adjusted and recuperative duties on an annual basis. These data are published in the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletins.
Data on the number of police officers on restricted/adjusted and recuperative duties, in England and Wales, by Police Force Area, as at 31 March, can be found in table W3 of the data tables published alongside the release: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/728153/police-workforce-tabs-jul18.ods
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the UK’s future skills-based immigration system White Paper, published in December 2018, Cm. 9722, whether the time-limited transitional measure for low skilled labour will permit successful migrant workers to travel between regions and countries of the UK for the period of their stay where the nature of their work demands it.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The transitional route will be open to workers from low risk countries at all skill levels and there will be no restrictions on migrants wishing to travel within the UK.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how private, public and voluntary sector employers in each constituent part of the UK will be consulted as part of the programme of engagement with sectors as pledged in the December 2018 white paper entitled The UK's Future Skills-Based Immigration System.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Government is committed to ensuring that a wide range of stakeholders across the UK, particularly businesses, have an opportunity to contribute their views on the future immigration system for EU and non-EU citizens alike. We are engaging in all regions and nations of the UK through regional and sector focussed events.
We are establishing advisory groups that will have detailed discussions with private, public and voluntary sector employers and industry representatives as the policy and system is developed. Engagement will include roundtable discussions with private, public and voluntary sector employers and industry representatives.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effect on public safety of the decision to release Abu Bakar Bashir from prison.
Answered by Ben Wallace
It is government practice not to comment on individual threat assessments. We are committed to working with our international partners, including the Indonesian Government, to tackle the threat from terrorism. HMG’s assessment of the risks to British nationals traveling overseas including the threat from terrorism is reflected in our Foreign Office Travel Advice.