Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of efforts to reduce the numbers of illegal border crossings into the UK.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office’s priority is to deliver a safe and secure border and we will never compromise on this. We are relentless in our pursuit of those who seek to enter the UK illegally. Border Force have robust measures in place to detect clandestine entrants into the UK and stand ready to respond to any methods deployed.
Border Force, Immigration Enforcement and other law enforcement agencies work tirelessly, deploying to risk using tested, but continually assessed, intelligence and targeting techniques.
The Home Office publish irregular migration to the UK statistics on the GOV.UK website: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/irregular-migration-to-the-uk-year-ending-december-2023. In 2023, there were 36,704 irregular arrivals, one-third (33%) fewer than in 2022, and 80% of these arrived on small boats.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) asylum seekers, and (2) other migrants are being housed in hotel-style accommodation; and how much financial support they are providing in support of these arrangements.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation (including in contingency hotels and other contingency accommodation) is published in table Asy_D11 here: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Data on other immigration groups is published in table Reg_01 of the Regional and local authority data. This includes the number of people accommodated in interim accommodation as part of the Afghan Resettlement Programme.
The standard weekly allowance is £49.18 for each supported asylum seeker in self-catered accommodation and £8.86 for each supported asylum seeker in catered accommodation. Further information on what support asylum seekers receive can be found in the attached link: https://www.gov.uk/asylum-support/what-youll-get.
Individuals on our resettlement schemes with Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in the UK have access to mainstream benefits and services to enable their integration; and we are working across Government to ensure these services meet the needs of refugees.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to enhance UK border security and immigration enforcement.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office’s priority is to deliver a safe and secure border and we will never compromise on this. Border Force maintain 100% checks for all scheduled arriving passengers into the UK and this will be continued during any period.
Border Force deploys to risk using tested, but continually assessed, intelligence and targeting techniques. Border Force does not publish information on operational activities. Doing so would publicise operational practices which would be used to assist in the evasion of customs controls and compromise border security.
Immigration Enforcement is taking robust action to tackle illegal migration through:
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum seekers who have claimed to be victims of torture have been detained at immigration centres.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We are unable to provide the information requested, as it can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of people who have entered the UK illegally via Northern Ireland’s border with the Republic of Ireland during the last 12 months.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
To maintain the highest standards of accuracy, the Home Office prefers to refer to published data, as this has been subject to rigorous quality assurance under National Statistics protocols prior to publication.
Information about illegal entry to the UK is not currently available in our published data.
Our published data is available at the following link: Immigration system statistics, year ending September 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the support available to victims of Northern Ireland-related acts of terrorism in mainland Great Britain.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This Government is determined to make sure that victims of terrorism receive the support they deserve. Victims of terrorism in Great Britain are provided with practical and emotional support from specialist service providers, enabling them to cope with the immediate impact of a terrorist attack and to recover from the longer-term consequences. Further details on the range of support available can be found at https://victimsofterrorism.campaign.gov.uk/
The Victims and Survivors Service (VSS) in Northern Ireland, in collaboration with community-based partner organisations, provides a broad range of support and services to victims of the Troubles. Some of this support, which includes heath, wellbeing, and advocacy services, is available to victims in Great Britain. The South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF) provide access to fully qualified counsellors, complementary therapies, and other health and wellbeing services. Further information can be found on their website: https://seff.org.uk/gb-project
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they are implementing to reduce the risk of terrorist attacks in the UK.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
CONTEST is the UK’s comprehensive counter terrorism strategy, and it’s overarching aim is to reduce the risk to the UK and its citizens and interests overseas from terrorism, so that our people can go about their lives freely and with confidence. As announced in October 2022, CONTEST is being updated to protect the public from new and emerging threats and will be published later this year.
Since CONTEST was last published in June 2018, we have delivered a number of measures to reduce the risk of terrorist attacks. We have established the Counter-Terrorism Operations Centre, pulling together expertise and resource across police, intelligence agencies and the criminal justice system in order to better identify and tackle emerging threats. The Multi-Agency Centre works in partnership to better understand the national security risk posed by individuals who are or have been subject to national security investigations, bringing together existing expertise within the counter-terrorism community and working in partnership with experts in offender management, social care and safeguarding.
The Home Office is in the process of setting up an assurance programme to oversee delivery of accepted recommendations from the Manchester Arena Inquiry. We are committed to implementing the recommendations of The Independent Review of Prevent swiftly, with the majority within one year of publication. This will pave the way for a more transparent, efficient, and sustainable Prevent programme.
We have also strengthened our legislation; The Counter Terrorism and Border Security Act received Royal Assent in 2019 to ensure the police, Security Services, prosecutors, and the judiciary have the powers they need to tackle the evolving threat posed to the UK by terrorism. Martyn’s Law, which is currently is undergoing pre-legislative scrutiny, will keep people safe by introducing proportionate new security requirements for certain public venues to ensure preparedness for, and protection from, terrorist attacks. The Online Safety Bill, which will make tech companies will be accountable to an independent regulator to keep their users safe is currently progressing through the House of Lords.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to provide an automatic right to a British passport for those born in the Republic of Ireland but who are UK (1) residents, (2) voters, and (3) taxpayers in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
British citizenship is acquired automatically by those with a close and continuing connection with the UK, such as through birth here, or by descent. Many Irish nationals with a historical connection with the UK may already have British nationality and would be eligible for a British passport.
Irish nationals living in the UK who were born in the Republic of Ireland after 1 January 1949, and are not otherwise British, must apply to naturalise, based on a period of residence in the UK, should they wish to become British citizens. In this respect Irish nationals are not treated any differently to other foreign nationals.
We have no plans to change this.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their position on the granting of pre-charge bail to terror suspects.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Individuals suspected of terrorism-related offences can be arrested under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) or the Terrorism Act 2000 (TACT). Those arrested under TACT cannot be released on police bail, while those arrested under PACE must be bailed once the grounds for detention no longer apply.
In the year to December 2021, of the 186 people arrested in Great Britain for terrorism-related activity, 32 people (17%) were arrested under section 41 TACT 2000 while 154 people (83%) were arrested under other legislation including PACE 1984.
The Government considers that the current legislative framework provides an important flexibility, allowing the police to make an operational judgement on the circumstances of each case, and allowing them to decide whether or not to arrest under PACE or TACT.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many full-time police officers there were in each police force area in England and Wales in 2019.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office collects and publishes data on the size and composition of the police workforce in England and Wales on a biannual basis in the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, available here: Police workforce England and Wales statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The latest officer numbers were released in the publication covering the situation as at 30 September 2020. Data covering the situation as at 31 March 2020 and previous years are available in open data format here: Police workforce open data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The number of police officers (full time-equivalent, FTE) in the 43 territorial England and Wales forces as at 30 September 2019 is provided in the table below.
Police Officers, England and Wales | |
Force | FTE |
Avon & Somerset | 2,691 |
Bedfordshire | 1,191 |
Cambridgeshire | 1,490 |
Cheshire | 2,010 |
Cleveland | 1,226 |
Cumbria | 1,174 |
Derbyshire | 1,800 |
Devon & Cornwall | 2,999 |
Dorset | 1,229 |
Durham | 1,125 |
Dyfed-Powys | 1,141 |
Essex | 3,187 |
Gloucestershire | 1,119 |
Greater Manchester | 6,539 |
Gwent | 1,294 |
Hampshire | 2,666 |
Hertfordshire | 2,030 |
Humberside | 1,901 |
Kent | 3,548 |
Lancashire | 2,898 |
Leicestershire | 1,803 |
Lincolnshire | 1,076 |
London, City of | 753 |
Merseyside | 3,588 |
Metropolitan Police | 30,940 |
Norfolk | 1,644 |
North Wales | 1,505 |
North Yorkshire | 1,433 |
Northamptonshire | 1,255 |
Northumbria | 3,084 |
Nottinghamshire | 1,925 |
South Wales | 2,995 |
South Yorkshire | 2,394 |
Staffordshire | 1,579 |
Suffolk | 1,180 |
Surrey | 1,899 |
Sussex | 2,647 |
Thames Valley | 4,206 |
Warwickshire | 945 |
West Mercia | 2,129 |
West Midlands | 6,405 |
West Yorkshire | 5,168 |
Wiltshire | 975 |
Total | 124,784 |
While the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin remains the key measure of the size of the police workforce, as part of the Police Officer Uplift Programme, the Home Office also publishes a quarterly update on the number of officers (headcount) in England and Wales. Data are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-officer-uplift-statistics