Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what research they have conducted on the influence of violent media material on the behaviours of young men in large UK cities; and what steps they are taking to monitor and address it.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
In the Serious Violence Strategy, published on 9 April 2018, the Government sets out our analysis of the trends and drivers in serious violence and this includes the role that social media plays. That analysis shows that social media has created an opportunity for rivals to antagonise each other, and for those taunts to be viewed by a much larger audience for a much longer time period. This may lead to cycles of tit-for-tat violence.
We are working with social media companies and law enforcement agencies to take preventative action to address the availability of such violent gang related material available via social media.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what control measures they are considering to monitor and curtail the movements and violent behaviour of some young men in large UK cities; and whether these measures include the introduction of identity cards.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
On 9 April 2018, the Government published a new Serious Violence Strategy to take action to address serious violence and in particular the recent increases in knife crime, gun crime and homicide. The strategy outlines an ambitious programme of over 60 commitments and actions to tackle this issue. It establishes a new balance between prevention and the rigorous law enforcement activity. The strategy will shift our approach towards steering young people away from crime in the first place and put in place measures to tackle the root causes.
In 2010 the then Government decided to scrap the identity card scheme and the associated National Identity Register because it was expensive and represented a substantial erosion of civil liberties. This Government has no plans to revisit that decision.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to extend the distribution network for biometric residence permits.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The Post Office currently provides the distribution service for Biometric Residence Permits (BRP).
There are 199 Post Offices across England, Scotland Wales and N Ireland providing the collection service to overseas Applicants.
There are no plans to expand this service.
For those applicants who apply in country for a BRP the card is delivered using a secure courier service.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their policy regarding the admission of foreign academics to the UK, the provision of evidence in cases where foreign academics are denied entry to the UK, and whether there has been a decline in the numbers of foreign academics visiting the UK.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
This Government recognises the value that foreign academics bring to the country. There are a number of flexible routes that provide for a range of activities that are permitted to be undertaken in the UK.
The Immigration Rules set out the requirements of these routes. Academic visitors must satisfy the decision maker that they are genuine visitors who will leave the UK at the end of their visit, intend to undertake a permitted activity, will not undertake prohibited activities and have sufficient funds to cover the reasonable costs of the visit. Clear guidance is available online that explains the requirements and the evidence that an applicant may wish to provide in support of their application.
Due to the range of activities visitors to the UK can undertake whilst in the UK, the Home Office does not publish statistics of the sub-sets of visitors.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of introducing identity cards as a means of tracking the use of public services, monitoring anti-social and criminal behaviour, and collecting immigration statistics.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Government has no plans to introduce an identity card system for British citizens. We abolished the previous administration's expensive and ineffective identity cards scheme in 2010.
Biometric Residence Permits are issued to non-EEA nationals staying in the UK for more than six months. These provide evidence of the holders' immigration status in the UK. The Government has also introduced a series of robust new measures through the Immigration Act 2014 to prevent those migrants here illegally from accessing a range of public services to which they are not entitled.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to take steps to reduce late night drunkenness and disorderly behaviour in public places by encouraging local and licensing authorities to order the closure of public houses and clubs where clients cause such a disturbance and place demands on public services.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Minister for Crime Prevention wrote to chief executives of local authorities in England and Wales and Police and Crime Commissioners in December about the Government’s recent actions to enable local authorities to address alcohol harms. The Minister encouraged the use of a number of powers including the early morning alcohol restriction order (EMRO) which enables local councils to restrict the sale of alcohol in the early hours and the closure power in the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. This can be used if the local authority or police have reason to believe that the use of premises has, or is likely to, result in nuisance to members of the public or disorder nearby. Licensing authorities also have the power to review a premises licence if they or a responsible authority (which includes the police, health bodies and environmental health authorities) have evidence that a premises' activities undermines one of the four licensing objectives (the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance and the protection of children from harm). The Government also lowered the evidence threshold so that a review of a premises licence can be undertaken where it is 'appropriate' rather than 'necessary' for the promotion of the licensing objectives.