Asked by: Lord Marlesford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government at which public points of departure from the UK all departing persons have their passports checked at immigration control; and what percentage of passports are checked at each point of departure.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Exit checks are conducted on all scheduled commercial international air, sea and rail routes. An exit check has two elements:
Exit Checks data improves national security by helping the police and security services track the movements of known or suspected criminals and terrorists, supporting the wider work across government and law enforcement agencies.
Asked by: Lord Marlesford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to prosecute British citizens who have travelled to the Middle East to take part in military operations of the Islamic State; and whether they will do so in cases where those citizens are regarded as posing little or no national security concern.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Where there is evidence that crimes have been committed, British citizens and residents who take part in military operations abroad should expect to be prosecuted under the full range of existing counter terrorism legislation. Decisions on charging are taken independently on a case-by-case basis by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Asked by: Lord Marlesford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 1 March, whether they have the power to set up a judge-led review of the report of the Chief Constable of Wiltshire into the allegations against Sir Edward Heath.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Operation Conifer report is an operational matter for the local police force. It is a vital principle at the heart of British policing that police carry out their duties free of political interference.
It is for the locally elected Police and Crime Commissioner to decide how best to hold his force to account. The Police and Crime Commissioner has the power to commission a review if he considers it appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Marlesford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many individuals are currently subject to exclusion orders from the UK; and whether their names are available online to all immigration officers so that they can be prevented from re-entering the UK.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The last Annual Transparency Report on Disruptive and Investigative Powers published in February 2017, reports the number of individuals excluded between 11 May 2010 and 31 December 2015. These exclusion cases primarily cover national security, unacceptable behaviour (such as extremism), international relations or foreign policy, and serious and organised crime. The transparency report February 2017 is attached for reference.
Additional exclusions from the UK are made following convictions for broader categories of criminality, these statistics are not currently published and cannot be provided without a manual check of individual records which could only be done at disproportionate cost.
The next Annual Transparency Report, covering data for 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2017, is due for publication in Spring 2018.
All exclusion orders are recorded on a UK watch list which is available to immigration officers.
Asked by: Lord Marlesford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why the Portuguese citizen, Marcos Amaral Gourgel, who died in Westminster Underground station on 14 February and who had been deported from the UK after his release from serving a custodial sentence for child sex offences, was able on two occasions to re-enter the UK.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
We do not routinely comment on individual cases.
We conduct border security checks on all passengers arriving in the UK at passport control. Where we are aware of individuals who pose a risk, Border Force officers can - and do - refuse them entry.
Asked by: Lord Marlesford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many British citizens who travelled to the Middle East to join the armed forces of the Islamic State are known to have returned to the UK; and how many of those are currently held in custody in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Approximately 400 UK-linked individuals of security concern have returned from the conflict in Syria. While it would not be appropriate to provide a breakdown of the investigation status of returners, a significant proportion of the individuals who have already returned have been assessed as posing little or no national security concern.
The Home Office Statistical Bulletin publishes data about convictions quarterly but does not distinguish those which relate to Syria and Daesh. People who are investigated and charged with offences relating to the conflict in Syria and Iraq are prosecuted in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.
Although official figures do not show how many were Syria or Daesh related, of the 97 persons charged with a terrorism-related offence in the year ending September 2017, 30 had been prosecuted (as at the time of data provision to the Home Office, 6 November 2017), 30 of which were found guilty. A further 65 were awaiting prosecution.
Asked by: Lord Marlesford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they routinely inform the government of the Republic of Ireland of the details of all persons who have been deported from the UK or who are subject to exclusion orders from the UK.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Common Travel Area (CTA) is a special border-free zone encompassing the UK, Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. To protect this arrangement there is a high level of collaboration between the UK and Ireland to strengthen the external border of the CTA.
A joint programme of work includes the sharing and use of data to inform immigration and border security decisions, as well as the sharing of information to increase understanding of respective border arrangements.
To protect the UK’s border operations and CTA arrangements, the UK does not provide detailed information on the data shared with Ireland to help protect the CTA.
Asked by: Lord Marlesford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will consider the cost and method of introducing a secure national identity number, with electronic links to a centrally held register of biometric data, for all UK citizens.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
In 2010 the Coalition Government decided to scrap the National Identity Register which would have used a National Identity Number to link individuals to a range of data items, including biometric data, that would have been collected and stored in a central database. This decision was taken because the National Identity Register was both expensive and represented a substantial erosion of civil liberties and this Government is not planning to revisit that decision.
Asked by: Lord Marlesford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have estimated the cost to public funds, and the impact on the availability of medical care, housing and education, of passing the Refugee (Family Reunion) Bill.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Annex 6 of the Impact Assessment for the Immigration and Nationality (Fees) Order 2016 gives an estimate of the cost to the public purse of different migrant categories.
Table 14: Estimate of the typical public service costs associated with various migrants (2014/15)
| £ per head - Low case | £ per head - Central case | £ per head - High case | |
| All migrants | 5,300 | 7,000 | 8,800 |
| Non-EEA migrants | 5,400 | 7,100 | 8,900 |
| Migrant in last 10 years | 4,500 | 6,300 | 8,100 |
| Migrant in last 5 years | 4,300 | 4,300 | 4,300 |
| Non EEA - Those who came to work; | 5,300 | 7,100 | 8,800 |
| Non EEA - Those who came to study | 4,600 | 6,400 | 8,200 |
| Non EEA - Those who came for family reasons | 5,500 | 7,200 | 9,000 |
| Non EEA - Those who came as a dependant; | 5,400 | 7,100 | 8,900 |
| Non EEA - Those who came to seek asylum. | 5,700 | 7,500 | 9,200 |
Source: HO calculations based upon ONS mid-year population estimates (2014), HM Treasury's Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (PESA), (2015:Table 5.2), and the Annual Population Survey (Jan-Dec 2013). Rounding: nearest £100
Under our existing family reunion policy, we have granted over 24,000 visas to nuclear family members of refugees in the last five years. We therefore believe that the impact of the Bill would increase the costs to the public purse significantly because it would widen the definition of a family member of a refugee and enable a large number of extended family members to qualify to come to the UK and have access to public services. The Government’s priority is to provide international protection to people who need it and extending the scope of family reunion to extended family members who may themselves not need international protection would not achieve that.
Asked by: Lord Marlesford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average cost to public funds in the first year for a person who has been granted refugee status.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Annex 6 of the Impact Assessment for the Immigration and Nationality (Fees) Order 2016 gives an estimate of the cost to the public purse of different migrant categories.
Table 14: Estimate of the typical public service costs associated with various migrants (2014/15)
| £ per head - Low case | £ per head - Central case | £ per head - High case | |
| All migrants | 5,300 | 7,000 | 8,800 |
| Non-EEA migrants | 5,400 | 7,100 | 8,900 |
| Migrant in last 10 years | 4,500 | 6,300 | 8,100 |
| Migrant in last 5 years | 4,300 | 4,300 | 4,300 |
| Non EEA - Those who came to work; | 5,300 | 7,100 | 8,800 |
| Non EEA - Those who came to study | 4,600 | 6,400 | 8,200 |
| Non EEA - Those who came for family reasons | 5,500 | 7,200 | 9,000 |
| Non EEA - Those who came as a dependant; | 5,400 | 7,100 | 8,900 |
| Non EEA - Those who came to seek asylum. | 5,700 | 7,500 | 9,200 |
Source: HO calculations based upon ONS mid-year population estimates (2014), HM Treasury's Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (PESA), (2015:Table 5.2), and the Annual Population Survey (Jan-Dec 2013). Rounding: nearest £100
Under our existing family reunion policy, we have granted over 24,000 visas to nuclear family members of refugees in the last five years. We therefore believe that the impact of the Bill would increase the costs to the public purse significantly because it would widen the definition of a family member of a refugee and enable a large number of extended family members to qualify to come to the UK and have access to public services. The Government’s priority is to provide international protection to people who need it and extending the scope of family reunion to extended family members who may themselves not need international protection would not achieve that.