Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what was the cost to the public purse was of Operation Conifer; and what lessons have been learnt as a result of that operation.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Home Office does not hold information on the total cost of Operation Conifer, as this is an operational matter for Wiltshire Police. However, in December 2017 the department provided £1.1 million of Special Grant funding towards the overall cost of the operation.
Lessons were learnt from the various forms of scrutiny the operation was subject to, including an Independent Scrutiny Panel, two reviews by Operation Hydrant and a review by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (as it was then). The findings of the operation were then published in the Summary Closure Report, which can be found at: https://www.wiltshire.police.uk/media/582/Op-Conifer-Summary-Closure-Report/pdf/Op_Conifer_Summary_Closure_Report.pdf
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will commission a review of Operation Conifer.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Government has given careful consideration to a review of Operation Conifer but has concluded that there are no grounds to justify review or intervention by Government.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will bring forward legislative proposals for the establishment of a national identity card scheme.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
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.
We have not seen any evidence that countries with physical identity cards, including most of Europe, offer greater protection against terrorism, greater control at the border or greater protection from fraud.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to review the number of Tier 2 visas issued; and what representations she has received on increasing the number of Tier 2 visas issued.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
We continue to monitor the operation of Tier 2, our main immigration route for non-EEA workers, to ensure that it strikes the right balance between supporting businesses access the talent from overseas with our commitment to reducing net migration and protecting the domestic labour market.
The Home Office receives a high volume of representations on a variety of subjects relating to immigration on a daily basis. It is not possible to provide a running count of the number of representations on a particular topic.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will bring forward proposals to encourage the police to recruit ex-servicemen and women to provide armed protection at fixed sites.
Answered by Nick Hurd
Chief officers are responsible for recruitment and for determining the number of armed officers required in their areas. This is based on a thorough assessment of threat and risk, and capability is kept under constant review by the National Armed Policing Lead and the National Police Coordination Centre.