Asked by: Lord Stone of Blackheath (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 26 September (HL10323), in view of the current backlog of asylum cases, what plans they have to allow asylum seekers to work if their claim has been outstanding for nine months or more, as opposed to 12 months or more.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
Whilst we keep all policies under review, there are no plans to change the existing policy, which allows asylum seekers with pending claims to work after 12 months, restricted to jobs on the Shortage Occupation List. Our policy position distinguishes between those who need protection and those seeking to work here who should instead apply for a work visa under the Immigration Rules. Individuals in need of protection should not make perilous journeys in order to seek employment in the United Kingdom, instead they should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach.
There are also various legal routes for those seeking to work in the UK under the Points-Based System. These routes include Skilled Worker, Global Talent, and Health and Care routes, which are supporting UK businesses to recruit workers with the skills and talent they need from around the world.
Asked by: Lord Stone of Blackheath (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for allowing asylum seekers to work and cover the cost of their own living expenses.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
There are no plans to change the existing policy, which allows asylum seekers to work if their claim has been outstanding for 12 months or more, through no fault of their own. It is important that our approach distinguishes between those who need protection and those seeking to work here who should apply for a work visa under the Immigration Rules. Asylum seekers do not need to make perilous journeys in order to seek employment in the United Kingdom, and we are concerned such a change could be a further pull factor.
The Home Office has a legal obligation, as set out in the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, to support asylum seekers (including any dependants) who would otherwise be destitute. This may include the provision of accommodation and/or subsistence support.
The level of the allowance given to those supported under 1999 Act is reviewed each year to ensure it covers asylum seekers’ essential living needs.
Asked by: Lord Stone of Blackheath (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 25 June (HL16054), whether they will now answer the question put, namely what assessment they have made of the impact of the ban on direct flights to Sharm el-Sheikh on the current UK terrorist threat level; and whether they will reconsider this ban if it is found to have increased the threat level.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
I refer the noble Lord to my previous response.
The threat level to the UK from international terrorism is kept under constant review by the independent Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, whose judgements about the threat level are made on the basis of the very latest reporting and intelligence. This can change at any time as different information becomes available.
The current threat level from international terrorism is judged to be SEVERE, meaning an attack is highly likely.
Asked by: Lord Stone of Blackheath (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 24 May (HL15688), whether they will now answer the question put, namely what assessment they have made of the impact of the ban on direct flights to Sharm el-Sheikh on the current UK terrorist threat level.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
I refer the noble Lord to my previous response.
The threat level to the UK from international terrorism is kept under constant review by the independent Joint Terrorist Analysis Centre, whose judgements about the threat level are made on the basis of the very latest reporting and intelligence. This can change at any time as different information becomes available.
The current threat level from international terrorism is judged to be SEVERE, meaning an attack is highly likely.
Asked by: Lord Stone of Blackheath (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 3 April (HL14709), what assessment they have made of the impact of the ban on direct flights to Sharm el-Sheikh on the current UK terrorist threat level.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
As indicated prior, the threat level to the UK from international terrorism is kept under constant review by the independent Joint Terrorist Analysis Centre, whose judgements about the threat level are made on the basis of the very latest reporting and intelligence. This can change at any time as different information becomes available.
The current threat level from international terrorism is judged to be SEVERE, meaning an attack is highly likely.
Asked by: Lord Stone of Blackheath (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have of the likelihood of a terror attack in the UK as a result of tensions resulting from their ban on direct flights to Sharm el-Sheikh.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The terrorist threat level to the UK is kept under constant review by the independent Joint Terrorist Analysis Centre, whose judgements about the threat level are made on the basis of the very latest intelligence. The current threat level from international terrorism is judged to be SEVERE, meaning an attack is highly likely.
Asked by: Lord Stone of Blackheath (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 7 October (HL1909), what success the police have had in identifying perpetrators of phishing emails; and what success the Action Fraud reporting has had in identifying and convicting the perpetrators of those crimes.
Answered by Lord Bates
The National Crime Agency (NCA) is working to disrupt the use of phishing by serious and organised cyber criminals. A recent operation, delivered in collaboration with the Metropolitan Police, resulted in the conviction of three offenders for a total of 21 years in prison for conspiracy to defraud and other fraud related offences. The NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit provides support to regional and local policing teams’ investigations into phishing, where appropriate.
Action Fraud is the UK’s central reporting service for fraud and financially motivated cyber crime: it is not an investigative service. All reports of fraud are made to Action Fraud rather than local police forces, and are then analysed by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau. Both are run by the City of London Police, the national lead force for fraud.
Reports received by Action Fraud are evaluated to assess the information available which could assist an investigation, and to identify links between seemingly unconnected incidents. Where there is enough evidence available and a viable lead, actionable intelligence packages are created and sent to the appropriate police force to consider whether enforcement activity should take place. It is then for the local force to respond.
The Government also funds the Cyber Streetwise campaign, which encourages the public and Small and Medium Enterprises to adopt safer online behaviour. The second phase of the campaign was launched earlier this month, including a refreshed website with further advice and support on adopting sensible online behaviours.
Asked by: Lord Stone of Blackheath (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 14 October (HL1908), how many arrests and convictions of criminals who have extracted money from victims in phishing scams have taken place in the last 12 months.
Answered by Lord Bates
The data requested is not available.
Centrally held data on arrests and convictions for fraud held by the Home Office and Ministry of Justice respectively cannot separately identify whether they were a result of phishing scams.
Asked by: Lord Stone of Blackheath (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the total number of phishing emails requesting a transfer of funds received by United Kingdom citizens each year.
Answered by Lord Bates
It is not possible to give an exact figure for the total number of phishing emails received by United Kingdom citizens each year. Published data from the Oxford Internet Institute estimates that 19 per cent of internet users experienced phishing attempts in 2013, down from 22 per cent in 2011. Phishing attempts, whether successful or not, can be reported to the Action Fraud reporting centre, run by the City of London Police, which is the UK’s central point for reporting fraud and financially-motivated cyber crime.
The cyber security threat was recognised by the Government as a Tier One threat to national security. In response, we are investing £860 million over five years through the National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP) to improve our ability to understand and tackle this threat. Around 10% of NCSP funding has been used to improve capabilities of the police to investigate cyber crime, including creating the National Cyber Crime Unit in the National Crime Agency, and setting up dedicated cyber teams in each of the Regional Organised Crime Units in England and Wales. We have also launched an awareness campaign, known as Cyber StreetWise, to encourage individuals and businesses to adopt sensible online behaviours so they can avoid the dangers of scams such as phishing. The details can be viewed at www.cyberstreetwise.com.
Asked by: Lord Stone of Blackheath (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking (1) to protect the public against phishing emails requesting a transfer of funds and (2) to identify the perpetrators; and what assessment they have made of the success of those steps.
Answered by Lord Bates
The need to tackle cyber crime was identified as a key objective of the Government’s Cyber Security Strategy, which is underpinned by £860 million of funding over five years through the National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP).
We have invested around 10% of this in improving the capabilities of law enforcement to respond to cyber crime. The National Cyber Crime Unit in the National Crime Agency has undertaken high profile operations in the last few months to tackle some of the most serious cases of malware, responsible for infecting computers and stealing banking and other information. This work was undertaken in conjunction with our international partners, to tackle those cyber criminals operating internationally.
We are also working to support the public and industry in better protecting themselves from this type of criminality. The NCSP funds the Cyber Streetwise awareness campaign, which encourages the public and Small and Medium Enterprises to adopt safer online behaviour.
The second phase of the campaign will launch shortly, including a refreshed website with further advice and support. In December last year, the Government also published a set of Guiding Principles with Internet Service Providers which agreed minimum standards for supporting their customers to stay safe online.
The Government also funds Action Fraud, the central reporting point for fraud and financially-motivated cyber crime. This service also provides information on the latest fraud threats, including phishing emails, and individuals can sign up to be alerted when new threats emerge.