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Written Question
Police: Biometrics
Tuesday 5th December 2023

Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what threshold applies before police can conduct facial recognition searches against (1) the passport database, (2) the EU Settled Status database, or (3) the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency database, in the course of their investigations.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Police forces can currently request facial recognition searches against the passport database on a limited basis in support of the most serious law enforcement investigations.

No facial recognition searches are currently carried out against the EU Settled Status and Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency databases in the course of police investigations to identify people suspected of offences.


Written Question
Police: Biometrics
Tuesday 5th December 2023

Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether police forces can use facial recognition technology to search against photographs from (1) the passport database, (2) the EU Settled Status database, and (3) the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency database, to identify people suspected of offences.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Police forces can currently request facial recognition searches against the passport database on a limited basis in support of the most serious law enforcement investigations.

No facial recognition searches are currently carried out against the EU Settled Status and Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency databases in the course of police investigations to identify people suspected of offences.


Written Question
Asylum
Monday 3rd April 2023

Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what are the legal methods for refugees who are citizens of Somalia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Eritrea, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar or the Democratic Republic of the Congo to apply for asylum in the UK when they are (1) living in the country of their citizenship, (2) living in a safe third country, or (3) living in an unsafe third country.

Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth

Whilst we sympathise with people in many difficult situations around the world, we are not bound to consider asylum claims from the very large numbers of people overseas who might like to come here. Asylum is for people in danger in their home country. Those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach – that is the fastest route to safety.

Between 2015 and December 2022, just under half a million people were offered safe and legal routes into the UK– including those from Hong Kong, Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine as well as family members of refugees.

This includes over 28,200 refugees resettled through the government’s refugee resettlement schemes. Our family reunion policy has also reunited many refugees with their family members; we have issued over 44,659 visas under our refugee family reunion Rules since 2015. The UK is one of the largest recipients of UNHCR referred refugees globally, second only to Sweden in Europe since 2015.

The UK continues to welcome refugees and people in need through existing resettlement schemes which include the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), Community Sponsorship, the Mandate Resettlement Scheme and the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS).

Further information on existing safe and legal routes is available below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-and-borders-bill-safe-and-legal-routes-factsheet/nationality-and-borders-bill-factsheet-safe-and-legal-routes.


Written Question
Asylum
Monday 27th March 2023

Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what are the legal routes to the UK for citizens of Somalia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Eritrea, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar or the Democratic Republic of the Congo who are applying for asylum.

Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth

The UK does not accept asylum claims from abroad. Whilst we sympathise with people in many difficult situations around the world, we are not bound to consider asylum claims from the very large numbers of people overseas who might like to come here. Those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach which is the fastest route to safety, in line with the 1951 UN Convention.

Our resettlement schemes have provided safe and legal routes for tens of thousands of people including global schemes to start new lives in the UK. The UK welcomes people from all over the world through the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), Mandate Resettlement Scheme, Community Sponsorship as well as country specific routes such as Afghan Citizens’ Resettlement Scheme as well as Ukraine and BNO schemes. This commitment, alongside a fair and firm asylum system, will ensure we continue to offer safe and legal routes to the UK for those in need of protection.

There are additional global safe and legal routes for people to come to the UK should they wish to join family members here, work or study. They would need to meet the requirements of the relevant Immigration Rule under which they were applying to qualify for a visa. Details about the criteria and how to apply are available on GOV.UK at: http://www.gov.uk/apply-uk-visa.


Speech in Lords Chamber - Mon 04 Apr 2022
Live Facial Recognition: Police Guidance

Speech Link

View all Lord Strasburger (LD - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Live Facial Recognition: Police Guidance

Speech in Lords Chamber - Mon 15 Mar 2021
Domestic Abuse Bill

Speech Link

View all Lord Strasburger (LD - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Domestic Abuse Bill

Speech in Lords Chamber - Wed 10 Feb 2021
Domestic Abuse Bill

Speech Link

View all Lord Strasburger (LD - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Domestic Abuse Bill

Speech in Lords Chamber - Tue 05 Jan 2021
Domestic Abuse Bill

Speech Link

View all Lord Strasburger (LD - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Domestic Abuse Bill

Written Question
Offences against Children: Internet
Wednesday 28th October 2020

Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what support and funding, if any, they are providing to (1) the Internet Watch Foundation, and (2) other organisations, working to prevent online sexual abuse; and when they plan to make any decisions about the future funding of the Internet Watch Foundation.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

Nothing is more important than the safety of our children. The UK Government is committed to stamping out all forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse and continuing to be a global leader in tackling this threat.

The IWF acts as the UK’s ‘hotline’ for online criminal content, including indecent images of children (IIOC), to which both members of the public and internet industry can report web pages containing such images. The IWF is funded by the UK internet industry, and also receives funding from the European Union. Officials regularly engage with the IWF, including on its funding position following the UK’s exit from the EU. The Home Office supports the IWF’s connection to the Child Abuse Image Database (CAID).

We support a range of organisations such as the Lucy Faithfull Foundation whose Stop It Now! campaign, signposting people concerned about their own behaviour, or the behaviour of others, towards effective and anonymous help provided by the Foundation, including through its confidential helpline and the recently launched webchat service.

We have also recently provided funding to South West Grid for Learning and Internet Matters to develop a new online hub, specifically designed to decrease the risk of online abuse, including child sexual abuse, perpetrated against children with vulnerabilities, including children with SEND, LGBTQ+ children, and looked after children.

Future decisions on Home Office spending are dependent on the outcome of the 2020 Comprehensive Spending Review.


Speech in Lords Chamber - Wed 22 Jul 2020
Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill

Speech Link

View all Lord Strasburger (LD - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill