Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied asylum seeking children have been received by Nottinghamshire County Council under the voluntary national transfer scheme; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Data on the local authorities participating in the National Transfer Scheme (NTS), including the number of transfers in and out of each authority, can be found in the Asylum transparency dataset, last published in November 2018 at; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-transparency-data-november-2018.
Since it was launched in July 2016, 790 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children have been transferred via the NTS. This is a significant achievement which has seen many local authorities offer placements for children whose best interests are served by transferring to another local authority. However we recognise that the scheme is not operating as effectively as we would like. We will continue to engage with local authorities across the country to encourage further offers and consider options in how best to share the burden.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied refugee children have been relocated to the UK under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
We remain fully committed to delivering on our commitment to relocate the specified number of 480 children under Section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.
Over 220 children are already in the UK. We will not provide a running commentary on numbers and will publish the details once all children are in the UK.
We are working very closely with participating States and partners to deliver the scheme in line with their national laws. Relocation of children to the UK is also dependent on the availability of appropriate local authority care placements.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to publish his decision on the renewal of the police transformation fund; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Hurd
Allocation for the 19/20 Police Transformation Fund will form part of the Ministerial decisions in the round on the Police Funding Settlement for 2019/20.
Announcement of the Provisional Police Funding Settlement for 2019/20 will be made to Parliament in December 2018, with the Final Police Grant Report subject to parliamentary approval in early 2019.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied child refugees have been allowed into the UK under the vulnerable children resettlement scheme.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme (VCRS) does not solely target unaccompanied children, but on UNHCR’s advice also extends to vulnerable ‘children at risk’, such as those threatened with child labour, child marriage and other forms of abuse or exploitation. It is open to all at risk groups and nationalities within the region. There is therefore no specific quota on the number of unaccompanied children who may be referred to, or resettled through, the scheme.
The latest quarterly Immigration Statistics show that, as of September 2018, a total of 1,075 people had been resettled through the VCRS. The statistics are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release.
The Home Office is committed to publishing data in an orderly way as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the High Court judgment in respect of K & Anor, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department of 8 November 2018, whether all victims of trafficking who had their subsistence rates cut between March and November 2018 and subsequently exited the National Referral Mechanism will receive the full back payment.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government is committed to tacking the scourge of modern slavery and supporting those affected by this crime.
In 2017, Home Office Ministers agreed a comprehensive package of reforms to the National Referral Mechanism, which included the introduction of places of safety for those leaving situations of exploitation, trebling the period of move on support to assist victims moving out of government funded support and aligning the subsistence rates paid to potential victims of modern slavery with those received by asylum seekers.
In light of the judgment in K and AM, we are currently putting in place processes to ensure that those who have been affected receive a full back payment as soon as possible. We will set out how we plan to respond in due course, including those who have left NRM support.
We are committed to reforming the National Referral Mechanism to ensure that as many victims of modern slavery as possible get the support they need.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many orders have been issued under section 23 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
In England and Wales, between July 2015 (when the Modern Slavery Act came into force) and June 2018, 35 Slavery and Trafficking Risk Orders were made.
This information is available in the 2018 Annual Report on Modern Slavery, available on gov.uk via this link:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/749346/2018_UK_Annual_Report_on_Modern_Slavery.pdf
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many orders have been issued under Section 9 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
To the end of the calendar year 2017, the latest period for which data is available, no slavery and trafficking reparation orders have been made. This data can be accessed via the link below.
We are pleased that the current Review of the Modern Slavery Act will be looking at the effectiveness of these powers and we look forward to receiving their findings in the spring.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the High Court judgment in respect of K & Anor, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department of 8 November 2018, when all victims of trafficking will have their subsistence rates restored to the higher level as required by that judgment.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government is committed to tacking the scourge of modern slavery and supporting those affected by this crime.
In 2017, Home Office Ministers agreed a comprehensive package of reforms to the National Referral Mechanism, which included the introduction of places of safety for those leaving situations of exploitation, trebling the period of move on support to assist victims moving out of government funded support and aligning the subsistence rates paid to potential victims of modern slavery with those received by asylum seekers.
In light of the judgment in K and AM, the Home Office has immediately reinstated the top up paid to those in the Victim Care Contract who are also receiving support from the asylum support system, so that they receive a total of £65 per week. We are currently putting in place processes to ensure that those who have been affected receive a full back payment as soon as possible, and will set out how we plan to respond in due course, including our communications with all those affected.
We will work through the implications of this judgment in respect to our future approach to financial support. We are committed to reforming the National Referral Mechanism to ensure that as many victims of modern slavery as possible get the support they need.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the High Court judgment in respect of K & Anor, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department of 8 November 2018; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government is committed to tacking the scourge of modern slavery and supporting those affected by this crime.
In 2017, Home Office Ministers agreed a comprehensive package of reforms to the National Referral Mechanism, which included the introduction of places of safety for those leaving situations of exploitation, trebling the period of move on support to assist victims moving out of government funded support and aligning the subsistence rates paid to potential victims of modern slavery with those received by asylum seekers.
In light of the judgment in K and AM, the Home Office has immediately reinstated the top up paid to those in the Victim Care Contract who are also receiving support from the asylum support system, so that they receive a total of £65 per week. We are currently putting in place processes to ensure that those who have been affected receive a full back payment as soon as possible, and will set out how we plan to respond in due course, including our communications with all those affected.
We will work through the implications of this judgment in respect to our future approach to financial support. We are committed to reforming the National Referral Mechanism to ensure that as many victims of modern slavery as possible get the support they need.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he will issue guidance under Section 49 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015; and what plans he has to consult on that guidance.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government recognises the importance of publishing guidance under s49 of the Modern Slavery Act on the identification of and support for potential victims of modern slavery.
Whilst there is no duty to consult on the s49 statutory guidance we began working closely with stakeholders across the sector on drafting the guidance shortly after commencement of the Act. This work was paused to accommodate changes to identification and support as part of the reforms to the National Referral Mechanism. Work on the guidance has resumed and we will publish it as soon as we are able. We will issue a timetable providing the detail of this in due course.