Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the treatment that people with similar names to people on watchlists receive during border checks at airports.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Our priority is to maintain a secure border. We will not compromise on this. Border Force performs checks on all passengers arriving at the UK border on scheduled services to identify individuals who pose, or are suspected to pose, a risk to the national interest.
Identities, and combinations of names and dates of birth, are not necessarily unique. Individuals who share names with persons of interest may experience closer examination than would otherwise be the case.
The Home Office is making significant investment to improve the underlying technical infrastructure which performs border checks to identify individuals more precisely. This will reduce the number of individuals incorrectly matched to persons of interest and enable Border Force to identify more quickly individuals who are not to be confused with persons of interest. We expect these improvements to start having effect over the summer.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that people with similar names to people on watchlists are not harassed during border checks at airports.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Our priority is to maintain a secure border. We will not compromise on this. Border Force performs checks on all passengers arriving at the UK border on scheduled services to identify individuals who pose, or are suspected to pose, a risk to the national interest.
Identities, and combinations of names and dates of birth, are not necessarily unique. Individuals who share names with persons of interest may experience closer examination than would otherwise be the case.
The Home Office is making significant investment to improve the underlying technical infrastructure which performs border checks to identify individuals more precisely. This will reduce the number of individuals incorrectly matched to persons of interest and enable Border Force to identify more quickly individuals who are not to be confused with persons of interest. We expect these improvements to start having effect over the summer.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police stations have been tested for reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The police are operationally independent and therefore it is the individual responsibility of each police force to manage their estate and ensure it is compliant with the relevant legislation. This includes duties to maintain a safe workplace, as set out in relevant health and safety legislation.
Last year the National Police Estates Group, working with Home Office officials, conducted a stocktake of all police forces in England and Wales regarding the presence of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) across their respective estates. This identified a small number of forces with instances of RAAC, most relating to single building locations. All have reported that remedial action has been taken to mitigate potential risk.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police stations has reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete been identified in.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The police are operationally independent and therefore it is the individual responsibility of each police force to manage their estate and ensure it is compliant with the relevant legislation. This includes duties to maintain a safe workplace, as set out in relevant health and safety legislation.
Last year the National Police Estates Group, working with Home Office officials, conducted a stocktake of all police forces in England and Wales regarding the presence of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) across their respective estates. This identified a small number of forces with instances of RAAC, most relating to single building locations. All have reported that remedial action has been taken to mitigate potential risk.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with which airlines his Department has held discussions on the Rwanda scheme in the last six months.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The Department engages with commercial partners where required to deliver on its responsibilities. The details of any such discussions are commercially sensitive and therefore we will not be providing a running commentary on them.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in how many court buildings in England and Wales reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete has been identified.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) has been identified in 10 court buildings out of 329 operational court and tribunal buildings.
Five are deemed safe and remain fully operational, three have temporarily closed whilst work is taking place to remove RAAC. Two sites in Blackpool, will not reopen and their work has been relocated to other sites in Lancashire until the new court centre in Blackpool opens in 2026.
The safety of staff, judiciary and court users is our top priority, and we will continue to regularly monitor and survey our estate and take action where necessary based on professional advice.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the operators of helicopter search and rescue services on response times.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As the Rt Hon Member will be aware, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency manages the contract for search and rescue helicopter services on behalf of the Department for Transport, and the ongoing activity related to the future of these services, including response times. Analysis of recent incident data is underway which will be concluded later this year, after which the MCA will provide further updates.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when his Department plans to implement the recommendations of the review entitled The process of police officer dismissals, published by his Department in September 2023, which do not require secondary legislation.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
In August 2023, the Government announced a series of reforms to the police misconduct, vetting and performance systems, following conclusion of the review into police officer dismissals.
Legislative changes are being delivered in three tranches, with the aim to implement amendments to secondary legislation in the spring and summer, as well as a clause within the Criminal Justice Bill. These changes will be accompanied by strengthened statutory guidance
It remains essential that the dismissals system is fair and transparent for the public, forces and all police officers and staff. That is why the Government, with the policing sector, continue to improve data collection to better understand and tackle disparities across the disciplinary system.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when his Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals to implement the recommendations of the review entitled The process of police officer dismissals, published by his Department in September 2023.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
In August 2023, the Government announced a series of reforms to the police misconduct, vetting and performance systems, following conclusion of the review into police officer dismissals.
Legislative changes are being delivered in three tranches, with the aim to implement amendments to secondary legislation in the spring and summer, as well as a clause within the Criminal Justice Bill. These changes will be accompanied by strengthened statutory guidance
It remains essential that the dismissals system is fair and transparent for the public, forces and all police officers and staff. That is why the Government, with the policing sector, continue to improve data collection to better understand and tackle disparities across the disciplinary system.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of the High Court judgement on the Law Society’s judicial review against the Ministry of Justice, [2024] EWHC 155 (Admin), handed down on 31 January 2024.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
I refer the right honourable Member to the answer I gave on 20 February to Question 14863