Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make it his policy to ensure that the constraints placed on Departments by the Civil Service headcount cap will not have a negative impact on resourcing for the delivery of commitments made in the Economic Crime Plan.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
Through the Spending Review and the new Economic Crime Levy we are providing additional funding to tackle Economic Crime of £400 million up to the end of 2024/25.
The headcount cap announced by the Chancellor applies to the overall size of the Civil Service, excluding the devolved administrations. Policing, including Regional Organised Crime Units (ROCUs) who are a major recipient of additional Economic Crime investment, are out of scope.
As part of the process, the Government will identify risks, and ensure this is implemented in a way which preserves frontline service delivery, business critical activity and key Government priorities.
This is not a recruitment freeze, but rather about stopping unchecked growth overall and moving towards a leaner and more efficient Civil Service workforce.
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department accepts asylum applications on the grounds that a country is affected by climate change.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Refugee status is granted when someone has a well-founded fear of persecution under the Refugee Convention for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had recent discussions with international organisations on the impact of climate change on levels of migration to the UK.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The UK has been involved in a range of international conversations and discussions around climate change. These include the Global Forum for Migration and Development (GFMD), International Dialogue on Migration (IDM) and the International Migration Review Forum (IMRF).
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the report by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse entitled Child protection in religious organisations and settings, published in September 2021, if she will take steps to implement the recommendations of that report.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government remains firmly committed to tackling all forms of child sexual abuse and has engaged constructively with the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse throughout the course of its seven years of investigation.
The recommendations in the religious organisations and settings report fall within the policy remit of the Department for Education, and I continue to work closely with my ministerial colleagues on these important issues.
We are currently carefully considering the Inquiry’s Final Report and I recognise the significant milestone this report represents in our wider whole-of-system efforts to combat this horrific crime. The strength and bravery of all of the victims and survivors who came forward to share their stories cannot be understated. And I am committed to working across government to prepare the Government response to the final 20 recommendations which will be published in the coming weeks.
We remain committed to confronting and combatting this horrific crime wherever and whenever it occurs and will use every lever available to us to keep children safe, and provide support to victims and survivors to ensure they receive the support they need to help to rebuild their lives.
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Home Office:
What plans she has to support police forces in coastal communities.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government is supporting all forces, including those in costal communities, by providing 20,000 extra police officers; with 8,771 already in place.
We are also providing targeted investment to help high-crime areas. The Safer Streets Fund funds crime prevention activity in a range of areas, including coastal ones.
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications have been submitted to the EU Settlement Scheme to date; and how many of those application have been granted.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The latest figures can be found on the Home Office’s ‘EU Settlement Scheme statistics’ web page available at:
EU Settlement Scheme statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many immigration health surcharges have been paid by overseas (a) doctors and (b) nurses.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office does not collate or publish the information requested.
Non-EEA nationals moving to the UK for more than six months have been required to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge since April 2015.
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many immigration health surcharges have been paid by overseas (a) doctors and (b) nurses.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office does not collate or publish the information requested.
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential benefits and risks of commercial mobile networks providing the emergency services communications network.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The potential benefits and risks have been considered in detail as part of the
Outline Business Case, which recommended this direction of travel and was
approved by the emergency services, lead departments and the devolved
governments of Wales and Scotland during March 2014. These risks and issues
will be updated as the Full Business Case is developed during the procurement
phase, which was launched on 14 April 14.
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons premises in Wales have not been included in the extension of licensing hours during the FIFA World Cup.
Answered by Norman Baker
The Government consulted publicly on whether licensing hours should be relaxed during the FIFA World Cup 2014. A range of representations were made both for and against the proposal. We received a total of 1,468 responses to the online consultation. 77% (1,095 respondents) believed that any national relaxation of licensing hours should apply to England and Wales. However, only 2% (25 respondents) identified themselves as living or working in Wales.
While a majority of Welsh respondents favoured a relaxation for England and Wales, there was a difference between English and Welsh respondents about how the relaxation might be delivered. There was a clear majority of Welsh respondents who favoured using the Temporary Event Notice system, rather than a blanket relaxation, while of English respondents the majority (74%) favoured a blanket relaxation. This is consistent with what the Government has opted to do: a national blanket relaxation in England, with licensed premises able to use the Temporary Event Notice system in Wales.
Section 172 of the Licensing Act 2003 allows the relevant Secretary of State to make an order relaxing opening hours for licensed premises to mark occasions of ‘exceptional international, national or local significance'. The Government considers that the England football team's participation in the FIFA World Cup 2014 is an event of exceptional national significance in England.
The Government has therefore decided not to include Wales in the relaxation of licensing hours for the FIFA World Cup 2014. However, licensed premises in Wales wishing to remain open beyond their licensed hours will be able to do so by using the Temporary Event Notice procedure.