Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with her French counterpart on the regulatory framework on the registration of small vessels and the enforcement of those regulations in the context of preventing small vessels being used in illegal Channel crossings.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Small boats used by migrants to cross the Channel are varied in type, origin and seaworthiness. While there is attraction in any enterprise which offers to reduce the supply of craft for these dangerous, illegally-facilitated and unnecessary crossings, we are not of the view that these proposals would materially affect the threat. This is because many of these vessels are insubstantial; a good number are stolen or otherwise misappropriated from legitimate owners; and the origin of these vessels is not confined to France. Therefore, any adoption of such an increased regulatory posture is viewed as a disproportionate and less effective approach to reducing supply of boats and opportunity for crossings.
We are engaged with the French in minimising supply - and are seeing results, with crossings per calm weather day down by 60% since September 2020, thanks to law enforcement work on both sides of the Channel. We have not discussed the proposal with the French and have no plans to do so at this time but will keep it under review.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing regulation of the registration of small vessels to help counter illegal Channel crossings.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Small boats used by migrants to cross the Channel are varied in type, origin and seaworthiness. While there is attraction in any enterprise which offers to reduce the supply of craft for these dangerous, illegally-facilitated and unnecessary crossings, we are not of the view that these proposals would materially affect the threat. This is because many of these vessels are insubstantial; a good number are stolen or otherwise misappropriated from legitimate owners; and the origin of these vessels is not confined to France. Therefore, any adoption of such an increased regulatory posture is viewed as a disproportionate and less effective approach to reducing supply of boats and opportunity for crossings.
We are engaged with the French in minimising supply - and are seeing results, with crossings per calm weather day down by 60% since September 2020, thanks to law enforcement work on both sides of the Channel. We have not discussed the proposal with the French and have no plans to do so at this time but will keep it under review.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the Government’s progress on meeting the objectives of the Missing Children and Adults Strategy 2011.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
People who go missing include some of the most vulnerable people in our society and the Government will do all it can to ensure those people are protected from harm.
The 2011 Missing Children and Adults Strategy provided a framework for local and national action to protect children and vulnerable adults who go missing. The Government has made significant progress in meeting the objectives of the strategy including by issuing new statutory guidance on missing children, placing new requirements on local authorities on the reporting of missing incidents, working with the College of Policing to develop new risk-based professional practice for police, and funding support for missing people and their families through charities like Missing People.
While plans to update the 2011 strategy are under consideration, we can and will go further to protect and support people who go missing. The Department for Education is working with the police, local authorities and the voluntary sector to consider how its statutory guidance is supporting local authorities and their partners to prevent children from going missing from home or care, and the Home Office is working with the national policing lead for Missing Persons and the NCA’s UK Missing Persons Unit to deliver a National Register for Missing Persons (NRMP) which will provide new functionality around the reporting of missing and associated found incidents across police force boundaries.
Protecting and supporting vulnerable missing people is also a key element of our action to tackle exploitation and abuse, including sexual abuse and county lines exploitation, given the clear links between people who go missing and these broader harms. This includes funding Missing People’s SafeCall service, a specialist 24/7 helpline which provides advice and support to children, young people and parents/carers concerned about county lines exploitation.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to update the Missing Children and Adults Strategy 2011.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
People who go missing include some of the most vulnerable people in our society and the Government will do all it can to ensure those people are protected from harm.
The 2011 Missing Children and Adults Strategy provided a framework for local and national action to protect children and vulnerable adults who go missing. The Government has made significant progress in meeting the objectives of the strategy including by issuing new statutory guidance on missing children, placing new requirements on local authorities on the reporting of missing incidents, working with the College of Policing to develop new risk-based professional practice for police, and funding support for missing people and their families through charities like Missing People.
While plans to update the 2011 strategy are under consideration, we can and will go further to protect and support people who go missing. The Department for Education is working with the police, local authorities and the voluntary sector to consider how its statutory guidance is supporting local authorities and their partners to prevent children from going missing from home or care, and the Home Office is working with the national policing lead for Missing Persons and the NCA’s UK Missing Persons Unit to deliver a National Register for Missing Persons (NRMP) which will provide new functionality around the reporting of missing and associated found incidents across police force boundaries.
Protecting and supporting vulnerable missing people is also a key element of our action to tackle exploitation and abuse, including sexual abuse and county lines exploitation, given the clear links between people who go missing and these broader harms. This includes funding Missing People’s SafeCall service, a specialist 24/7 helpline which provides advice and support to children, young people and parents/carers concerned about county lines exploitation.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of missing (a) adults and (b) children, were recorded as high risk in each month from 1 April 2020 to 1 September 2020.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Annual missing persons statistics, including analysis of age and risk category, are published by the National Crime Agency’s Missing Person’s Unit. The latest report is for 2018-19 and is available at https://www.missingpersons.police.uk/en-gb/resources/downloads/missing-persons-statistical-bulletins.
The Government recognises the importance of accurate and timely data on both current and historic missing incidents. We are working with the national policing lead for Missing Persons and the NCA’s UK Missing Persons Unit through the Home Office National Law Enforcement Data Programme (NLEDP) to deliver a National Register for Missing Persons (NRMP). The NRMP will provide a snapshot of live missing incidents across police forces in England and Wales.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her response of 15 June 2020 to the Hon. Member for Gillingham and Rainham, Official Report, column 555, what resources have been put in place by (a) her Department and (b) her Department's various agencies to tackle the rise of right-wing extremism.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Government continues to monitor all emerging evidence related to right wing extremism, including the analysis of the Extremism Analysis Unit.
We have established the Building a Stronger Britain Together (BSBT) programme which brings together people across England and Wales to tackle extremism on the ground. In addition, we have created the independent Commission for Countering Extremism to listen to voices around the country and to identify new ways of responding to extremism. Since the programme’s launch in 2016 it has supported over 240 civil society organisations, in the 2019/20 funding round for BSBT 28% of groups were actively tackling far right extremism, a rise of 20% compared to the programme’s first year.
As part of our ongoing commitment to protect faith communities following the horrendous attacks in Christchurch last year, we also launched a consultation asking faith groups what else should be done to help them feel safe and confident while practicing their religion. The consultation closed on the 28 June and the responses are being evaluated.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to prevent illegal crossings of the English Channel.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Facilitating these crossings is illegal and no one should be attempting them in the first place. France, from where almost all embark, is a manifestly safe country with a fully functioning asylum system. Any of these migrants needing asylum should claim it in France. Those seeking to cross must traverse some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. It is a reckless and dangerous crossing, putting the lives of the people who attempt it at serious risk – including children and babies.
The Government is working flat out to put a complete stop to these crossings, and all attempts to reach the UK clandestinely and action is being taken on a daily basis.
The National Crime Agency, Immigration Enforcement, Border Force and the UK Police are working closely with French authorities to crack down on the criminals who facilitate the crossings. There is a UK-France Coordination and Information Centre opened in Calais which opened in November 2018
This law enforcement response is delivering results. French law enforcement prevented over 1000 people from crossing by small boats in April and May 2020.
In 2019, Immigration Enforcement made 418 arrests, leading to 203 convictions for a total of 437 years. Out of these, 259 arrests and 100 convictions were for people smuggling. Immigration Enforcement carried out 841 disruptions against organised crime gangs and individuals engaged in organised immigration crime, 404 of which were related to people smuggling. So far in 2020, 21 people smugglers have been convicted and put behind bars as a result of Immigration Enforcement investigations, with more investigations underway.
The UK Government has also returned over 155 small boats arrivals back to Europe since January 2019 using the legal channels available. We have a further 686 return cases which we are currently urgently progressing.
There is more we need to do beyond this. We are working on developing tactics to prevent crossings at sea, and on ways to rapidly return those who do get across. This may require primary legislation and new agreements with the French Government. These are currently under active discussion. The Prime Minister directly discussed the issue with President Macron on 18 June and the Home Secretary is in constant contact with her opposite number, the French Interior Minister. We will not rest until the crossings are entirely stopped.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to improve Action Fraud's performance.
Answered by James Brokenshire
As the National Lead Force for fraud, the City of London Police (CoLP) are responsible for the performance of the Action Fraud service. Together with the City of London Corporation, CoLP commissioned an independent review led by Sir Craig Mackey QPM into the standards, culture and management of Action Fraud.? The findings and recommendations of that review were published on ?24th January: https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/about-the-city/Pages/police-authority.aspx
Working with the City of London Corporation, the NCA and Home Office, the City of London Police will address Sir Craig’s recommendations regarding Action Fraud and the NFIB.
In addition, as part of the 20/21 police funding settlement, City of London Police received additional funding to allow them to recruit additional staff for the Action Fraud call centre. Despite the current challenging circumstances, work has continued to recruit and develop remote training for these additional staff at pace.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to increase conviction rates for fraud offences.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Government recognises that to increase conviction rates, there needs to be an increased pipeline of cases under investigation. Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Service (HMICFRS) carried out an inspection of the police response to fraud last year. The review, published in April 2019, found that significant improvements are required to ensure the model works more effectively and efficiently, including the need for a much more co-ordinated national approach with clear roles and responsibilities.
The Home Office is working closely with law enforcement to ensure the recommendations set out in the HMICFRS report are implemented effectively in order to improve the response to fraud at the local, regional and national levels, including the support provided to victims of fraud.
In addition, working with the Home Office, the National Economic Crime Centre are currently progressing work to step up the immediate operational response to fraud, delivering an immediate surge in operational activity across law enforcement to tackle fraud.
The scale and complexity of the threat from serious and organised crime, including fraud, means that we need to do more to develop our response. A formal review is in progress, led by Sir Craig Mackey QPM, to identify the powers, capabilities, governance and funding needed to enable us to improve our response to serious and organised crime in all its forms, including fraud. The final report is due in Spring 2020.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to ensure Action Fraud deals with cases in (a) a timely and (b) an effective manner.
Answered by James Brokenshire
We are clear that the law enforcement response to fraud must improve. As the National Lead Force for fraud, the City of London Police (CoLP) are responsible for the performance of the Action Fraud service.
This includes ensuring that reports are dealt with in a timely and effective manner. We are working closely with law enforcement to ensure the recommendations set out in Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) report, as well as the independent review led by Sir Craig Mackey into the standards, culture and management of Action Fraud, are implemented effectively in order to improve the response to fraud at the local, regional and national levels, including the support provided to victims of fraud.