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 with Police and Crime Commissioners to improve diversity in police forces.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Government is clear; increasing diversity in our police forces is not an optional extra. It goes right to the heart of this country’s historic principle of policing by consent. We must ensure that the public have trust and confidence in the police, and that the police reflect the communities they serve.
The Government has reformed policing to ensure that there is a sector-led approach to making improvements, including in the area of recruitment and representation.
The College of Policing as the professional body for policing is delivering a major piece of work -black, Asian and minority ethnic Progression 2018 - to address under-representation in policing. The Government looks forward to working with the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners and individual Police and Crime Commissioners as democratically elected local leaders of policing, to place a greater emphasis on this agenda and urges PCCs to consider the opportunities provided through the Police Transformation Fund.
While the Government would expect senior commitment in all forces it is for local leaders to decide how they will deliver improvements.
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 tackle human trafficking in the Medway towns.
Answered by Karen Bradley
We do not collect information about specific activity in specific towns. However this Government is determined to stamp out modern slavery, including human trafficking, in all its forms and wherever it occurs. The landmark Modern Slavery Bill will give law enforcement agencies the tools they need to tackle modern slavery, ensure that perpetrators can receive suitably severe sentences for these appalling crimes, and enhance support and protection for victims. The modern slavery strategy, published on 29 November 2014, sets out our comprehensive programme of activity, including actions that we expect from Government departments, agencies and national and international partners.
To drive improvements in our operational response to modern slavery across the UK, Kevin Hyland OBE has been appointed as ‘designate’ Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner. His role will ensure that more perpetrators are caught and brought to justice and more victims are effectively identified and supported.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) average and (b) target time taken between the completion of an immigration tribunal and the implementation of that tribunal's decision is.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The information requested in part (a) covers a broad range of casetypes and is not held centrally for in country cases. It could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. For international appeals the average time for allowed appeals to be implemented from January 2014 to September 2014 was 45 calendar days.
The Home Office has 14 days to consider whether to appeal an allowed First-tier or Upper Tribunal decision (although this can be longer in some Upper Tribunal decisions where the last avenue to appeal is direct to the Court of Appeal).
The relevant unit responsible for implementation will be notified once a decision has been made not to appeal. There are currently no set targets in place governing implementation of appeals.
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 counter the use of the internet as a means of radicalisation.
Answered by James Brokenshire
In dealing with the challenge of terrorist and extremist content online, we must both restrict access to such content, and build the capabilities of civil society groups to promote positive alternatives. We have made considerable
progress in limiting the accessibility and circulation of terrorist material. Since February 2010, the police Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) has secured the removal of more than 65,000 pieces of content, with
over 46,000 of these removed since the start of this year. There is a clear role for the internet industry and responsible providers are working with us to take down this content and safeguard their users. We are also committed to
building the capabilities of civil society groups and promoting moderate voices to deliver powerful counter narratives. This involves working with a number of digital industry specialists, to provide training for groups to help build an
effective online presence.
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 tackle extremism.
Answered by James Brokenshire
We continually look for opportunities to strengthen our response. As part of the Government’s Counter-terrorism strategy, Prevent has necessarily focussed on the hardest end of extremism.
That is why the Home Secretary recently announced that the Home Office will assume responsibility for a new counter-extremism strategy that extends beyond terrorism.
The strategy will aim to better identify extremism in all its forms, confront it, challenge it and defeat it.