Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who described themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual when seeking asylum in the UK have been refused asylum on the grounds that there is not enough evidence to prove that they are gay, lesbian or bisexual since 2015.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Home Office remains committed to publishing information on the number of people claiming asylum on the basis of sexual orientation
On 29 November 2018, the Home Office published experimental statistics on Asylum claims made on the basis of sexual orientation, covering the pe-riod 2015 to 2017.
These experimental statistics provide data on asylum claims from 2015-2017, by year of application, initial decision, appeal receipt, or appeal decision
Data on the number of asylum seekers refused asylum on the basis of sexual orientation can be found in tabs SOC_00 in the experimental statis-tics in the link provided below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-december-2018-data-tables
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who have described themselves as transgender when seeking asylum in the UK have been refused asylum since 2015.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Home Office remains committed to publishing information on the number of people claiming asylum on the basis of sexual orientation
On 29 November 2018, the Home Office published experimental statistics on Asylum claims made on the basis of sexual orientation, covering the pe-riod 2015 to 2017.
These experimental statistics provide data on asylum claims from 2015-2017, by year of application, initial decision, appeal receipt, or appeal decision
Data on the number of asylum seekers refused asylum on the basis of sexual orientation can be found in tabs SOC_00 in the experimental statis-tics in the link provided below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-december-2018-data-tables
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) gay, lesbian or bisexual and (b) transgender asylum seekers have been deported from the UK since 2015.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Home Office does not hold central records of how many (a) gay, lesbian or bisexual and (b) transgender asylum seekers have been deported from the UK since 2015.
Providing the information requested would require a manual check of individual records which could only be done at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of recent reductions in police numbers on police forces' responses to domestic violence.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
We recognise that there are significant demands on the police from the changing nature of crime, with more victims of high harm crimes such as domestic abuse coming forward. The provisional 2019/20 police funding settlement announced on 13 December builds on this year’s total increase in police funding of £460m. The police workforce has remained stable over the past year and the number of people joining police forces has increased by 58% since 2015/16.
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Service’s last inspection into domestic abuse found that police forces in England and Wales have a strong commitment to protecting victims of domestic abuse. Forces are continuing to invest in public protection and staff numbers have increased in many safeguarding units, with people being moved from other departments to provide more resilience.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding from the public purse his Department has allocated to the National Crime Agency's Modern Slavery Human Trafficking Unit.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The National Crime Agency (NCA) allocates its resources flexibly to respond to serious and organised crime including modern slavery and human trafficking.
The NCA’s dedicated Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Unit consists of approximately 55 posts, including the National Referral Mechanism Competent Authority. This Unit draws on assistance from across the NCA to boost the overall resources deployed at any one time against this threat. Therefore, it is not possible to provide an exact figure for the total spend.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to regulate the download of anonymity network broswers.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The National Crime Agency and UK Intelligence Community regularly assess the threat to the UK from the use of online anonymity networks by criminals and terrorists. This information, which includes the details of those who were subsequently convicted under the Terrorism Act 2006 for using these networks is operationally sensitive.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people convicted under the Terrorism Act 2006 since November 2016 were found to be using anonymity network browsers.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The National Crime Agency and UK Intelligence Community regularly assess the threat to the UK from the use of online anonymity networks by criminals and terrorists. This information, which includes the details of those who were subsequently convicted under the Terrorism Act 2006 for using these networks is operationally sensitive.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the prevalence of online anonymity network usage since the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 came into effect in November 2016.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The National Crime Agency and UK Intelligence Community regularly assess the threat to the UK from the use of online anonymity networks by criminals and terrorists. This information, which includes the details of those who were subsequently convicted under the Terrorism Act 2006 for using these networks is operationally sensitive.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the list of vulnerabilities and warning signs tutors are advised to look out for as part of Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent training.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent training provides attendees with case studies to help build an understanding of how to recognise potentially vulnerable individuals who may be at risk of radicalisation, and how to share concerns so that the right support can be offered when it is required. All the case studies used in the training are based on real-life accounts. Feedback from attendees of WRAP training is consistently positive, and the content of the product is frequently revised and updated.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Prevent Strategy in countering radicalisation.
Answered by Ben Wallace
Prevent is a key part of the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy (CONTEST). Prevent safeguards and supports individuals who are vulnerable to exploitation for radical purposes. Prevent is working. It is has made a significant impact in preventing people being drawn into terrorism.
Working with industry and the police we have secured the removal of 220,000 pieces of terrorist material since February 2010. Since 2012, over 1000 people have received support through our Channel programme which safeguards those most at risk of radicalisation. More than 150 attempted journeys to the Syria/Iraq conflict area were disrupted in 2015. This includes action by the family courts. The courts have protected 50 children (from around 20 families) from being taken to the conflict area in 2015. To build resilience in communities against radicalisation in 2015/16, we have delivered 142 projects reaching over 42,000 participants.