Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023 on (a) the (i) agriculture, (ii) forestry and (iii) fishing industry, (b) the construction industry and (c) other sectors.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government supported the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023, which received Royal Assent on 20 July 2023. The Act will require immobilisers and forensic marking to be fitted as standard to specified new agricultural equipment such as All-Terrain Vehicles and quad bikes.
We published a Call for Evidence last summer, seeking views on the details needed for the secondary legislation, targeted at those who may be affected by proposals, including the agricultural and construction sectors, manufacturers, dealers, retailers, tradespeople and law enforcement.
Over 200 responses were received, and we have further engaged with manufacturers and retailers on the detail. I am carefully considering responses before publishing the Government response.
Work has begun on the necessary secondary legislation regulations.
The Act will help prevent equipment from being stolen in the first place, and will have a deterrent effect by making it harder for criminals to sell on stolen machinery. The Act will also assist the police with identifying the owners of stolen equipment when it is recovered, and provide additional lines of enquiry.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to engage with stakeholders on the drafting of secondary legislation under the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023; and what his planned timescale is for bringing forward such legislation.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government supported the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023, which received Royal Assent on 20 July 2023. The Act will require immobilisers and forensic marking to be fitted as standard to specified new agricultural equipment such as All-Terrain Vehicles and quad bikes.
We published a Call for Evidence last summer, seeking views on the details needed for the secondary legislation, targeted at those who may be affected by proposals, including the agricultural and construction sectors, manufacturers, dealers, retailers, tradespeople and law enforcement.
Over 200 responses were received, and we have further engaged with manufacturers and retailers on the detail. I am carefully considering responses before publishing the Government response.
Work has begun on the necessary secondary legislation regulations.
The Act will help prevent equipment from being stolen in the first place, and will have a deterrent effect by making it harder for criminals to sell on stolen machinery. The Act will also assist the police with identifying the owners of stolen equipment when it is recovered, and provide additional lines of enquiry.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023 on (a) manufacturers, (b) consumers and (c) retailers.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government supported the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023, which received Royal Assent on 20 July 2023. The Act will require immobilisers and forensic marking to be fitted as standard to specified new agricultural equipment such as All-Terrain Vehicles and quad bikes.
We published a Call for Evidence last summer, seeking views on the details needed for the secondary legislation, targeted at those who may be affected by proposals, including the agricultural and construction sectors, manufacturers, dealers, retailers, tradespeople and law enforcement.
Over 200 responses were received, and we have further engaged with manufacturers and retailers on the detail. I am carefully considering responses before publishing the Government response.
Work has begun on the necessary secondary legislation regulations.
The Act will help prevent equipment from being stolen in the first place, and will have a deterrent effect by making it harder for criminals to sell on stolen machinery. The Act will also assist the police with identifying the owners of stolen equipment when it is recovered, and provide additional lines of enquiry.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Project Pegasus on the right to (a) privacy and (b) data protection.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Pegasus is a unique private-public partnership that will radically improve the way retailers are able to share intelligence with policing, to better understand the tactics used by organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders. This will include development of a new information sharing platform and training for retailers.
Pegasus is spearheaded by Katy Bourne, the Business Crime lead for the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) and is backed by the Home Office, 14 retailers and the National Business Crime Solution.
Pegasus will be funding the creation of a dedicated team of specialist analysts and intelligence officers to work within OPAL, the national policing team that oversees intelligence on serious organised acquisitive crime.
OPAL is responsible for the management of data and intelligence, as well as information sharing agreements set up with members of Pegasus.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he has taken to provide access to the passport photo database to police forces.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The sharing of passport data with law enforcement agencies for the purpose of preventing and detecting crime is longstanding, and is provided for within His Majesty’s Passport Office’s Privacy Information Notice:
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether advice from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs against travel to Russia would qualify as an insurmountable obstacle as set out in Ex.2 of the Immigration Rules Appendix FM: family members, published on 25 February 2016.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The application of Section Ex. is fact sensitive, and consideration is on a case-by-case basis, considering a range of factors including, but not limited to, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office advice.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure clarity on (a) new student visa rules which will affect international PhD students in Cambridge listed in their first year as Not at first registered and (b) the right of such students to bring their families on a student visa.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
For courses starting from 1 January 2024, students will only be able to bring dependants if they are on a PhD, other doctoral qualification, or a research-based higher degree, or in receipt of a full government scholarship. If a student is unsure of what level their course is, they should check with their sponsor or the course details on their Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS).
Our guidance products are regularly updated to reflect changes to the immigration rules and such an update was published following the rules changes of 17 July 2023. The Home Office regularly engages with stakeholders regarding policy changes.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of her Department's visa application processing times for Sudanese nationals who have travelled to a third country and have applied to join family members in the UK.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Visa processing times for family migration applications are updated regularly on gov.uk.
Refugee family reunion visa processing is currently outside of service standard. We are committed to improving and speeding up processing times for family reunion applications and are reviewing our processes to streamline decision making to enable us to provide a better service to all our customers
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of the end of fire appliance mobilising system collaboration between Suffolk Fire Authority and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Fire Authority on fire safety in those areas.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 requires each Fire and Rescue Authority to make arrangements for dealing with calls for help and for summoning personnel. How this is delivered is an operational decision, and one for the respective Chief Fire Officers who are both responsible and accountable to the public.
My officials are aware of the potential plans to end the current collaboration agreement between Suffolk Fire Authority and Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Fire Authority and will continue to monitor the situation.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the number of applicants who have requested indefinite leave to remain in the UK on the grounds of long residency and have been able to access the super priority service between 1 January 2023 and 30 April 2023.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office does not publish this data in the format requested.