Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking in advance of the publication of the Law Commission's final report in respect of its Hate Crime review, due to be published in 2021.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
In 2018, the Government asked the Law Commission to undertake a review of current hate crime legislation, including whether additional protected characteristics, such as sex, gender and age, should be included.
The Law Commission is due to publish its recommendations later this year, following which the Government will formally respond.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of forensic science services for police forces have been carried out by private sector companies in England and Wales, in each year since 2012.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office does not hold this information. Procurement of forensic science services is a matter for forces and PCCs.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will list the private sector companies which have delivered forensic science services to police forces in England and Wales since 1 April 2012.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office does not hold this information. Procurement of forensic science services is a matter for forces and PCCs.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 22 April 2021 to Question 183092 on Asylum: Clothing, if she will provide an itemised breakdown of what was purchased for the £5,415.90.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
Home Office department, the Clandestine Channel Threat Command are responsible for the provision of basic clothing to migrants who are disembarked at the Tug Haven (having been intercepted crossing the channel in small boats). Migrants often cross the channel in poor weather conditions and without adequate clothing. In such circumstances they are invariably very wet and cold and at risk of hypothermia if dry clothing is not provided. This provision of dry clothing forms part of our duty of care in these circumstances, wherever possible we use recycled clothing from charitable organisations rather than buying new.
The following items were purchased, 225 pairs of lace up canvas shoes, 26 pairs of flip flops, 440 T-shirts, 333 sweatshirts and 337 jogging bottoms.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 22 April 2021 to Question 83092, who in her Department is responsible for distributing clothing to incoming migrants; and what the process is for that matter.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
Home Office department, the Clandestine Channel Threat Command are responsible for the provision of basic clothing to migrants who are disembarked at the Tug Haven (having been intercepted crossing the channel in small boats). Migrants often cross the channel in poor weather conditions and without adequate clothing. In such circumstances they are invariably very wet and cold and at risk of hypothermia if dry clothing is not provided. This provision of dry clothing forms part of our duty of care in these circumstances, wherever possible we use recycled clothing from charitable organisations rather than buying new.
The following items were purchased, 225 pairs of lace up canvas shoes, 26 pairs of flip flops, 440 T-shirts, 333 sweatshirts and 337 jogging bottoms.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 April 2021 to Question 183092, on Asylum: Clothing, if he will publish in full the receipts for the expenditure of £5,415.90.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
This expenditure refers to articles purchased for immediate relief of asylum seekers arriving in small boats, by providing warm and dry clothing which reduces the risk of hypothermia.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's expenditure of £5,415.90 at Primark in September 2020 for the purpose of clothing people seeking asylum, which company her Department procured to distribute that clothing.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
Dangerous and unnecessary crossings of the Channel are made by migrants in small boats, which are often overloaded. Many of those arriving in this way are soaking wet and at significant risk of hypothermia if not changed into dry clothes quickly. The Home Office has a duty of care to those migrants and ordinarily has sufficient stocks of dry clothing on hand for arriving migrants. However, last September saw an unprecedented number of migrant arrivals in small boats and supplies ran low, requiring emergency replenishment from a local retail outlet. This is the basis of the expenditure at Primark quoted here. As the clothing was distributed directly to arriving migrants by HO officials, no third party company was employed in the distribution.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions she has written to the Speaker to explain why legislation has come info force before it has been laid before Parliament since 1 September 2020.
Answered by Kevin Foster
I can confirm the Home Office has not written to Mr Speaker since 1 September 2020 to explain legislation being brought into force before it is laid in both Houses.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of fines issued in error under the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020; and if she will establish a review of all fines issued under those regulations since those regulations came into force.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We are grateful to the police for enforcing unprecedented restrictions, and in doing so saving lives.
Evidential reviews are carried out by the police before fixed penalty notices (FPNs) are issued on their behalf by the ACRO Criminal Records Office. Individuals can choose not to pay an FPN and defend any prosecution for a relevant offence in court. The Home Office will continue to work closely with policing colleagues on the fair and effective enforcement of Covid regulations.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of existing police powers to manage protest; and what further powers she plans to give the police to manage protests under new legislation.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office liaised with the police and others to understand the efficacy of existing public order legislation and to identify what more can be done to make a practical difference, and we will legislate shortly. This follows concerns raised by the police about current legislation in the context of non-violent protests that have a significant impact on the community.
As part of this, the Home Secretary asked the independent police inspectorate, HMICFRS, to carry out a thematic inspection of how police manage protests. My officials engaged with the inspectorate in the formulation of the new legislative proposals.