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Written Question
Members: Correspondence
Thursday 11th May 2023

Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to reply to the correspondence of 20 March 2023 from the hon. Member for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, reference MIN/0549165/23.

Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)

The Home Office will respond in due course.


Written Question
Crime: Wales
Tuesday 20th September 2022

Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the impact of the Safer Streets Fund on reported crime in Wales.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

All rounds of the Safer Streets Fund are subject to independent evaluation, which is vital in ensuring we learn lessons about what works in preventing crime to inform future government policy and funding.

The evaluation of Round One of the Fund, which has now completed, has been finalised and we intend to publish in due course.

Interim lessons learnt, including from Rounds Two and Three where evaluation is ongoing, have been shared with those eligible to bid for funding and those subsequently awarded funding to help inform their approach.


Written Question
Crime
Tuesday 20th September 2022

Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the impact of the Safer Streets Fund on reported crime.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

All rounds of the Safer Streets Fund are subject to independent evaluation, which is vital in ensuring we learn lessons about what works in preventing crime to inform future government policy and funding.

The evaluation of Round One of the Fund, which has now completed, has been finalised and we intend to publish in due course.

Interim lessons learnt, including from Rounds Two and Three where evaluation is ongoing, have been shared with those eligible to bid for funding and those subsequently awarded funding to help inform their approach.


Written Question
Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence
Tuesday 6th September 2022

Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 17 May 2022 on Ratification of the Istanbul Convention, HCWS34, whether her Department plans to introduce safeguards to protect migrant women from gender-based violence in the context of the decision to apply a reservation to Article 59 of that Convention.

Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

On 21st July the UK ratified the Istanbul Convention sending a strong message to women and girls across the UK, and around the world, that the Government is committed to tackling VAWG. The UK applied two reservations, including one on Article 59 which relates to support for migrant victims of domestic abuse.

The last annual progress report on ratification of the Convention confirmed that the UK’s position on Article 59 is “under review” pending the results and evaluation of the Support for Migrant Victims (SMV) Pilot Scheme. The Government will make a longer-term decision about the UK’s position on Article 59, and whether the reservation on that article should be maintained or withdrawn, in the light of the findings of the Support for Migrant Victims Scheme pilot and wider policy considerations. Therefore, we decided to apply a reservation on Article 59, which nine other countries have also done, to enable the UK to ratify as soon as possible.

The Government is committed to supporting all victims of domestic abuse, including migrant victims, regardless of immigration status. Therefore, in the interim, £1.4 million of funding has been allocated in 2022-23 to continue to fund support for migrant victims of domestic abuse.


Written Question
UK Visas and Immigration: Correspondence
Friday 22nd July 2022

Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when UK Visas and Immigration will to respond to the correspondence of 14 June 2022 from the hon. Member for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, reference MPAM/0350603/22.

Answered by Kevin Foster

The Home Office replied on 18 July 2022.


Written Question
UK Visas and Immigration: Telephone Services
Thursday 28th April 2022

Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will increase levels of staffing on UKVI passport hotline following the widespread delays experienced by customers.

Answered by Kevin Foster

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation


Written Question
UK Visas and Immigration: Telephone Services
Thursday 28th April 2022

Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of UKVI passport hotline.

Answered by Kevin Foster

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.


Written Question
Cybercrime
Tuesday 21st November 2017

Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)

Question to the Home Office:

What discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the effect of recent cyber-attacks on critical national infrastructure.

Answered by Ben Wallace

The security of certain UK organisations, including the CNI, is of utmost importance. The Government is working with industry to provide advice and expertise on the management of their risk. Through the National Cyber Security Programme, we have invested through Lead Departments, the Intelligence Agencies and regulators to better understand cyber risk, share threat information, improve the security of the CNI and exercise together to be prepared for incidents. This will continue.


Written Question
Police: Cars
Wednesday 19th October 2016

Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police cars were sold by police forces in England and Wales in each year between 2010 and 2015.

Answered by Brandon Lewis

The Home Office does not hold this information.


Written Question
Police
Monday 1st February 2016

Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to ensure that police forces have sufficient numbers and adequate powers to deal with incidents similar to which took place during New Year celebrations in Cologne.

Answered by Mike Penning

Enforcement of the law and decisions on how resources are deployed, are responsibilities of individual Chief Officers and Police and Crime Commissioners, taking into account the specific local issues and demands which they face.

Since the disorders seen in summer 2011 and the issue by the Home Secretary in 2012 of the first Strategic Policing Requirement, the police in England and Wales have taken significant steps to strengthen their capability to manage the risk of disorder. These steps include:

• ensuring sufficient public order trained officers are available to respond to local and national strategic threat and risk assessments;

• enabling the quick and effective deployment of police officers across the country, through the National Police Coordination Centre and the National Mobilisation Plan;

• ensuring the effective use of public order powers and tactics;

• ensuring the early detection of, and effective mitigation against, any issues through an improved national capability to intelligently monitor open source media.

The police have a range of powers they can use across a broad canvas of criminal offences enabling them to proactively prepare for, and provide, a coordinated and proportionate response to disorder incidents, similar to those seen in the New Year celebrations in Cologne.

With regards to the sexual violence seen in Cologne, the key message must be that anyone who disrupts the communities and livelihoods of our citizens will face the full force of justice, because it is the victims who matter most. This includes those seeking asylum and we are clear we will remove asylum eligibility from those who commit serious crime. I am also clear that every incident of sexual violence and rape need to be treated seriously, every victim needs to be treated with dignity and every investigation and every prosecution needs to be conducted thoroughly and professionally.