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Written Question
Undocumented Migrants
Friday 24th February 2023

Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)

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 migrants that attempted to enter the UK illegally in trucks and other motor vehicles in each of the last five years.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The Home Office publish data on the number of detected attempts to enter the UK irregularly, by selected methods of entry since 2018. The latest publication can be found at: Gov.uk Irregular migration to the UK data page.


Written Question
Independent Anti-slavery Commissioner
Friday 25th November 2022

Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she will appoint the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner.

Answered by Sarah Dines

The role of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner (IASC) as set out in the 2015 Modern Slavery Act is to encourage good practice in the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of slavery and human trafficking offences and the identification of victims.

The process to recruit a new IASC follows the principles set out within the Cabinet Office Governance Code on Public Appointments.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/578498/governance_code_on_public_appointments_16_12_2016.pdf

A decision on the appointment is under consideration.


Written Question
Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority
Tuesday 15th December 2020

Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional resources she will provide to the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority for inspection and enforcement activities from 1 January 2021 to help tackle abuses of the new points-based immigration system.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

As we replace freedom of movement with the Points-Based System, we remain committed to preventing any abuse of the system, including by protecting individuals from modern slavery and exploitation by criminal traffickers and unscrupulous employers.

The Government spends £33m a year on state enforcement of employment rights to support the work of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), HMRC’s National Minimum Wage Team and the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate. GLAA resources for 2021/2022 have not yet been agreed.


Written Question
Immigration Controls: Offenders
Thursday 26th November 2020

Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to intercept criminals at the point of entry ahead of the implementation of the Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office takes the issue of preventing foreign criminals entering the UK extremely seriously.

Using advance passenger information Border Force operates an Authority to Carry “No Fly” Scheme.? Foreign national offenders previously deported from the UK and individuals excluded from the UK on the grounds that their presence would be non-conducive to the public good due to their involvement in serious criminality are among those who carriers are refused authority to carry to UK. ?This action is disrupting criminals from even arriving into UK ports of entry.

In addition to our pre-travel checks every passenger arriving in the UK at passport control is checked in order to identify criminal, security and immigration concerns.. Where we are aware of individuals who pose a risk, Border Force officers can, and do, refuse them entry.


Written Question
Criminal Records: EU Countries
Tuesday 24th November 2020

Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her policy is on joining (a) Europol, (b) Eurojust, (c) the Schengen Information System (SIS II), (d) the European Criminal Records Information System and (e) Passenger Name Records Data on 1 January 2021; and if she will make a statement.

Answered by James Brokenshire

The safety and security of our citizens is the Government’s top priority.

We’ve been negotiating an agreement with the EU on law enforcement and criminal justice to equip operational partners on both sides with capabilities to protect citizens and bring criminals to justice.

As set out in the UK’s published Approach to Negotiations, we believe an agreement in this area should include: arrangements that support data exchange for law enforcement purposes; operational cooperation between law enforcement authorities; and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. We have therefore proposed this agreement should include capabilities similar to those provided by SIS II, ECRIS and PNR.

The UK is not seeking membership of either Europol or Eurojust – that is not how third country arrangements with these agencies work. In line with the UK Approach, our legal text provides for cooperation between the UK and Europol and UK and Eurojust to facilitate multilateral law enforcement and criminal justice cooperation.

The UK will continue to be a global leader on security and one of the safest countries in the world.


Written Question
Immigration Controls
Wednesday 18th November 2020

Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to establish the electronic travel authorisation scheme; and whether that scheme will be operational by 1 January 2021.

Answered by Kevin Foster

We intend to introduce legislation to establish the Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme next year. Until this legislation is passed the scheme cannot be introduced.

This scheme will be developed for delivery as part of the wider multi-year programme of change to the UK’s Points-Based Border and Immigration system.


Written Question
Asylum: Slavery
Thursday 8th October 2020

Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what training requirements her Department plans to include in outsourcing contracts for people undertaking asylum interviews to identify cases of human trafficking and modern-day slavery.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

Asylum Operations are exploring many options to reduce the number of outstanding asylum claims. Alongside seeking temporary resource from within the Home Office and other government departments, we are also exploring with third-party suppliers to test the viability of whether they can deliver the support required as a temporary, short term measure. Asylum interviews have not been outsourced, and at this stage we are only exploring the potential feasibility.

Third party interviewing officers will complete a bespoke training package, delivered by the qualified asylum operations training team, that has been designed specifically to meet their needs. The course will include training specifically about modern slavery and safeguarding awareness. Anyone who conducts asylum interviews receives thorough training to ensure they are fully equipped for the role.

To guarantee governance and accountability, mechanisms are in place to provide oversight of third-party interviews, the department has a quality assurance process which assesses the quality of decisions, interviews and the application of Home Office policy. This will include those interviews conducted by third party interviewing officers


Written Question
Slavery: Victims
Tuesday 22nd September 2020

Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many potential victims of modern slavery were identified and referred to the National Referral Mechanism at (a) seaports, (b) airports and (c) rail ports in each year from 2016 to 2019 inclusive.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

The location from which a First Responder identified and referred a potential victim of modern slavery to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is not captured in a reportable format.

The Home Office publishes statistics on referrals into the National Referral Mechanism on a quarterly basis. These reports detail the number of referrals submitted into the NRM by Border Force, however they are not broken down by port. These reports can be located via the following links:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-referral-mechanism-statistics

https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20170404150655/http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/national-referral-mechanism-statistics

https://nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/who-we-are/publications?search=&category%5B%5D=3&=%2Fwho-we-are%2Fpublications%3Flimit%3D15%26sort%3Dtitle%26direction%3Dasc&limit=100&tag=


Written Question
Human Trafficking
Tuesday 22nd September 2020

Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) identified potential victims of human trafficking or modern slavery and (b) persons prosecuted for human trafficking or modern slavery offences were stopped from entering the UK having tried to enter with forged, illegal or fraudulent documents or were otherwise undocumented in each calendar year from 2016 to 2019 inclusive.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

The specific information requested is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. This is because a manual search through individual records would be required to identify individuals who have been refused entry to the UK from 2016 to 2019 as well as searching such records to identify victims of modern slavery who were identified and referred to the National Referral Mechanism

Tackling human trafficking and modern slavery, both in the UK and overseas, is a priority for the government. The Modern Slavery Act 2015 gives law enforcement agencies the tools to tackle modern slavery and provides protection for victims. The Modern Slavery Act also includes powers which enable law enforcement officers, including Border Force, to pursue modern slavery perpetrators at sea.

Border Force has a duty of care to all crossing the border and adults with vulnerability for any reason will be dealt with respect and care.

The Home Office publishes statistics on referrals into the National Referral Mechanism on a quarterly basis. These reports detail the number of referrals submitted into the NRM by Border Force, however they are not broken down by port. These reports can be located via the following links:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-referral-mechanism-statistics

https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20170404150655/http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/national-referral-mechanism-statistics

https://nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/who-we-are/publications?search=&category%5B%5D=3&=%2Fwho-we-are%2Fpublications%3Flimit%3D15%26sort%3Dtitle%26direction%3Dasc&limit=100&tag=


Written Question
Entry Clearances
Thursday 17th September 2020

Asked by: Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many individuals have been refused entry to the UK at all ports of entry as a result of convictions for human trafficking and modern slavery or similar offences (a) in the UK, (b) in the EU and (c) in the rest of the world, in each calendar year from 2016 to 2019 inclusive.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

The specific information you have requested is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. This is because a manual search through individual records would be required to identify individuals have been refused entry to the UK from 2016 to 2019 inclusive

We do not hold data on those refused in EU countries and the rest of the world

Tackling human trafficking and modern slavery, both in the UK and overseas, is a priority for the government. The Modern Slavery Act 2015 gives law enforcement agencies the tools to tackle modern slavery and provides protection for victims. The Modern Slavery Act also includes powers which enable law enforcement officers, including Border Force, to pursue modern slavery perpetrators at sea.

Border Force has a duty of care to all crossing the border and adults with vulnerability for any reason will be dealt with respect and care.