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Written Question
Sexual Offences: Employment
Tuesday 28th March 2023

Asked by: Kevin Foster (Conservative - Torbay)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on preventing convicted sex offenders from working as personal fitness instructors.

Answered by Sarah Dines

The UK has some of the toughest powers in the world to deal with sex offenders and those who pose a risk, and we are committed to ensuring that the system is as robust as it can be.

Civil orders are available to the police (on application to the court) to manage the risk posed by registered sex offenders and those who pose a risk of sexual harm. Sexual Harm Prevention Orders can be applied to anyone convicted or cautioned for a sexual or violent offence, including where offences are committed overseas; and Sexual Risk Orders can be applied to any individual who poses a risk of sexual harm in the UK or abroad, even if they have never been convicted. Both orders can place a range of restrictions and/or requirements on individuals depending on the nature of the case, such as prohibiting offenders from engaging in certain kinds of employment. For both, breach is a criminal offence punishable by a maximum of 5 years’ imprisonment

We are further strengthening the regime for managing registered sex offenders through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, and we continue to work with law enforcement agencies to ensure that the right powers are available for the authorities to tackle sexual crimes and bring perpetrators to justice.


Written Question
Members: Correspondence
Thursday 26th January 2023

Asked by: Kevin Foster (Conservative - Torbay)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2023 to Question 122475 on Members: Correspondence, if her Department will respond to unanswered correspondence of 5 December 2022 from the hon. Member for Torbay, reference KF22583.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The Home Office will respond shortly.


Written Question
Members: Correspondence
Wednesday 18th January 2023

Asked by: Kevin Foster (Conservative - Torbay)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2022 to Question 108259 on Members: Correspondence, when she plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Torbay of 5 December 2022.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The Home Office replied on 13 December 2022.


Written Question
Members: Correspondence
Monday 19th December 2022

Asked by: Kevin Foster (Conservative - Torbay)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Torbay of 5 December 2022.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The Home Office will reply by 5 January 2023.


Written Question
Domestic Abuse
Monday 1st April 2019

Asked by: Kevin Foster (Conservative - Torbay)

Question to the Home Office:

What steps he is taking to tackle domestic abuse.

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

This Government is committed to transforming the response to domestic abuse.

On 21 January 2019, we published a landmark draft Domestic Abuse Bill alongside a wide-ranging package of measures to protect and support victims.

We have also recently refreshed our Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy and published a position paper on Male Victims, demonstrating our commitment to tackle all forms of abuse.


Written Question
Counter-terrorism
Monday 16th July 2018

Asked by: Kevin Foster (Conservative - Torbay)

Question to the Home Office:

What steps he is taking to ensure that the UK's security services have the resources required to counter terrorism.

Answered by Sajid Javid

In 2015, the Government committed to spending more than £2 billion per year on counter-terrorism and investing 30% more over the Spending Review period, including £1.4 billion investment in new capabilities for the security and intelligence agencies.

In light of the changing threat picture set out in our strengthened and updated CONTEST strategy, we have also allocated an additional £50m funding to Counter-Terrorism Policing this year.


Written Question
Drugs: Crime
Monday 16th April 2018

Asked by: Kevin Foster (Conservative - Torbay)

Question to the Home Office:

Whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of measures to tackle the illegal trade in the drug commonly known as Spice.

Answered by Nick Hurd

The Government's approach to drugs is working. We are tracking the use of new psychoactive substances (which captures synthetic cannabinoids such as those in 'spice') though the annual Drug Misuse publication, which found that NPS use in England and Wales has fallen from 0.7 per cent in 2015/16 to 0.4 per cent in 2016/17. We recognise that some areas still have problems with synthetic cannabinoids and strongly support the multi-agency approach taken to tackle this.


Written Question
Synthetic Cannabinoids: Crime
Monday 16th April 2018

Asked by: Kevin Foster (Conservative - Torbay)

Question to the Home Office:

Whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of measures to tackle the illegal trade in the drug commonly known as Spice.

Answered by Nick Hurd

The Government's approach to drugs is working. We are tracking the use of new psychoactive substances (which captures synthetic cannabinoids such as those in 'spice') though the annual Drug Misuse publication, which found that NPS use in England and Wales has fallen from 0.7 per cent in 2015/16 to 0.4 per cent in 2016/17. We recognise that some areas still have problems with synthetic cannabinoids and strongly support the multi-agency approach taken to tackle this.


Written Question
Synthetic Cannabinoids: Misuse
Monday 29th January 2018

Asked by: Kevin Foster (Conservative - Torbay)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the appropriateness of the current classification of the drug commonly know as Spice as a class B substance; and if she will reclassify Spice as a class A substance.

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

The group of third generation synthetic cannabinoids, commonly referred to using the brand name ‘spice’, were controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 in December 2016. This followed recommendations from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs that their harms are commensurate with other class B drugs.

The Government has no plans to reclassify these synthetic cannabinoids at the present time, but we will continue to monitor their misuse.


Written Question
Passports
Monday 30th October 2017

Asked by: Kevin Foster (Conservative - Torbay)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what provisions she has put in place for people who grew up in care and are unable to provide a birth certificate when applying for a passport.

Answered by Brandon Lewis

Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HM Passport Office) needs to be satisfied with an applicant’s claim to nationality, identity and entitlement to issue a passport. The absence of a birth certificate in itself does not preclude the issue of a passport and applications are assessed on a case by case basis considering the information and alternative documents available.

Where no documentation is available, there is provision within the British Nationality legislation for a person to register as a British citizen, this will depend on the requirements for registration.

If the enquiry relates to a specific case, I would encourage my honourable friend from Torbay to write to HM Passport Office to discuss how the matter can be resolved.