Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will publish a revised impact assessment for Electronic Travel Authorisation to include an assessment of the impact of that scheme on airside transit passengers.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Electronic Travel Authorisations deliver important security benefits. A blanket exemption to the ETA requirement for passengers transiting airside would fundamentally undermine the rationale of the scheme by creating a permission free route of travel into the UK which would be open to abuse.
We will keep our position under review to monitor the impact on transit as the scheme is rolled out.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the potential impact of the introduction of Electronic Travel Authorisation on transit passenger volumes.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Electronic Travel Authorisations deliver important security benefits. A blanket exemption to the ETA requirement for passengers transiting airside would fundamentally undermine the rationale of the scheme by creating a permission free route of travel into the UK which would be open to abuse.
The process for obtaining an ETA is quick and light touch, and the cost (£10 per application) is minimal compared to the overall cost of international travel. An ETA will be valid for two years, or until the expiry of the passport used to apply, and can be used for multiple trips during this period.
We will keep our position under review to monitor the impact on transit as the scheme is rolled out.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will reconsider the requirement for airside transit passengers to obtain an Electronic Travel Authorisation to travel through UK airports.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Electronic Travel Authorisations deliver important security benefits. A blanket exemption to the ETA requirement for passengers transiting airside would fundamentally undermine the rationale of the scheme by creating a permission free route of travel into the UK which would be open to abuse.
The process for obtaining an ETA is quick and light touch, and the cost (£10 per application) is minimal compared to the overall cost of international travel. An ETA will be valid for two years, or until the expiry of the passport used to apply, and can be used for multiple trips during this period.
We will keep our position under review to monitor the impact on transit as the scheme is rolled out.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the level of activity of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the UK.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
While we do not routinely comment on the detail of operational or intelligence matters, the UK will always stand up to threats from foreign nations.
The UK Government has long been clear about our concerns over the malign activity of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and we will continue to hold Iran and the IRGC to account. The UK has sanctioned the IRGC in its entirety and on the 29th January 2024 the UK and US announced new sanctions to tackle the domestic threat posed by the Iranian regime. The UK sanctioned 7 individuals and 1 organisation, including senior Iranian officials and members of organised criminal gangs who collaborate with the regime, in order to expose and disrupt Iran’s activities in the UK and overseas.
We continually assess potential threats in the UK and use all tools at our disposal to protect the UK and our interests from Iran-linked threats.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make it his policy to extend section 128 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 so that it applies to the environs and up to 500m of the curtilage of hon. Members' residential properties.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has been clear that for democracy to be conducted properly, those who participate must feel safe to express their views, and the views of their constituents, without fear of harm.
The right to peaceful protest is fundamental, but this right does not extend to behaviour which causes harassment, alarm or distress to individuals in their own home.
The police have a wide range of powers to tackle those who seek to cause harassment, alarm and distress by protesting outside MPs homes. This includes, but is not limited to, the power to direct individuals away from the vicinity of the property if they are present for the purpose of persuading someone not to do something within their rights or obligations, or to do something they are not obliged to do. The police can issue any direction as is necessary to prevent harassment, alarm or distress to the resident.
It is also unlawful for any person to trespass on another person’s property, and aggravated trespass is a criminal offence.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he has taken to tackle modern slavery in Hendon constituency in the last 12 months.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The UK response is underpinned by the Modern Slavery Strategy 2014 and the Modern Slavery Act 2015, which has given law enforcement agencies the tools to tackle modern slavery, including maximum life sentences for perpetrators and enhanced protection for victims.
In addition to core police funding, since 2016 we have invested £17.8 million in the Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime Unit - a specialist police unit which supports all police forces in England and Wales, including the Metropolitan Police Service, to improve their response to modern slavery by increasing forces’ capability to identify and prosecute modern slavery crimes.
The Metropolitan Police Service also operates a dedicated Modern Slavery and Child Exploitation Team staffed by specialist officers, which plays a vital role in tackling modern slavery across London.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many raids were carried out by Border Force in (a) the UK, (b) Greater London and (c) Hendon constituency in the last 12 months.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
Immigration have carried out the following intelligence led enforcement visits from 01/10/2022 to 30/09/2023 to:
The UK – 13,032
Greater London – 3,100
Hendon constituency - 92
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much his Department spent on equality, diversity and inclusion (a) events and (b) training in the last 12 months.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is auditing the cost-effectiveness of all equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) activities, through the review of EDI spending announced last June.
As stated in the Autumn Statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Minister for Cabinet Office will be outlining the final proposals in response to the review in due course.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of fixed speed enforcement cameras in (a) the UK, (b) England and (c) Greater London.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not centrally collect data on the number of fixed speed enforcement cameras in the UK.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum hostels were operating in Hendon constituency; and how many have subsequently lost such status in the last five years.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Data on the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated in each local authority area and the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation (including in contingency hotels and other contingency accommodation) is published in table Asy_D11 here: Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).