Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many posts there are for (a) press, (b) media and (c) other communications staff in his Department; and what the salary band is for each post.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office press and media team is made up of 30 employees. Roles range from grades HEO to G6 which have salary bands between £34,350 and £80,520.
This figure is for Home Office central communication directorate who work solely on press and media.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to help increase public trust in the Metropolitan Police.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office and police leaders are delivering a series of measures to improve police standards and culture. These include forthcoming changes to regulations to strengthen the police vetting process and police discipline system. These changes will make it easier for the Commissioner to remove officers who do not meet the standards expected of them by Londoners.
The Government welcomes the commitment made within the Metropolitan Police’s New Met for London plan which seeks to understand the diverse needs of Londoners and address recommendations which HMICFRS have highlighted. This must ultimately include cutting crime and rebuilding trust with communities where the Metropolitan police has committed to putting more officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) into local neighbourhoods.
The Mayor of London is ultimately responsible for overseeing the work of the Metropolitan Police Service and holding the Met Commissioner to account for delivering a professional, efficient and effective service to Londoners.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had discussions with the Metropolitan Police on seeking evidence of war crimes committed in Israel on 7 October 2023.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) has national responsibility in the UK for investigating war crimes and crimes against humanity and this is carried out by the War Crimes Team (WCT). There is an ongoing operation to identify, capture and triage evidence in support of investigations by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and other relevant jurisdictions regarding possible war crimes, crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine since 21st November 2013. The Home Secretary regularly discusses priority security issues with CTP, including War Crimes investigations relating to the war in Ukraine [most recently in January 2024].
To gather evidence of war crimes, the Metropolitan Police SO15 War Crimes Team has worked with Ukrainian Community Groups in the UK, completing a number of appeals for witnesses through traditional and digital media platforms. The UK has embedded a dedicated Met Police liaison officer in The Hague to facilitate information sharing from the UK to the ICC.
The Home Office continues to support the work of the International Criminal Court to ensure allegations of war crimes are fully and fairly investigated, by independent, effective and robust legal mechanisms.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had recent discussions with the Metropolitan Police on their role in gathering of evidence of war crimes in Ukraine.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) has national responsibility in the UK for investigating war crimes and crimes against humanity and this is carried out by the War Crimes Team (WCT). There is an ongoing operation to identify, capture and triage evidence in support of investigations by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and other relevant jurisdictions regarding possible war crimes, crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine since 21st November 2013. The Home Secretary regularly discusses priority security issues with CTP, including War Crimes investigations relating to the war in Ukraine [most recently in January 2024].
To gather evidence of war crimes, the Metropolitan Police SO15 War Crimes Team has worked with Ukrainian Community Groups in the UK, completing a number of appeals for witnesses through traditional and digital media platforms. The UK has embedded a dedicated Met Police liaison officer in The Hague to facilitate information sharing from the UK to the ICC.
The Home Office continues to support the work of the International Criminal Court to ensure allegations of war crimes are fully and fairly investigated, by independent, effective and robust legal mechanisms.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what targets his Department has set to help achieve the Government's commitments on net zero.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government set out how we would meet our commitments in the Net Zero Strategy in 2021 which included a detailed breakdown of actions required across all sectors in the economy. This was updated in 2023 through the publication of 'Powering Up Britain'.
The UK has halved its emissions, ahead of every other major economy, and we have grown our economy by over 70% since 1990. The UK over-achieved against the first and second carbon budgets, and the latest projections show that we are on track to meet the third.
We have one of the most ambitious decarbonisation targets in the world, and we have set more stretching targets for 2030 than most countries. We plan to cut emissions by 68% by 2030, which is more than the EU, Japan or the United States.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to reply to the letter of the hon. Member for Hendon, dated 25 October 2023.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
An answer will be provided by the Minister of State for Security in due course.
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 require that all asylum seekers must have a personal interview as part of the application process.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The criteria for when a substantive asylum interview can be omitted are contained in Paragraph 339NA of the Immigration Rules and include cases where we are able to take a positive decision on the basis of evidence available, or if the claimant is unfit or unable to be interviewed owing to enduring circumstances beyond their control. All asylum claimants are subject to a screening interview and mandatory security checks to confirm their identity and to link it to their biometric details for the purpose of immigration, security and criminality checks. These checks are critical to the delivery of a safe and secure immigration system.
The Home Office currently assesses it appropriate to generally omit personal interviews from nationals of Afghanistan, Eritrea, Libya, Syria and Yemen, as well as from Sudan, specifically in relation to claims made on or after 28th June 2022, where sufficient evidence is available to confirm nationality and there are no other factors that would mean a personal interview was required, for example security or criminality concerns. Instead, an asylum questionnaire is provided to claimants to allow them to explain why they require protection status in the UK. Where further information is required after the questionnaire is returned, we will, where possible, conduct a targeted or shorter interview to obtain the necessary information from the claimant as quickly as possible.
Omitting personal interviews is not limited to the nationalities noted and can be done in-line with paragraph 339NA of the Immigration Rules on a case-by-case basis.
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 refuse multiple asylum applications when the initial application has been refused.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The Government values our longstanding and effective cooperation with European allies on shared counter terrorism objectives, including tackling the threat posed by Hamas and from other terrorist organisations.
HMG continues to work closely with our international partners on issues of national security including through engagement by ministers and senior officials with their international counterparts to strengthen our collective response to the threats we face.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many employment tribunals were brought by employees of their Department in the last 12 months.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Details of all employment tribunal decision outcomes are available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/employment-tribunal-decisions
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the potential role of foreign state actors in pro-Palestinian protests in London.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
Whilst we do not routinely comment on operational or intelligence matters, any potential national security threats to the UK are continually assessed and where there are concerns, these are thoroughly investigated, and action taken where necessary and proportionate.
The management of protests, including the resourcing, is an operational matter for the police.