Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department's policies of alleged traces of uranium being sent to Iranian-registered businesses in the UK.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
Cyclamen is the UK’s radiological and nuclear detection capability deployed at UK ports of entry, targeted for the illicit movement of radioactive materials. It is one element of the Government's strategy to reduce the threat of terrorist attack.
As outlined in the updated CONTEST strategy, published on 18 July 2023, we are investing in specialist capabilities, to protect the UK from a range of threats including chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear.
This includes enhancing our existing Cyclamen radiological and nuclear border detection capability, upgrading our inland radiological and nuclear detection equipment and ensuring our emergency services have the capability they need to effectively respond to the malicious use of radiological or nuclear materials.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to introduce voice recognition call lines in the asylum system for claimants to receive real time updates on their applications.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office is developing a portal which will enable asylum seekers to access real time updates on their case. Voice recognition technology is not currently being explored as part of these plans.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing all asylum seekers to work.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Asylum seekers can work in the UK in occupations from the Shortage Occupation List if their claim has been outstanding for 12 months or more, through no fault of their own.
Asylum seekers can volunteer, so long as it does not amount to unpaid work. There are safe & legal routes to work in the UK under the Points Based System.
- The Home Office deployed over 300 immigration officers on a record breaking 140 enforcement visits in one day, resulting in 95 arrests.
- In the first quarter of 2023, Immigration Enforcement teams delivered 1,303 enforcement visits, a 57% increase on the same period last year
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the administration cost to her Department for each Electronic Travel Authorisation application.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
On 6 June, I set in a Written Ministerial Statement (https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2023-06-06/hcws821(opens in a new tab)), that the proposed fee for an ETA application is £10.00. This is set at a level that will cover the costs of administering the system and is competitive compared with similar international schemes by international partners.
It is the government’s policy that those who use and benefit most from the immigration system should contribute towards the cost of operating the system, reducing the burden on the UK taxpayer.
The estimated cost of administering each ETA application will be published when the ETA fee is formally set in the Immigration and Nationality Fees Regulations in Autumn 2023.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent trends in recorded crimes her Department has identified.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The best measure of trends in crime experienced by the general public is the Crime Survey for England and Wales as this is unaffected by changes in police recording practices, police activity or the propensity of victims to report to the police.
The latest statistics published by the Office for National Statistics show violent crime and neighbourhood crime is down 41% and 51% respectively since 2010.
Overall crime, (excluding fraud and computer misuse which was only added to the Crime Survey in 2016,) has fallen by 52% over that same period.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an estimate of how many Fixed Penalty Notices each police service has issued for contraventions on 20mph speed limits in each of the last five years.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes information on fixed penalty notices issued and other outcomes for motoring offences, including speed limit offences, for each police force in England and Wales.
This information is published as part of the Home Office’s annual 'Other PACE Powers' bulletin and can be found in table FPN_03 of the data tables.
More granular information relating to the speed limit contravened is not centrally collected by the Home Office.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum applicants who illegally entered the UK were subsequently identified as having past terrorist links.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The Home Secretary and law enforcement colleagues have robust powers available to manage any threat illegal entrants may pose, which will include removal where possible and appropriate.
All asylum claimants are subject to mandatory security checks against their claimed identity. This is critical to the delivery of a safe and secure immigration system. We are working to strengthen ties with international partners to make vital intelligence sharing more seamless.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to accept the recommendations made by Alexander Downer in his review of Border Force, published in July 2022.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Secretary welcomed the report and recommendations of Alexander Downer’s review of Border Force when published in July 2022. A broad programme of activity is now underway to ensure Border Force continues to fulfil its role effectively, and Ministers are being kept informed of progress.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to broaden eligibility of ePassport gates to include (a) children aged 10 and 11, (b) travellers with Electronic Travel Authorisation and (c) visa holders.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The government has set out its ambitious vision for the future border, in which the majority of passengers will experience an e-gate style arrival.
We are encouraged by the success of the recent trial involving 10- and 11-year-old children at three major airports and will shortly make a decision on whether to adopt the younger age limit more widely.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to help ensure airports have sufficient Border Force resources ahead of the Easter and Summer holiday periods.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Border Force’s number one priority is to keep our borders safe and secure for all passengers, and we will not compromise on this.
We are working closely with all UK ports and airports to ensure passengers have the smoothest possible journey.
Border Force have robust plans in place to deploy officers flexibly to support passenger flow and to help minimise wait times and queues at the UK border.