Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data their Department holds on the (a) number and (b) total cost of replacing (i) laptops, (ii) mobile phones, (iii) memory sticks and (iv) external hard drives that have been (A) lost and (B) stolen in the last year.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Devices reported as Lost or Stolen in 2023:
The departmental security unit records and investigates each reported loss from the Department. If appropriate, the police are invited to undertake further inquiries. The Office of the Data Protection Officer will investigate any loss of data.
All devices reported lost or stolen are disabled and remotely wiped (should they appear online). Devices remain managed by Home Office systems so cannot be used.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help enable (a) ActionFraud and (b) other bodies to investigate fraudulent activity involving foreign bank accounts.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
We are providing over £30 million to the City of London Police to upgrade Action Fraud by 2024 using the latest technology to provide far greater intelligence to policing, allowing greater prevention and disruption at scale, including internationally.
We have launched a National Fraud Squad with 400 new posts across the National Crime Agency, City of London Police and specialist regional police units with links into the UK intelligence community. The NFS will tackle the most harmful fraudsters, including those linked to international criminal networks.
UK authorities continue to work with their international counterparts on a case-by-case basis to target criminals responsible for defrauding members of the public and businesses.
The Fraud Strategy sets out our ambition to drive global action on tackling fraud. We will build stronger partnerships with allies to improve our understanding of the threat, share best practice, build expertise and lead a coordinated global response.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish publish the National Centre for Social Research’s independent assessment of the second alternative to detention community engagement pilot delivered by the King’s Arms Project entitled the Refugee and Migrant Advice Service.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The National Centre for Social Research’s independent assessment of the second alternative to detention community engagement pilot delivered by the King’s Arms Project was published by the UNHCR on 23rd August 2023.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many skilled worker visa applications for roles in the manufacturing industry were made in each year between 2010 and 2023.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office publishes data on entry-clearance visas by industry in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on visa applications are published in table ‘Occ_D01’ of the sponsored work entry clearance visas by occupation and industry dataset.
The Home Office publishes data on entry-clearance visas by industry in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on visas issued are published in table ‘Occ_D02’ of the sponsored work entry clearance visas by occupation and industry dataset.
Selecting ‘manufacturing’ from the industry filter will output data on visa issued for roles in the manufacturing industry. Nationality, visa routes, and time frames can also be filtered. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates up to the end of June 2023.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many skilled worker visa applications for roles in the manufacturing industry were granted in each year between 2010 and 2023.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office publishes data on entry-clearance visas by industry in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on visa applications are published in table ‘Occ_D01’ of the sponsored work entry clearance visas by occupation and industry dataset.
The Home Office publishes data on entry-clearance visas by industry in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on visas issued are published in table ‘Occ_D02’ of the sponsored work entry clearance visas by occupation and industry dataset.
Selecting ‘manufacturing’ from the industry filter will output data on visa issued for roles in the manufacturing industry. Nationality, visa routes, and time frames can also be filtered. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates up to the end of June 2023.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to take steps to allow more au pairs to work in the UK.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
As has been the case since 2008, successive governments have decided the UK’s immigration system will not offer a dedicated visa route for au pairs.
There are other immigration routes which grant general work rights in the UK and can be used by those who may wish to take up au pair roles.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of classifying wildlife crime distinctly within crime statistics.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office already collects information on several wildlife offences recorded by the police in England and Wales which form part of the Notifiable Offence List (NOL) that forces are required to report to the Home Secretary. These are published on a quarterly basis by the Office for National Statistics. The latest data can be accessed in table A4 here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/crimeinenglandandwalesappendixtables
The NOL is generally restricted to those offences which are either triable either way (can be tried in Magistrates or Crown Courts) or indictable only (can only be tried in Crown Courts). Offences which are summary only (those that can only be tried in Magistrates Courts) do not form part of the NOL except for a very small number of violence against the person offences.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential effect of high-speed police pursuits on the number of road traffic fatalities.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has not assessed the potential effect of high-speed police pursuits on the number of road traffic fatalities.
However, the Department is in contact with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to understand what the police are doing to improve the safety of police pursuits.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which consultations published by their Department are awaiting a response; and when each of those responses (a) were initially planned to and (b) will be published.
Answered by Sarah Dines
Policy teams across the Home Office consult regularly during the policy development and implementation cycle.
Information is available on gov.uk on all open and closed consultations published by the Home Office including the closing date for open consultations and, where available, the Government's response.
The Cabinet Office has published best practice ‘consultation principles’ for government departments.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department spent on processing asylum claims in each of the last three years.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The number of asylum decision makers, the total cost of managing asylum operations and productivity is published in table ASY_04 in the quarterly immigration and protection data:
Immigration and protection data: Q4 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The number of asylum applications in each year from 2001 – 2022 can be found in the ASY_D01 Tab of the published asylum and resettlement data table:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-december-2022/list-of-tables#asylum-and-resettlement
The asylum system has been under mounting pressure for several years and we are taking immediate action to accelerate decision-making and streamline processes. We have already doubled our decision makers over the last 2 years, and we are continuing to recruit more.