Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the nationality is of illegal migrants returned to EU countries in (a) 2019 and (b) 2020 to date.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on returns in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’.
Data on the number of returns and by nationality to EU Member States are published in table Det_D01 of the returns detailed datasets. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to the year ending June 2020.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Providing the information requested on the number of those where removal did not proceed and the costs in each case would require a manual check of individual records which could only be done at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance the Government has issued to registrars on the consistency of charges for performing civil partnership proceedings; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The fee for a statutory civil partnership formation is set in line with the fee for a statutory marriage ceremony, and is prescribed in the Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Fees) Regulations 2016.
Local authorities are required to offer a statutory civil partnership, where this fee will apply.
Local authorities may otherwise charge an additional fee for the civil partnership registrar’s attendance on approved premises. Guidance issued to local authorities sets out this additional fee should cover the cost of providing the service.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many inquiries into leaks of confidential Departmental information her Department has carried out in each of the last five years.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The leak of any Government information or material is not acceptable and the Government takes such incidents very seriously.
It has been the policy of successive Governments not to comment on security matters other than in exceptional circumstances.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Home Office:
What discussions she has had with the Independent Office for Police Conduct on recent reports into the handling of Operation Midland.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The failings of the Metropolitan Police Service in Operation Midland had devastating consequences for those falsely accused and also risked damaging the confidence of the public.
That is why the Home Secretary requested, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services conduct an inspection of the Metropolitan Police Service to ensure lessons have been learned.
We will continue to seek assurances from the Metropolitan Police that policy and practice is being changed so the failures are not repeated.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish proposals for continuing the family reunification scheme after the transition period; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
At the end of the Transition Period, the UK will no longer be bound by the Dublin Regulation. Any Dublin family reunion cases, which have entered the system prior to completion day will continue to be processed.
The Government provides a safe and legal route to bring families together through its refugee family reunion policy under the Immigration Rules. This allows a partner and children under 18 of those granted protection in the UK to join them here, if they formed part of the family unit before the sponsor fled their country. This will not change at the end of the Transition Period.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what basis Sussex Police has instituted a mandatory requirement for anyone applying for the grant or renewal of a shotgun, firearm or explosives certificate from 1 January 2020 onwards to have their medical declaration information verified by their GP confirming that they do not suffer from any relevant medical conditions; and what guidance her Department has published on that requirement.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The police are responsible for assessing the suitability of those applying for the grant or renewal of firearm, shotgun and some explosives licences, to ensure that they do not pose a danger to public safety. Consideration of an applicant’s medical suitability is part of the assessment.
The Government consulted last year on the introduction of new statutory guidance to the police on their firearms licensing functions. The consultation included proposals for revised medical arrangements to ensure a more consistent approach in which forces do not grant a licence without sight of medical information from the applicant’s GP. We will publish the statutory guidance in due course following consideration of the responses to the consultation.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of disabled recreational target shooters that have given up their licence since the introduction of restrictions on the use of firearms.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Statistics on the number of firearm and shotgun certificates on issue are published annually but they do not identify whether a certificate holder is disabled or where a certificate is voluntarily given up by the holder.
Firearms controls in this country are among the toughest in the world. They are kept under review and strengthened whenever necessary to protect the public from the misuse of firearms. For example, the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 recently banned the manufacture and sale of rapid-firing rifles, owing to the serious threat they present should they fall into the hands of criminals or terrorists. Possession of such rifles will be banned following a surrender and compensation scheme later this year.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the timescale is for the new arrangements to register mothers' names on marriage records under the terms of the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration Etc.) Act 2019 to come into effect.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
The General Register Office (GRO) is currently working on the secondary legislation, IT systems and administrative processes that are required to implement the marriage schedule system. An implementation timescale will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proposals she plans to bring forward under the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration Etc.) Act 2019 on the (a) method and (b) timetable for a new married couple to lodge a marriage schedule; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
The detailed processes are under development and will be confirmed when a timescale for implementation is announced.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when new guidance for the operation of Police Information Notices will be issued.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for Stalking and Harassment, Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills, and the College of Policing, wrote to Chief Constables in April 2019 recommending that all police forces in England and Wales stop using Police Information Notices (PINs) with immediate effect. An evaluation of any gap created by this policy decision will be conducted in May 2020.
Following a recommendation from the Independent Office for Police Conduct in September 2019, DCC Mills wrote to all Chief Constables again, inviting them, if they had not done so before, to consider withdrawing PINs within their policing area with immediate effect. He also asked them, once PINs had been withdrawn, to satisfy themselves that PINs or their equivalent were not still being used by officers when responding to stalking and harassment offences.
As they are non-legislative tools, the Home Office does not collect information centrally on the number of PINs issued. Responsibility for the publication of information by a police force sits with the Chief Constable.