Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, the number of passports handled by the Passport Office lost in the post each year since 2019.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The data held for documents lost in the possession of our providers of secure delivery services does not distinguish between newly issued passports and documents whcih were sent in support of an application.
The table below shows the number of passports and supporting documents that have been confirmed as lost in the possession of a provider of secure delivery services in the UK for each year from 2019:
Year | Confirmed Losses | Volume of consignments | Percentage of confirmed losses |
2019 | 168 | 7,548,768 | 0.002% |
2020 | 111 | 3,634,320 | 0.003% |
2021 (01/01/2021 – 31/10/2021) * | 312 | 5,260,013 | 0.006% |
*Confirmed losses for the whole of 2021 will be available from September 2022.
The data held for deliveries overseas are not broken down between those items reported as ‘lost’, and those that declared as ‘stolen’.
The table below shows the number of passports and supporting documents that have been confirmed as lost in the possession of a provider of secure delivery services overseas for each year from 2019:
Year | Loss and Theft | Volume of consignments | Percentage of loss and theft |
2019 | 103 | 1,007,981 | 0.01% |
2020 | 85 | 1,198,954 | 0.007% |
2021 | 157 | 856,742 | 0.019% |
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff have been employed at HM Passport Office in each year since 2015.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The table below shows the total full-time equivalent staff of Her Majesty’s Passport Office as of 31 March, for the years 2010–2022
Year | Full-time equivalent |
2015 | 4,376 |
2016 | 4,059 |
2017 | 3,879 |
2018 | 3,680 |
2019 | 3,620 |
2020 | 3,947 |
2021 | 3,704 |
2022 | *5,043 |
*Figures show as of 30 June 2022
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what financial support her Department is providing for Ukrainian refugees arriving in the UK through family visas.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Ukraine Family Scheme was set up to ensure family members were able to reunite with family fleeing Ukraine Ahead of the development of the Homes for Ukraine scheme It is based on family visa routes which existed before the Ukraine conflict, where public services are funded out of council budgets and the same principle is applied here. The UK-based family member is expected to provide support and accommodation for those coming to join them, who in turn benefit from the wider integration advantages in joining an existing family network.
Ukrainian nationals coming to the UK under the Ukraine Family Scheme are given access to work, benefits and public services as laid down in Appendix Ukraine to the Immigration Rules, details of which can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-ukraine-scheme
Homes for Ukraine on the other hand is a unique scheme which has been set up specifically to support those escaping the conflict in Ukraine who are not able to rely on UK based family support. The Government is providing additional funding to local authorities which includes resource to enable them to carry out sponsorship-specific functions such as safeguarding checks and property checks, administering payments, as well as providing support such as English language training to help their integration into communities.
We continue to keep the UK Government’s support under review and will adapt and develop the visa routes in place to ensure they keep pace with the situation in Ukraine.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of differential treatment on Ukrainian refugees arriving via the Homes for Ukraine scheme and those arriving through family visas.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Ukraine Family Scheme was set up to ensure family members were able to reunite with family fleeing Ukraine Ahead of the development of the Homes for Ukraine scheme It is based on family visa routes which existed before the Ukraine conflict, where public services are funded out of council budgets and the same principle is applied here. The UK-based family member is expected to provide support and accommodation for those coming to join them, who in turn benefit from the wider integration advantages in joining an existing family network.
Ukrainian nationals coming to the UK under the Ukraine Family Scheme are given access to work, benefits and public services as laid down in Appendix Ukraine to the Immigration Rules, details of which can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-ukraine-scheme
Homes for Ukraine on the other hand is a unique scheme which has been set up specifically to support those escaping the conflict in Ukraine who are not able to rely on UK based family support. The Government is providing additional funding to local authorities which includes resource to enable them to carry out sponsorship-specific functions such as safeguarding checks and property checks, administering payments, as well as providing support such as English language training to help their integration into communities.
We continue to keep the UK Government’s support under review and will adapt and develop the visa routes in place to ensure they keep pace with the situation in Ukraine.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of providing seasonal visas to address staff shortages in UK airports.
Answered by Kevin Foster
We note similar issues with recruitment are being reported at Airports within the EU and the USA, which indicate this would be an ineffective approach compared to focusing on other issues affecting recruitment in the sector, such as the pay and conditions offered to key workers.
Several roles in the aviation sector are already eligible to be recruited via the Skilled Worker visa.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure same sex partners can register as the mothers of their child on birth certificates.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Civil registration in the UK is a devolved matter and there are separate systems in place for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
In England and Wales, a birth entry records the name of the child’s mother and, where certain conditions can be met as set out in law, the name of a second female parent.
There are currently no plans in England and Wales to change how a mother, father or parent is recorded in birth entries or on birth certificates.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were charged with upskirting in each year since 2019.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home office publishes the number of charges resulting from the investigation of police recorded crime in the ‘Crime Outcomes statistics’.
The latest figures can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables
The offence of upskirting falls under the offence category 88E: Exposure and Voyeurism.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to help ensure the widespread provision of services for men experiencing domestic abuse.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Domestic abuse is a terrible crime and tackling it is a key commitment for this Government. Our landmark Domestic Abuse Act and Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan will provide further protections to the millions of people who experience domestic abuse, as well as strengthen measures to tackle perpetrators. The Plan commits over £230 million of funding to address four key areas to improve the response; Prioritising Prevention, Supporting Victims, Pursuing Perpetrators and creating a Stronger System. The Plan’s approach speaks to all victims of domestic abuse and will help and support all victims, including men.
The Government is committed to supporting all victims of domestic abuse regardless of gender and the statutory definition of domestic abuse introduced by the Act is gender neutral. Although male victims are included in the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, and Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan, the Government recognises that there can be some specific challenges that men and boys face in relation to domestic abuse.
In 2019 we published the first ever cross-Government Male Victims Position Statement, a dedicated statement to recognise the needs of male victims, and to clarify and strengthen our response to them. In March 2022 we published a refreshed version of this document which took into account the feedback from the recent Call for Evidence, recognising the additional challenges which can be faced by men and boys who are victims of these crimes.
The Government funds a range of organisations that provide specialist support to victims. From 2019-2022, the Government has allocated £168,000 a year for the Men’s Advice Line, the national helpline for male victims of domestic abuse, run by the charity Respect. This service offers advice and emotional support to male victims of domestic abuse and signposts to other vital services that help keep them, and their children, safe.
The Men’s Advice line is comprised of a confidential helpline, email and webchat service. In 2021, they handled over 10,000 calls, resulting in increased safety for male victims and their children. This is achieved through practical support including safety planning, accessing housing options and signposting to free legal advice as well as emotional and listening support. In addition to this amount, the Government provided a funding uplift in 2020/21 of a further £151,000 to support the continued running of the service during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021/22, the Government provided another uplift of £64,500 to fund additional activity.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many hate crime (a) allegations and (b) arrests were made in (i) 2016, (ii) 2017, (ii) 2018, (iii) 2019, (iv) 2020 and (v) 2021.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales. Information is not held on the number of hate crime allegations or arrests.
Information on the number of hate crime offences recorded by the police can be found in the Home Office statistical bulletin ‘Hate crime, England and Wales, 2020 to 2021’
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that her Department's policies on tackling child sexual abuse include sibling sexual abuse.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government is committed to tackling all forms of child sexual abuse, including intra-familial abuse.
We fund the Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse who have produced specific guidance on responding to sibling sexual abuse, and fund Rape Crisis England and Wales to provide support to victims and survivors of sibling sexual abuse.