Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will consider the potential merits of implementing a method for members of the public to report directly and anonymously suspected child exploitation.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
Since 2019, The Home Office has provided £3.9m to the Children’s Society’s Prevention Programme, which drives targeted action to respond to exploitation. The programme has reached over 56,000 people and works with 35 police force areas on the #LookCloser campaign delivered in partnership between The Children’s Society, the National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC) and the British Transport Police (BTP). The #LookCloser campaign’s focus is on improving public and business sector awareness of exploitation and abuse, and everyone’s role in spotting and reporting concerns.
The Government is also acting quickly to implement mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse in England, which introduces a new legal requirement for those in roles with responsibility for children to speak out when a child is being sexually abused. Following the conclusion of a call for evidence over the Summer, and a public consultation, the Government announced it will introduce mandatory reporting via amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill. The Government has listened to the voices of victims and survivors and will deliver deep-rooted change to ensure children are never again so badly let down by the very institutions that should have protected them.
If anyone has any concerns that a child is being exploited, the government strongly encourages them to report those concerns to the police or to contact the children’s social care team at their local council. Members of the public can also contact the independent charity Crimestoppers, NSPCC Helpline or ChildLine to discuss their concerns and get confidential advice.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps members of the public can take to report suspected cases of child exploitation.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
Since 2019, The Home Office has provided £3.9m to the Children’s Society’s Prevention Programme, which drives targeted action to respond to exploitation. The programme has reached over 56,000 people and works with 35 police force areas on the #LookCloser campaign delivered in partnership between The Children’s Society, the National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC) and the British Transport Police (BTP). The #LookCloser campaign’s focus is on improving public and business sector awareness of exploitation and abuse, and everyone’s role in spotting and reporting concerns.
The Government is also acting quickly to implement mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse in England, which introduces a new legal requirement for those in roles with responsibility for children to speak out when a child is being sexually abused. Following the conclusion of a call for evidence over the Summer, and a public consultation, the Government announced it will introduce mandatory reporting via amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill. The Government has listened to the voices of victims and survivors and will deliver deep-rooted change to ensure children are never again so badly let down by the very institutions that should have protected them.
If anyone has any concerns that a child is being exploited, the government strongly encourages them to report those concerns to the police or to contact the children’s social care team at their local council. Members of the public can also contact the independent charity Crimestoppers, NSPCC Helpline or ChildLine to discuss their concerns and get confidential advice.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2024 to Questions 8423 and 8424 on Asylum: Children, for what reason his Department is unable to provide the figures requested.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The specific data requested cannot be provided as it comes from live operational databases that have not been quality assured. Additionally, the Home Office does not hold the requested data in a reportable format.
There are currently no unaccompanied children in hotels. Of the 7 hotels which were operational in 2022, 6 of those were closed permanently on 30 November 2023 and the last remaining hotel will close on 31 January 2024.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied children seeking asylum were placed in hotel accommodation by the Home Office in the last three months, broken down by number of nights spent in that accomodation.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The High Court has upheld that local authorities have a statutory duty to care for UASC. We have always maintained that the best place for unaccompanied children to be accommodated is within a local authority. The High Court recently noted that improvements, plus impressive collaboration between the Home Office and Kent County Council, has led to a significant fall in the number of lone children being accommodated in hotels.
Since 18 November 2023, the one remaining hotel in Kent has remained empty. Of the 7 hotels which were operational in 2022, 6 of those were closed permanently on 30 November 2023.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied children seeking asylum have spent at least one night in hotel accommodation provided by the Home Office in the last 3 months.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The High Court has upheld that local authorities have a statutory duty to care for UASC. We have always maintained that the best place for unaccompanied children to be accommodated is within a local authority. The High Court recently noted that improvements, plus impressive collaboration between the Home Office and Kent County Council, has led to a significant fall in the number of lone children being accommodated in hotels.
Since 18 November 2023, the one remaining hotel in Kent has remained empty. Of the 7 hotels which were operational in 2022, 6 of those were closed permanently on 30 November 2023.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign criminals have been extradited to the UK in each of the last five years.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The Home Office deals with extradition requests to and from territories outside of the European Union. The National Crime Agency holds the data in relation to requests between the UK and EU countries.
In respect of extraditions dealt with by the Home Office, the following table provides the information sought:
Year | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 (to date) |
No. of foreign nationals | 17 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 4 |
The Home Office processes requests for extradition for individuals who have either been convicted or who are accused of a crime but have yet to proceed through a criminal trial.
All Home Office figures are from local management information and have not been quality assured to the level of published National Statistics. As such, they should be treated as provisional and therefore subject to change.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made assessment of the potential impact of accommodating additional asylum seekers on an accommodation barge in Teesside on (a) hospitals, (b) GPs, (c) dentists and (d) other local services.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide accommodation and other support to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute while their application for asylum is being considered.
We do not publicly comment on individual sites which may or may not be utilised. When a site becomes available and meets the requirements of our accommodation contract, we will follow our engagement process and notify local authority officials and other stakeholders in advance of using the location.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether exiting statutory powers are in place to direct the Tees Port Authority to site an accommodation barge on the River Tees.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide accommodation and other support to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute while their application for asylum is being considered.
We do not publicly comment on individual sites which may or may not be utilised. When a site becomes available and meets the requirements of our accommodation contract, we will follow our engagement process and notify local authority officials and other stakeholders in advance of using the location.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is her Department's policy to site an accommodation barge on the River Tees to accommodate asylum seekers.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide accommodation and other support to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute while their application for asylum is being considered.
We do not publicly comment on individual sites which may or may not be utilised. When a site becomes available and meets the requirements of our accommodation contract, we will follow our engagement process and notify local authority officials and other stakeholders in advance of using the location.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle transphobic hate crime.
Answered by Sarah Dines
The Government takes all forms of hate crime seriously. We expect the police to investigate these hateful attacks and make sure the cowards who commit them feel the full force of the law.
We also welcome the apparent greater willingness to report hate crimes to the police and that the police are better at identifying them. That helps to explain the increase seen in hate crime.
Our absolute priority is to get more police into our streets, cut crime, protect the public and bring more criminals to justice. We are supporting police by providing them with the resources they need. This has included the recruitment of 20,000 extra police officers.
The Government has also worked with the police to fund True Vision, an online hate crime reporting portal, designed so that victims of hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report. The Government also funds the National Online Hate Crime Hub, a central capability designed to support individual local police forces in dealing with online hate crime. The Hub provides expert advice to police forces to support them in investigating these offences.