Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential merits on exempting children in a joint custody arrangement with one parent overseas from self-isolating for 14 days after arriving back in the UK.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Where children travel into the UK and need to move between parents’ UK homes as part of a shared custody agreement, this is permitted as long as they continue to self-isolate.
In all other cases everyone bar a short list of exempted people arriving into the UK should self-isolate in their accommodation for 14 days.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of domestic fires in the private rented sector in England that have occurred as a result of (a) smoking and (b) electrical fires since 2015.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Home Office does not collect this information. Data on electrical fires and those caused by smoking are available in tables 6.02 and 6.05 here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fire-statistics-data-tables#cause-of-fire but we do not collect information on the tenure of the property in which the fire took place.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to support convenience retailers in Denton and Reddish that have lost an estimated £123,303 from shop theft; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
All forms of retail crime are unacceptable, and everyone has the right to feel safe at work.
I chair the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) which brings together partners including the police, trade bodies – including the Association of Convenience Stores - and retailers and is overseeing a range of work to tackle retail crime. This includes the collation and dissemination of good practice and developing guidance on the use of Impact Statements for Business, which give victims of business crime the opportunity to set out the impact the crime has had on the business, including, for example, financial loss. The NRCSG also continues to work with retailers to improve the management and response to shop theft using a partnership approach according to local circumstances.
On 21 January I announced that we will launch a call for evidence on violence and abuse towards shop workers to strengthen our understanding of this issue, including how existing legislation is being applied.
In addition, the Sentencing Council is due to consult on a revised guideline on assault in the summer.
Where shop theft involves anti-social behaviour, local areas may use the tools provided for by the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. Where appropriate, this may include the Community Remedy, which gives victims of low-level crime and anti-social behaviour a say in the punishment of perpetrators who receive an out of court punishment, and the Community Trigger, which gives victims of persistent anti-social behaviour the ability to request a formal case review.
The powers are deliberately local in nature, and it is for local agencies to determine whether their use is appropriate in the circumstances. The Home Office keeps use of the powers under review through an Anti-social Behaviour Strategic Board which brings together key partners.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the Association of Convenience Stores Crime Report 2019; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
All forms of retail crime are unacceptable, and everyone has the right to feel safe at work.
I chair the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) which brings together partners including the police, trade bodies – including the Association of Convenience Stores - and retailers and is overseeing a range of work to tackle retail crime. This includes the collation and dissemination of good practice and developing guidance on the use of Impact Statements for Business, which give victims of business crime the opportunity to set out the impact the crime has had on the business, including, for example, financial loss. The NRCSG also continues to work with retailers to improve the management and response to shop theft using a partnership approach according to local circumstances.
On 21 January I announced that we will launch a call for evidence on violence and abuse towards shop workers to strengthen our understanding of this issue, including how existing legislation is being applied.
In addition, the Sentencing Council is due to consult on a revised guideline on assault in the summer.
Where shop theft involves anti-social behaviour, local areas may use the tools provided for by the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. Where appropriate, this may include the Community Remedy, which gives victims of low-level crime and anti-social behaviour a say in the punishment of perpetrators who receive an out of court punishment, and the Community Trigger, which gives victims of persistent anti-social behaviour the ability to request a formal case review.
The powers are deliberately local in nature, and it is for local agencies to determine whether their use is appropriate in the circumstances. The Home Office keeps use of the powers under review through an Anti-social Behaviour Strategic Board which brings together key partners.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to tackle (a) retail crime and (b) violence against shop workers; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
All forms of retail crime are unacceptable, and everyone has the right to feel safe at work.
I chair the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) which brings together partners including the police, trade bodies – including the Association of Convenience Stores - and retailers and is overseeing a range of work to tackle retail crime. This includes the collation and dissemination of good practice and developing guidance on the use of Impact Statements for Business, which give victims of business crime the opportunity to set out the impact the crime has had on the business, including, for example, financial loss. The NRCSG also continues to work with retailers to improve the management and response to shop theft using a partnership approach according to local circumstances.
On 21 January I announced that we will launch a call for evidence on violence and abuse towards shop workers to strengthen our understanding of this issue, including how existing legislation is being applied.
In addition, the Sentencing Council is due to consult on a revised guideline on assault in the summer.
Where shop theft involves anti-social behaviour, local areas may use the tools provided for by the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. Where appropriate, this may include the Community Remedy, which gives victims of low-level crime and anti-social behaviour a say in the punishment of perpetrators who receive an out of court punishment, and the Community Trigger, which gives victims of persistent anti-social behaviour the ability to request a formal case review.
The powers are deliberately local in nature, and it is for local agencies to determine whether their use is appropriate in the circumstances. The Home Office keeps use of the powers under review through an Anti-social Behaviour Strategic Board which brings together key partners.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to continue to allocate funding to the National Business Crime Centre; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Ministers are yet to take a decision regarding the award of allocations from the Police Transformation Fund for 2019/2020.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of using (a) the community trigger, (b) the community remedy and (c) other provisions under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 to tackle shop theft; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
All forms of retail crime are unacceptable, and everyone has the right to feel safe at work.
I chair the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) which brings together partners including the police, trade bodies – including the Association of Convenience Stores - and retailers and is overseeing a range of work to tackle retail crime. This includes the collation and dissemination of good practice and developing guidance on the use of Impact Statements for Business, which give victims of business crime the opportunity to set out the impact the crime has had on the business, including, for example, financial loss. The NRCSG also continues to work with retailers to improve the management and response to shop theft using a partnership approach according to local circumstances.
On 21 January I announced that we will launch a call for evidence on violence and abuse towards shop workers to strengthen our understanding of this issue, including how existing legislation is being applied.
In addition, the Sentencing Council is due to consult on a revised guideline on assault in the summer.
Where shop theft involves anti-social behaviour, local areas may use the tools provided for by the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. Where appropriate, this may include the Community Remedy, which gives victims of low-level crime and anti-social behaviour a say in the punishment of perpetrators who receive an out of court punishment, and the Community Trigger, which gives victims of persistent anti-social behaviour the ability to request a formal case review.
The powers are deliberately local in nature, and it is for local agencies to determine whether their use is appropriate in the circumstances. The Home Office keeps use of the powers under review through an Anti-social Behaviour Strategic Board which brings together key partners.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to support convenience retailers in Denton and Reddish that have lost an estimated £123,303 in the last 12 months due to shop theft; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
I chair the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) which brings together partners including the police, trade bodies and retailers and is overseeing a range of work to tackle retail crime.
This includes the collation and dissemination of good practice and developing guidance on the use of Impact Statements for Business, which give victims of business crime the opportunity to set out the impact the crime has had on the business, including, for example, financial loss. The NRCSG also continues to work with retailers to improve the management and response to shop theft using a partnership approach.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has plans to abolish the NHS surcharge for non-EU citizens who pay National Insurance contributions.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
There are no plans to abolish the NHS surcharge for non-EU citizens who pay National Insurance contributions. The surcharge is intended to represent a fair and proportionate financial contribution to the NHS by migrants, corresponding with their temporary immigration status
Temporary migrants will not have built up the long-term relationship and contribution to the UK that a permanent resident has built up, and will build up, over the course of their lifetime.
It is, therefore, the migrant’s immigra-tion status that determines whether they pay the surcharge, not their tax contributions or their profession. The Government recognises, however, that temporary migrants contribute to the UK economy in a number of ways, including paying income tax and national insurance; these contributions are reflected in the surcharge levels, which are below the average per capi-ta cost to the NHS of treating temporary migrants.
The Immigration Health Charge does not apply to migrants granted indefinite leave to remain; those granted this status qualify for free NHS care if they are properly settled in the UK.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2018 to Question 188021 on Places of Worship Security Funding Scheme, how many officials of his Department have been involved in visiting religious buildings.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Over the three years of the Places of Worship Security Funding Scheme, more than ten Home Office officials have visited religious buildings across the 3 years’ it has been running, alongside visits by Community Coordina-tors funded by the Department, and faith representatives. Officials from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG), have been involved with meetings of the Sikh Roundtable and the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group, where the POW scheme has been promoted or discussed.
The names of the places of religious worship visited by officials in relation to the Places of Worship scheme are exempt from release under Section 38(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, on the grounds of the en-dangerment of the safety of individuals. However, officials have discussed the scheme at meetings of the Sikh Roundtable, the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group, and Independent Advisory Group on Hate Crime. The Min-ister for Faith, Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, was present to discuss the scheme at the Sikh Roundtable in July 2018.