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Written Question
Asylum: Rwanda
Wednesday 24th January 2024

Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will have discussions with the Leader of the House on ensuring parliamentary time to (a) debate and (b) vote on the Government’s treaty with Rwanda within the timeframe outlined in the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The Government places great importance in providing opportunity for parliamentary scrutiny. We have sought to provide this opportunity during various parliamentary activity, but most notably as part of the passage of the Bill which is intrinsically linked and gives legal effect to the treaty. Most recently, we have had the two days of Commons Committee stage (Tuesday 16 and Wednesday 17 January) on the floor of House, allowing members to scrutinise this policy. We look forward to debating all aspects of the Bill as it is scrutinised by both Houses.


Written Question
Bicycles and Electric Scooters: Fire Prevention
Wednesday 13th December 2023

Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent fires caused by (a) e-bikes, (b) conversion kits and (c) e-scooters.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office is promoting fire safety messages, through its Fire Kills campaign, to educate consumers on safe charging and storage of e-bikes and e-scooters in the home and to recommend that only professionals carry out conversions.

The advice, also published on FireEngland.uk, supports that issued by London Fire Brigade’s #ChargeSafe campaign. The Home Office has made these materials available to fire and rescue services to use in their local fire prevention activity.


Written Question
Fraud
Thursday 20th July 2023

Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Fraud Strategy: stopping scams and protecting the public, published in May 2023, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of appointing a senior judge to lead that review.

Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)

As announced in the Fraud Strategy, the Home Office, in collaboration with the Attorney General’s Office and the Ministry of Justice, will shortly launch an independent review into the challenges of investigating and prosecuting fraud.

The review will consider the following:

Phase 1

  • Modernising the disclosure regime for cases with large volumes of digital evidence.

Phase 2

  • Whether fraud offences and the Fraud Act 2006 meet the challenges of modern fraud, including whether penalties still fit the crime.
  • Creating civil orders and penalties to prevent fraudsters reoffending.
  • Making it easier for individuals to inform on associates in criminal fraud networks

The terms of reference will be published once a review chair is in post and the review is launched. The Home Office is working with the Ministry of Justice to identify suitable candidates to lead the review.


Written Question
Fraud
Thursday 20th July 2023

Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Fraud Strategy: stopping scams and protecting the public, published in May 2023, whether she plans to publish the terms of reference on the proposed review of the disclosure regime.

Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)

As announced in the Fraud Strategy, the Home Office, in collaboration with the Attorney General’s Office and the Ministry of Justice, will shortly launch an independent review into the challenges of investigating and prosecuting fraud.

The review will consider the following:

Phase 1

  • Modernising the disclosure regime for cases with large volumes of digital evidence.

Phase 2

  • Whether fraud offences and the Fraud Act 2006 meet the challenges of modern fraud, including whether penalties still fit the crime.
  • Creating civil orders and penalties to prevent fraudsters reoffending.
  • Making it easier for individuals to inform on associates in criminal fraud networks

The terms of reference will be published once a review chair is in post and the review is launched. The Home Office is working with the Ministry of Justice to identify suitable candidates to lead the review.


Written Question
Fraud
Thursday 20th July 2023

Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 21 of her Department's policy paper entitled Fraud Strategy: stopping scams and protecting the public, published in May 2023, when she plans to launch the first phase of the independent review on the disclosure regime.

Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)

As announced in the Fraud Strategy, the Home Office, in collaboration with the Attorney General’s Office and the Ministry of Justice, will shortly launch an independent review into the challenges of investigating and prosecuting fraud.

The review will consider the following:

Phase 1

  • Modernising the disclosure regime for cases with large volumes of digital evidence.

Phase 2

  • Whether fraud offences and the Fraud Act 2006 meet the challenges of modern fraud, including whether penalties still fit the crime.
  • Creating civil orders and penalties to prevent fraudsters reoffending.
  • Making it easier for individuals to inform on associates in criminal fraud networks

The terms of reference will be published once a review chair is in post and the review is launched. The Home Office is working with the Ministry of Justice to identify suitable candidates to lead the review.


Written Question
Asylum: Hotels
Monday 12th June 2023

Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Thousands of asylum seekers to be moved out of hotels, published on 5 June 2023, what site in West London is being used to house asylum seekers; what hotels her Department plans to use to accommodate asylum seekers in (a) Hammersmith and Fulham and (b) Kensington and Chelsea; and what her Department's planned timescales are for the use of those sites to house asylum seekers.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The specific location of any of our asylum accommodation is not put in the public domain in order to maintain the privacy and security of those accommodated.


Written Question
Refugees: Hotels
Friday 18th November 2022

Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will list the names of hotels in Hammersmith constituency that have contractual agreements with the Home Office to house refugees; how many refugees are currently housed in hotels in Hammersmith constituency; and what is the average length of time for a refugee to be placed in a hotel.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

For the safety, security and wellbeing of those we house we do not publicly disclose the names of individual hotels which may or may not be utilised. There are currently 2 Asylum support hotels in use in Hammersmith constituency, these hotels are being used to house people seeking asylum. As of 14 November, there were 90 occupants in these hotels.

The average length of stay in our contingency hotels is 6 to 12 months due to the current accommodation and capacity challenges.

With regards to refugees, there is 1 hotel in the Hammersmith constituency and there are currently 146 occupants in the hotel.


Written Question
Home Office: Electronic Messaging
Monday 7th November 2022

Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether save as detailed in paragraph 33 of her letter of 31 October 2022 to the Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee she has sent any official Government documents using any non-secure messaging systems to any persons while holding any positions in Government.

Answered by Suella Braverman

I wrote to the Home Affairs Select Committee Chair on 31 October and a copy of the letter was placed in the House Libraries - I refer the Hon. member to that letter.


Written Question
Slavery
Tuesday 8th March 2022

Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)

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 making noncompliance with Part 6 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 a criminal offence.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 established the UK as the first country in the world to require businesses to report annually on steps taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. To comply with the requirement, statements must be:

  • Published annually via a prominent link on the organisation's homepage;
  • Approved by the Board of Directors or equivalent;
  • Signed by a Director or equivalent.

To assess compliance with the legal requirements, the Home Office contracted the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) to undertake an audit on the Home Office's behalf. The audit findings on levels of compliance were published on 17 September 2020 in the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner's annual report (available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-anti-slavery-commissioners-annual-report-2019-to-2020).

The Secretary of State has the power to bring civil proceedings in the High Court for an injunction requiring an organisation to comply with the duty to produce a modern slavery statement. This power has not been used to date.

In July 2018, the Home Secretary commissioned the Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act. The aim of the Review was to identify where the Act is working well, what can be improved in the implementation of the Act and whether specific areas of the legislation need to be strengthened. The independent review recommended that Government should strengthen its approach to organisations failing to comply with section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and recommended use of a civil penalty scheme to penalise non-compliance.

The Government has committed to strengthen section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act, to ensure businesses and large public bodies report transparently on action they have taken to address modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains. These measures were set out in the Government’s response to the transparency in supply chains consultation, published on 22 September 2020.

In addition, in January 2021 the Foreign Secretary announced that financial penalties will be introduced for organisations who fail to meet their statutory obligations to publish annual modern slavery statements. These measures require primary legislation and will be introduced when parliamentary time allows. The Government will publish guidance to help organisations prepare for the new reporting requirements when timings of legislation are clear.


Written Question
Slavery
Tuesday 8th March 2022

Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of civil injunctions on compliance with Part 6 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 in each year since 2015.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 established the UK as the first country in the world to require businesses to report annually on steps taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. To comply with the requirement, statements must be:

  • Published annually via a prominent link on the organisation's homepage;
  • Approved by the Board of Directors or equivalent;
  • Signed by a Director or equivalent.

To assess compliance with the legal requirements, the Home Office contracted the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) to undertake an audit on the Home Office's behalf. The audit findings on levels of compliance were published on 17 September 2020 in the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner's annual report (available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-anti-slavery-commissioners-annual-report-2019-to-2020).

The Secretary of State has the power to bring civil proceedings in the High Court for an injunction requiring an organisation to comply with the duty to produce a modern slavery statement. This power has not been used to date.

In July 2018, the Home Secretary commissioned the Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act. The aim of the Review was to identify where the Act is working well, what can be improved in the implementation of the Act and whether specific areas of the legislation need to be strengthened. The independent review recommended that Government should strengthen its approach to organisations failing to comply with section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and recommended use of a civil penalty scheme to penalise non-compliance.

The Government has committed to strengthen section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act, to ensure businesses and large public bodies report transparently on action they have taken to address modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains. These measures were set out in the Government’s response to the transparency in supply chains consultation, published on 22 September 2020.

In addition, in January 2021 the Foreign Secretary announced that financial penalties will be introduced for organisations who fail to meet their statutory obligations to publish annual modern slavery statements. These measures require primary legislation and will be introduced when parliamentary time allows. The Government will publish guidance to help organisations prepare for the new reporting requirements when timings of legislation are clear.