Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department plans to provide to (a) fairs, (b) parades and (c) other local community events on the (i) supply and (ii) administration of first aid under Martyn’s Law.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act requires those responsible for certain premises and events to consider how they would respond to a terrorist attack. In addition, appropriate steps to reduce vulnerability to terrorist attacks must also be considered at certain larger premises and events. The Act does not have specific requirements relating to the provision of medical treatment and associated equipment.
Wider work is ongoing to strengthen Healthcare Standards. The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) is working with partners to put in place updated guidance for health care at events. Once published the Event Healthcare Standard will be assessed in partnership with NHS England to determine whether this standard should become a statutory obligation.
DHSC has also undertaken work with the National Counter Terrorism Security Office and health sector partners to standardise the contents of Public Access Trauma kits.
The Home Office will be issuing statutory guidance, which will assist those responsible for qualifying premises and events in understanding the requirements set out in the legislation. The Home Office will also continue to engage with sectors affected by the legislation, to support them in understanding their obligations.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what specific first aid equipment will be required under Martyn’s Law for (a) venues and (b) events; and whether there will be different requirements based on (i) venue size and (ii) risk level.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act requires those responsible for certain premises and events to consider how they would respond to a terrorist attack. In addition, appropriate steps to reduce vulnerability to terrorist attacks must also be considered at certain larger premises and events. The Act does not have specific requirements relating to the provision of medical treatment and associated equipment.
Wider work is ongoing to strengthen Healthcare Standards. The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) is working with partners to put in place updated guidance for health care at events. Once published the Event Healthcare Standard will be assessed in partnership with NHS England to determine whether this standard should become a statutory obligation.
DHSC has also undertaken work with the National Counter Terrorism Security Office and health sector partners to standardise the contents of Public Access Trauma kits.
The Home Office will be issuing statutory guidance, which will assist those responsible for qualifying premises and events in understanding the requirements set out in the legislation. The Home Office will also continue to engage with sectors affected by the legislation, to support them in understanding their obligations.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the need for a resettlement scheme to support Palestinian refugees seeking asylum in the UK.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has a long history of providing protection through various resettlement routes to supporting the most vulnerable people in the world.
We keep all existing pathways under review and we are closely monitoring the events in Gaza,
Palestinians who wish to settle in the UK can do so via the existing routes available which allow a person to apply to work, study, settle or join family in the UK. Further information can be found on the GOV.UK website: Visas and immigration - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the timeline is for members of the Immediate Choice Police pension group to receive their McCloud remedy pension payments.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
While the Home Office has responsibility for overarching policy and legislative changes to the police pension regulations, the police pension scheme is locally administered by individual police forces.
It is for each chief constable, in their role as scheme manager for their force, to determine their administrative timetable, including when remedy payments will be distributed.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the backlog in asylum seeker claims.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are committed to restating order to the asylum system, clearing the backlog to end the use of hotels.
The Home Secretary has removed the retrospective application of the Illegal Migration Act. This allows asylum claims from individuals who have arrived in the UK since 7 March 2023, to be considered against the existing legislative regime under the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, rather than waiting in the queue eligible for support.
The Home Office’s programme of transformation and business improvement aims to speed up decision making to reduce the time people spend in the system and reduce the numbers who are awaiting an interview or decision and remain in hotels.
This will enable us to maximise our capacity and progress cases in a more efficient and cost-effective way.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the number of hoax calls to emergency services.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Making a hoax phone call to the police is a criminal offence. All calls to the Police are recorded and the number can be traced, even if withheld. Local forces regularly remind the public of the serious consequences of wasting police time.
Emergency services may also request a Communications Provider to place a temporary restriction on the account of the hoax/nuisance caller. However, contact management, including the management of hoax calls, is an operational matter for policing. Any decision is for the emergency authority to take.
Where Policing receives a high number of hoax calls from a single source, they will look into the causation and undertake a longer-term response. Where hoax calling is deliberate policing may use existing legislation to prosecute persistent offenders.
It is for Chief Constables and democratically elected Police and Crime Commissioners or Mayors to decide how to appropriately respond to all calls, deploy resources and handle communications with the public based on their experience and knowledge of the communities they serve.
In FY24/25, the Home Office is funding the Police-led Digital Public Contact programme to explore a range of new contact capabilities, including the use of AI, to support Police call handlers, alleviate demand on the telephony system and improve the experience of crime reporting for the public.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle (a) anti-social behaviour and (b) noise disturbances in Shipley constituency.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this Government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission
We will put thousands of neighbourhood police and community support officers back into local communities, so that residents have somewhere to turn to when things go wrong.
We will crack down on those causing havoc on our high streets and in city centres by introducing tougher powers via a Crime and Policing Bill, including a new Respect Order to tackle repeat offending.
There is a statutory regime for dealing with a range of nuisances including noise. Local authority environmental health departments are the main enforcers of the noise nuisance regime. It is for individual local authorities to determine the detailed arrangements of the services they provide taking into account their assessment of local needs and circumstances.