Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the extent to which the ten recommendations from the IOPC report 'National learning recommendations and responses - EIP searches of children, published on 19 March 2024 have been implemented.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Independent Office for Police Conduct’s (IOPC) ‘National Learning Recommendations re: Exposure of Intimate Parts Searches of Children’ report made ten recommendations. Seven recommendations have been fully implemented, and work is ongoing for the other three. Progress on these is set out below:
Recommendation 10, Mandatory Safeguarding Referral following exposure of intimate parts searches: The Home Office has led system-wide consultations to consider amendments to Code A and C of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (1984), including mandating a safeguarding referral for any child who is subject to an exposure of intimate parts search. The Government is committed to introducing new legal safeguards around the strip search of children as soon as possible.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the ability of airports to complete full customs checks on small packages imported from abroad in the last 12 months.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Border Force work closely with law enforcement partners to share intelligence and have a strong track record in targeting illicit commodities via a threat and intelligence led approach; and we continue to examine goods brought into the UK by passengers are appropriately declared and abide by customs and excise rules. Border Force has an excellent relationship with airport security personnel nationally, ensuring they are aware and able to identify potential smuggling risks. If, when carrying out their security function, airline staff identify a person who may be of interest to Border Force, they will share that information, allowing Border Force Officers (BFOs) to take appropriate action. Border Force examines thousands of parcels arriving into the UK every day as part of Border Security checks. Border Force has had a record-breaking year in terms of seizures, highlighting our ability to complete high volumes of checks, with data available via Migration transparency data - GOV.UK
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost is of processing a citizen application fee-waiver for under 18s.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office has previously estimated the cost of processing fee waivers for under 18s applying for British citizenship in the Impact Assessment published alongside the Fee Regulations introducing the waiver in June 2022 – please see at page 8 of the following link: The Immigration and Nationality (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2022.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the potential impact of airport staffing on the ability of airports to complete customs checks on small packages imported from abroad.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Border Force has an intelligence-led approach to how it assesses the many threats to the UK Border and is robust in how it deploys resource. Border Force operates a flexible resourcing model, regularly assessing operational needs and deploying staff dynamically in response to passenger volumes, security requirements and developing threats.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on whether any airports are unable to complete customs checks on small packages to expected standards.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
In the interests of border security, it is longstanding Home Office policy to not disclose information of a port or region-specific nature. This is because it could allow an individual with malintent the ability to identify any potential weak points in the UK Border.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which Police Forces in England are meeting service levels on processing times for DBS checks, and which are not.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
For certain ‘Enhanced’ level applications (‘Basic’ and ‘Standard’ level checks are not sent to local police forces), the DBS will check with local police forces whether they hold any information that is considered relevant to the individual’s application.
There is a 60-day Service Level Agreement (SLA) in place between the DBS and police forces to complete this work. Out of the 52 independent Police Disclosure Units carrying out these checks (across local police forces and other law enforcement agencies) 8 are currently unable to meet the 60-day SLA: Hampshire & Isle of Wight, Sussex, Thames Valley, Dyfed Powys, Durham, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and Hertfordshire.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of not resolving the immigration status of children in care before they turn 18.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Secretary set out in the Immigration White Paper published on 12 May that the Home Office will ensure children who have been in the UK for some time, turn 18 and discover they do not have status, are fully supported and able to regularise their status and settle where appropriate. This will also include a clear pathway for those children in care and care leavers.
As part of this, separate targeted engagement will take place with external stakeholders to help us to understand the challenges in this area and develop a policy solution which supports children in care without status while upholding the need to have a robust and coherent migration system. Children who have claimed asylum are dealt with under separate provisions.
A range of reforms are underway across the immigration and asylum system, and the development of a clear pathway to settlement for children in care and care leavers must be considered alongside these changes.
Further detail on this will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Immigration White Paper S.221, what specific measures are in place or being developed to tackle sponsors who fall short of their responsibilities.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The current measures to tackle sponsors who fall short of their sponsorship duties can be found on Gov.uk in Part 3 of the guidance for sponsors:
These range from reducing a sponsor’s allocation of certificates of sponsorship to revoking their licence and, if necessary, reporting them to the relevant authorities for further investigation.
The sponsor guidance is kept under close ongoing review, with enhancements to the relevant criteria made on an iterative basis.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Immigration White Paper S.221, if he will set out the timeframe for the implementation of measures against sponsors who fall short of their duties.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The current measures to tackle sponsors who fall short of their sponsorship duties can be found on Gov.uk in Part 3 of the guidance for sponsors:
These range from reducing a sponsor’s allocation of certificates of sponsorship to revoking their licence and, if necessary, reporting them to the relevant authorities for further investigation.
The sponsor guidance is kept under close ongoing review, with enhancements to the relevant criteria made on an iterative basis.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that every child in care has their immigration status resolved before turning 18.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Secretary set out in the Immigration White Paper published on 12 May that the Home Office will ensure children who have been in the UK for some time, turn 18 and discover they do not have status, are fully supported and able to regularise their status and settle where appropriate. This will also include a clear pathway for those children in care and care leavers.
As part of this, separate targeted engagement will take place with external stakeholders to help us to understand the challenges in this area and develop a policy solution which supports children in care without status while upholding the need to have a robust and coherent migration system. Children who have claimed asylum are dealt with under separate provisions.
A range of reforms are underway across the immigration and asylum system, and the development of a clear pathway to settlement for children in care and care leavers must be considered alongside these changes.
Further detail on this will be set out in due course.