Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
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 availability of appointments at the Visa Application Centre in Minsk, Belarus.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Appointment capacity is agreed by UK Visas and Immigration. Where demand for appointments in Belarus is high customers may need to keep checking to find the next available appointments, which are opened 4 weeks in advance.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to help ensure that UK Border Force eGates are configured to permit entry to holders of Irish passport cards travelling from outside the Common Travel Area.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Irish nationals can travel to the UK on either an Irish passport or associated passport card. In line with other identity cards, Irish passport cards cannot be used at eGates and there are no plans to change this.
If an Irish national wishes to use their passport card to enter the UK from outside the Common Travel Area, they are required to present it to a Border Force officer.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answers of 20 December 2024 to Questions 19855 and 19857 on Climate Change: Demonstrations and to Questions 19852 and 19853 on Arms Trade: Israel, Question, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of (a) the policing of protests and (b) trends in the number of (a) arrests and (b) convictions for protest related activities.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The right to peacefully protest is a fundamental part of our democratic society.
We have committed to holding expedited post-legislative scrutiny of the Public Order Act 2023 beginning in May 2025. This process will review how the legislation has operated since it came into force. We will carefully consider the outputs of this review.
The full Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 will also be subject to post-legislative scrutiny between April 2025 and April 2027. This will include a review of sections 73, 74 and 79, as well as the other public order measures in the Act.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answers of 20 December 2024 to Questions 19855 and 19857 on Climate Change: Demonstrations and to Questions 19852 and 19853 on Arms Trade: Israel, Question, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the (a) Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2023 and (b) Public Order Act 2023 on (i) the policing of protests and (ii) (A) arrests and (B) convictions for protest related activities.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The right to peacefully protest is a fundamental part of our democratic society.
We have committed to holding expedited post-legislative scrutiny of the Public Order Act 2023 beginning in May 2025. This process will review how the legislation has operated since it came into force. We will carefully consider the outputs of this review.
The full Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 will also be subject to post-legislative scrutiny between April 2025 and April 2027. This will include a review of sections 73, 74 and 79, as well as the other public order measures in the Act.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answers of 20 December 2024 to Questions 19855 and 19857 on Climate Change: Demonstrations and to Questions 19852 and 19853 on Arms Trade: Israel, Question, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the implementation of the (a) Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2023 and (b) Public Order Act 2023.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The right to peacefully protest is a fundamental part of our democratic society.
We have committed to holding expedited post-legislative scrutiny of the Public Order Act 2023 beginning in May 2025. This process will review how the legislation has operated since it came into force. We will carefully consider the outputs of this review.
The full Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 will also be subject to post-legislative scrutiny between April 2025 and April 2027. This will include a review of sections 73, 74 and 79, as well as the other public order measures in the Act.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the UK has any agreements with countries under which asylum seekers could be sent to them as a safe third country.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has been clear that it will be ending the Migration and Economic Partnership with Rwanda. The UK has no other such agreements.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been arrested using powers in the (a) Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2023 and (b) Public Order Act 2023 for activity relating to protests against Elbit Systems UK's arms sales to Israel since (i) 8 October 2023, (ii) 26 January 2024 and (iii) 2 September 2024.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested could not be obtained without disproportionate cost. While the Home Office does hold data around protest-related arrests, this information is not categorised in a way that would enable to identification of arrests specifically made under this legislation. To obtain this information would require a review of arrest records across multiple police forces, which would exceed the cost threshold.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of people who have been arrested in relation to protests against arms sales to Israel since (a) 8 October 2023, (b) 26 January 2024 and (c) 2 September 2024.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
According to data provided by the National Police Coordination Centre, the number of people arrested in relation to protests against arms sales to Israel is as follows:
This totals 262 arrests across multiple police forces.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been arrested using powers in the (a) Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2023 and (b) Public Order Act 2023 for activity relating to protests against arms sales to Israel since (i) 8 October 2023, (ii) 26 January 2024 and (iii) 2 September 2024.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested could not be obtained without disproportionate cost. While the Home Office does hold data around protest-related arrests, this information is not categorised in a way that would enable to identification of arrests specifically made under this legislation. To obtain this information would require a review of arrest records across multiple police forces, which would exceed the cost threshold.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been arrested using powers in the (a) the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2023 and (b) Public Order Act 2023 for activity relating to protests against climate change in the last year.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested could not be obtained without disproportionate cost. While the Home Office does hold data around protest-related arrests, this information is not categorised in a way that would enable to identification of arrests specifically made under this legislation. To obtain this information would require a review of arrest records across multiple police forces, which would exceed the cost threshold.