Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 8 June (HL408), what steps they will take to ensure that the total sum of the Abacha loot will not end up in the hands of criminals.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The UK is a signatory to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and places great importance on the recovery and return of the proceeds of corruption.
The UK is mindful of its obligations under international law, including UNCAC, and the principles for transparent and accountable asset return which were endorsed at the Global Forum for Asset Recovery in 2017.
In January 2022, the UK published its first ever Framework for Transparent and Accountable Asset Return, which applies across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The purpose of the Framework is to ensure consistency, transparency and accountability in the UK’s process for returning assets.
When returning funds, the UK will always sign a case-specific agreement with the relevant country detailing the steps that the recipient Government will take to ensure the funds are put to their intended use.
All agreements which oversee the return of funds abroad are published on gov.uk
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 8 June (HL408), why they are transferring funds to the US Department of Justice given that the United Nations Convention states that returns should be made to the victim country.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 8 June (HL408), whether they will include victim compensation in any agreement about the appropriate use of funds.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the article by Bloomberg UK 'U.S. to Proceed with Case to Seize Nigerian Governor's Funds', published on 8 March, what steps they will take to ensure that the Abacha loot held in the UK will not end up in the hands of criminals.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The UK is a signatory to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). In line with the UK’s framework for transparent and accountable asset return, the UK ensures consistency, transparency and accountability in its process for returning funds to other countries.
The UK will always sign a case-specific agreement with the relevant country detailing the steps that the recipient Government will take to ensure the funds are put to their intended use.
All agreements which oversee the return of funds abroad are published on gov.uk
The NCA’s recent recovery of $23,439,724.98 from the associates and family of former Nigerian Head of State, General Sani Abacha, was carried out following a request from the US Department of Justice (USDOJ). As such, the Home Office will transfer the funds in this case to the USDOJ.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will refrain from releasing any funds from the Abacha loot until concerns relating to corruption within the government of Nigeria are allayed; and whether they will commit to publishing a copy of any agreements reached on the transfer of the funds relating to the Abacha loot.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The UK is a signatory to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). In line with the UK’s framework for transparent and accountable asset return, the UK ensures consistency, transparency and accountability in its process for returning funds to other countries.
The UK will always sign a case-specific agreement with the relevant country detailing the steps that the recipient Government will take to ensure the funds are put to their intended use.
All agreements which oversee the return of funds abroad are published on gov.uk
The NCA’s recent recovery of $23,439,724.98 from the associates and family of former Nigerian Head of State, General Sani Abacha, was carried out following a request from the US Department of Justice (USDOJ). As such, the Home Office will transfer the funds in this case to the USDOJ.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many victims of Daesh have been granted asylum in the UK since 2014; and how many of these belonged to religious minorities in the countries they left.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office cannot identify how many victims of Daesh have been granted asylum in the UK since 2014 nor can we identify how many of these victims belonged to a religious minority. This data could only be obtained at disproportionate cost because it would require a manual search through individual records.
However, the Home Office publishes figures on the number of people who have been granted asylum in the UK. This data can be found attached.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the National Crime Agency's seizure of millions of pounds derived from the Azerbaijan laundromat on 31 January, what steps they intend to take, if any, against complicit shell companies registered in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Recognising the operational independence of law enforcement, the Home Office cannot comment on any ongoing cases.
The Government is committed to reforming the role of Companies House and improving transparency over UK companies and property, to strengthen our business environment and combat economic crime.
We announced our plans to reform Companies House in September 2020 and in 2021, we consulted on more detailed aspects of the reforms, and we will respond soon. The Government’s plans will deliver significant improvements to the integrity of the UK’s register of companies and assist greatly in the fight against economic crime. These reforms will include the identity verification of directors, People with Significant Control and those filing on behalf of a company, and new powers for the registrar to query and check information.
We are also continuing to finalise the draft Registration of Overseas Entities legislation, which underwent pre-legislative scrutiny in 2019, to align with the broader reform of Companies House and our plans to verify the data it holds. We are amending this draft legislation in line with the committee’s recommendations.
We will introduce legislation to implement the Register of Overseas Entities and the broader reforms of Companies House when parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report by the Lift the Ban coalition Lift the Ban: Why giving people seeking asylum the right to work is common sense, published on 30 July, what assessment they have made of the potential economic benefit of giving asylum seekers the right to work in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Asylum seekers can work in the UK if their claim has been outstanding for 12 months, through no fault of their own. Those allowed to work are restricted to jobs on the Shortage Occupation List, which is published by the Home Office and based on expert advice from the Migration Advisory Committee.
It is important to distinguish between those who need protection and those seeking to work here, who can apply for a work visa under the Immigration Rules. Our wider policy could be undermined if migrants bypassed work visa Rules by lodging unfounded asylum claims here.
The Home Office is currently reviewing policy on right to work.
As part of the plans to speed up Asylum decision making, over the last 18 months, UK Visas and Immigration have increased the number of Asylum decision makers and support staff as part of a rolling recruitment campaign and mobilised a transformation programme that seeks to simplify, streamline and digitise processes.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report by Refugee Action Lift the ban: why giving people seeking asylum the right to work is common sense, published in July, what assessment they have made of the potential economic benefits of removing restrictions on asylum seekers’ right to work.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Asylum seeker right to work is a complex issue and is under review; it is crucial we take the time to get this right. We are listening carefully to the arguments and considering the evidence put forward on the issue.
We are aware the Lift the Ban coalition recently published a follow-up to their 2018 report and the findings of this report will be incorporated into the current review.
Asked by: Baroness Cox (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Justice and Care UK and the Centre for Social Justice It still happens here: Fighting UK slavery in the 2020s, published on 13 July; and what plans they have to implement its recommendations.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Secretary has noted that Justice and Care UK and the Centre for Social Justice’s report contains important findings on modern slavery. The Home Office will be looking at the report closely.
The Modern Slavery Act 2015 was ground-breaking, but the Government is committed to strengthening its approach. In July 2018, the Government commissioned an Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. The Government accepted the majority of the Review’s recommendations (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-response-to-the-independent-review-of-the-modern-slavery-act).
The Home Office has embarked on an ambitious NRM Transformation Programme as we continue our world leading efforts to ensure genuine victims have their cases settled promptly, receive support tailored to their needs, and are provided with the support they need to move on with their lives.