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Written Question
British Nationality
Friday 8th March 2024

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason it is his policy that a person born between 2 October 2000 and 29 April 2006 is only considered to have British citizenship at birth if their British citizen father was married at the time of their birth to their EU citizen mother.

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

Between 1 January 1983 and 30 June 2006, a child could only obtain British citizenship through their father if the parents were married. The law changed on 1 July 2006 to allow a person to acquire citizenship through their father, irrespective of whether the parents were married, subject to proof of paternity.

The 2006 change only affects children born after 1 July 2006: the earlier law continues to apply in relation to people born before that date. The change was not made retrospective, to avoid altering a person’s status after their birth without allowing them to make an informed choice about acquiring British citizenship.

A person born before 1 July 2006 can register as a British citizen if they would have become a British citizen automatically had their parents been married. Those applying under this route do not have to pay a registration fee.


Written Question
Knives
Tuesday 13th February 2024

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has received representations from (a) the police and (b) other bodies on the rounding of kitchen knives as a means of reducing the risk of injury in knife offending in domestic residential settings.

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

The Home Office does not hold the requested data. Statistics on knife or sharp instrument offences may be found as part of the Office for National Statistics release: Crime in England and Wales: year ending September 2023.

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingseptember2023

There are no plans at present to commission specific research to provide a data set about prevalence of knife / sharp instrument offending in domestic residential settings.

The Home Office regularly considers representations about knife crime and knives from interested parties including the police, Members of Parliament and members of the public. This has on occasion included representations about round tipped kitchen knives reducing the risk of injury.


Written Question
Knives: Crime
Tuesday 13th February 2024

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will commission research into the prevalence of offending with (a) knives and (b) other sharp instruments in domestic residential settings.

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

The Home Office does not hold the requested data. Statistics on knife or sharp instrument offences may be found as part of the Office for National Statistics release: Crime in England and Wales: year ending September 2023.

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingseptember2023

There are no plans at present to commission specific research to provide a data set about prevalence of knife / sharp instrument offending in domestic residential settings.

The Home Office regularly considers representations about knife crime and knives from interested parties including the police, Members of Parliament and members of the public. This has on occasion included representations about round tipped kitchen knives reducing the risk of injury.


Written Question
Knives: Crime
Tuesday 13th February 2024

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many offences involving (a) knives and (b) other sharp instruments were recorded in a (i) domestic residence and (ii) non-domestic setting by each police force in England and Wales in the last year for which information is available; and if he will provide a breakdown of those figures by the gender of the victim.

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

The Home Office does not hold the requested data. Statistics on knife or sharp instrument offences may be found as part of the Office for National Statistics release: Crime in England and Wales: year ending September 2023.

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingseptember2023

There are no plans at present to commission specific research to provide a data set about prevalence of knife / sharp instrument offending in domestic residential settings.

The Home Office regularly considers representations about knife crime and knives from interested parties including the police, Members of Parliament and members of the public. This has on occasion included representations about round tipped kitchen knives reducing the risk of injury.


Written Question
Immigration
Thursday 26th October 2023

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department consulted with university researchers when developing its policy on migration.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The Home Office regularly engages with a range of stakeholders when developing policy.

We keep all our immigration policies under constant review to ensure they best serve the UK and reflect the public’s priorities.


Written Question
Immigration: EU Nationals
Friday 21st July 2023

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many individuals born in the UK between 2 October 2000 and 29 April 2006 to a British citizen father and an EU citizen mother have (a) submitted applications for naturalisation as their parents were unmarried at the time of their birth and (b) been granted British citizenship.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The data is not available. Immigration statistics are published as Migration statistics. Whilst these include statistics for naturalisation as a British citizen, they do not identify the status of the applicants’ parents.


Written Question
Large Goods Vehicles: Theft
Monday 19th June 2023

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many instances of thefts of goods and cargo from HGVs stationary at (a) rest stops and (b) other locations have been reported in the last 12 months.

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

The Home Office collects and published data on incidents of theft from commercial vehicles and theft of commercial vehicles as part of the Commercial Victimisation Survey. The department also collects data on the number of incidents of theft from vehicles, including from HGV’s, which have been reported to the police.

Neither source provides the information at the level of detail requested. The Home Office does not collect information on whether the vehicle was stationary at the time of the incident or the type of location.

Concerning trends in theft more generally, the latest estimates from the Crime Survey for England and Wales for the year ending December 2022 show that overall incidents of theft affecting the household population of England and Wales were down by 47% compared with the year ending March 2010.


Written Question
Regugees: Ukraine
Monday 24th April 2023

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications under the (a) Homes for Ukraine scheme and (b) Ukrainian Family Scheme were awaiting a decision as of 13 April 2023.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

UKVI aims to assess Ukraine Schemes visa applications as quickly as possible. Straightforward applications are processed within days. Visas are only issued after all necessary checks have been completed which may take longer in some cases.

The latest published figures, including the number of outstanding applications for each route, can be found here:

Ukraine Family Scheme, Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine) and Ukraine Extension Scheme visa data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).


Written Question
Refugees: Ukraine
Monday 24th April 2023

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time it takes her Department to process applications submitted to (a) the Homes for Ukraine Scheme and (b) the Ukrainian Family Scheme.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

UKVI aims to assess Ukraine Schemes visa applications as quickly as possible. Straightforward applications are processed within days. Visas are only issued after all necessary checks have been completed which may take longer in some cases.

The latest published figures, including the number of outstanding applications for each route, can be found here:

Ukraine Family Scheme, Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine) and Ukraine Extension Scheme visa data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).


Written Question
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Monday 13th March 2023

Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with (a) the Cabinet colleagues and (b) her global counterparts on the potential merits of proscribing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation; and if she will take steps to undertake a review with her global counterparts of that potential proscription.

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

Whilst we keep the list of proscribed organisations under review, it is Government policy not to comment on whether a group is under consideration for proscription.

To proscribe an organisation, the Home Secretary must have a reasonable belief that it is concerned in terrorism. This means the organisation participates or commits; prepares for; promotes, encourages or unlawfully glorifies; or is in some way otherwise concerned in terrorism. As well as considering whether the statutory test for proscription has been satisfied, the Home Secretary’s decision to proscribe must be necessary and proportionate, having taken into account all relevant factors.

The UK Government has long been clear about its concerns over the continued destabilising activity of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The UK is committed to working with the international community to ensure Iran is held to account.

There UK has close to 300 sanctions in place against Iran, including on the IRGC in its entirety. We will continue to use all tools at our disposal to protect the UK and our interests from any Iran-linked threats.