Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2020 to Question 57185 on Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, how the criteria for applying restrictions on international organisations involved in terrorism used by her Department differs to the criteria used by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation.
Answered by James Brokenshire
HM Treasury (OFSI) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are responsible on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government for domestic and international counter-terrorism (CT) sanctions respectively. The Home Office does not administer any CT sanctions regimes.
The Home Office is responsible for a number of tools that can be used to support the Government’s efforts to tackle the threat from terrorism. The tests that must be satisfied before these tools can be used varies between the different tools.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to coordinate with the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Home Office and OFSI are part of cross-Whitehall initiatives working to develop the UK’s autonomous sanctions regimes. The Joint Anti-Corruption Unit, based in the Home Office, also liaises with OFSI in its monitoring and reporting of the Anti-Corruption Strategy 2017-22.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Home Office:
What steps she has taken through her immigration policies to enable religious workers from India to staff places of worship in the UK.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
This Government recognises the importance of faith across our communities in the UK, welcoming the value added by members of religious institutions from across the world.
This is reflected by dedicated immigration routes for Ministers of Religion and Religious Workers. These enable religious ministers and workers, including those from India, to live and practice their faith in the UK.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of legal protections for police emergency drivers; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Government fully recognises the difficult job that police drivers do every day to keep road users and the wider public safe.
In September 2017, the Home Office announced a review into the law, guidance and practice surrounding both police pursuits and response driving to ensure that officers have the right legal protections. That included working closely with the police representatives, including the Federation, other government departments and groups representing road users and those advocating road safety.
Following the outcome of the review, a consultation was published in May 2018 inviting comments on reforms to certain aspects of road traffic law, the tests set out in the Road Traffic Act 1988 for the offences of careless and dangerous driving, police guidance and training for both pursuit and response driving.
The consultation closed in August 2018 and we will shortly announce the next steps.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to support convenience retailers in Harrow East to prevent shop theft.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
I chair the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) which brings together partners including the police, trade bodies and retailers and is overseeing a range of work to tackle retail crime. This includes the collation and dissemination of good practice and developing guidance on the use of Impact Statements for Business, which give victims of business crime the opportunity to set out the impact the crime has had on the business, including, for example, financial loss. The NRCSG also continues to work with retailers to improve the management and response to shop theft using a partnership approach.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress has been made on extending the special China visitor visa pilot scheme to include other nations; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Since January 2016 the UK has offered a two-year validity visit visa to Chinese nationals for the same price as a six-month visa. This is a pilot scheme which we are running to assess the benefits and impacts of such an approach more broadly. There are currently no plans to extend this pilot to any other countries.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has put in place to ensure that groups run by people supporting extremist views are excluded from working with public sector institutions covered by the Prevent strategy, including the police.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The statutory Prevent duty places responsibility on certain public sector bodies to have ‘due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism’ in the exercise of their functions.
Supporting statutory guidance sets out expectations for relevant public sectors including that organisations they work with are not engaged in extremist activity or espouse extremist views; public resources are not utilised by extremists; extremist views are appropriately challenged; and where appropriate, extremists are lawfully prosecuted, disrupted and deterred. Sector specific advice, training and support continues to be provided by the Home Office and other departments to support proportionate Prevent delivery.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to assist Prevent in its duty to inhibit public sector engagement with extremist groups.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The statutory Prevent duty places responsibility on certain public sector bodies to have ‘due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism’ in the exercise of their functions.
Supporting statutory guidance sets out expectations for relevant public sectors including that organisations they work with are not engaged in extremist activity or espouse extremist views; public resources are not utilised by extremists; extremist views are appropriately challenged; and where appropriate, extremists are lawfully prosecuted, disrupted and deterred. Sector specific advice, training and support continues to be provided by the Home Office and other departments to support proportionate Prevent delivery.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department took steps to respond to the violent protests at an Israel Society event at King's College London in January 2016.
Answered by Mike Penning
I refer my Hon. Friend to the answer I gave to 24779 on 04 February 2016.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of policing on university campuses following the violent protests and criminal damage by demonstrators at an Israel Society event at King's College London last week.
Answered by Mike Penning
The operational policing of protests and demonstrations are principally a matter for Chief Officers of each force in England and Wales.
Peaceful protest is a vital part of a democratic society. It is a long-standing tradition in this country that people are free to gather together and to demonstrate their views. However, like all members of the public, protesters are subject to the law. Should individuals cross the boundary into criminal acts including public order offences, criminal damage, hate crime offences or violent behaviour, the police have a range of powers to take action.