Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress has been made by the Government-NGO Working Group in findings ways to mitigate the direct and indirect effect of counter-terrorism legislation on humanitarian, peace-building and development non-governmental organisations.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The Government continues to engage closely with UK based charities from the humanitarian, peace-building and development sectors on a range of issues relating to compliance with Counter Terrorism legislation. Comprehensive guidance for the sector on the range of legislative frameworks covering the activities of NGOs overseas was provided by the Government in November 2015 and is reviewed as required.
In addition, the Government recently appointed an independent expert adviser to work alongside officials, regulators, the banking sector and charities to progress new thinking on ways that this community can implement robust compliance and due diligence processes that are in accord with Counter Terrorism legislation. This engagement is ongoing.
Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of its senior civil servants who will potentially fall under the provisions of the 4th EU Money Laundering Directive, 2015/849; and what assessment she has made of which of her Department's agencies or other public bodies will potentially be classed as holding a prominent public function for the purposes of that directive.
Answered by John Hayes
Under the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4AMLD), which will be transposed into national law by June 2017, a politically exposed person is one who has been entrusted with a prominent public function domestically or by a foreign country. This would include some senior civil servants. The Government will be setting out its view in a consultation which will be published shortly.
The changes proposed under 4AMLD must not prevent any individual in this category from gaining or maintaining access to financial services. The Home Office and Treasury regularly raise these issues with financial institutions and the regulator, and we encourage financial institutions to take a proportionate risk-based approach when applying these measures.
To that end, following the Adjournment Debate on 20 January 2016 on this issue, along with the Economic Secretary to the Treasury I have recently met representatives of the banking sector to make clear concerns. The banks now clearly understand the importance of this issue and a way forward has been agreed. Should further problems arise we will re-emphasise what we expect.
Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on (a) academic and (b) other research conducted in (i) the UK and (ii) other European countries that establishes a link between the funding of ISIL and the trade in contraband (A) cigarettes and (B) other goods.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The Home Office does not hold academic or other research of this sort.
A number of departments are involved in the Government’s efforts to degrade and defeat ISIL and experts from across government have spent considerable time analysing ISIL’s funding flows. Based on the information available, we believe
that a substantial share of ISIL’s revenue is derived from the sale of oil and commodities, taxation and extortion. It is likely that revenue generated from the smuggling of tobacco accounts for some of this, although the amount is
believed to be relatively small as a share of ISIL’s total revenue.
Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police forces in England have signed local protocols for those detained under the Mental Health Act 1983.
Answered by Damian Green
I understand that, as of 13 May 2014, 36 of the 39 territorial police forces in
England - plus British Transport Police - are currently signed up to local
protocols for those detained under the Mental Health Act 1983. The other 3
forces report that they are in the process of agreeing such protocols with
local partner agencies.
The agreement of mental health protocols by local agencies is promoted at
national level, including through the Mental Health Act 1983 Codes of Practice
and the new national Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat, which states that:
‘Every area should have a local protocol in place, agreed by NHS commissioners,
the police force, the ambulance service, and social services. This should
describe the approach to be taken when a police officer uses powers under the
Mental Health Act'.
The Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/281242
/36353_Mental_Health_Crisis_accessible.pdf
The Department of Health, supported by the Home Office and Mind, is encouraging
local areas to sign-up to the principles of the Concordat, with the expectation
that all areas in England will have signed local declarations by December
2014. The Department of Health will publish details of the areas that have
signed such declarations.