Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2024 to Question 17274 on Offences against Children, on what evidential basis the National Crime Agency has stated that the number of child sex offenders in the UK is between 550,000 and 800,000.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The National Crime Agency publishes an overview of the Child Sexual Abuse threat annually as part of the National Strategic Assessment. This includes an estimate of the number of UK based adult offenders who pose varying degrees of risk to children. An explanation of the CSA Scale Methodology has been published as an Annex to the National Strategic Assessment.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate he has made of the number of serious child abuse offences committed in the last 12 months.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The term child abuse covers a broad range of offences including, but not limited to, sexual offences, violence against the person and cruelty and neglect. It is not possible to identify all child abuse offences recorded in official data.
In January 2020, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published experimental analysis which looked at a range of indicators from different data sources to enable understanding of child abuse. This report can be found here:
Child abuse in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk).
As the Home Secretary stated in his written statement of 10 January 2024, we are working with the ONS to explore whether a new survey could more effectively measure the current scale and nature of child abuse and neglect, including child sexual abuse. The ONS is currently developing the questionnaire and safeguarding procedures for the proposed survey, which will then be piloted.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much and what proportion of refugee integration loans have been repaid in each of the last 5 years.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office does not hold the data requested in a reportable format and it would require a manual search of records which would incur a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugee integration loans were made in each of the last 5 years for which information is available.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office does not hold the data requested in a reportable format and it would require a manual search of records which would incur a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the value of refugee integration (a) loans and (b) repayments made since January 2007 is.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Refugee Integration Loans were introduced in 2007 following a public consultation and is intended to help people with the costs of integrating into UK society. They are funded by the Home Office who make the initial decisions on applications. They are then administered and recouped by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Refugee integration loans are interest-free loans with favourable repayment terms for individuals who are over 18 and meet the following eligibility criteria:
Individuals are currently able to borrow between £100 and £500. Between £100 to £780 can be borrowed if submitting a joint application with a partner.
The Home Office does not hold data for the value of refugee integration repayments made since January 2007 in a reportable format and it would require a manual search of records which would incur a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 13 September to Question 197940 on Asylum: Greater London, for what reasons the information requested is not reportable.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The information requested in relation to Question 197940 could only be obtained at disproportionate cost as it would require a manual trawl of case records to retrieve.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason refugee integration loans are interest free.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The loans ensure that those refugees with the greatest integration needs are able to get financial assistance to obtain specific items or activities that will help address those needs. As the payments take the form of a loan, money recovered can be recycled to ensure a continuous fund for new refugees.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers absconded from (a) hotels and (b) other similar accommodation since 1 January 2023; and in how many and what proportion of those cases was all contact with her Department lost.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office does not publish a breakdown of statistics which disaggregates the number of adult asylum seekers leaving accommodation providing under Section 98. We have a statutory duty to provide support and accommodation to destitute asylum seekers while their claim for asylum is being considered. The Home Office does not hold or detain asylum seekers in hotels or any other asylum accommodation. Individuals are free to leave if they wish and the Home Office has no power to detain those who wish to leave.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers have absconded from hotels or other similar accommodation since 1st January 2023; and in how many of those cases her Department has lost contact with the asylum seeker.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office does not publish a breakdown of statistics which disaggregates the number of adult asylum seekers leaving accommodation providing under Section 98. We have a statutory duty to provide support and accommodation to destitute asylum seekers while their claim for asylum is being considered. The Home Office does not hold or detain asylum seekers in hotels or any other asylum accommodation. Individuals are free to leave if they wish and the Home Office has no power to detain those who wish to leave.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will set out her Departments specification for adequate (a) accommodation, (b) catering, (c) laundry facilities and (d) transport facilities for people seeking asylum who are non-detained; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The United Kingdom has a statutory obligation to provide destitute asylum seekers with accommodation and other support whilst their application for asylum is being considered as set out in the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. The Act also sets out the need to meet essential living needs. The support package provided usually consists of accommodation and a weekly cash allowance to meet other essential living needs such as food, toiletries, travel and clothing. The support rate for those in contingency accommodation is intended to cover essential living items that are not met by the accommodation provider such as clothing, non-prescription medicine and travel.
The Asylum Accommodation service providers identify suitable accommodation and ensure that it conforms to the accommodation standards and provision set out in Schedule 2 of the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts (AASC).
The Statement of Requirements, available via the link below, sets out the full details of our contractual obligations: