Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will ensure there is full consultation with established knife manufacturers and distributors before rules are changed about the design of kitchen knives that can be sold online.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We will certainly engage with knife manufacturers and distributors as part of these considerations.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Policing, Fire and Crime Prevention in response to the question from the hon. Member for Sheffield South East of 29 July 2024, Official Report, Column 1028, what progress her Department has made on tackling antisocial road users.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this Government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.
On 27 November 2024, the Government announced proposals to give the police greater powers to clamp down on e-bikes, e-scooters and other vehicles involved in anti-social behaviour, with officers no longer required to issue a warning before seizing vehicles.
This will allow the police to quickly remove anti-social vehicles which are creating a nuisance or disturbance in city centres and pedestrian areas. These powers will be included in the forthcoming Crime and Policing Bill.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what date the new earnings threshold for skilled worker visa applications, including spousal and dependent applications, will come into effect; and whether it will apply to (a) existing applications, (b) renewals and (c) people already living in the UK.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Until the Immigration Rules are amended next Spring, the current salary and Minimum Income Requirement thresholds, and policies relating to dependants, remain in place and at the current levels. Those already in the Skilled work route, and applications made before the rules change, will not be subject to the new £38,700 salary threshold when they change employment, extend, or settle.
Full details of transitional provisions will be set out in due course when further policy details will be announced.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of passport applications that will need to be submitted between 15 March 2023 and the end of the year; how many applications there were in the same period last year; and whether she plans to amend staffing arrangements to meet the service delivery targets in place.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
With approximately 5 million people having delayed their passport application due to the restrictions upon international travel caused by COVID-19, the elevated demand for passports will continue throughout 2023.
HM Passport Office has processed more than two million applications across January and February, with over 99.5% of standard UK applications being processed within ten weeks and 95.5% being processed within three weeks.
Given the exceptional cause of this demand, the exact volumes and profile of when this will arrive is less predictable than in a normal year. The current expectations are that demand will be within 6.1 million and 7.1 million between the weeks ending 19 March 2023 to 31 December 2023. Between 15 March 2022 and 31 December 2022, HM Passport Office received 6,484,414 passport applications.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what process her Department follows when an enquiry received through the HM Passport Office line for hon. Members is passed to the escalation team.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
When a passport-related enquiry is received via the MP Hotline to escalate an application, where possible, HM Passport Office will prioritise the case in line with its policies.
The customer’s details will be added to an escalations log, pending the receipt of the evidence required. Once received, the information is urgently passed onto the team that specialise in these cases to liaise directly with the customer if necessary and issue the passport once all checks have been satisfactorily completed.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many permanent speed cameras there are in each Police Authority Area; and how many speed cameras there are per each mile of adopted road in each Police Authority Area.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office does not collect data on the number or location of speed cameras.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many funds are allocated to local authorities by her Department through a process of competitive bidding; and if she will publish the names of those funds.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Four (4) funds have been allocated to local authorities through a process of competitive bidding in 2021.
Details have been published in the public domain for 3 of these funds
Millions more funding for projects to make our streets safer - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Police and local authorities given extra £23.5 million for safer streets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Trusted Relationships Fund: local areas and project descriptions - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Details of the 4th fund (Child National Referral Mechanism pilot) have not yet been published but willbe published by the Cabinet Office, as part of their annual Grants data publication (which can be found here)