Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to accelerate the family reunification process for unaccompanied children in Europe with family in the UK.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Government continues to work with key EU Member States to ensure the Dublin Regulation family reunification process works effectively.
Under the UK-France Joint Declaration of 20 August 2015, the UK and France have committed to ensuring that the provisions of the Dublin III Regulation are used efficiently and effectively. To assist the handling of such cases, the two Governments have established a permanent official contact group, agreed single points of contact within respective Dublin Units and we have seconded an asylum expert to the French administration to facilitate the improvement of all stages of the process. The UK and France are running regular joint communication campaigns in northern France which inform unaccompanied children and others of their right to claim asylum in France and of the family reunion process.
We are also providing support to the Dublin Units in Greece and Italy bilaterally and through European Asylum Support Office. On 4 May we announced the Government will work with local authorities on plans to resettle unaccompanied children from Europe. We are looking to transfer children who were already present in Europe before the EU-Turkey deal came into force on 20 March, where it is in their best interests.
We will work closely with local authorities to implement this initiative. It is important that we ensure we fulfil our obligations to children who are already in the UK, as well as ensuring we have the right support for those who may be brought to the UK from Europe. We will also consult relevant Non-Governmental Organisations, the UNHCR, UNICEF and Member States.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many immigration detainees were held in each prison establishment in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The information requested is not routinely collected and could be provided only by examining individual case records, which would result in disproportionate cost.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what impact assessment she has made of the proposed closure of the Visa and Entry Clearance Office in Dhaka; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Decision making on UK visa applications lodged in Bangladesh was moved from Dhaka to New Delhi in September 2014. An internal assessment of the potential impact was completed in early 2014 which covered various aspects including decision quality and customer service. UKVI retains a small team in the British High Commission, Dhaka to carry out the remote printing of visas and local checks.
There has been, and will be, no change to the process for customers in Bangladesh. Customers are still able to apply in the same Visa Application Centres with applications being processed under the same global customer service standards of 15 working days.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent representations she has received on disparities between the level of pensions paid to the widows of police officers in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Mike Penning
The Home Secretary received representations under the last Government setting out a compelling case on behalf of widows and widowers of police officers about their pension entitlement. In the Budget on 18 March, the Chancellor announced that widows, widowers and surviving civil partners of police officers who have died on duty in England and Wales will no longer lose their survivors’ benefits in future if they remarry, form a civil partnership or cohabit. The Home Office will consult the Police Advisory Board for England and Wales (PABEW) shortly on proposals to implement this change. As policing is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland and Scotland, the Northern Ireland Executive and Scottish Government respectively are responsible for the design and funding of police pensions in those parts of the United Kingdom.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether under proposed legislation on tackling extremism and terrorism, if a person is found guilty of extremism for expressing certain views, all other people who have expressed those views will be prosecuted.
Answered by Karen Bradley
We are not intending to create a new criminal offence of extremism in the Bill so the issue of being found guilty will not arise. The Counter-Extremism Bill will introduce new civil powers to tackle extremism. These include Banning Orders to outlaw extremist groups, Extremism Disruption Orders to restrict the harmful activities of individual extremists and Closure Orders to close down premises used to promote extremism.
The proposed powers will be applied on a case by case basis taking into account the specific circumstances and actions involved. The legislation will be subject to safeguards to ensure our new powers are used where they are needed to stop extremism and protect the public, including judicial oversight.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the planned legislative proposals on tackling extremism and terrorism, what the Government's definition is of extremism.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The Government’s definition of extremism, published in the Extremism Task Force report, Tackling Extremism in the UK (2013), is vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs. It includes calls for the death of members of our armed forces, whether in this country or overseas.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the implications for her Department's policies are of the decision of the Pension Ombudsman in the case of Mr Milne on 15 May 2015; and if she will make a statement on that ruling.
Answered by Mike Penning
The Government accepts the Ombudsman's determination in full and recognises that there are other individuals, including retired police officers, who are affected by the principles set out in this determination. The Government is working with pension administrators to identify affected individuals and ensure that the appropriate payments are made as quickly as possible.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to include provisions in the planned legislative proposals on tackling extremism and terrorism to ensure that statements which are based on fact or evidence will not be classed as extremist.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The legislation will clearly set out the circumstances in which the new counter-extremism powers may be used, including any safeguards that are appropriate.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of people from the Kurdistan Region in Iraq were refused an entry visa to the UK in (a) 2005, (b) 2010 and (c) the last year for which figures are available.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.