Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he plans to take tackle cargo theft from HGVs.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Government is committed to tackling all forms of acquisitive crime. The Minister for Policing and the Fire Service chaired the first meeting of a new Taskforce on 15 January 2019 which brings together the police, industry and others to look at what more can be done to tackle vehicle theft.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the level of cargo theft from HGVs in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Government is committed to tackling all forms of acquisitive crime. The Minister for Policing and the Fire Service chaired the first meeting of a new Taskforce on 15 January 2019 which brings together the police, industry and others to look at what more can be done to tackle vehicle theft.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which police forces undertook a rural proofing review of policies adopted in 2018-2019.
Answered by Nick Hurd
We recognise that certain crimes may disproportionately or predominantly affect rural areas. That is why we welcome the Rural Affairs Strategy published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council in July 2018. The Strategy sets out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling rural crime and can be found at: https://www.nwcu.police.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/NPCC-Rural-affairs-Strategy-2018-2021.pdf.
Through the election of Police and Crime Commissioners we have ensured that communities, including those in rural areas, have a strong voice in determining how police resources are allocated to tackle the crimes that matter most to them.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which animals have been licensed for animal experimentation in the UK for any of the last three years figures which are available.
Answered by Ben Wallace
All animal species that were used in regulated procedures in Great Britain can be found in Table 1 of the data tables published within the ‘Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals’ statistical reports.https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-of-scientific-procedures-on-living-animals
There is a further breakdown, for the 2017 year only, of those included within the ‘other’ species categories. This can be found within Table 12 of the data tables published in the 2017 statistical report.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-of-scientific-procedures-on-living-animals-great-britain-2017
In 2017, the majority of experimental procedures used mice, fish and rats. Together these three species accounted for 87% of experimental procedures in Great Britain
For Northern Ireland, the Department of Health separately collects and publishes information on regulated procedures under devolved arrangements
The animal species used in regulated procedures in Northern Ireland can also be found in Table 1 of the data tables published within the ‘Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals in Northern Ireland’ reports. https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/publications/statistics-scientific-procedures-living-animals-northern-ireland
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions he has had with police forces on potential changes to the firearms licensing policy to require a medical declaration; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Hurd
Following the introduction of new medical arrangements for firearms licensing in 2016 we have been in discussions with the police, the relevant medical bodies and representatives of shooting organisations about improving the arrangements, and how greater consistency can be achieved across England and Wales.
The Policing and Crime Act 2017 introduced a power to enable the Secretary of State to issue statutory guidance to the police on their firearms licensing functions, and this guidance will include the relevant medical arrangements. Before issuing the statutory guidance, the Secretary of State must consult the National Police Chiefs Council and the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Scotland, and we will also consult publicly on the guidance before it is finalised. The Government intends to launch the consultation on the statutory guidance before the summer recess.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what primates were used in animal experimentation; and from which countries in each of the last three years figures are available.
Answered by Ben Wallace
Annual statistics of scientific procedures on living animals in Great Britain are published on an annual basis. The reports for the last three years are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-of-scientific-procedures-on-living-animals.
The number of non-human primates used for the first time in procedures in that year is given in Table 1a of the data tables published in each of the last three statistical reports.
The place of birth of non-human primates used for the first time in experimental procedures by species in that year is given in Table 2.2 of the data tables published in each of the last three statistical reports. Place of birth is presented by whether the animals were born in the UK, EU, Asia, America, Africa or elsewhere. Data are not collected on the specific country of birth.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans he has to enable local communities in cooperation with the police to use information accrued from ANPR to prosecute drivers who regularly break the speed limit.
Answered by Nick Hurd
Speeding offences can only be enforced by speed cameras using laser or radar that have met the requirements of Home Office Type Approval. There are, therefore, no plans to develop ANPR cameras to detect speeding offences.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been issued speeding fines on the (a) M1, (b) M2, (c) M3, (d) M4, (e) M5 and (f) M6 in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Home Office does not hold the information requested centrally.
The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) issued for speed limit offences. An FPN is a prescribed financial penalty issued to a motorist following a range of motoring offences, such as speed limit offences. Detailed information on the location where the offence took place is not collected or held by the Home Office.
Data on FPNs for speed limit offences can be found in the ‘Police Powers and Procedures, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, which can be accessed here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance he has given to Police and Crime Commissioners on the use of (a) reserves and (b) deficit budgets for the purposes of providing for pension costs.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Home Office has established a working group with representatives of Police and Crime Commissioners and forces to determine the best way to manage the potential impact of increased pensions costs
The Budget made clear that part of these costs will be met from the Treasury Reserve in 2019/20. As the Chancellor set out in his speech, the Home Secretary will review police spending power ahead of the 2019/20 provisional police funding settlement which is expected to be published next month
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for Leave to Remain from citizens of Iran were (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful; and how many of those unsuccessful applications were as a result of not being able to prove Christian faith for each year since 2012.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The UK has a proud history of providing protection to those who need it, in accordance with our obligations under the Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The number of Iranians who have claimed asylum in the UK up to Quarter 3 2018 (year ending Sept 18) and those who have been granted leave (Asylum/HP/ELR/other) can be found at the published Immigration Statistics, Asylum Data Tables Volume 1, table as_01_q:
We cannot provide data on the reasons why the asylum claims were made i.e. the Convention reason, as the basis of a person’s asylum claim is recorded on their individual Home Office file, but not in a way that can be easily aggregated, so we cannot provide figures on how many claims were unsuccessful as a result of not being able to prove Christian faith. As such, this information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost, because it would require a manual search through individual records.