To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Counter-terrorism: Public Places
Thursday 30th March 2023

Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department plans to take to (a) support and (b) provide funding for parish and town councils to help them comply with the proposed Protect Duty which would require public venues to protect against the risk of terrorism.

Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)

Martyn’s Law, formerly known as the Protect Duty, will be published as a draft Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny this Spring. Alongside this, the Home Office will publish an impact assessment and a further, updated, impact assessment will be completed prior to formal introduction of the Bill as parliamentary time allows. The Home Office will also undertake a new burdens assessment and assess any requirements arising from it.

A wealth of support, advice and guidance will be provided for all those captured by Martyn’s Law, should it be passed. This is currently in development and will be published prior to any Royal Assent. ProtectUK has been developed as the new online protective security hub, offering advice and guidance from trusted experts in policing and Counter Terrorism security. The platform is available to industry and the public and will be updated regularly with added information and increased functionality.


Written Question
Counter-terrorism: Public Places
Thursday 30th March 2023

Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with the National Association of Local Councils on the potential impact of introducing a Protect Duty which requires public venues to protect against the risk of terrorism on parish and town councils.

Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)

Martyn’s Law, formerly known as the Protect Duty, will be published as a draft Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny this Spring. During the development of this Bill, extensive engagement across all sectors including Local Authorities has taken place.

The Protect Duty consultation received 2,755 responses, during which the Home Office held over 80 engagement events. More recently, a webinar on Martyn’s Law geared specifically towards the public sector was attended by over 2000 individuals, the majority from Local Authorities. Engagement will continue throughout pre-legislative scrutiny and beyond.


Written Question
Passports: British Nationals Abroad
Tuesday 6th December 2022

Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how British nationals returning to the UK can establish the reason why their e-passport was not accepted by an e-passport gate at a UK border.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

There are a number of technical and security reasons why a person’s passport may fail to be accepted by the ePassport gates. It is not possible to identify the reason on a case by case basis.


Written Question
Visas: Married People
Monday 21st November 2022

Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her department is taking to expedite the processing of out-of-country spouse visa applications.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The Home Office had been prioritising Ukraine Visa Schemes applications in response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As such earlier this year the service standard was changed from 60-days to 120-days as a direct result.

In exceptional circumstances, requests to expedite UK Family Visa applications are considered on a case-by-case basis and take a range of factors into consideration.

The bulk of resource has now returned to the route, along with an additional investment of new staff.

We are keeping the service standard level under review.


Written Question
Passports: Applications
Tuesday 5th July 2022

Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2022 to Question 7920 on Passports: Applications, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of further options to ensure that people receive their passports in a timely manner.

Answered by Kevin Foster

Since April 2021, people have been advised to allow up to ten weeks to get their passport. Across March, April, and May 2022, 98.5% of applications from the UK were completed within this published processing time of up to ten weeks.

Her Majesty’s Passport Office has added 850 staff since April 2021. This has helped to ensure that more passport applications are being processed than ever before, with the processing of approximately three million applications being completed between March and May.

Processing capacity will increase further, with an additional 350 staff arriving within the summer.


Written Question
Passports: Applications
Tuesday 24th May 2022

Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that passport applications for those who need to travel urgently for compassionate reasons are prioritised.

Answered by Kevin Foster

Her Majesty’s Passport Office has always prioritised the cases of those who need a passport urgently on compassionate grounds, such as in the event of a death or serious illness of a friend or relative overseas. Anyone who believes they meet this criteria should contact the Passport Adviceline.


Written Question
Homes for Ukraine Scheme
Monday 23rd May 2022

Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to process outstanding visa applications for those planning to enter the UK on the Homes for Ukraine Scheme; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that their sponsors in the UK are kept regularly informed of the status of their visa applications.

Answered by Kevin Foster

This is one of the fastest and largest visa programmes in UK history and in as little as two months we have issued over 100,000 visas, helping Ukrainians displaced from their home country to come to the UK to live, work, study and find safety here.

Once an application has been processed and approved, an official permission letter confirming the applicant can travel to the UK is sent to the applicant if they possess a valid Ukrainian passport.

The Home Office is processing applications as quickly as possible with extra caseworkers being brought in to meet demand. We continually making efforts to simplify the application process for Ukrainian refugees, and keeps this under regular review.


Written Question
Crime: Rural Areas
Tuesday 8th March 2022

Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce rural crime; and what assessment her Department has made of the impact on communities of rural crime in (a) Somerton and Frome and (b) the South West.

Answered by Kit Malthouse

We are committed to driving down rural crime, which is why the Government is providing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit. We have also tabled amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill to introduce tougher sentencing and improved police powers for hare coursing.

Tackling rural crime is a priority for this Government and we are supporting the police by recruiting an additional 20,000 police officers by March 2023. As of 31 December 2021, polices forces in England and Wales have recruited over 11,000 additional officers as part of the three-year Police Uplift Programme. Avon and Somerset police has recruited 254 additional uplift officers against a combined year 1 and 2 allocation of 273 officers. As of 31 December 2021, police forces in the South West region have recruited 712 additional uplift officers against a combined year 1 and 2 allocation of 843.

The Government has not undertaken a specific assessment of the impact on communities or rural crime in either (a) Somerton and Frome and (b) the South West. The independent Crime Survey for England and Wales continues to show that, for those crimes covered by the Survey, people in rural areas are less likely to be the victims of crime than those in urban areas. This is echoed by DEFRA’s Statistical Digest of Rural England, published in January 2022, that states “average crime rates are lower in rural areas than urban areas”. We recognise too that within rural communities some crimes are unique and specific in that they do not occur as frequently in urban areas.


Written Question
Visas: Skilled Workers
Tuesday 1st February 2022

Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many dental medical professionals have entered the UK via the Skilled Visa Route.

Answered by Kevin Foster

Home Office Migration Statistics do not specifically capture information on the professions of those entering the UK under the Skilled Worker visa route.

Information on current Home Office migration statistics can be found at Migration statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)


Written Question
Crimes of Violence: Young People
Monday 3rd December 2018

Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)

Question to the Home Office:

What steps he is taking to divert young people away from violent crime.

Answered by Sajid Javid

With your permission Mr Speaker, I would like to group this question with question 23.

Diverting young people away from crime is at the heart of the Serious Violence Strategy.

I have just awarded £17.7m to support 29 projects working with young people through the Early Intervention Youth Fund, and I am setting up a new £200m Youth Endowment Fund to provide long term support to stop children getting involved in crime and violence.