Questioner: Diane Abbott (LAB - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has suspended all processing and admission of migrants formerly at Calais.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
We have worked closely with the French authorities to support the clearance of the Calais camp and to transfer children eligible to come to the UK. Since 10 October, we have transferred over 750 children from France. The current phase has been concluded. More children will be transferred from across Europe under the Immigration Act in the coming months, including from France.
We will continue to meet our obligation under the Dublin Regulation to transfer unaccompanied refugee children to the UK where a family link has been established.
Questioner: Diane Abbott (LAB - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the net financial contribution per annum to the economy from international students; and how that contribution is expected to change in the next three years.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Government recognises that international students make an important contribution during their time here, and they help make our education system one of the best in the world. The UK remains the second most popular destination in the world for international higher education students.
We continue to be committed to ensuring our top universities can attract the best students from around the world. The latest figures show that visa applications from university students are now 17 per cent higher than they were in 2010 and visa applications to Russell Group universities are 47 per cent higher than in 2010.
Questioner: Diane Abbott (LAB - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations she has received from and what discussions she has had with (a) Ian Wright, director-general of the Food and Drink Federation, (b) Helen Dickinson, chief executive at the British Retail Consortium and (c) others on potential changes to immigration systems or new work visa systems after the UK has left the EU.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of international partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations and individuals are passed to the Cabinet Office on a quarterly basis and are subsequently published on the Cabinet Office website which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/cabinet-office
Questioner: Diane Abbott (LAB - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with which (a) EU heads of government, (b) heads of state, (c) members of the EU Commission and (d) leaders of the parliamentary groupings in the European Parliament she has (i) met and (ii) discussed the Government's plans to reduce net migration from the EU after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of international partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations and individuals are passed to the Cabinet Office on a quarterly basis and are subsequently published on the Cabinet Office website which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/cabinet-office
Questioner: Diane Abbott (LAB - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of proposed changes in the status and treatment of sexual abuse victims on the way in which police forces deal with such cases.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Home Office has no plans to change the status and treatment of victims of sexual abuse. It is essential that those reporting serious crimes to the police are treated as victims. The police should focus on the credibility of the allegation rather than the credibility of the witness or victim. Accepting that a person has been a victim of crime does not automatically mean accepting that a specific allegation is credible.
Questioner: Diane Abbott (LAB - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what violent or terrorist far right or neo-Nazi groups are being monitored or considered for possible proscription as an illegal organisation.
Answered by Ben Wallace
We do not routinely comment on whether an organisation is or is not under consideration for proscription.
Questioner: Diane Abbott (LAB - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to ensure that any refugee children who were recently accommodated at Calais and who were entitled to come to the UK have not been trafficked, become domestic slaves or forced into prostitution.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
We continue to work closely with local authorities, the Department for Education, the Local Government Association, non-governmental organisations, and other Government departments to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the children transferred from France to the UK. The Government recently announced its intention to publish a Safeguarding Strategy which will bring together a number of strands of ongoing work and develop a more holistic, robust and evidence-based strategy to supporting these vulnerable children.
Children transferred to the UK were assessed on arrival by Home Office officials who are trained to identify indicators of human trafficking and modern slavery. Under the Dublin Regulation, safeguarding checks are conducted ahead of the children being reunited with their relatives.
The Government takes its responsibilities towards all vulnerable children extremely seriously. That is why when a child goes missing from care, agencies work closely with local authorities and local police forces in order to find them.
Questioner: Diane Abbott (LAB - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps have been taken to reassure EU nationals currently living in the UK that they will enjoy the same rights of residency and work status that they currently enjoy after the UK has left the EU.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Prime Minister has been clear that she wants to protect the status of EU nationals already living in the UK, and the only circumstances in which that wouldn’t be possible is if British citizens’ rights in other EU Member States were not protected in return.
Questioner: Diane Abbott (LAB - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of changes in the availability of health visiting and school nursing services on health outcomes for children and young people; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The Government is committed to achieving good health outcomes for children and young people. Local authorities are responsible for commissioning appropriate services for 0-19 year olds in their areas, including health visiting and school nursing. Public Health England monitors a range of health outcomes for children, provided by Local authorities, including the health visiting services’ high impact actions, such as reducing smoking in pregnancy and managing a healthy weight in 4-5 year olds. The majority of these show a steady state of improvement[1].
Whilst no similar collection of data is made for school nursing services, and therefore no assessment has been made, school nurses are key providers of both the National Child Measurement Programme and childhood immunisations, both of which show significant uptake rates[2].
Both the Health Visitor Programme and School Nurse Programme, which concluded in 2015, introduced new service models for both professions to help develop improved access, user experience and outcomes, as well as reducing health inequalities. The Health Visitor programme also saw the workforce increase considerably enabling more families to be reached. Both professional groups indicate the service models have provided increased awareness of the service by users and a better structured delivery.
[1] Chimat Early Years Profiles
[2] National Child Measurement Programme https://www.noo.org.uk/NCMP
Questioner: Diane Abbott (LAB - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes in the availability of health visiting services on patients receiving those services; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The Government is committed to achieving good health outcomes for children and young people. Local authorities are responsible for commissioning appropriate services for 0-5 year olds in their areas, including health visiting. Public Health England monitors a range of outcomes for child health. This includes information provided by local authorities for health visiting services high impact actions such as reducing smoking in pregnancy and managing a healthy weight in 4-5 year olds. The majority of these show steady state of improvement[1].
The Health Visitor Programme, which concluded in 2015, introduced a new service model for the profession to help develop improved access, user experience and outcomes, as well as reducing health inequalities. The Health Visitor programme also saw the workforce increase considerably enabling more families to be reached. Professional groups indicate the service model has provided increased awareness of the service by users and a better structured delivery.
[1] Chimat Early Years Profiles