Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to introduce new powers for police forces in England and Wales to tackle anti-social behaviour.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 gives the police and their local partners a range of flexible powers to enable them to respond quickly and efficiently to different forms of anti-social behaviour.
These powers give the police and other local agencies the powers they need to protect victims and to stop anti-social behaviour in public which can spoil the community’s quality of life.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to delay the UK's participation in the European Investigation Order until after the UK's departure from the EU.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Government is taking the necessary measures to comply with this Directive by 22 May 2017.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many prosecutions have been brought under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 since the introduction of that legislation.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a crime and it is child abuse. The Government will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong physical and psychological suffering to women and girls.
There has been one prosecution brought under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003, which was unsuccessful. The police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have highlighted that one reason for the lack of investigations and prosecutions is a lack of referrals. In addition, cultural taboo and the age and vulnerability of the victims may prevent them coming forward.
In 2015 we significantly changed the law to breakdown these barriers. We introduced: extended extra-territorial jurisdiction, lifelong anonymity for victims, a new offence of failure to protect a girl from FGM and a mandatory reporting duty. We have also introduced FGM Protection Orders and latest figures show that 79 have been made to protect girls.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will direct HM Passport Office to design a passport with a blue cover.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Romford on 9th November, UIN 47644.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the efficacy of knife crime amnesty provisions in England and Wales.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Knife amnesties are an operational matter for chief constables. Tackling knife crime is a priority for the Government and we have encouraged police forces to undertake a series of coordinated weeks of action to tackle knife crime under Operation Sceptre. Action under Operation Sceptre includes police forces targeting habitual knife carriers, weapon sweeps, test purchases of knives from retailers, and the use of surrender bins. Twenty-five forces took part in the latest week of action in October 2016.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to review the efficacy of sections 103 and 104 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Anti-social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 introduced new and more flexible powers to make it quicker and easier for police forces and local authorities to protect victims and communities from anti-social and nuisance behaviour.
The Government issued statutory guidance for frontline professionals in July 2014 on the use of these powers, which included community remedies and anti-social behaviour case reviews under sections 103 and 104 the 2014 Act. We are currently reviewing this guidance to ensure it remains relevant and up to date.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 14 April 2016 to Question 33257, what the Government's policy is on (a) granting residency to and (b) possible prosecution of people who arrive in the UK as either refugees or asylum seekers who are married to a child under 16 when such marriages were undertaken legally outside the UK and were not performed under duress.
Answered by James Brokenshire
People of any age who are able to establish a protection need will normally be granted asylum or humanitarian protection in the UK irrespective of whether they are married to a child under 16 where the marriage was undertaken legally outside the UK and not under duress.
A person under 18 who seeks asylum as the spouse or civil partner of another asylum seeker will not be allowed to do so and must apply for asylum in their own right as a minor. Any minor seeking asylum or refugee granted leave on this basis who is known to be in a relationship akin to marriage will be referred to the local authority social services at the earliest opportunity, irrespective of the legality of the marriage or whether the marriage is believed to have taken place under duress.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what legislative provisions there are to prevent the husband of a child bride bringing that bride into the UK.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Under the family Immigration Rules both an applicant for a spouse visa and their sponsor must be aged 18 or over.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the Government's policy is on the prosecution of husbands of child brides resident in the UK, who married that bride outside of the UK.
Answered by Karen Bradley
We made forced marriage a criminal offence in 2014 to better protect victims and send a clear message that this abhorrent practice is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated in the UK. The offence relates to where a UK resident or national forces a child into marriage overseas as well as in the UK.
Our dedicated Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) leads efforts to combat forced marriage both at home and abroad. Where cases involve a minor in the UK, the FMU work with the relevant statutory agencies to provide advice and expertise to ensure that appropriate safeguarding measures are taken. Where a case involves a minor overseas, the FMU work with consular officers overseas and statutory agencies in the UK to ensure safeguarding obligations are fulfilled and appropriate action is taken where necessary.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect on unemployed people starting employment of the time taken by the Disclosure and Barring Service to process applications.
Answered by Karen Bradley
In the vast majority of cases, disclosure certificates are issued in a timely manner. Performance data relating to February 2016 indicates that average processing time for Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) applications was 15 days. It is important that checks undertaken are thorough and a proportion of the applications received by the DBS need to be referred to one or more police forces as part of the enhanced disclosure process.
The DBS is reliant on police forces completing their checks in a timely manner. A small number of forces have experienced difficulties in meeting the service level agreements in place between the DBS and each force. Whilst no assessment has been made of the impact of timeliness on unemployed customers, it is recognised that delays may create problems for some people. The DBS is working closely with those forces whose performance does not meet turnaround time targets. We will not compromise when it comes to the safety of children and vulnerable adults.
The number of applications to the DBS from people living in the Clacton constituency that have taken more than 60 days to process in the last 12 months is listed in the table below.
Month | Number of certificates issued by DBS to applicants in Clacton constituency | Applications that took longer than 60 days |
March 2015– February 2016 | 5,707
| 322 |