Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many care leavers, who were formerly unaccompanied asylum-seeking children have (a) refugee status, (b) humanitarian protection, (c) another form of leave to remain or (d) an outstanding human rights application or appeal.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Home Office publishes figures on the number of asylum claims and decisions related to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children as part of its Immigration Statistics release. The latest version of which can be found at: Immigration statistics, January to March 2017: data tables - GOV.UK
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what safeguarding measures are in place to protect minors who come forward with evidence to the independent inquiry on child abuse.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Government recognises the specific difficulties that minors may face when coming forward with evidence to the Inquiry. The terms of reference for the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse require it to "consider the experience of survivors of child sexual abuse; providing opportunities for them to bear witness to the Inquiry, having regard to the need to provide appropriate support in doing so".
It is for the Inquiry (which operates independently of Government) to determine how to provide this appropriate support. Information about how the Inquiry supports victims and survivors who come forward with evidence are given on the Inquiry's website - www.iicsa.org.uk
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Wilson Doctrine has been consistently applied to the parliamentary communications of the hon. Member for South Shields; and whether that hon. Member has been subject to surveillance.
Answered by John Hayes
The Government’s position on the Wilson Doctrine was set out by the Prime Minister in a written ministerial statement made on 4 November 2015.
As the Prime Minister made clear, the Wilson Doctrine has never been an absolute bar to the targeted interception of the communications of Members of Parliament or an exemption from the legal regime governing interception. The Doctrine recognised that there could be instances where interception might be necessary.
The Prime Minister announced that as matter of policy the PM will be consulted should there ever be a proposal to target any UK Parliamentarian’s communications under a warrant issued by a Secretary of State. This applies to Members of Parliament, members of the House of Lords, the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Welsh Assembly and UK members of the European Parliament. It applies to all activity authorised by a warrant issued by a Secretary of State: any instance of targeted interception and, electronic surveillance and equipment interference, when undertaken by the Security and Intelligence Agencies. This is in addition to the rigorous safeguards already in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) and the Code of Practice issued under it which set out a series of robust safeguards for any instance of interception.
It is long standing policy of successive Governments neither to confirm nor deny any specific activity by the Security and Intelligence Agencies. Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 it is an offence for anyone to identify an individual interception warrant or an individual interception that takes place.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether funding allocated to local authorities for resettling Syrian refugees will be restricted to one year.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The first 12 months of a refugee’s resettlement costs are fully funded by central government using the overseas aid budget. To ensure that local authorities can plan ahead and continue to respond to the overwhelmingly generous response of the British people, we will also provide additional funding to assist with costs incurred after year one.
We will be working closely with local government to develop the process for drawing down the funding, including to those councils offering help under the scheme.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether funding allocated to local authorities for resettling Syrian refugees will be ring-fenced for that purpose.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The first 12 months of a refugee’s resettlement costs are fully funded by central government using the overseas aid budget. To ensure that local authorities can plan ahead and continue to respond to the overwhelmingly generous response of the British people, we will also provide additional funding to assist with costs incurred after year one.
We will be working closely with local government to develop the process for drawing down the funding, including to those councils offering help under the scheme.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the determination of 15 May 2015 of the Pensions Ombudsman with respect to the complaint by Mr W Milne against the Government Actuary's Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that other members of relevant pension schemes in the Police Service receive compensation awards consistent with that determination; and when she anticipates those awards will be made.
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 appropriate payments are made as quickly as possible. This will take time, with thousands of historic records to consider. Those affected will receive updates through their pensions administrators.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of (a) disabled and (b) all other staff in her Department reported experiencing bullying or harassment at work in the most recent Civil Service People Survey.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The overall response rate for the Home Office 2014 People Survey was 51% (15,431 staff). Of those who responded, 2,090 staff (14%) declared a long-standing physical or mental health condition, illness, impairment or disability.
63% of respondents declaring a long-standing physical or mental health condition, illness, impairment or disability responded that they were treated fairly at work. 76% of respondents declaring that they did not have a long-standing physical or mental health condition, illness, impairment or disability responded that they were treated fairly at work.
23% of respondents declaring a long-standing physical or mental health condition, illness, impairment or disability reported that they had personally experienced bullying or harassment at work in the past 12 months. 11% of respondents declaring that they did not have a long-standing physical or mental health condition, illness, impairment or disability reported that they had personally experienced bullying or harassment at work in the past 12 months.
We are concerned by these results and are taking action. In particular, we are building on our existing programme of work with disabled staff and their managers to ensure the issues are understood so that staff are treated fairly. The Home Office signed the Time to Change pledge and we are committed to raising awareness of mental health issues. We are reviewing our guidance on
reasonable adjustments for disabled staff, including guidance on setting work objectives and managing performance.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of (a) disabled and (b) all other staff in her Department responded that they were treated fairly at work in the most recent Civil Service People Survey.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The overall response rate for the Home Office 2014 People Survey was 51%
(15,431 staff). Of those who responded, 2,090 staff (14%) declared a
long-standing physical or mental health condition, illness, impairment or
disability.
63% of respondents declaring a long-standing physical or mental health
condition, illness, impairment or disability responded that they were treated
fairly at work. 76% of respondents declaring that they did not have a
long-standing physical or mental health condition, illness, impairment or
disability responded that they were treated fairly at work.
23% of respondents declaring a long-standing physical or mental health
condition, illness, impairment or disability reported that they had personally
experienced bullying or harassment at work in the past 12 months. 11% of
respondents declaring that they did not have a long-standing physical or mental
health condition, illness, impairment or disability reported that they had
personally experienced bullying or harassment at work in the past 12 months.
We are concerned by these results and are taking action. In particular, we are
building on our existing programme of work with disabled staff and their
managers to ensure the issues are understood so that staff are treated fairly.
The Home Office signed the Time to Change pledge and we are committed to
raising awareness of mental health issues. We are reviewing our guidance on
reasonable adjustments for disabled staff, including guidance on setting work
objectives and managing performance.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many registered sex offenders there are in the UK; how many people on the Violent and Sex Offenders Register have committed sexual offences against children; and what the reoffending rate is for people on that register who have committed such offences in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Baroness Featherstone
Figures for the number of registered sex offenders in the UK are contained in the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements Annual Report, published by the Ministry of Justice. This includes MAPPA-eligible offenders who have been
charged with a serious further offence. The report covering the period from April 2013 to March 2014 is available on the GOV.uk website. The Home Office does not hold data on the number of registered sex offenders who have committed
sexual offences against children.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of (a) disabled and (b) all other staff employed by her Department received each level of performance rating in their end of year performance assessment for 2013-14.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The performance management data for 2013/2014 is not yet available .