Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of Official Development Assistance funding was used to support people trafficked into the sex industry in the UK in each of the last three years.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Home Office has not used Official Development Assistance funding to support individuals trafficked into the sex industry in the UK. Following a successful reasonable grounds decision, all potential victims of modern slavery, including those trafficked into the sex industry in the UK, are entitled to 45 days of support, funded by the Government.
This support meets and exceeds England and Wales’ obligations under Article 12 of the European Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings (ECAT), and Article 11 of the European Directive on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Protecting its Victims. Support is tailored to individual needs and can include accommodation, subsistence, counselling, access to mental, physical and dental health services, and signposting to legal support.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of Section 14 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
As we set out in the Government's response to the Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC), we are committed to tackling the harm and exploitation that can be associated with prostitution and sex work, and believe that people who want to leave prostitution should be given every opportunity to escape it. Our response additionally sets out that the Government will work with other Government departments, researchers and academics to develop a comprehensive, impartial understanding of the nature, prevalence and composition of prostitution and sex work in England and Wales.
This report will form the basis to review the effectiveness of current legislation, including Sections 14 and 17 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009.
Data on Engagement and Support Orders made under section 17 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 are not held centrally.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of Section 17 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 on improving safety and support for people involved in prostitution.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
As we set out in the Government's response to the Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC), we are committed to tackling the harm and exploitation that can be associated with prostitution and sex work, and believe that people who want to leave prostitution should be given every opportunity to escape it. Our response additionally sets out that the Government will work with other Government departments, researchers and academics to develop a comprehensive, impartial understanding of the nature, prevalence and composition of prostitution and sex work in England and Wales.
This report will form the basis to review the effectiveness of current legislation, including Sections 14 and 17 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009.
Data on Engagement and Support Orders made under section 17 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 are not held centrally.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been referred to drug and alcohol dependency programmes under Section 17 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 since that Act came into force.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
As we set out in the Government's response to the Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC), we are committed to tackling the harm and exploitation that can be associated with prostitution and sex work, and believe that people who want to leave prostitution should be given every opportunity to escape it. Our response additionally sets out that the Government will work with other Government departments, researchers and academics to develop a comprehensive, impartial understanding of the nature, prevalence and composition of prostitution and sex work in England and Wales.
This report will form the basis to review the effectiveness of current legislation, including Sections 14 and 17 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009.
Data on Engagement and Support Orders made under section 17 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 are not held centrally.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the task force announced by the Prime Minister on 31 July 2016 to accelerate progress on tackling modern slavery.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The taskforce has met twice, 3 November 2016 and 12 January 2017 and includes representation from central Government and leading stakeholders. The taskforce aims to do more to bring perpetrators to justice and to support victims both domestically and overseas with the focus on four specific objectives:
o Bring efforts and resources targeted at modern slavery in line with resources to tackle other forms of organised crime;
o increase and improve investigations into the perpetrators of modern slavery, through further education of law enforcement officers on the nature of modern slavery offences;
o improve successful prosecution levels with further education of prosecuting authorities on modern slavery; and
o improve international cooperation to tackle modern slavery.
We are already seeing progress in gathering intelligence on perpetrators of this vile crime and are developing our international response to tackle the threat overseas and strengthen law enforcement cooperation.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of local authorities' capacity to implement early morning restriction orders on the sale of alcohol.
Answered by Sarah Newton
In 2014 the Home Office sought feedback from local authorities which had consulted on implementing an Early Morning Alcohol Restriction Order (EMRO), and from others which had not actively considered an EMRO. The Home Office has not recently assessed local authorities’ capacity to implement EMROs.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Government has to revise its March 2012 alcohol strategy.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Government is committed to reducing the harms caused by alcohol. It set outs its approach to reducing alcohol-related crime and disorder in the Modern Crime Prevention Strategy, published in 2016. It is committed to taking action to inform and empower citizens and provide the most up-to-date, clear information to enable people to make informed choices about their drinking. There are no current plans to publish a new alcohol strategy.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans to produce a new alcohol strategy.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Government is committed to reducing the harms caused by alcohol. It set outs its approach to reducing alcohol-related crime and disorder in the Modern Crime Prevention Strategy, published in 2016. It is committed to taking action to inform and empower citizens and provide the most up-to-date, clear information to enable people to make informed choices about their drinking. There are no current plans to publish a new alcohol strategy.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the holding Answer of 13 June 2016 to Question 39747, on counter-terrorism, when she expects to provide a full Answer.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Where appropriate we will make it clear in future documents and legislation that extremism is about the mutual respect and tolerance of people with different faiths and beliefs rather than respect and tolerance for the faiths and beliefs themselves.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to ensure that staff in her Department receive religious literacy training.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Civil Service Learning, the main training provider for the Home Office, has a broad range of diversity and inclusion learning opportunities which are available to all staff.
Horizon (the Home Office intranet) hosts an information portal with resources to develop staff’s religious literacy.