Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were charged with criminal offences as a result of Operation Gull in Northern Ireland in 2023.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
In 2023, Home Office Criminal and Financial Investigation teams (CFI) charged 39 individuals with criminal offences as part of Operation Gull.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will hold discussions with the Irish Government on tackling the supply of illegal drugs entering the UK via the sea.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
In December 2021, the Government launched its ten-year drugs strategy, From Harm to Hope, to cut crime and save lives. As part of this, £300 million has been allocated to fund activity to break drug supply chains from end-to-end, this includes targeting upstream flow and securing the UK border to restrict drugs entering the UK via sea, land, and air.
The UK Government and its law enforcement partners are leveraging our extensive international networks to maximise cooperation with other governments to tackle drug trafficking upstream.
Border Force works with law enforcement organisations, including the Police Service Northern Ireland, other UK Police services, An Garda Síochána in the Republic of Ireland and the National Crime Agency, to target those who might attempt to smuggle illicit drugs between the Republic of Ireland and the UK, including via the sea.
Our continued work with partners, including the NCA and other law enforcement agencies, is effective in preventing drugs from reaching local communities where they fuel violence and exploitation, causing significant harm to our society.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many companies had registered with his Department as having multiple domestic properties available to be used as temporary residences for (a) refugees and (b) people seeking asylum in the UK as of 31 January 2024.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office does not hold the information you have requested.
Accommodation is provided by commercial partners; Serco, Clearsprings Ready Homes and Mears under the Asylum Accommodation Support Contracts. Further details can be found at: AASC_-_Schedule_2_-_Statement_of_Requirements.pdf (parliament.uk). Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation (including in contingency hotels and other contingency accommodation) is published in table Asy_D11 here: Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with how many countries his Department is having bilateral discussions on Youth Mobility Scheme agreements.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We remain open to negotiating Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) arrangements with other countries and territories, including EU Member States. However, as each YMS is subject to a bilateral, reciprocal agreement which also provides benefits to UK nationals, with the detail negotiated and agreed between the relevant parties, we are unable to disclose the detail of negotiations as they occur. Further details of additional YMS arrangements will be announced once they are concluded.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate his Department has made of the number of live births that occurred to women who arrived in the UK while pregnant and seeking asylum in the last five years.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
This information is not recorded in a reportable format.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2023 to Question 1309 on Northern Ireland Strategic Migration Partnership, whether his Department is taking steps with the Northern Ireland Executive to agree a replacement for the Northern Ireland Strategic Migration Partnership.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office continues to engage with Northern Ireland government departments to progress agreements to ensure continued delivery for service users in Northern Ireland. We have multiple agreements with varying Northern Ireland government departments in place to achieve this.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will discuss attacks on employees in the retail sector at the next meeting of the National Retail Crime Steering Group.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is clear that violent and abusive behaviour towards any worker, particularly those who provide a valuable service to the public, is never acceptable.
The National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG), which I co-chair alongside the British Retail Consortium, ensures the response to retail crime is as robust as it can be. The NRCSG meets quarterly and comprises senior representatives from policing, the retail sector, retail trade associations, security providers and Government departments. Violence and abuse towards retail workers will be discussed at the next NRCSG.
In October, the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Retail Crime Action Plan was launched, which includes a commitment to prioritise police attendance at the scene where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by police personnel. These are substantial commitments, and I will use the NRCSG to hold police to account, whilst also ensuring retailers are playing their part by providing evidence of shoplifting and violence and abuse to police.
In 2022, the Government took the significant step to introduce a statutory aggravating factor for assault against those who are serving the public. Section 156 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 means the public facing nature of a victim’s role will be considered an aggravating factor when it comes to sentencing for assault offences, allowing the court to give a longer sentence within the statutory maximum for the offence.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether initial asylum decisions have been made for claims made before 28 June 2022.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
In December 2022, the Prime Minister pledged to clear 92,601 legacy asylum claims (those lodged before the 28 June 2022) by the end of 2023. The Home Office not only cleared the equivalent 92,000 legacy asylum backlog, but exceeded it, processing over 112,000 cases in total.
Of the 112,138 initial asylum decisions, 86,800 of these decisions were made on legacy claims, with a further 25,338 decisions on flow claims. Please see Statistics relating to Illegal Migration - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Around 4,500 legacy claims require further investigation. We will never compromise the integrity of the UK immigration system and will ensure that rigorous checks are made on these claims before decisions are made.
Indeed, since the end of December 2023, we have continued to make decisions on cases in the legacy backlog and will continue to do so. We will publish data on the number of outstanding decisions in the legacy cohort in the usual way.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in light of a recent reported incident in London, whether he has issued recent guidance to the police on the rights of people to sing religious songs in a public setting.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is committed to religious freedom and free speech, and singing religious songs outside a church is not in itself prohibited.
The police are operationally independent and there is a well established process for addressing complaints.
The Home Office will not be issuing guidance on the matter.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress his Department has made with the Executive Office of Northern Ireland in establishing a grant agreement for the successor arrangement to the Northern Ireland Strategic Migration Partnership.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office continues to engage with Northern Ireland government departments to progress agreements to ensure continued delivery for service users in Northern Ireland. We have multiple agreements with varying Northern Ireland government departments in place to achieve this.