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 hotels are in use as asylum seeker accommodation as of 19 January 2024.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
As a result of the range of measures we have implemented to stop the boats, reform the management of the asylum accommodation estate and the delivery of alternative forms of accommodation sites, we are now able to stop the procurement of new asylum hotels and begin the first phase of hotel exits. 50 hotels are due to be closed by the end of January and many more in the coming months.
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)(opens in a new tab).
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions the Defending Democracy Taskforce met in the last 12 months.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The Defending Democracy Taskforce is an enduring government function which seeks to protect the democratic integrity of the UK by reducing the threat of foreign interference.
The Taskforce is engaging across government and with Parliament, the UK’s intelligence community, the devolved governments, local authorities, the private sector, and civil society on the full range of threats facing our democratic institutions.
Over the last 12 months, the Taskforce has met eleven times.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to respond to the Fourth Report of Session 2022–23 of the Home Affairs Select Committee entitled Terrorism (Protection of Premises) draft Bill, HC 1359.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The Government is grateful to the Home Affairs Commitee for the pre-legislative scrutiny undertaken. We remain committed to introducing the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill in this session of Parliament. The Bill which was announced in the King’s Speech on Tuesday 7th November.
Ahead of introduction, we will soon launch a public consultation on proposed amendments to the Bill’s Standard Tier, in light of the recommendations from HASC and wider engagement activity. We recognise the Bill must strike the right balance between public protection and avoiding undue burdens on smaller premises.
The Government is carefully considering its response to the Home Affairs Select Committee, which will be provided alongside a Government response to the consultation.
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 much funding his Department plans to allocate to the Jewish Community Police, Crime and Security Taskforce in 2024.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The Government continues to provide protective security funding to the Jewish community through the Jewish Community Protective Security (JCPS) Grant. This includes £3 million of funding announced by the Prime Minister in October for the Community Security Trust (CST) to provide additional security at Jewish schools, synagogues and other Jewish community sites. This brings total funding for CST, through the Grant, to £18 million in 2023/24, and this will remain at £18 million in 2024/25.
The Taskforce does not have a specific budget allocation and does not currently have any specific costs associated with its work.
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 crimes were reported on the True Vision website in the last 12 months.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The department does not hold data on the number of crimes reported on the True Vision website.
The reports made to True Vision are sent directly to relevant police forces, as identified by the complainant and reports deemed as hate crimes are included in the force specific hate crime data.
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 participated in the free e-learning course created by his Department's FGM team in the last 12 months.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
Our most recent statistics show that in 2022, 51,299 individuals have accessed our free e-learning training on FGM.
Alongside the free e-learning for frontline staff, the Home Office has issued a diverse range of materials aimed at professionals to improve their understanding and response to FGM, which includes statutory multi-agency guidance. The training helps professionals to recognise the warning signs of forced marriage and ensure that the right action is taken to help protect those at risk.
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 times have registered sex offenders (a) attempted to change their names and (b) been prevented from changing their names by legal means in the last two years.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Registered sex offenders are required to notify name changes to the police. Failure to do so is an offence punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment. In addition, the police – on application to a court – can limit an individual’s ability to change their name through a Sexual Harm Prevention or Sexual Risk Order if necessary to protect members of the public from sexual harm.
Data related to name changes for these offenders and conditions imposed via civil orders are not collated centrally.
To help ensure our system is as robust as it can be, the Home Office will bring forward measures through the Criminal Justice Bill to restrict the ability of registered sex offenders to change their name in certain circumstances.
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 lessons his Department has learned from the most recent independent evaluation of the Safer Streets Fund.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
All rounds of the Safer Streets Fund delivered to date have been subject to independent evaluation to grow the evidence base of what works to improve public safety and feelings of safety, and to inform future policy and funding decisions.
Findings from evaluation activities show interventions delivered with Safer Streets funding are boosting trust in local policing, making communities feel safer and restoring people’s pride in where they live. This reflects the efforts made to make residents aware of the work being done to make them feel more secure such as fitting home security measures and rolling out additional CCTV and streetlighting. In addition, evaluation findings have identified key learnings and several recommendations for the Home Office, which have been incorporated into the design and development of subsequent rounds.
The full findings of the independent evaluation of Round One can be found here: Evaluation of the Safer Streets Fund Round 1, year ending March 2021 - 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, how much money was received from the immigration health surcharge in (a) 2019 and (b) 2022.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) income data is published annually in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts.
Please note that the IHS figure is made up of two lines, one listed as Retained Income, the other as Consolidated Funds. The IHS amounts for financial years 2019/20 and 2022/23 are available online at:
Page 152 for 2019-20 financial year:
Home Office annual report and accounts 2019 - 2020 (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Page 247 for the 2022-23 financial year
Home Office ARA 22-23 Final (publishing.service.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 reference to the Treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the United States of America on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters with Exchange of Notes, signed in January 1994, how many times information was requested on individuals then resident in the UK between 1998 and 2022.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office is the central authority for Mutual Legal Assistance for England, Wales and Northern Ireland except for tax and fiscal customs criminal matters, which are coordinated by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). Requests seeking assistance solely from Scotland are sent directly to the Crown Office in Edinburgh.
Information on the number of times information was requested on individuals then resident in the UK between 1998 and 2022 made under the 1994 Treaty is not recorded by the Home Office.