Oral Answers to Questions

Henry Smith Excerpts

Monday 28th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Kit Malthouse]

I am grateful to my constituency neighbour for his question, though not for the aspersions he casts on my fellow county residents. I thought crime flowed in the other direction. Nevertheless, my hon. Friend is right that the formula, while the best available funding formula we have, is quite old now and needs to be reviewed. It contains several indicators that skew funding towards urban areas and in the next couple of years we have to reflect on the fact that crime has changed and that rural areas are experiencing more crime than they have perhaps been used to. Doubtless the Home Secretary and I will work on some form of funding formula review before the next election.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

What steps her Department is taking to stop migrants crossing the English Channel illegally.

[Shaun Bailey (West Bromwich West) (Con)]

What steps her Department is taking to stop migrants crossing the English Channel illegally.

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[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Chris Philp)]

The Government are committed to ending completely these dangerous crossings facilitated by ruthless criminals. These crossings are also unnecessary because France is a safe country. Our clandestine channel threat commander, newly appointed, is working closely with his French colleagues to stop these embarkations in the first place, and we are also working tirelessly to return people who have made this journey.

[Henry Smith [V]]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that answer. Can he say when legislation will be brought forward to update immigration and asylum law, and whether it will contain provisions such as stopping those who enter the United Kingdom illegally subsequently applying to stay in this country?

[Chris Philp]

My hon. Friend is quite right to draw attention to the legal system. It is quite frankly not fit for purpose in this area when it comes to asylum and immigration enforcement matters. We are often frustrated by repeatedly vexatious legal claims, often made at the last minute with the express intention of frustrating the proper application of the law. I can confirm that we are working at pace on legislative options in the way that he describes, and that everything is on the table.

Windrush Lessons Learned Review

Henry Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 21st July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Priti Patel]

As I have already said several times with regard to the cases themselves, these are complicated cases and individuals need to provide certain amounts of information with regard to the processing of claims and not just payments. That is part of the scheme that was created before I became Home Secretary, with Martin Forde QC, and the scheme was developed in conjunction with members of the Windrush generation. I have said that I am prepared now to look at any complexities around the scheme, and I said this at the Select Committee last week as well. If we need to look at amending the scheme going forward to enable and facilitate quicker payments or swifter cases being turned around, we will absolutely look at that.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

In a similar situation to the Windrush generation are the descendants of Chagos islanders, whose families were exiled from the British Indian Ocean Territory, and who now face citizenship problems. In the review of nationality law that my right hon. Friend just announced, will she commit to looking at the case of the Chagossian people?

[Priti Patel]

As I have touched on, this will form part of the Home Office’s wider work on all sorts of aspects of nationality law and the complexities of immigration law and the immigration system. As I said, we need the time and ability to do this, which is what we are undertaking right now and will continue to do so. In due course, I will report back. We will look at all these issues, and I am sure that many more will surface in the weeks and months ahead.

Covid-19: UK Border Health Measures

Henry Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

What advice did the Home Secretary receive from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies about introducing these quarantine measures? Will she also look to review them more regularly—weekly, I would suggest, rather than three-weekly?

[Priti Patel]

As I explained in my statement, the advice has been provided consistently both to the Home Office and other Departments. As I have outlined, there will be a three-week review period, but the review will be aligned with the other health reviews that are taking place, based on protecting the public. These are public health measures, and it is right that we look at all public health measures and regulations in the round to protect the British public.

Points-based Immigration System

Henry Smith Excerpts

Monday 24th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[Priti Patel]

The hon. Lady will recognise from the policy statement, which I am sure she has read, that points can be applied to the skills that are required across sectors. That would apply for lab technicians—I discussed that last week at Imperial College London—and equally for the social care system. Specifically on the social care system—it is right that people raise this issue —the Department of Health and Social Care, working with the care sector, is not only looking at what the points-based system will mean, but investing in the sector to train people so that they can continue to deliver great social care.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

I very much welcome the introduction of a skilled points-based immigration system, which is commonplace in many developed economies around the world. Will my right hon. Friend increase resources for tackling illegal immigration?

[Priti Patel]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Illegal migration is a significant issue facing our country and many others, and this Government have a very strong and clear strategy for tackling it.

Deportation Flight to Jamaica

Henry Smith Excerpts

Monday 10th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that it is important that the views and feelings of victims of crime are taken into account in our criminal justice system and how it operates?

[Kevin Foster]

Yes, I do. Given the provisions of the law that have been in place for the past 13 years, many will expect that when someone is convicted of a type of offence that many of those on this flight have committed, deportation may well proceed. Let us be clear: drugs are not a victimless crime; we need only look at the death rates, particularly the tragic figures we had last year in Scotland, to see their impact. As I say, the law is there and the law is clear, and it is not a “might”, a “may” or a “could”; it was legislated in 2007 that it was a “must” issue a deportation order.

Oral Answers to Questions

Henry Smith Excerpts

Monday 28th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[David Duguid (Banff and Buchan) (Con)]

7. What steps she is taking to tackle county lines drugs gangs.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

18. What steps she is taking to tackle county lines drugs gangs.

[David Morris (Morecambe and Lunesdale) (Con)]

23. What steps she is taking to tackle county lines drugs gangs.

--- Later in debate ---

[Henry Smith]

Sussex police were recently in receipt of a Home Office grant to tackle county lines drug offences. Will my hon. Friend update the House please?

[Kit Malthouse]

My hon. Friend is a doughty defender of Sussex police and a great supporter, I know, of the brilliant police and crime commissioner there, Katy Bourne, who is doing a fantastic job. He is right that Sussex police have been in the forefront of the fight against county lines and have received significant funding of £900,000 through the early intervention youth fund and £1.3 million to support police operations in the area. I am happy to say that in the latest week of intensification of action against county lines, which I hope he noted the other week, Sussex police made 29 arrests and safeguarded 50 vulnerable individuals.

Immigration Detention: Victims of Modern Slavery

Henry Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 17th July 2019 Commons Chamber

[Caroline Nokes]

The right hon. Gentleman will know that, at any one time, 95% of those liable to detention are actually in the community and not in immigration removal centres at all. It is important to emphasise that a freedom of information request will elicit different data to that which is available in parliamentary questions. I reiterate the point that no central record is held and that the information from the FOI has been collated from a variety of sources and may well give an inaccurate picture. If there is one thing that one learns as a Home Office Minister it is to be very wary of numbers at all times and not to seek to give numbers that may be inaccurate.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

In my constituency, there are two immigration detention centres: Tinsley House and Brook House. May I seek assurances from the Minister that the staff who operate those centres receive correct and adequate training to ensure that they are identifying and detecting those who may have been victims of modern slavery?

[Caroline Nokes]

It is still very much the case that it is the Home Office and Home Office staff in the widest sense who identify the greatest number of victims of modern slavery. Training is provided, and it is important that training is not only provided, but refreshed and is an ongoing process. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has made her commitment clear on this issue, and it has been a driving force in the Home Office to support her in the mission to stamp out this terrible crime, to identify the victims and to ensure that they are given the help that they need as victims.

Windrush Compensation Scheme

Henry Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 9th April 2019 Commons Chamber

[Caroline Nokes]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his question. He is of course right to emphasise how important it is that we right these wrongs. I would like to give some further explanation. It is important to reflect that while we have worked very closely with Martin Forde to establish both the tariff-based scheme and actuals, so where people could evidence specific losses, they would be reimbursed for those losses, actually these different heads of claim, which can be claimed for, need not be in the singular but can be cumulative. There is also a discretionary category, which will enable people to claim for other losses, not necessarily identified within the scheme, which is uncapped. [Interruption.] The detail is provided in the scheme online, but it is important to reflect that while there is a tariff set at £10,000 for somebody who was wrongly deported, of course that could be in conjunction with other parts of the claim, which could add up to significant sums in addition to that.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

In addition to the Windrush compensation, can my right hon. Friend say when we will see pay-outs for the Chagos compensation scheme, which was set several years ago at £40 million to that exiled community over 10 years?

[Caroline Nokes]

My hon. Friend will be conscious that this urgent question is about the Windrush compensation scheme, but he will no doubt be reassured to hear that last week, when I met high commissioners from across the Commonwealth, that issue was raised with me, and I will be working closely with Home Office officials to update him on that.

Deprivation of Citizenship Status

Henry Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 20th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

The hon. Lady lays down a fair challenge in asking that in such cases we—whether me or Ministers more generally—think very carefully about fairness and the impact of our decisions. I understand why she raised the issue of people who would look for excuses to try to radicalise populations and communities. That should weigh heavily in any decision on deprivation as against the Government’s responsibility to keep their citizens safe. It is worth keeping something else in mind. Let us imagine a hypothetical case where there is the possibility to keep a terrorist out of the country, but the Home Secretary decides not to, for some reason, and that that individual returns, continues to preach extremism and radicalise others, and potentially even carries out terrorist attacks. It is worth thinking about the impact of that on communities and how it could radicalise people.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Earlier today, several Labour MPs said that removing British citizenship from dual nationals accused of terror offences and acts against the British state could harm dual nationals residing abroad who get themselves into serious trouble. Is it not the case that, typically, countries deport back to this country British citizens convicted of serious crimes in those countries?

[Sajid Javid]

My hon. Friend asks me about deportations. In the case of deportations from the UK, we are talking about individuals who, for one reason or another, if they have broken laws, we would seek to deport. The best example in the UK is probably the deportation of serious foreign national offenders once they have served their sentence in a British prison. We take a case-by-case approach, but where appropriate we would look to deport. As he pointed out, many countries seek to deport back to the UK British citizens abroad who have committed offences once they have completed their sentence.

UK Nationals returning from Syria

Henry Smith Excerpts

Monday 18th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

My hon. Friend will know that when someone is charged, ultimately it is for the court and judge to decide any eventual punishment, but he can be assured that we want to ensure that justice is done in every single case, either in the region, by helping our allies or in some other way. Justice will be key in every case.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Will the Home Secretary confirm that the safety of no British officials, civilians or military, will be put at risk in an attempt to extract those suspected of supporting terrorism in countries across the middle east?

[Sajid Javid]

I am very happy to confirm that to my hon. Friend. As I mentioned earlier, anyone who has gone to Syria in recent years will have known the huge risk they were taking, and we certainly will not risk the lives of any British officials or soldiers, or anyone else, to help or rescue those who went to support terrorism.