Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce anti-social behaviour.
Answered by Suella Braverman
We are committed to tackling ASB and the House will be aware that we are committed to recruiting 20,000 additional police officers which will take us to the highest number we have ever had.
We expanded the Safer Streets Fund to include the tackling of ASB as one of its primary aims.
We have also last year published the ASB Principles to establish a strong and effective partnership response to ASB.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans for the measures in the Strategic Policing Requirement 2023 on violence against women and girls to apply to violence against men and boys.
Answered by Sarah Dines
The Government remains committed to supporting all victims and survivors of abusive and violent crimes including, but not limited to, rape and other sexual offences, domestic abuse, stalking, ‘honour’-based abuse (including female genital mutilation forced marriage, and ‘honour’ killings), as well as many others, including offences committed online.
We use the term VAWG, including within the SPR, as it refers to acts of violence or abuse we know disproportionately, but not exclusively, affect women and girls.
The use of the term cannot and should not negate the experiences of, or the provisions for, male victims.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has taken recent steps to ensure that male victims of rape are not classified as victims of violence against women and girls by his Department.
Answered by Sarah Dines
The Government is absolutely committed to supporting all victims of rape, regardless of gender.
Under the cross-Government Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, published in July 2021, the term “violence against women and girls” (VAWG) refer to crimes which disproportionately, but not exclusively, affect women and girls. This includes stalking, ‘honour’ based crime (e.g. female genital mutilation and forced marriage) and sexual offences such as rape. We recognise that men and boys also experience abusive and violent crimes that fall within the umbrella of these crime types. We recognise the term VAWG cannot, and should not, negate the experiences of male victims.
We acknowledge that there are specific challenges male victims of these crimes may experience. In March 2022, we published our refreshed Supporting Male Victims document. This outlined several commitments to improve our response to male victims of these crimes including the Ministry of Justice investing £1.4m to the Male Rape Fund in 2021/22 (and a further £1.4m in 2022/23).
Additionally, both the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy and complementary Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan, published in March 2022, sets out our ambition to reduce the prevalence of all VAWG crimes, regardless of who they affect. Commitments made within these documents benefit all victims, including men and boys.
In June 2021 we published the End-to-End Rape Review Findings and Action Plan. This action plan outlined a robust programme of work to achieve a significant improvement in the way the criminal justice system responds to rape. This includes a £6.65m investment from the Home Office into Operation Soteria to develop new national operating models for the investigation and prosecution of rape.
In terms of police recording, the police do not record any crimes as being ‘VAWG’. VAWG is an umbrella term used by the government/others to describe a range of behaviours and offences but is not a formal crime definition. In relation to rape offences, the Home Office counting rules require offences to be recorded based on the age and sex of the victim. This would mean in all circumstances a male victim of rape would be formally recorded as being a male victim of rape.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of small boat crossings of the English Channel.
Answered by Suella Braverman
As we approach the first anniversary of the tragic deaths in the Channel last November, we are more determined than ever to end the vile business model of people smugglers and are working with our international partners to stop people putting their lives at risk through dangerous and illegal journeys.
Those who travel to the UK by illegal, dangerous and unnecessary methods, including via small boat crossings across the Channel, will be considered for relocation to Rwanda, where they will have their asylum claim processed – they will not return to the UK.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of increasing the number of in-person inspections of establishments licensed under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Regulator has strengthened its regulatory oversight and published its process of full system audits at: www.gov.uk/guidance/animal-research-technical-advice#process-and-standards-for-establishment-full-system-audits.
The Regulator’s audit programme for compliance assurance purposes is delivered in accordance with the requirements defined in the legislation. This includes in-person announced and unannounced visits to licensed establishments.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Animals in Science Regulation Unit annual reports 2019 to 2021, published in October 2022, what assessment she has made of that report's finding that over 95 per cent of non-compliance incidents were self-reported from 2019 to 2021; and whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of increasing the number of unannounced inspections of establishments licensed under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Regulator has strengthened its regulatory oversight and published its process of full system audits at: www.gov.uk/guidance/animal-research-technical-advice#process-and-standards-for-establishment-full-system-audits. The Regulator’s audit programme for compliance assurance purposes is delivered in accordance with the requirements defined in the legislation. This includes in-person announced and unannounced visits to licensed establishments.
Self-reporting of non-compliance, in regulatory frameworks, is generally indicative of a willingness towards compliance. The Regulator encourages self-reporting as part of a good governance framework and a culture of compliance.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to amend the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 so that it considers animals recognised as sentient in the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act recognises cephalopods and decapods as sentient. The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) was amended in 2013 to include cephalopods for protections to animals in scientific research. The Government has previously indicated that it will consider the implications of the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act for ASPA to improve the welfare of animals used in science and maintain a regime of protection that enables the delivery of benefits.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the reasons for which her Department did not undertake any eye irritation tests on animals in 2021; and if she will take steps to ensure that no tests are undertaken in future.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
Animal testing is only authorised where there is scientific benefit, to people, animals or the environment, and only when all aspects of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 have been fulfilled. This includes testing only being authorised after successful completion of a harm benefit assessment, when there are no scientifically satisfactory alternative methods and where the principles of the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement) have been fully applied.
The statistics have shown a continual decline in the requirement for testing of the irritancy of substances to the eye. This decline has largely been due to the successful development and approval of non-animal methods. The Government continues to be committed to the full implementation of the 3Rs and for developing new 3Rs techniques through support to the National Centre for the 3Rs.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential economic merits of the UK becoming a global leader in the development of non-animal technologies for use in scientific research and testing.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government is clear that the use of animals in science is justified, for the benefits it brings to human, animal and environmental health and safety.
The Government is committed to assuring that those animals used in science are protected. The legal framework in the UK requires that animals are only ever used in scientific procedures where there are no alternatives, where the number of animals used is the minimum needed to achieve the scientific benefit, and where the potential harm to animals is limited to that needed to achieve the scientific benefit.
The Government continues to actively support and fund alternatives to the use of animals. The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement, and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) leads on developing and sharing techniques in the UK and internationally.
Since the NC3Rs was launched in 2004, it has invested £77 million in research towards developing new approaches to Replace, Reduce and Refine the use of animals in scientific procedures, and an additional £32 million through its CRACK IT programme for SMEs and universities to work with the pharmaceutical and chemical industries on collaborative 3Rs projects that aim to generate commercial opportunities in this area.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help ensure faster progress on the development of non-animal technologies for use in scientific research and testing; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government is clear that the use of animals in science is justified, for the benefits it brings to human, animal and environmental health and safety.
The Government is committed to assuring that those animals used in science are protected. The legal framework in the UK requires that animals are only ever used in scientific procedures where there are no alternatives, where the number of animals used is the minimum needed to achieve the scientific benefit, and where the potential harm to animals is limited to that needed to achieve the scientific benefit.
The Government continues to actively support and fund alternatives to the use of animals. The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement, and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) leads on developing and sharing techniques in the UK and internationally.
Since the NC3Rs was launched in 2004, it has invested £77 million in research towards developing new approaches to Replace, Reduce and Refine the use of animals in scientific procedures, and an additional £32 million through its CRACK IT programme for SMEs and universities to work with the pharmaceutical and chemical industries on collaborative 3Rs projects that aim to generate commercial opportunities in this area.