Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the Government's long-term strategy is for phasing out the use of animals in scientific procedures as non-animal technologies are further developed; and if she will publish that strategy.
Answered by Kevin Foster
It is too soon to impose a timetable on phasing out the use of animals of animals in those areas of scientific enquiry that are delivering benefits to people, animals and the environment.
The UK’s rigorous regulatory system requires that no animal testing takes place if there is a validated non-animal alternative that would achieve the scientific outcomes sought. Prior to any work being authorised, project licence proposals for research on animals for which there is no non-animal alternative must comply fully with the principles of the 3Rs: replacement, reduction and refinement.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking towards the full replacement of procedures on live animals for scientific and educational purposes.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
This Government is committed to maintaining high standards of animal welfare where procedures are undertaken on live animals for scientific or educational purposes. It champions the work of the National Centre for the Replacement, Reduction and Refinement of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) in supporting the research community to develop and use science and technology in the creation of new approaches to replace studies that require animals.
Central to any decision to use animals in research is the need for robust scientific evidence to justify the use of animals. The UK’s rigorous regulatory system requires that no testing takes place if there is a validated non-animal alternative that would achieve the scientific outcomes sought. Project licence proposals for research on animals for which there is no non-animal alternative must comply fully with the principles of the 3Rs: replacement, reduction and refinement.
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 it her policy to introduce a visa ban on officials from the Peoples Republic of China entering the UK in response to the Chinese Government's policies in relation to human rights in Hong Kong.
Answered by Kevin Foster
All those coming to the UK are assessed against the immigration rules and must meet the suitability and eligibility requirements. All UK visa applications are considered on their individual merits.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many checks have been made by the police on people subject to a 14-day quarantine period after arriving in the UK.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
New measures introduced on 8 June require all passengers arriving in the UK, who do not fall under a specified exemption, to self-isolate for 14 days to reduce cases of COVID-19 being brought in from abroad and to help prevent a devastating second wave of the disease.
An assurance service is contacting a random sample of non-exempted arrivals to check compliance. Where there is reason to suspect that an individual is not complying, details will be passed to the relevant police force who will consider enforcement action. Police will continue to take the 4 ‘E’s approach of engage, explain, encourage and, as a last resort, enforce. Guidance on enforcement activity is issued by the College of Policing. Interpretation of that guidance and any subsequent action is an operational decision for the police.
We have seen high levels of compliance with the rules to date, and expect that the majority of people will continue to do the right thing and abide by these measures.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Office, what review mechanisms she will put in place to assess the (a) effectiveness of and (b) need for a 14-day quarantine period for people arriving at UK airports, ports and other points of entry.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Public health will always come first. The government will carefully assess the impact of these measures in preventing transmission of coronavirus in the UK.
The need for the restrictions, and the requirements imposed, will be reviewed in line with social distancing measures, currently every three weeks. The first review will be in w/c 28 June.
The Government will consider factors such as SAGE advice, the domestic and international incidence of Covid-19, the level of infection and transmission, emerging scientific evidence for antibody and other screening methods being appropriate for international travel health measures, economic impact, and initiatives being trialled to secure safe travel.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to Question 41028, whether migrants who have illegally entered the UK in 2020, and have not been returned to other countries due to a suspension of the Dublin Agreement during covid-19 restrictions, will be re-assessed for return once the pandemic is over.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Dublin III Regulation is a long-standing mechanism between EU Member States to determine responsibility for examining asylum claims. It is not an application route for transfer to the UK.
Under the Dublin III Regulation, member states have three months to make a request to another participating member state to take back or take charge of the asylum application. Requested member states have two months from receiving a request to accept or reject responsibility for processing the asylum claim. Once a Dublin request has been accepted, the Regulation provides that the sending Member State has six months to enact the transfer.
The Home Office continues to work closely with EU Member State partners to enact transfers as soon as possible and ahead of the six-month timeframe. We are responding to the unique circumstances of the coronavirus outbreak by closely monitoring the transfer suspensions imposed by other member states and will seek to return those migrants accepted by another member state as soon as the relevant suspension ends, and a route of return becomes available.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many illegal migrants have entered the UK via the English Channel since 1 January 2020; and how many of those illegal migrants were returned to France in that period.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
People crossing the Channel to enter the UK have come from a safe country – usually France – and so there is no reason why they need to make this trip in order to claim asylum. Those fleeing persecution should stay in the first safe country they enter.
The UK continues to work closely with France and other countries to return migrants who have entered the UK by small boat in order to provide a strong deterrent against these dangerous crossings.
The number of migrants arriving in the UK crossing the Channel by small boats for the months of January to March 2020 is approx. 450. These are provisional figures based on operational management information. The figures for April have not passed through a data quality check and cannot be assured. The final figures will be published at a later date, once they have been verified
Since January 2019, over 155 people who entered the UK illegally on small boats have been returned to Europe. However, as a result of COVID-19 the vast majority of EU member states have temporarily paused accepting returns under the Dublin Regulations, but we are tracking those individuals and where appropriate will seek to return them when routes are available.
The processes to manage clandestine arrivals are kept under regular review. In line with Public Health Guidance we are not currently providing routine testing for clandestine arrivals to the UK. In line with established processes, those arriving across the Channel are immediately assessed to establish whether there are any medical requirements. Those showing symptoms of COVID-19 are provided with suitable accommodation in which to self-isolate.
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 UK Biological Security Strategy, published June 2018, what steps he has taken to establish a central point of contact (a) on dual-use biological research and (b) to review the Government's approach to dual-use bio research.
Answered by James Brokenshire
We continue to support and recognise the value of biological research.
The potential security risk from dual-use of some biological research is recognised in the UK Biological Security Strategy and Government departments continue to monitor emerging technologies and work to mitigate these risks, whilst continuing to build the right regulatory environment for innovation.
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 UK Biological Security Strategy, published in June 2018, what steps she is taking to promote a responsible biological sciences research culture in the UK.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Medical Research Council (MRC), both part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), have a position statement in place on Dual Use, jointly with the Welcome Trust https://mrc.ukri.org/research/policies-and-guidance-for-researchers/managing-risks-of-research-misuse/
The research community must take active steps to develop mechanisms of self-governance, and that through doing so researchers can ensure that responsibly conducted research is not unnecessarily obstructed. UKRI-BBSRC and UKRI-MRC also have internal processes in place to review research grant applicants where Dual Use concerns arise during the course of peer review.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will guarantee the long-term funding of the National Wildlife Crime Unit; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing that unit's funding to enable its expansion to investigate cyber-enabled wildlife crime.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office will be providing specific funding of £136,000 to support the work of the National Wildlife Crime Unit in 2020/21. This will be in addition to specific funding for the Unit provided by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the funding central Government will be providing police forces in England and Wales to tackle all types of crime, including wildlife crime.
Decisions about Home Office funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit beyond March 2021 will be taken as part of the forthcoming Spending Review.