Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of (a) scientists and (b) postgraduate students barred from working in the UK in 2023 on national security grounds are associated with BGI Group.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat
We do not publicly comment on matters of national security.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the National Protective Security Authority is taking steps to provide guidance to (a) businesses and (b) universities on dealing with BGI Group.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat
The National Protective Security Authority, with the National Cyber Security Centre, have developed the Trusted Research campaign to help academia make the most of international collaborations, by informing them of the threat and helping them to make sensible decisions about research and research partners.
More recently they also developed the Secure Innovation campaign which is focused on helping new start-ups in the emerging and critical technology sectors to better protect themselves and, think carefully about their partners and investment.
We will continue to work with NPSA to support industry and academia.
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 - Shadow Home Secretary
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 - Shadow Home Secretary
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.