Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to deploy civil nuclear constabulary officers on British cross-Channel ferries.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government will always take the strongest possible action to protect our national security. Our priority remains the safety and security of our citizens. A range of measures are currently being explored to further mitigate the risk of terrorism to UK citizens, which will include fully equipping law enforcement and other emergency responders to respond effectively to terrorist incidents, no matter where they occur.
However, we are not able to comment on specific operational deployments.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the (a) extent of delays in lab testing blood samples as a means of evidencing drug driving offences and (b) impact of that matter on charging rates.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
We are aware from engagement with the National Police Chief’s Council that between January and September 2021, there were some delays in drug drive testing due to Covid related pressures on forensic services. Toxicology supply has now significantly increased, and all backlogs have been cleared. Some cases could not be charged during this period, but none of these involved serious injury or death.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the report, Drug driving: the tip of the iceberg, published by the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, what assessment she has made of the extent of variation in enforcement of drug driving laws across different police forces in England and Wales.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Enforcement of drug driving legislation and how available resources are deployed is an operational matter for individual Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners to determine in conjunction with local crime and policing plans, taking into account the specific local problems and demands with which they are faced.
The Government will continue to support the police to ensure that they have the tools needed to enforce road traffic legislation.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward proposals equivalent to those under the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 to increase the period where an individual can be charged for drug driving offences up to the point of receipt of lab results of the evidential sample.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We have given consideration to this approach but have no plans to make such a change, especially given that we have been advised by the National Police Chief’s Council that toxicology supply has now significantly increased, and all backlogs have been cleared.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle delays in registering an asylum claim.
Answered by Kevin Foster
1) We are increasing the size of the National Asylum Intake Unit in response to the exceptional challenges of large-scale clandestine arrivals. This additional resource will enable us to reduce the time asylum seekers wait between registering their asylum claim and conducting the screening interview.
2) Since 1 January 2020, the mean average number of days between asylum application raised date and asylum screening is 36.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the current average waiting time is from when a person contacts the National Asylum Intake Unit to register an asylum claim to when they have their screening interview.
Answered by Kevin Foster
1) We are increasing the size of the National Asylum Intake Unit in response to the exceptional challenges of large-scale clandestine arrivals. This additional resource will enable us to reduce the time asylum seekers wait between registering their asylum claim and conducting the screening interview.
2) Since 1 January 2020, the mean average number of days between asylum application raised date and asylum screening is 36.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how can a person who requires asylum support and who is unable to register their asylum claim due to delays in the asylum system can access asylum support.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office ensures asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute are not left unsupported.
Where there are delays in the asylum system, individuals continue to be supported under section 98 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is her policy that firearms officers from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary will be deployed on British ferries; and what assessment her Department has made of whether that deployment would require legislative change.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Government will always take the strongest possible action to protect our national security. Our priority remains the safety and security of our citizens. A range of measures are currently being explored to further mitigate the risk of terrorism to UK citizens, which will include fully equipping law enforcement and other emergency responders to respond effectively to terrorist incidents, no matter where they occur.
However, we are not able to comment on specific operational deployments.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether people who are eligible for the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), who already hold valid limited leave to remain in the UK, will be able to benefit from the ACRS; and if she will publish guidance on the necessary steps to take.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) commenced on 6 January 2022 and will provide up to 20,000 women, children and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK.
Anyone resettled under the ACRS will receive Indefinite Leave to Remain. The ACRS policy statement can be found here - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/afghan-citizens-resettlement-scheme
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she publish the (a) timeline and (b) consultation process for drafting the statutory guidance for the Nationality and Borders Bill; and where responsibility for the guidance for the different parts of that Bill sits.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Any statutory guidance will be developed in line with usual process, which includes any requirements to consult. The timetable for implementing the guidance will be dependent on the passage of the Nationality and Borders Bill.