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 finings of Maxine Davison, Lee Martyn, Sophie Martyn, Stephen Washington and Kate Shepherd: Prevention of future deaths report, issued by Senior Coroner Ian Arrow, what steps she has taken to help ensure accredited training for Firearms and Explosives Licensing Unit staff.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
This recommendation was made as part of the Prevention of Future Deaths report issued by the Senior Coroner in Plymouth on 8 March, following the Inquest into the tragic shootings in Keyham on 12 August 2021, to the College of Policing (CoP), the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and the Home Office.
The CoP are responsible for the development of training, and we are supportive of the work that they are currently undertaking to develop new Authorised Professional Practice (APP) and a package of accredited training for police firearms licensing staff.
I hope to make an announcement, as part of a future statement to the House, when I set out how the Government intends to proceed with the recommendations made by the Senior Coroner at the Inquest, together with the other recommendations made in recent reports by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), in relation to Keyham, and the Scottish Affairs Select Committee in respect of their inquiry following the fatal shooting that occurred on the Isle of Skye on 10 August 2022.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Defending Democracy Taskforce plans to make an assessment of trends in the level of state threats towards (a) journalists and (b) the legal profession.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
It is our long standing policy that we do not comment on operational intelligence or security matters. We continually assess potential threats in the UK, and take protection of individuals’ rights, freedoms, and safety in the UK very seriously. The Home Office works closely with other government departments as well as relevant agencies and law enforcement to protect people identified as being at risk. Any threats made by a foreign state against individuals in the UK, including journalists and members of the legal profession, will be thoroughly investigated.
For instance, as set out in my statement to the House on 20 February, we are taking steps to address the concerning activities of the Iranian regime and its operatives in the UK, including threats towards UK-based journalists working for Iran International. We will offer Iran International every support that we can in establishing and securing their new premises, and until such a time as that location is ready I have asked officials to support Iran International in finding a new, temporary secure location for its operations in the UK.
Attempts by foreign Governments to coerce, intimidate, harass or harm their critics overseas, undermining democracy and the rule of law, are unacceptable. As demonstrated by the upcoming National Security Bill which will strengthen our legal powers to counter foreign interference, and the establishment of the Defending Democracy Taskforce to drive forward work to protect UK democratic processes, this Government is committed to tackling this challenge.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many requests the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation has received to grant licenses for legal fees to people designated under sanctions in the last 12 months; and how many and what proportion of those requests it has granted.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) publishes the number of financial sanctions licences issued in its Annual Review. Information about the total number of licences and the total number of legal fees licences that OFSI has granted for the last five financial years can be found in OFSI’s Annual Review documents, which are publicly available on OFSI’s website. OFSI will publish the latest figures in the next Annual Review in due course.Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that first responder organisations have adequate resources to support victims of trafficking; and whether her Department has a process in place for specialist organisations to apply to become first responders.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office launched an e-learning package for First Responders in 2020. This consists of two modules, one on indicators of modern slavery and how to make a referral into the NRM (published summer 2020) and a second (published in June 2021) which focuses on the vulnerabilities of child victims. The training modules can be found here: Home Office First Responder Training (policingslavery.co.uk)
The Home Office continues to work with stakeholders to review the role of First Responders. This includes options for how non-statutory organisations can apply to be a First Responder Organisation.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department will publish its response to the call for information on the effectiveness of the Computer Misuse Act 1990, which closed in August 2021.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The Computer Misuse Act 1990 is the main legislation relating to cybercrime, and it is essential that we ensure that it continues to be effective. We are still considering the proposals put forward to the Call for Information, and we will inform Parliament shortly of the way forward on the review of the Computer Misuse Act.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the special licenses granted by his Department to the law firm undertaking work on behalf of Yevgeny Prigozhin required Ministerial approval.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
HM Treasury does not comment on individual licensing cases.
HM Treasury’s Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) takes operational decisions relating to the implementation of financial sanctions in line with the relevant regulations. OFSI has not considered it appropriate for the Treasury to effectively decide on whether a case has sufficient merit to be permitted to proceed by deciding whether to license legal fees. Rather, OFSI's position has been that the merits should be decided by the appropriate court. OFSI assesses cases on a costs-basis only, ensuring that the fees requested are reasonable in accordance with the derogations available under the sanctions regimes.
We need to carefully balance the right to legal representation - which is a fundamental one - with wider issues, including the aim and purpose of the sanctions. It is right therefore that Ministers are examining whether there are any changes that can be made to this policy.
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 The National Police Chiefs Council's letter to Chief Constables requiring all pre-2006 officers to be vetted against national databases, dated 20 January 2023, what estimate she has made of the number of officers who will need to be vetted in line with that letter; and how many of those officers will require vetting by the Cabinet Office in all categories of vetting.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The National Police Chiefs’ Council have asked all police forces to check their officers and staff against the police national database (PND) to identify any intelligence or allegations that need further investigation.
This will help identify anyone who has slipped through the net before vetting standards were toughened, and ensure those who are unfit to serve can be rooted out. Further details of the NPCC’s commission can be found on their website: https://news.npcc.police.uk/releases/all-police-staff-records-to-be-checked-for-allegations-and-intelligence-by-march
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the list of stakeholders which responded to the Protect Duty consultation.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The Protect Duty consultation closed in July 2021. The consultation response was published in January 2022. As a result, the Home Secretary was pleased to announce the policy proposals for the Duty, now known as Martyn’s Law, in Parliament on the 19th December.
The department will publish a list of organisations who responded to the Protect Duty consultation at the earliest opportunity on gov.uk.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will take steps to assist councils in cases where they have been allocated funding from the Levelling Up Fund for specific projects, but where due to increases in inflation and borrowing costs since funding was allocated that funding is no longer sufficient to meet the cost of those approved projects.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The department continues to monitor the impact of inflation closely through formal reporting mechanisms and on the ground relationships.
As we have set out previously, the Levelling Up Fund has in place a proportionate project adjustment process. Through this, we can work with places to make sensible adjustments to the scope and phasing of projects to mitigate delivery challenges including cost inflation whilst also maintaining value for money.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to create the Protect Duty.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The first duty of the Government is to protect the public, and we are committed to improving the security of public places, to ensure the public can go about their lives freely and with confidence.
The commitment made to the ‘Protect Duty’ in the Queen’s Speech and the 2019 manifesto remains, and we are working hard to bring forward this important piece of legislation as soon as possible.