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Written Question
Crime
Tuesday 15th November 2022

Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether any guidance has been given to police forces on how they should advise victims of crime to report (a) making off without payment, (b) shoplifting and (c) any other particular types of crime.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government is clear that all crimes, when they take place, should be reported to the police so they can be investigated appropriately.

This Government is giving the police the powers they need to stop crimes from happening in the first place, including through supporting them to roll out a range of interventions, such as practical crime prevention advice, improved CCTV and street lighting through our Safer Streets Fund.

Partnership working between businesses and the police is vital to ensuring an effective response to crimes like shoplifting and making off without payment. The Home Office works closely with the police and other crime prevention partners like Police Crime Prevention Initiatives (PCPI) and the National Business Crime Centre (NBCC), to ensure we are consistently getting the basics right and to encourage the sharing of best practice, including reiterating the value of taking Victim and Business Impact Statements.

It is for individual Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) as operational leaders and locally elected representatives to decide how best to deploy resources, manage and respond to individual crimes and local crime priorities.


Written Question
Muslim Brotherhood
Tuesday 5th July 2022

Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the status of the Muslim brotherhood is in the UK as of 23 June 2022.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

The Government keeps under review the views promoted and activities undertaken by the Muslim Brother-hood’s associates in the UK in accordance with the five commitments included in the former Prime Minister’s statement to Parliament.

The Government will consider any new evidence on the Muslim Brotherhood’s activities against the UK’s legal thresholds, including whether they meet the test for proscription under the Terrorism Act 2000.


Written Question
Muslim Brotherhood
Tuesday 5th July 2022

Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she (a) has made a recent assessment and (b) plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of proscribing the Muslim brotherhood.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

The Government does not routinely comment on intelligence matters, including whether an organisation is under consideration for proscription.

The Government keeps the list of proscribed organisations under review.


Written Question
Migrants: Northern Ireland
Wednesday 30th March 2022

Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the annual cost to the public purse is for housing migrants within hotels in Northern Ireland.

Answered by Kevin Foster

The Home Office does not provide accomodation to migrants to the UK.

The Home Office does though have a statutory obligation to provide accommodation and other support to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute while their application for asylum is being considered.

The total expenditure on asylum is published in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ho-annual-reports-and-accounts.

We do not publish a breakdown of costs of our accommodation & support contracts by location or property type as such detail is considered commercially sensitive.


Written Question
Radicalism: Republic of Ireland
Thursday 5th November 2020

Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with her Irish counterpart on tackling extremism.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

The Home Secretary has engaged with the Irish Government as part of a wider dialogue, but not to specifically discuss extremism.


Written Question
Muslim Brotherhood
Monday 21st September 2020

Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Answered by James Brokenshire

Work in relation to the Muslim Brotherhood is a matter for the Home Office, so we are responding on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

There has not been formal inter-Ministerial engagement on the Muslim Brotherhood. The Government keeps under review the activities of those associated with the Muslim Brotherhood in the UK in accordance with the five commitments included in the former Prime Minister’s statement to Parliament.


Written Question
Counter-terrorism: Northern Ireland
Wednesday 25th November 2015

Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what arrangements are in place for the Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to cooperate to counter the Islamic terrorist threat and the potential utilisation by such terrorists of the land border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Answered by John Hayes

The UK and the Republic of Ireland have long enjoyed a Common Travel Area (CTA) free of routine border controls. However, there are long-established and effective working relationships between the police and intelligence agencies in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to mitigate threats. The Government takes protecting our border security very seriously, and there is a high level of collaboration on work with the Republic of Ireland to also strengthen the CTA’s external border.


Written Question
Overseas Students
Thursday 5th March 2015

Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to ensure that international students and graduates are exempted from targets to reduce net migration.

Answered by James Brokenshire

International students are included in net migration statistics which are
produced by the independent Office for National Statistics (ONS). In line with
the internationally agreed UN definition, these statistics define a migrant as
someone changing their normal place of residence for more than a year. Students
are therefore included in the same way as other migrants. Other countries, such
as the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand also include students
in their net migration figures.

The ONS has recently improved its methodology so that it is possible to better
identify students in the emigration flows to give a more accurate measure of
the contribution of students to overall net migration. The ONS estimates that
in the year ending September 2014, 133,000, non-EU students came to Britain
to stay for more than 12 months, but only 48,000 left the country.

All migrants who are in the UK for 12 months or more have an impact on our
communities, infrastructure and public services. Changing the way we measure
migration would not make any difference to our student migration policy.

Nonetheless, the United Kingdom welcomes the brightest and best students from
around the globe to our world-class universities. There is no cap on the
number of students who can come to the UK. All those who are sponsored by a
reputable institution, have the right qualifications and sufficient funds to
support themselves and can speak adequate English can study here. The UK has an
excellent offer for international students, and as a result remains the second
most popular destination for international higher education students. The
latest figures show that between 2012/13 and 2013/14 academic years there has
been a 6% increase (to 165,515) of full time non-EU new entrants to UK Higher
Education Providers.


Written Question
Immigration
Monday 2nd March 2015

Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the minimum income threshold of £18,600 set for migrants will apply to parts of the UK for which the average wage is below that level.

Answered by James Brokenshire

The minimum income threshold of £18,600 for sponsoring a non-European Economic Area national partner to come or remain here applies across the UK under the new family Immigration Rules implemented on 9 July 2012. The level of the income threshold, which aims to prevent burdens on the taxpayer and promote integration, was set following advice from the independent Migration Advisory
Committee and reflects the income at which a family settled here generally cannot access income-related benefits. The Committee, in its November 2011 report, could see no clear case for differentiation of the income threshold between UK countries and regions and noted several arguments against such an approach. These included that a family living in a wealthy part of a relatively poor UK country or region could be subject to a lower income requirement than a family living in a deprived part of a relatively wealthy
one. The Government continues to agree with that assessment and a single income threshold across the UK has been found to be lawful by the courts.


Written Question
Domestic Abuse
Monday 9th February 2015

Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will launch an inquiry into the reasons for, and implications for her policies of, the recent increase in domestic violence cases in the UK.

Answered by Baroness Featherstone

The Crime Survey for England and Wales shows that the trend in the prevalence of domestic abuse has been flat since 2007/08.

In 2012/13, the number of police recorded incidents of domestic abuse was at its highest level since 2007/08, at 838,026. In addition, latest data from the CPS show that the volume of domestic abuse referrals from the police rose to 103,569 in 2013-14 – a rise of 15,459 referrals (17.5%) from 2012-13 and the highest level ever. 72,905 (70.4% of these referrals) were charged, the highest volumes and proportions since 2007/08. We welcome this increase in reporting and find it encouraging that victims can have greater confidence that their cases will be brought to prosecution with a greater number of perpetrators brought to justice.