Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Department’s Interim Assessment of the first year of the Independent Child Trafficking Advocates (ICTA) service, what assessment he has made of the merits of expanding the ICTA scheme to all unaccompanied and separated children.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The ICTA service was rolled out in three early adopter sites in Greater Manchester, Hampshire and Wales in January 2017 with an additional £2m invested to expand the ICTA provision into West Midlands, East Midlands and Croydon. This will mean the service will be available in one third of all local authorities by April 2019.
Unaccompanied children are looked after by the relevant local authority and are entitled to the same services as any other looked after child. Under these arrangements, unaccompanied children will have a professional social worker and an independent reviewing officer to oversee their care arrangements. All unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in England are referred to the Refugee Council’s Children’s Panel and they are also entitled to legal assistance in pursuing their asylum claim. The Government believes that these arrangements ensure unaccompanied children are provided with the independent and tailored support and advice that they need.
Section 48 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, which makes provisions for ICTAs, is being considered in the Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act led by Frank Field MP, Baroness Butler-Sloss and Maria Miller MP. The Government will carefully consider their recommendations, including any recommendations for the national rollout of ICTAs.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 October 2018 to Question 173617 on Asylum: Dunkirk, what programmes the Government is funding to improve security at the shared border in northern France.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Working closely with French partners over the last 4 years, the UK has in-vested almost €150M to enhance border security in Northern France. This work has included physical security measures at all three Juxtaposed ports of Calais, Dunkirk and Coquelles (Eurotunnel), consisting of a com-bination of high security fencing, lighting, CCTV and perimeter detection technologies. Alongside this there has been the installation of secure parking areas for HGV’s and coaches to protect them and to ensure the fluidity of the approach roads.
The Sandhurst Treaty, signed by the Prime Minister in January 2018, demonstrates the ongoing enhanced joint action by the UK and France to manage our shared border and tackle organised immigration crime. This includes a commitment from the UK to invest an additional £44.5m to pro-tect the shared border. Part of this is being spent to reinforce the security measures in and around smaller ports in northern France, including Dunkirk and Ouistreham near Caen. The Sandhurst Treaty funding has also been used to establish the Joint Information and Coordination Cen-tre (‘CCIC’), which will facilitate cooperation between law enforcement bodies on combatting illegal migration.
The UK has established the Organised Immigration Crime Taskforce which brings together officers from Border Force, the National Crime Agency, Immigration Enforcement and the Crown Prosecution Service. The Taskforce seeks to use every opportunity, whether that be in source countries, countries migrants travel through or in Europe to identify and tackle organised crime groups involved in organised immigration crime.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions his Department has had with their French counterparts on the forced eviction of of asylum seekers at the Grande-Synthe camp in Dunkirk.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Following the clearance of the ‘Jungle’ camp in Calais in 2016, French authorities have worked extensively to ensure that similar camps do not form across Northern France. This remains a domestic matter for the French and as such the British Government are not consulted prior to any clearances which take place. Following the closure of the Grande-Synthe camp, we were informed by French authorities that the migrants have been moved into asylum accommodation, where their claims will be considered and the necessary support will be provided.
In January 2018, the UK and France signed the Sandhurst Treaty, which demonstrates our ongoing commitment to prevent irregular migration and to the continued operation of the juxtaposed controls. Our cooperation with France includes joint work to improve security at the shared border in northern France; to reduce illegal migration flows towards northern French ports and to support France in returning migrants with no legal right to be in Europe.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of drug consumption rooms on tackling (a) HIV infection rates and (b) drug-related deaths.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government has no plans to introduce drug consumption rooms (DCRs). We are not prepared to sanction or condone activity that promotes the illicit drugs trade and the harms that trade causes to individuals and communities.
The Government’s report, Drugs: International Comparators (2014), notes that DCRs have emerged in some countries as a response to public health risks associated with open drug scenes, most often to address acute problems specific to a local area. There is some evidence for their effectiveness in reducing health risks for drug users in those particular contexts, however the UK does not experience public drug taking on the same scale.
DCRs are controversial and there remain legal and ethical issues for agencies involved. Furthermore, there is no legal framework for the provision of DCRs in the UK.