Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress his Department has made on compensating people affected by the Windrush scandal.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
We will publish information on the number of claims submitted, number of claims paid and the overall amount paid out by the scheme in due course as part of our regular reporting to the Home Affairs Select Committee.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answers of 20 June 2019 to Questions 265420, 265421 and 265422 on Extradition: USA, for what reason the figures are collected from local government level and not held centrally.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Answers stated that all the figures given were from local management information. The statistics are collated from management information held by the UK Central Authority.
They have not been quality assured to the level of published National Statistics, and as such they should be treated as provisional and therefore subject to change. I can confirm that they are not collected from local government and are held centrally.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many extradition requests have been made by the UK for US citizens in each year since 2014; and how many of those requests were (a) successful and (b) remain outstanding.
Answered by Nick Hurd
As a matter of long-standing policy and practice, we do not disclose whether an extradition request has been made or received until such time as a person is arrested in relation to the request. We therefore cannot provide the total number of extradition requests made by the UK for US citizens in each year since 2014.
We can however provide the total number of US citizens (including dual nationals) arrested in relation to extradition requests made by the UK to the US since 2014. The figure for 2019 is up to 4 July 2019.
| Number of US citizens arrested | Number extradited | Number outstanding |
2014 | 1 | 1 | - |
2015 | 2 | 1 | - (one request withdrawn) |
2016 | 1 | 1 | - |
2017 | - | - | - |
2018 | 1 | - | 1 |
2019 | - | - | - |
All figures are from local management information, and have not been quality assured to the level of published National Statistics. As such they should be treated as provisional and therefore subject to change. The figures do not include Scotland, which deals with its own extradition cases.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Office, what steps he is taking to expedite security clearance for Afghan interpreters formerly employed by UK Armed Forces in Afghanistan to be relocated to the UK.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
We work closely with the employing Departments, the Ministry of Defence, Foreign and Commonwealth office and Department for International Development, to facilitate the arrival of former Afghan interpreters who relocate to the UK. We are continually considering how we can enhance the comprehensive security clearance processes already in place, but for reasons of national security, we cannot provide further on the details of the security clearance process itself.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effect of right to rent on the ability of BAME tenants to access the rental market.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Government published an evaluation of the first phase of the Right to Rent Scheme in the West Midlands in October 2015, which found no evidence that the scheme caused systematic discrimination in the rental sector. This is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-the-right-to-rent-scheme. The scheme was the subject of a public consultation and equality impact assessment prior to the introduction of the Immigration Act 2014. The Home Office is taking forward a further evaluation of the scheme’s operation across England.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that BAME women receive the specialist help they need after suffering domestic abuse.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government's Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy, published on 8 March 2016, sets out the importance of meeting the needs of LGBT and BAME victims and survivors of VAWG, who may experience additional barriers to accessing support.
To ensure all victims get the right support at the right time, we set out a clear blueprint for local action though a National Statement of Expectations (NSE). The NSE sets out what local areas need to do to prevent offending and support victims and encourages organisations to work with local commissioners to disseminate the NSE and support implementation of best practice. In our VAWG Strategy Refresh, published in March 2019, we committed to conducting a review of the NSE to ensure it remains up to date, robust, and effective.
We are also taking action to improve the capacity within specialist sectors, as we did by investing nearly £400,000 (£100,000 from the Home Office; nearly £300,000 from Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) to Imkaan to build capacity in the specialist BAME sector. We have provided Southall Black Sisters with £1,090,000 from the Tampon Tax Fund to provide support for women with no recourse to public funds through their ‘Recourse to Safety’ project. It will make essential support and protection available to abused women by providing safe accommodation, subsistence and help including counselling, therapy, immigration advice and community awareness-raising.
We also know that BAME women are more vulnerable to culturally specific types of abuse. We have significantly strengthened the law on forced marriage. We have introduced a forced marriage offence, criminalised breach of Forced Marriage Protection Orders and introduced anonymity for victims of forced marriage.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to Answer of 24 April 2019 to Question 243336 on Domestic Abuse and Stalking, how many police forces in the UK have undertaken Domestic Abuse Matters training developed by the College of Policing and SafeLives.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
To date, 15 police forces have undertaken or are in the process of undertaking Domestic Abuse Matters training, 14 in England and Wales as well as Police Scotland. HMICFRS’ latest report into domestic abuse shows that police forces continue to invest in domestic abuse training, which is well embedded and varied, with a number of police forces working with other organisations to develop or provide this training.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of incidents of stalking of women in England and Wales that were initially dismissed by police in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nick Hurd
Being stalked can have terrifying consequences, and the Government is determined to do everything it can to protect victims and stop perpetrators at the earliest opportunity.
The Home Office collects information on the number of offences of stalking recorded by the police in England and Wales. It is not possible to tell from data held centrally whether or not incidents were initially dismissed by police.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department has taken to help people trapped in forced marriages.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The UK is a world-leader in the fight to stamp out forced marriage, with our dedicated Forced Marriage Unit leading efforts to combat it both at home and abroad
The Government has significantly strengthened the law on forced marriage. We have introduced a new forced marriage offence, criminalised the breach of Forced Marriage Protection Orders and introduced anonymity for victims
In November 2018, the Home Secretary launched the Forced Marriage Awareness Campaign, which highlights that forced marriage is a crime and directs victims and concerned parties to contact the Forced Marriage Helpline for support.
The joint Home Office and Foreign & Commonwealth Office Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) provides support and advice for victims, those at risk, and professionals, through its public helpline. In 2018, the FMU gave advice or support related to a possible forced marriage in 1,764 cases. Since 2012, the FMU has provided support to between approximately 1,200 and 1,400 cases per year. The Home Office does not hold data on the number of people currently living in forced marriages in the UK. Further information on the FMU’s 2018 statistics can be found at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/804044/Forced_Marriage_Unit_Statistics_2018_FINAL.pdf
We recognise that forced marriage can constitute modern slavery, as we examined in the Home Office Typology report, but not in all cases, so we must assess each on a case by case basis. Potential victims can be deceived about the nature of their relationship with the trafficker, not understanding that they would be exploited in the marriage. The exploitation can take place through domestic servitude which occurs alongside domestic abuse and sexual exploitation.
The Home Office Typology Report can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/652652/typology-modern-slavery-offences-horr93.pdf