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 benefits to women of buffer zones around abortion clinics to prevent protestors harassing patients.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer that was given to the Hon. Member for Walthamstow on the 24th of April 2019, UIN 243439.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many academics have been refused visas to travel to the UK for work-related purposes by his Department in each of the last five years.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
UKVI does not publish statistics categorised by an applicant’s profession or in this level of detail with regard to the purpose of visit.
The available statistics on grants and refusals by entry clearance visa category, including work and visitor visa routes, are published in the quarterly Immigration Statistics Visas volume 1 table vi_01_q, latest edition at:
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 were made by the US for UK citizens in each year since 2014; and how many of those requests are 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 received from the US for British citizens in each year since 2014.
We can however provide the total number of British citizens (including dual nationals) arrested in relation to extradition requests received from the US since 2014.
Since 1 January 2014, 24 British citizens (including dual nationals) have been arrested in the UK in relation to extradition requests from the US.
Eight of these cases remain outstanding.
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 Department, what steps he is taking to ensure that tuna companies operating in the UK have conducted due diligence on modern slavery in their supply chain.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Under Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, large businesses with a turnover of £36m or more are required to publish annual modern slavery statements detailing the steps they are taking to prevent modern slavery in their organisation and supply chains. The requirement applies to all sectors, including fishing. The Government expects businesses to report transparently about the modern slavery risks they have identified and what actions they have taken in response.
The Home Office regularly engages with businesses across a range of sectors, including fishing, to accelerate progress in tackling modern slavery in global supply chains.
The Gangmasters Labour and Abuse Authority (GLAA) licenses UK businesses which provide workers to the farming, food processing and shellfish gathering sectors to make sure they meet the employment standards required by law; and carries out inspections and enforcement activity. The GLAA also partner with businesses such as Sainsbury’s to deliver training sessions to their suppliers, equipping them to better identify and manage risks in their supply chains.
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 is taking to ensure that the age of child asylum seekers is assessed accurately.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Age assessment is a highly complex and challenging area of work. There is no single method or combination of methods which can accurately predict age.
Where clear and credible documentary evidence of age is not available, criteria including physical appearance and demeanour are used as part of the process to assess whether a person is under 18. When there is doubt about an individual’s claim to be a child, Home Office policy is to refer them to the relevant local authority to carry out a careful “Merton” compliant age assessment. A “Merton compliant” age assessment must be carried out by two social workers and should adhere to guidelines set out by the Courts.
The Home Office keeps its policies and processes under review and we remain committed to striking the right balance between ensuring that children who claim asylum are appropriately supported and maintaining the integrity of the asylum system by preventing adults being treated as children.
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 child victims of modern slavery living in the UK.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The most robust estimate we have of the scale of modern slavery in the UK was produced by the Home Office in 2014. This estimated that there were between 10,000 and 13,000 potential victims of modern slavery in the UK in 2013. This estimate does not break down into adult and child cases of modern slavery.
In the 2018 UK Annual Report on Modern Slavery the National Crime Agency assessed that the actual scale of modern slavery in the UK is gradually increasing and, if drivers remain at their current levels, will continue to do so over the next three years. The Annual Report is available at the following link:
Latest statistics for 2018 on referrals into the National Referral Mechanism and decisions are available at the link below. These statistics do provide a breakdown between adult and child cases of modern slavery.
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 is taking to ensure that firefighters have adequate resources to fight fires in high-rise tower blocks.
Answered by Nick Hurd
Fire and Rescue Authorities are required by the Fire and Rescue National Framework to have in place and maintain an Integrated Risk Management Plan, which is developed in consultation with local communities. A fire and rescue authority will evaluate where fire and rescue related risk is greatest and determine its priorities in relation to prevention, protection and response accordingly.
In addition, each fire and rescue authority has a statutory requirement to have mutual assistance arrangements in place to provide additional support including during major fires and other emergencies, and to review and test their arrangements.
Local mutual assistance arrangements are augmented by national resilience capabilities available from across the country.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the readiness of fire departments in England and Wales to tackle fires similar to the fire in Grenfell Tower.
Answered by Nick Hurd
Fire and Rescue Authorities are required by the Fire and Rescue National Framework to have in place and maintain an Integrated Risk Management Plan, which is developed in consultation with local communities. A fire and rescue authority will evaluate where fire and rescue related risk is greatest and determine its priorities in relation to prevention, protection and response accordingly.
In addition, each fire and rescue authority has a statutory requirement to have mutual assistance arrangements in place to provide additional support including during major fires and other emergencies, and to review and test their arrangements.
Local mutual assistance arrangements are augmented by national resilience capabilities available from across the country.
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 accuracy of the Government's estimate of the number of paedophiles living in the UK.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) is an appalling crime that this government is committed to stamping out.
In the Home Secretary’s speech at the NSPCC on 3 September 2019, he said that the National Crime Agency estimates that around 80,000 people in the UK present some kind of sexual threat to children online, and the NCA believe that’s a conservative estimate.
The Government continue to engage closely with a range of partners including law enforcement, NGOs and academics to build our understanding of the evolving threat in order to do all we can to protect children and stop offenders.