Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to offer support to Police Scotland during the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office are supporting Police Scotland in the planning and delivery of the event whilst respecting operational independence and the devolved nature of policing in Scotland, noting that Counter Terrorism policing policy remains reserved.
The Home Office and the National Police Co-ordination Centre (NPoCC) are working closely with Police Scotland around the resourcing for the event, as well as sharing knowledge and experience in relation to policing operations from other high profile major events.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Scottish Government on the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) visa.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Throughout the development of the Hong Kong BN(O) route, the Home Office has had regular discussions with counterparts across the UK government and in the Devolved Administrations. This includes the continued work being led by MHCLG to support the effective integration of BN(O) status holders and their family members arriving in the UK.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding has been provided to the Scottish Borders Council as part of the Syrian vulnerable person resettlement programme.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
All local authorities receive a 5-year tariff, per refugee resettled, to assist with costs incurred providing support to refugees they have welcomed through the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme. In year 1 this totals £8,520 per refugee, with additional support for educational and medical needs. In years 2-5 local authorities receive £12,000 per refugee in total: tapering from £5,000 in year 2 to £3,700 in year 3, to £2,300k in year 4 and £1,000k in year 5.
Home Office Immigration Statistics on asylum and resettlement are published on a quarterly basis. This includes a detailed breakdown of the number of refugees resettled to each local authority.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions her Department has had with (a) Police Scotland and (b) the British Transport Police on county lines.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office and its operational partners work closely with both Police Scotland and the British Transport Police, both of whom have a key role in addressing county lines drug dealing. Regular dialogue takes place with the British Transport Police on county lines, and through our investment the British Transport Police has established a dedicated taskforce focusing on county lines operations. We are also funding the National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC) to co-ordinate the national law enforcement response to county lines and NCLCC regularly engage with Police Scotland. County lines was also discussed at the UK Drugs Ministerial in September, which was attended by HO and Scottish Government ministers and by Police Scotland among others.
This Government is determined to crack down on the county lines gangs who are exploiting our children and have a devastating impact on our communities. That is why, on 20 January the Government announced £40m dedicated investment to tackle drugs supply and county lines and surge our activity against these ruthless gangs. This will allow us to expand and build upon the successful results of our existing £25m county lines programme. In September 2020 NCLCC coordinated a county lines ‘week of intensification’ which included all forces, including Police Scotland. This resulted in over 1,000 arrests, drugs worth more than £1m seized and over 1,500 vulnerable individuals safeguarded.