Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people in the UK have been prosecuted for publishing an image or another article in support of Hamas since that group was fully proscribed.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat
The Government takes proscription offences seriously. Hamas’ military wing (Hamas Izz al-Din al-Qassem Brigades) has been proscribed since 2001. This was extended to cover the organisation in its entirety in November 2021.
Data on arrests, charges and convictions for the proscription offences in sections 11 - 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000 can be found in the quarterly Home Office publication ‘Operation of Police Powers under the Terrorism Act 2000’. Data is not published on the specific proscribed organisation that the arrest, charge or conviction relates to. The most recent publication up to year ending June 2022, was published on 8 September 2022: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/operation-of-police-powers-under-the-terrorism-act-2000-quarterly-update-to-june-2022
The quarterly publications establish transparency by ensuring that data is publicly available on the use of police powers in a consistently categorised way. As with all crime statistics published by the Home Office, the data published in the Terrorism statistics are offence based, where police provide a count of the number of offences recorded. Data providers are not required to provide further detail on events leading to the arrest, as to do so would place a disproportionate burden on the organisations responsible. This includes the National Counter-Terrorism Police Operations Centre, the Crown Prosecution Service’s Counter-Terrorism Division, the Metropolitan Police Service and the National Counter-Terrorism Policing Headquarters. As with all Official Statistics, we continually review outputs taking account of user needs.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people in the UK have been prosecuted for (a) belonging and (b) professing to belong to Hamas since that group was fully proscribed.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat
The Government takes proscription offences seriously. Hamas’ military wing (Hamas Izz al-Din al-Qassem Brigades) has been proscribed since 2001. This was extended to cover the organisation in its entirety in November 2021.
Data on arrests, charges and convictions for the proscription offences in sections 11 - 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000 can be found in the quarterly Home Office publication ‘Operation of Police Powers under the Terrorism Act 2000’. Data is not published on the specific proscribed organisation that the arrest, charge or conviction relates to. The most recent publication up to year ending June 2022, was published on 8 September 2022: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/operation-of-police-powers-under-the-terrorism-act-2000-quarterly-update-to-june-2022
The quarterly publications establish transparency by ensuring that data is publicly available on the use of police powers in a consistently categorised way. As with all crime statistics published by the Home Office, the data published in the Terrorism statistics are offence based, where police provide a count of the number of offences recorded. Data providers are not required to provide further detail on events leading to the arrest, as to do so would place a disproportionate burden on the organisations responsible. This includes the National Counter-Terrorism Police Operations Centre, the Crown Prosecution Service’s Counter-Terrorism Division, the Metropolitan Police Service and the National Counter-Terrorism Policing Headquarters. As with all Official Statistics, we continually review outputs taking account of user needs.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has taken steps to implement changes in general policy arising from the decision published on 14 January 2022 on the case of R(on the application of SGW) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Biometrics – family reunion policy).
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Home Office has published updated biometric policy and family reunion guidance on GOV.UK clarifying that an individual must, in most circumstances, provide their biometrics when applying for a visa or a biometric immigration document to come to the UK.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness and adequacy of the standard of police officer body armour from the perspective of (a) health and safety and (b) comfort.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Home Office body armour standards take into consideration the relevant police operational requirements and threats to set the minimum performance levels for body armour.
These standards are internationally recognised and ensure that body armour is safe and fit for purpose.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to reply to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Warley of 10 March on delays in extension of applications for Further Leave to Remain.
Answered by Kevin Foster
A response was sent to the hon. Member on 6 July 2022.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he will respond to the letter of 17 January 2022 from the hon. Member for Warley on Mr Fred Osei.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office responded to the correspondence on 13 February 2022
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to reply to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Warley 25 January 2022 on Mr Abdimunye.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Home Office responded to the correspondence on 22 March 2022.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's policy is on Ministers answering letters from hon. Members that are specifically addressed to them.
Answered by Kevin Foster
When a hon. Member makes a written enquiry to either the Home Secretary or an Immigration Minister, a Ministerial response will normally be provided by the appropriate Minister.
There will occasionally be circumstances where replies are provided by officials where the query is one which can be suitably answered by them, for example a query about an individual case where an update can be provided to indicate it has been granted, or where the member has simply forwarded a standard item of correspondence which has already been received multiple times.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to the enquiry of 17 November 2021 from the hon. Member for Warley regarding Mr Kibuuki.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office responded to the correspondence on 27 January 2022
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to the enquiry from the hon. Member for Warley of 19 November 2021 regarding Enri Qoraj.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office responded to the correspondence on 16 February 2022.