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Written Question
Abortion: Demonstrations
Wednesday 25th October 2023

Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to bring into force the provisions of the Public Order Act 2023 introducing safe access zones around abortion clinics.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

The timescales for commencing the new Section 9 offence of interference with access to, or provision of, abortion services will be confirmed in due course.


Written Question
Asylum: West Midlands
Thursday 19th October 2023

Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers are housed in (a) Sandwell and (b) each of the other local authorities in the West Midlands as of 13 October 2023.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

Published statistics of where asylum seekers are accommodated can be viewed under the Local Authority Dataset Asy-D11 at:

Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)


Written Question
University of Cambridge and University of Oxford: Overseas Students
Monday 11th September 2023

Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many student visas were issued to students at (a) Oxford and (b) Cambridge University in 2022.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

We do not routinely publish the number of student visas for individual sponsors. For details of our published data on student visas, this can be found in the available Migration Statistics on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-june-2023/why-do-people-come-to-the-uk-to-study


Written Question
TLScontact
Monday 15th May 2023

Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the ability of TLScontact to meet the terms of its contract with her Department.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

UKVI closely monitor and manage the contract with TLS Contact on a daily basis and robustly review how they are performing to ensure we are providing a high-quality service for our visa customers.

This includes holding regular reviews to assess their performance in line with the Service Level Agreements in the contract and to ensure any service level failures are identified and resolved. We have a clear governance process in place to ensure that any incidents, risks and issues are effectively addressed.


Written Question
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Wednesday 18th January 2023

Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Answer to the hon. Member for Warley on 13 December 2022, Official Report, column 874, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of proscribing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)

While the UK Government keeps the list of proscribed organisations under review, we do not routinely comment on whether an organisation is or is not being considered for proscription.

We have long been clear about our concerns over the malign activity of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The UK maintains sanctions on over 300 Iranian individuals and entities covering human rights abuses, nuclear proliferation and terrorism. The Government has also imposed sanctions on the IRGC in its entirety and on several senior security and political figures in Iran, including senior commanders within the IRGC and its Basij force.


Written Question
Action Fraud
Monday 16th January 2023

Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the performance of Action Fraud.

Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)

Tackling fraud is a priority for this government. Making it easier and more efficient for the public to report fraud is central to our efforts.

In light of advances to technology, growing demand on the service and an independent review by Sir Craig Mackey exploring the performance and function of Action Fraud, we are providing over £30 million to City of London Police over the next three years to support the upgrade of the Action Fraud service.

The upgrade is already underway, with improvements so far including more staff, better trained staff and vulnerable victims being prioritised. In 2023, a new, user-friendly, accessible reporting tool and website will be launched, offering an improved victim experience and simpler pathways to access further support and guidance.

The new service is expected to be fully operational by 2024. The upgrades will provide better support services and reporting tools for victims, produce greater intelligence and insight for policing so they can investigate more frauds, and allow for greater prevention and disruption at scale using this intelligence.


Written Question
Hamas: Prosecutions
Wednesday 19th October 2022

Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)

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 - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)

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.


Written Question
Hamas: Prosecutions
Wednesday 19th October 2022

Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)

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 - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)

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.


Written Question
Immigration Controls
Monday 26th September 2022

Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)

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 - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

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.


Written Question
Police: Body Armour
Wednesday 20th July 2022

Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)

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 - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

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.