Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's Animals in Science Regulation Unit Annual reports 2019 to 2021, published 26 October 2022, what assessment she has made of the incident in which four dogs were administered a substance that was not authorised for testing; and whether a letter of reprimand and inspector advice was an adequate response to that breach.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat
The Home Office take any allegations regarding non-compliance with the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 very seriously.
The investigation and measures taken for the case involving four dogs were in accordance with the agreed Regulator’s Compliance Policy that is aimed to minimise the risk of recurrence. The Compliance Policy can be found on gov.uk. The Home Office will continue to assess the proportionality of responses to non-compliances with the Act.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department collects on the protected characteristics of asylum seekers arriving in the UK.
Answered by Kevin Foster
When an asylum seeker registers their asylum claim they will undergo an asylum screening interview. This interview includes questions about their personal details and their health and wellbeing. These include questions that relate to their age, their gender (sex), whether they are pregnant, if they have any disabilities, their race/ethnicity, their religion and if they have a partner.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what training her Department is providing to its staff to enable them to identify asylum seekers arriving in the UK with mental health issues.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Border Force personnel receive training on identifying and helping vulnerable people at the UK border. All Home Office staff and contractors engaging with asylum seekers are trained to adopt a risk-based approach towards potential indications of vulnerability and to refer relevant cases onto the Safeguarding Hub, a dedicated resource assigned to identifying and safeguarding vulnerable asylum seekers. The Safeguarding Hub works closely with the statutory agencies to signpost vulnerable customers for support with their health and social care needs Additionally, asylum seekers have full access to the advisory services provided by Migrant Help.
The Home Office continues to support conversations on improving the mental health of refugees and asylum seekers including through its National Asylum Seeker Health Steering Group, bringing together representatives the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS, Devolved Administrations and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) funding and (b) services her Department provides to asylum seekers requiring (i) GP assessment and (ii) medical treatment in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office does not fund or provide medical services to asylum seekers.
Asylum seekers have access to NHS medical services in the same way as other permanent residents.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) funding and (b) services her Department provides to asylum seekers requiring immediately treatment for (i) mental health issues and (ii) trauma in the latest period for which information is available.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office does not fund or provide medical services to asylum seekers.
Asylum seekers have access to NHS medical services in the same way as other permanent residents.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to launch a review on replacing the use of animals in the development of medicines with new approach methodologies such as the use of advanced cultures of human cells and tissues, artificial intelligence and organ-on-a-chip technology.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
There are currently no plans for a review on replacing the use of animals in the development of medicines.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Animals in Science Regulation Unit has recommenced on-site inspections of animal testing facilities following their suspension in 2020; for how long inspections were carried out by telephone or email; and whether the Government plans to carry out additional on-site inspections.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Animals in Science Regulation Unit (ASRU) assesses the compliance of the regulated community in a variety of ways, including on site and remote inspections, investigation of potential non-compliance cases and reviewing of reports. Throughout the pandemic ASRU have conducted on site visits for the investigation of significant cases of potential non-compliances or as needed. ASRU also implemented a system of remote inspections. ASRU resumed routine on-site inspection of animal testing facilities on 7 September 2020.
During 2020, 712 remote inspections were conducted and 78 on-site inspections where there were animal welfare concerns or cases of non-compliance that could not be investigated remotely. ASRU will continue to undertake remote and on-site inspection activity as required as part of its overall programme of assessing the compliance of the regulated community.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to support women and girls against domestic abuse during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
There is no place for domestic abuse in our society. Home should be a safe place, but for many people sadly this is not the case. That is why this government is committed to ensuring that those who are experiencing harm or living in fear of abuse at home are able to seek support and refuge.
We know that victims of domestic abuse may feel particularly vulnerable at this time, which is why last year the Government launched our #YouAreNotAlone awareness raising campaign to signpost support available. The campaign has reached over 30 million UK adults and has been seen by over 130 million followers on social media.
In January, we also launched the ‘Ask for ANI’ Codeword scheme to enable domestic abuse victims to seek victim focussed support, including engagement with specialist victim support services and the police as necessary. Over 5,000 pharmacies across the nation are now participating in the scheme, and the scheme has been used by over 60 victims and survivors.
We have provided unprecedented new funding to victim support services to ensure that they have the capacity to provide support to victims and adapt their operational capacity in light of the impacts of the Pandemic. To that end we have awarded £27 million in additional funds to support domestic abuse services last financial year alone, comprising £25 million from the government’s £76 million in emergency funding for the most vulnerable in society, and an extra £2 million from the Home Office in April 2021 to bolster the capacity of domestic abuse organisations affected by the pandemic.
In November 2020 we announced a further £11 million towards a range of services offering practical and emotional help – allowing domestic abuse and specialist rape organisations to recruit more staff, adapt to remote counselling methods during the pandemic and keep helplines open for longer. This funding extends all the way into March of this year, covering the most recent period of national lockdown restrictions.
This financial year the Ministry of Justice has also announced in February that victims of rape and domestic abuse will be helped by a major £40m funding boost for specialist support services.
We continue to work closely with the police, victim support services and the Domestic Abuse Commissioner to better understand the scale of harm and how best to support victims throughout the Pandemic, and our transition out of social distancing measures.
Our landmark Domestic Abuse Bill - due to achieve Royal Assent this Spring - will further strengthen our response to perpetrators and improve our protection to victims, as will the publication of our domestic abuse strategy and linked violence against women and girls strategy later this year.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to (a) keep safe, (b) support and (c) protect frontline staff in light of the finding by Usdaw that abusive incidents toward shop workers have doubled since the start of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government conducted a call for evidence on violence and abuse toward shop staff to understand the extent of the issue and how we can improve the response to these crimes. The formal response was published 7 July 2020 and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/violence-and-abuse-toward-shop-staff-call-for-evidence
To address the actions raised in the call for evidence the Government is working closely with retailers and trade organisations, including Usdaw through the National Retail Crime Steering Group to deliver a programme of work which aims to provide better support to victims, improve reporting, increase data sharing between businesses and police, and raise awareness of this crime among employers and the public.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with faith leaders on the effect of changes to tier 2 and tier 5 visas on ministers of religion and religious workers.
Answered by Kevin Foster
This Government recognises the unique value members of religious institutions overseas bring to our communities in the UK. This is reflected in the two dedicated immigration arrangements which exist for Ministers of Religion and Religious Workers.
Faith leaders have a dedicated point of contact within the Department, with whom they regularly engage, and I have met with representatives of different faiths on a number of occasions to discuss these topics.