Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will introduce a tax-free annual bonus to help improve recruitment and retention of special police constables.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
As part of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, we are committed to increasing the number of special constables across England and Wales.
To support this commitment, we are exploring a range of measures to improve the recruitment and retention of special constables. This includes considering how we can better incentivise the role, recognise their service, and ensure they feel supported and valued.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish details on an annual basis of the number of animals which are bred for, but not used in, scientific procedures in Britain each year.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office is presently reviewing the collection and publication of additional statistics on animals that were bred for, but not used in, scientific procedures.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is taking steps to stop ISIS-K members from using conventional visa routes to travel to the UK from the central Asian republics.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It would not be appropriate to comment in detail on operational security matters or specific cases. However, all visa applications are subject to comprehensive security checks and we maximise the use of upstream interventions to prevent people who pose a threat to the UK from being able to travel.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help counter the UK operations of the GRU’s Department of Special Tasks.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
National security is the first priority of government, and we work closely with all our international partners to assess and tackle all threats. As is our long-standing position, the Home Office does not comment in detail on operational, intelligence or security matters.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will hold discussions with her US counterpart on taking joint steps to counter efforts by the Russian GRU to bring down transatlantic aircraft through the development of incendiary devices.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
National security is the first priority of government, and we work closely with all our international partners to assess and tackle all threats. As is our long-standing position, the Home Office does not comment in detail on operational, intelligence or security matters.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will introduce increased criminal sanctions for crypto exchange companies who (a) launder stolen crypto currency and (b) allow (i) criminal gangs and (ii) hostile states to trade cryptocurrencies for other assets.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
Cryptoassets exchanges, like all businesses who launder funds, can be prosecuted under the money laundering offences in Part 7 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and fined accordingly. In April 2024, new powers came into force to enable law enforcement to more effectively investigate, seize, and recover the proceeds of crime within the cryptoasset ecosystem.
Since 2020, businesses providing cryptoasset services that fall under the scope of the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLRs) in the United Kingdom have also been required to register with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and comply with the requirements of the regulations. They must also comply with the UK sanctions regime and are obliged to report any breach of these regimes to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI). They should further consider their obligation to submit a suspicious activity report (SAR) to the UK Financial Intelligence Unit.
More widely, the government has bolstered law enforcement’s capacity and capability to tackle money laundering through cryptoassets. This includes new specialist capability in the NCA and partner agencies, funding public-private crypto collaboration teams in police forces and Regional Organised Crime Units, and the development of a multi-agency operational crypto cell to ensure that knowledge and abilities in investigating cryptoassets are pooled together and all available tools and powers are exploited efficiently.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will commission research into the (a) role of (i) Russia (ii) Belarus (iii) Iran (iv) China and (v) Yemen in the migration of people and (b) potential impact of that migration on national security.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Tackling irregular migration is a key focus for this government and we regularly research and review the drivers behind it to inform our response. National security, including security at our border, is of the highest importance which is why the Border Security Command was launched and works with colleagues across government and with a range of international partners to disrupt the activity of criminal smuggling gangs.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will increase sanctions for people who make fake (a) bomb threats and (b) calls to the emergency services.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Making a bomb threat or other any other type of hoax phone call to the emergency services is a criminal offence. All calls to the emergency services are recorded and the number can be traced, even if withheld. Local services regularly remind the public of the serious consequences of hoax calls.
Emergency services may also request a Communications Provider to place a temporary restriction on the account of the hoax/nuisance caller. However, contact management, including the management of hoax calls, is an operational matter for services. Any decision is for the emergency authority to take.
There are existing mechanisms in place for emergency services to share information on hoax callers and where hoax calling is deliberate, policing may use legislation to prosecute persistent offenders.
The Home Office currently has no plans to review the sanctions against those making bomb threats or hoax calls to emergency services.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to ensure that the devolved parliaments and assemblies have sufficient resources to (a) detect, (b) deter and (c) prosecute any malign State activities seeking to undermine those democratic institutions.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Defending Democracy Taskforce regularly engages and works with devolved Governments and Parliaments on threats facing our democracy including foreign interference.
This includes supporting the delivery of cyber security advice which makes available expert cyber support to elected representatives across the UK’s Devolved Parliaments.
In addition, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), as a standing member of the Taskforce, continues to deliver the enhanced cyber security offer for elected representatives across the UK - at local, Devolved, and national levels - to better protect them, their teams, and families online.
The National Security Act 2023 also provides the security services and law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to deter, detect, and disrupt modern-day state threats, including foreign interference.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing funding for the security service in the context of existing and emerging state and non-state threats to the UK’s national security.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
Keeping the country safe is the first duty of government. MI5 has a key role to play alongside SIS, GCHQ and the rest of the UK’s national security and law enforcement community in achieving that.
The Chancellor confirmed in the Autumn Budget on 13 October an additional £499m funding for the Single Intelligence Account, which includes MI5, SIS and GCHQ, to ensure that our agencies are equipped to do the vital job we require of them.