Asked by: Neil Gray (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have contacted Action Fraud regarding potential pension scams since the start of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Government is committed to protecting people from pension scams and pursuing those who perpetrate these scams.
In the period from 24 March 2020 to 25 September 2020, 166 reports of pension fraud were received by Action Fraud.
The latest available data on Action Fraud reporting, covering the year to March 2020, can be found in table A5 of Crime in England and Wales on the ONS website, currently available here:
We have launched a gov.uk page on coronavirus-related fraud and cybercrime, including easy-to-follow steps for people to better protect themselves from online scams, as well as signposting all relevant advice and tips:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-fraud-and-cyber-crime
Victims in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are encouraged to report these crimes directly to Action Fraud, the centralised reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime. Those in Scotland should report directly to Police Scotland, via the 101 service.
Asked by: Neil Gray (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Minister for the Home Office, when the Government plans to ratify the 2012 Istanbul Convention on violence against women and girls.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government takes its international commitments very seriously and we have always been clear on our commitment to ratify the Istanbul Convention.
The Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Ratification of Convention) Act 2017 requires Ministers to publish annual reports on their progress towards being able to ratify the Convention. The most recent report was published on 31 October 2019 and is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/843509/CCS0919132732-001_Istanbul_Convention_2019_Report_Option_A_Web_Accessible.pdf
Legislation needs to pass before we can ratify the Convention, so at this stage we cannot be sure what the timeframe for ratification will be. When this is clear we will set out a timeframe for ratification. The Domestic Abuse Bill had its Second Reading on 28 April and has now begun Committee stage for detailed scrutiny by MPs. Part 6 of the Bill includes provisions for the purposes of Article 44 of the Convention, which requires that criminal courts in the UK have extraterritorial jurisdiction over certain violent and sexual offences. Additionally, the Domestic Abuse and Family Proceedings Bill currently before the Northern Ireland Assembly provides for a new domestic abuse offence which would criminalise psychological violence in Northern Ireland, as required by Article 33 of the Convention. That Bill also takes extraterritorial jurisdiction in respect of the new offence and so, together with the provisions of Part 6 of the Domestic Abuse Bill, will ensure that the law in Northern Ireland meets the requirements of Article 44.
Asked by: Neil Gray (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to Answer the Named Day Questions 136668, 136669 and 136670 tabled by the hon. Member for Airdrie and Shotts which were due for answer on 24 April 2018.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The responses for UIN 136669 and 136670 were given on 26th June 2018. UIN 136668 was answered on the 4th July 2018.
Asked by: Neil Gray (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what date the proposal to destroy the Windrush landing cards was first presented to a Minister in her Department.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
No decision was taken to destroy ‘Windrush migrant’ information specifically and records were not categorised as being related to a ‘Windrush migrant’ or the ‘Windrush generation’. Any Windrush papers would have been destroyed in line with the retention and disposal periods set for the wider records collections in which they were located.
Asked by: Neil Gray (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what date a Minister in her Department approved the destruction of the Windrush landing cards.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
No decision was taken to destroy ‘Windrush migrant’ information specifically and records were not categorised as being related to a ‘Windrush migrant’ or the ‘Windrush generation’. Any Windrush papers would have been destroyed in line with the retention and disposal periods set for the wider records collections in which they were located.
In regards to landing cards specifically, although there was provision in the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 to make a requirement for Commonwealth citizens to complete landing cards, this was never implemented. Landing cards were not required for the vast majority of nationals of Independent Commonwealth Countries until the implementation of the Immigration Act 1971. A very small number of cards were completed by Immigration officers for small cohorts of these nationals.
Asked by: Neil Gray (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what date the Windrush landing cards were destroyed.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
No decision was taken to destroy ‘Windrush migrant’ information specifically and records were not categorised as being related to a ‘Windrush migrant’ or the ‘Windrush generation’. Any Windrush papers would have been destroyed in line with the retention and disposal periods set for the wider records collections in which they were located.
In regards to landing cards specifically, although there was provision in the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 to make a requirement for Commonwealth citizens to complete landing cards, this was never implemented. Landing cards were not required for the vast majority of nationals of Independent Commonwealth Countries until the implementation of the Immigration Act 1971. A very small number of cards were completed by Immigration officers for small cohorts of these nationals.
Asked by: Neil Gray (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she or Ministers of her Department have given guidance to police authorities on dealing with cases of tax rebate fraud; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Ben Wallace
HMRC provides advice on the Gov.UK website to raise awareness about fraudulent emails and texts suggesting that the recipient is entitled to a tax rebate. HMRC also provides details of where such emails and texts may be reported.
Asked by: Neil Gray (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of applying different immigration rules to Scotland and other constituent parts of the UK.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Immigration remains a reserved matter and we will consider the needs of the UK as a whole.
Applying different immigration rules to different parts of the UK would complicate the immigration system, harming its integrity, and cause difficulties for employers who need the flexibility to deploy their staff to other parts of the UK.