Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to review applications from Canadian nationals for indefinite leave to remain to ensure that decision-making is (a) appropriate and (b) evidence-based.
Answered by James Brokenshire
We do not comment publicly on individual cases. UK Visas and Immigration will write to the Honourable Member to provide an update on this case.
There are no plans for a specific review of the administrative handling of immigration applications from Canadian nationals for indefinite leave to remain. UK Visas and Immigration is, however, committed to the principles of continuous improvement and to applying these to ensure processes are efficient and effective.
The administrative requirements, and service standards, to which applicants for indefinite leave to remain are subject, are set out at www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/settle-in-the-uk. This information is reviewed regularly, with a view to ensuring it is as clear as possible.
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans to establish an Infrastructure Police Force to replace the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, British Transport Police and Ministry of Defence Police.
Answered by Mike Penning
The Strategic Defence and Security Review made a commitment to “integrate infrastructure policing further and to review the options to do this” and this review is underway.
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that criminalisation of the use or possession of drugs, or injecting equipment, does not deter (a) people from seeking services because of fear of arrest and prosecution and (b) harm-reduction service providers from offering assistance because of concerns about their own legal liability.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The 2010 Drug Strategy contains a clear ambition that drug users will be supported to become drug free. The UK is a good example of how it is possible to achieve good health outcomes while retaining a criminal offence for drug possession. Service providers are encouraged to create a confidential environment for users to discuss their drug dependency. In addition, data on an individual’s substance misuse is collected in a way which preserves their confidentiality. We will shortly be publishing a new Drug Strategy
The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and its regulations support healthcare providers, including drug treatment services, by providing exemptions for the supply of injecting equipment and other drug paraphernalia where there is evidence that their provision and use will help prevent harm or support recovery. The most recent example of this was the exemption made in 2014 to enable the lawful provision of foil.
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to decriminalise drug use and encourage the implementation and enforcement of anti-discrimination and protective laws, based on human rights standards, to eliminate stigma, discrimination, social exclusion and violence against young people who inject drugs based on actual or presumed behaviours and HIV status.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The Government has no intention of decriminalising drugs in the UK. Decriminalisation would not eliminate the crime committed by the illicit trade, nor would it address the harms associated with drug dependence and the misery that this can cause to families and communities.
The Government’s approach to drugs, based on our balanced 2010 Drug Strategy, remains clear. We must prevent drug use in our communities and support people dependent on drugs through treatment and recovery. At the same time, we have to stop the supply of illegal drugs and tackle the organised crime behind the drugs trade.
There are promising signs our approach is working, with a downward trend in drug use over the last decade and more people recovering from dependency now than in 2009/10.
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugee families she expects to be relocated to Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross constituency; where such families will be housed; and what steps the Government is taking to ensure that such families have access to education for their children.
Answered by James Brokenshire
With regard to the resettlement of 20,000 Syrians that the Prime Minister announced on 7 September, this is a voluntary scheme whereby local authorities sign up to accept refugees on a voluntary basis and there is no expectation on any particular local authority.
We are working closely with those local authorities that have indicated they wish to be involved as well as with the Local Government Association and with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. We do not disclose the details of where refugees are resettled upon their arrival in the UK under the Government resettlement schemes as this may undermine the privacy and recovery of this vulnerable group of people.
The Home Office alongside other departments and the Local Government Association and the Convention of Scottish Authorities will work with individual local authorities who are volunteering to take Syrian refugees to secure appropriate accommodation.
The Government has committed to investing £7 billion on new school places over the next six years, and in the last Parliament funding for school places doubled to £5 billion to create 445,000 additional places. Local Authorities are allocated funding for school places based on their own local data on school capacity and pupil forecasts, in which they take account of factors including rising birth rates, housing development, trends in internal migration and migration to England from elsewhere in the United Kingdom and from overseas. We continue to work with Local Authorities to make sure that every child has a school place.
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to relax immigration rules on the reunification of families and allow members of a refugee's extended family to join them in the UK.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Our refugee family reunion policy allows immediate family members of a person in the UK with refugee leave or humanitarian protection status - that is a spouse or partner and children under the age of 18, who formed part of the family unit before the sponsor fled their country of origin - to reunite with them in the UK.
We have no plans to widen these criteria, which are fully compliant with our international obligations and enable thousands of people each year to be reunited with their families in the UK.
We are also making a significant contribution to support refugees and their families in other ways. The UK has contributed over £1 billion in humanitarian aid in response to the Syrian crisis and we intend to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees displaced to neighbouring countries over the lifetime of this Parliament.
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Wilson Doctrine has been consistently applied to the parliamentary communications of the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross; and whether that hon. Member has been subject to surveillance.
Answered by John Hayes
The Government’s position on the Wilson Doctrine was set out by the Prime Minister in a written ministerial statement made on 4 November 2015.
As the Prime Minister made clear, the Wilson Doctrine has never been an absolute bar to the targeted interception of the communications of Members of Parliament or an exemption from the legal regime governing interception. The Doctrine recognised that there could be instances where interception might be necessary.
The Prime Minister announced that as matter of policy the PM will be consulted should there ever be a proposal to target any UK Parliamentarian’s communications under a warrant issued by a Secretary of State. This applies to Members of Parliament, members of the House of Lords, the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Welsh Assembly and UK members of the European Parliament. It applies to all activity authorised by a warrant issued by a Secretary of State: any instance of targeted interception and electronic surveillance and equipment interference when undertaken by the Security and Intelligence Agencies. This is in addition to the rigorous safeguards already in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) and the Code of Practice issued under it which set out a series of robust safeguards for any instance of interception.
It is long standing policy of successive Governments neither to confirm nor deny any specific activity by the Security and Intelligence Agencies. Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 it is an offence for anyone to identify an individual interception warrant or an individual interception that takes place.
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what measures are in place to protect orphaned children from exploitation subsequent to their being taken to the UK from (a) Syria and (b) other countries and removed from their extended family.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Any child who arrives in the UK unaccompanied, either as a result of resettlement or via another route, would be expected to receive the same protection and support as a child who is resident in the UK, under the provisions set out in the Children Act 1989, as amended, and related statutory guidance.
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department takes to avoid human rights abuses in those states that receive financial aid from the Government to maintain and sustain operational anti-narcotic services.
Answered by Mike Penning
The Government provides counter-narcotics assistance to a range of international partners, including Pakistan. We do so to tackle the international drugs trade and minimise the threat it poses to the UK and its citizens. It is important to protect activities which form part of the UK's contribution to the international counter-narcotics effort and to respect the principle that international partners are able to operate in secrecy on matters of national security against organised crime. As such, it is our policy not to disclose details of financial assistance relating to our counter narcotics work, as to do so risks reducing its effectiveness and damaging international relations.
The Government strongly opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances and we are consistent in our communication on this issue. UK Ministers have and will continue to urge countries, including Pakistan, to repeal the death penalty and take action to ensure human rights are safeguarded.
When engaging internationally, all government departments must adhere to Overseas Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) Guidance. This enables a comprehensive and ongoing assessment of the human rights risks attached to international activity. When the moratorium on the death penalty was lifted in Pakistan the Government reviewed its security engagement. Our engagement in Pakistan continues to be conducted in full accordance with the OSJA guidance, with respect for human rights as one of its core principles.
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to increase transparency of the distribution and extent of financial aid provided to assist other countries to maintain and sustain anti-narcotic operational services.
Answered by Mike Penning
The Government provides counter-narcotics assistance to a range of international partners, including Pakistan. We do so to tackle the international drugs trade and minimise the threat it poses to the UK and its citizens. It is important to protect activities which form part of the UK's contribution to the international counter-narcotics effort and to respect the principle that international partners are able to operate in secrecy on matters of national security against organised crime. As such, it is our policy not to disclose details of financial assistance relating to our counter narcotics work, as to do so risks reducing its effectiveness and damaging international relations.
The Government strongly opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances and we are consistent in our communication on this issue. UK Ministers have and will continue to urge countries, including Pakistan, to repeal the death penalty and take action to ensure human rights are safeguarded.
When engaging internationally, all government departments must adhere to Overseas Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) Guidance. This enables a comprehensive and ongoing assessment of the human rights risks attached to international activity. When the moratorium on the death penalty was lifted in Pakistan the Government reviewed its security engagement. Our engagement in Pakistan continues to be conducted in full accordance with the OSJA guidance, with respect for human rights as one of its core principles.