Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding the Government plans to allocate to the owners and operators of public spaces and venues for measures to protect the public from terrorist attacks as part of the new Protect Duty announced on 26 February 2021.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Protect Duty consultation has proposed that certain owners and operators, responsible for publicly accessible locations, would be required to consider the threat posed by terrorist attack, and to take reasonably practicable mitigating measures.
The Government considers that it is reasonable for responsible parties to take appropriate and proportionate security measures to protect their staff and the public who visit their venues, in the same way that they prepare for and fund measures for the risk of fire, or to ensure that health and safety requirements are met.
Ahead of any changes, the Government will continue to provide a range of support to owners and operators, including freely available information on threat, mitigations, tools, and training products. To further support delivery across the public and private sector, a new interactive online platform will be launched later this year. The Government will also consider, further to the consultation, where additional support may be required when the Protect Duty is taken forward. We encourage all with an interest in public security to respond to the consultation by 2 July.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the effectiveness of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 in protecting the cyber security of local authorities.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office keeps the Computer Misuse Act (CMA) under regular review.
The Computer Misuse Act is an effective piece of legislation that allows for the prosecution of those responsible for attacks on computer systems.
The Home Office is engaged in ongoing discussions with relevant partners in law enforcement, government and private sector to ensure the legislation continues to remain effective.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many consultants his Department has hired in each year since 2016; and what the cost of that process has been to the public purse.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Home Department does not procure external consultancy services on an individual consultant basis but as discrete packages of work from consultancy providers therefore it is not possible to provide costs or numbers of individual consultants engaged.
The Departments spend on external consultancy services is published in the Departments Annual Report and Accounts, which are available here;
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ho-annual-reports-and-accounts
Spend for the Financial Year 2016/17 was £13.348M (page 60)
Spend for the Financial Year 2017/18 was £12.728M (page 72)
Spend for the current Financial Year is being assessed at will be published in the 2018/19 Annual Report and Accounts later in the year.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many consultations by his Department (a) are open, (b) are closed awaiting a Government response and (c) have been initiated since 2016.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
All consultations published by the Home Office and their status, including responses, are available on GOV.UK at this page: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many tier one visas the Home Office issued in (a) 2018, (b) 2017, (c) 2016, (d) 2015 and (e) 2014.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Information on Tier 1 entry clearance visa applications and outcomes (grant-ed, refused, withdrawn, lapsed) is published on a quarterly basis in the Home Office’s ‘Immigration Statistics’, Visas data tables volume 1, table vi_01_q, latest edition at:
Corresponding data for Q4 (October to December) 2018 is planned to be published on 28 February 2019.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much money her Department has raised from the sale of (a) assets, (b) land and (c) buildings in each year since 2010.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The information is published in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts. The value of disposals by asset class for the financial years requested can be obtained from Note 6 - Property, Plant and Equipment and Note 7 - Intangible Assets. The proceeds from disposal can be obtained from the Statement of Cash Flows on the pages listed below:
FY2016/17 – page 100:
FY2015/16 - page 118:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/539638/HO_AR_16_gov.pdf
FY2014/15 – page 101:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/441282/HO-AR15_web.pdf
FY2013/14 – page 89:
FY2012/13 – page 100
FY2011/12 – page 106
FY2010/11 – page 95
Figures for 2017-18 will be available once the Home Office’s Annual Report and Accounts are audited by the National Audit Office, and laid before Parliament.