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Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 24 Feb 2021
Fire Safety Bill

"I am listening carefully to what my hon. Friend is saying, and he has mentioned the taxpayer several times. I said in my opening remarks, as did my hon. Friend the Member for Stevenage (Stephen McPartland), that our amendment would not put any burden on the taxpayer. If my hon. …..."
Royston Smith - View Speech

View all Royston Smith (Con - Southampton, Itchen) contributions to the debate on: Fire Safety Bill

Written Question
High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention
Thursday 19th November 2020

Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of a waking watch in tackling fire safety in high-rise residential buildings.

Answered by James Brokenshire

Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, it is for the Responsible Person to ensure appropriate fire safety measures are in place within their building. This can include, where relevant, ensuring that there is a waking watch in place, that this is tested and works. Local Fire and Rescue Services and other enforcers of the Fire Safety Order can take action where appropriate if the responsible person fails to comply with their duties under the order.

The revised guidance simultaneous evacuation guidance produced by the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) reflects best practice and can be located at https://www.nationalfirechiefs.org.uk/Simultaneous-evacuation-guidance.

The guidance encourages greater use of more cost-effective measures such as alarm systems to replace or reduce dependency on waking watch wherever possible. This is further supported by the publication of the costs of waking watches on 16 October, which can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-programme-waking-watch-costs


Written Question
Undocumented Migrants: English Channel
Tuesday 9th June 2020

Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many migrants have attempted to illegally cross the English Channel since the start of 2020.

Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary

People crossing the Channel to enter the UK have come from a safe country – usually France – and so there is no reason why they need to make this trip in order to claim asylum. Those fleeing persecution should stay in the first safe country they enter.

The UK continues to work closely with France and other countries to return migrants who have entered the UK by small boat in order to provide a strong deterrent against these dangerous crossings.

The number of migrants arriving in the UK crossing the Channel by small boats for the months of January to March 2020 is approx. 450.? These are provisional figures based on operational management information. The figures for April have not passed through a data quality check and cannot be assured. The final figures for all months will be published at a later date, once they have been verified and fully quality assured.

It should be noted that, by definition, we cannot be certain of the total number of people attempting to cross the English Channel via clandestine means.


Written Question
Undocumented Migrants: English Channel
Tuesday 9th June 2020

Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many migrants have been intercepted by Border Force whilst attempting to illegally cross the English Channel since the start of 2020.

Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary

People crossing the Channel to enter the UK have come from a safe country – usually France – and so there is no reason why they need to make this trip in order to claim asylum. Those fleeing persecution should stay in the first safe country they enter.

The UK continues to work closely with France and other countries to return migrants who have entered the UK by small boat in order to provide a strong deterrent against these dangerous crossings.

The number of migrants arriving in the UK crossing the Channel by small boats for the months of January to March 2020 is approx. 450.? These are provisional figures based on operational management information. The figures for April have not passed through a data quality check and cannot be assured. The final figures for all months will be published at a later date, once they have been verified and fully quality assured.


Written Question
Undocumented Migrants: English Channel
Tuesday 9th June 2020

Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many migrants have illegally crossed the English Channel since the beginning of 2020.

Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary

People crossing the Channel to enter the UK have come from a safe country – usually France – and so there is no reason why they need to make this trip in order to claim asylum. Those fleeing persecution should stay in the first safe country they enter.

The UK continues to work closely with France and other countries to return migrants who have entered the UK by small boat in order to provide a strong deterrent against these dangerous crossings.

The number of migrants arriving in the UK crossing the Channel by small boats for the months of January to March 2020 is approx. 450.? These are provisional figures based on operational management information. The figures for April have not passed through a data quality check and cannot be assured. The final figures for all months will be published at a later date, once they have been verified and fully quality assured.


Written Question
Undocumented Migrants
Tuesday 9th June 2020

Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many migrants who have illegally crossed into the UK by boat have been rescued by Border Force or other authorities since the beginning of 2020.

Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary

People crossing the Channel to enter the UK have come from a safe country – usually France – and so there is no reason why they need to make this trip in order to claim asylum. Those fleeing persecution should stay in the first safe country they enter.

The UK continues to work closely with France and other countries to return migrants who have entered the UK by small boat in order to provide a strong deterrent against these dangerous crossings.

The number of migrants arriving in the UK crossing the Channel by small boats for the months of January to March 2020 is approx. 450.? These are provisional figures based on operational management information. The figures for April have not passed through a data quality check and cannot be assured. The final figures for all months will be published at a later date, once they have been verified and fully quality assured.


Written Question
Drugs: Misuse
Tuesday 28th April 2020

Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the total cost to the NHS of illegal drug use in 2018-19.

Answered by Kit Malthouse

Information relating to the number of illicit drug users, the economic and social costs of illicit drugs and source countries for drug production is provided in the Dame Carol Black Independent Review of Drugs evidence pack on pages 17, 30, 33 and 41, published on 27 February 2020.


Written Question
Drugs: Smuggling
Tuesday 28th April 2020

Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department holds on what the main source countries were of illegal (a) opiates, (b) cannabis and (c) cocaine smuggled into the UK in 2018-19.

Answered by Kit Malthouse

Information relating to the number of illicit drug users, the economic and social costs of illicit drugs and source countries for drug production is provided in the Dame Carol Black Independent Review of Drugs evidence pack on pages 17, 30, 33 and 41, published on 27 February 2020.


Written Question
Drugs: Misuse
Tuesday 28th April 2020

Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) opiate, (b) cannabis and (c) cocaine users there were in England in 2018-19.

Answered by Kit Malthouse

Information relating to the number of illicit drug users, the economic and social costs of illicit drugs and source countries for drug production is provided in the Dame Carol Black Independent Review of Drugs evidence pack on pages 17, 30, 33 and 41, published on 27 February 2020.


Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 23 Mar 2020
Oral Answers to Questions

"11. What steps her Department is taking to dismantle the operations of county lines drugs gangs. ..."
Royston Smith - View Speech

View all Royston Smith (Con - Southampton, Itchen) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions