Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (a) how many times registered sex offenders have been charged with failing to notify the police of a change of name in the past 5 years, and (b) what sentences they received.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The UK has some of the toughest powers in the world to deal with sex offenders and we are committed to ensuring that the system is as robust as it can be.
Qualifying offenders are required to notify their personal details to the police. This system is often referred to as the ‘sex offenders’ register’ and requires offenders to provide their local police station with a record of personal details, including their name, address, date of birth, bank details, and national insurance number. Failure to inform the police of a change of name is a breach of the requirements and is a criminal offence with a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment.
Figures for number of offenders cautioned or conviction for breaches of the notification requirements are published by the Ministry of Justice in the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements Annual Report, which is available on gov.uk. This does not include a breakdown of the number of individuals charged, however, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of this information which shows 16,298 offenders were charged with breach of the notification requirements between 2015 and 2020.
A breakdown of the nature of the breach or on the sentences received by those convicted is not collated centrally.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant of the Answer of 11 January 2021 to Question 132926 on Deed Poll, what steps her Department is taking to monitor gaps in the name changing process in relation to safeguarding.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The UK has some of the toughest powers in the world to deal with sex offenders. These include the notification requirements, which require registered sex offenders to notify their personal details, including their name and address, to the police. They must do this annually and whenever their details change. Failure to do so constitutes a breach of an order which is punishable by up to 5 years’ imprisonment.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will bring forward proposals (a) to remove the right to a change of name for a person convicted of sex offences or who is on the sex offenders register and (b) establish a regulatory body to oversee the name change process.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The UK has some of the toughest powers in the world to deal with sex offenders and we are committed to ensuring that the system is as robust as it can be. Tough checks and a range of legislative measures are available to the police to manage known sex offenders living in the community.
Registered sex offenders are required to inform their offender manager of any change in circumstances, including a change of name. A failure to notify the police of a change of name can be considered as a breach of an order, which could lead the offender receiving a five year prison sentence.
We understand the concerns that have been raised about people with a history of sexual offending attempting to change their name in order to hide their identity. We are working with the Courts and the Disclosure and Barring Service to close any monitoring gaps to ensure the public is kept safe.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to include survivors’ voices when designing and delivering its response to modern slavery.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
We are committed to embedding the survivors’ voice in future policy. We have recently undertaken a piece of work to engage with survivors directly, to better understand their recovery needs and their experiences of the National Referral Mechanism, placing survivors at the core of policy development.
We have worked with the Care Quality Commission to deliver an independent inspection regime across the new Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract. As part of this work, survivors will be given the opportunity to provide feedback on the quality of the support services they receive whilst living in safehouse accommodation and/or in receipt of outreach support.
Through the NRM Transformation Programme we will continue to examine how best we can engage survivors to inform our response to modern slavery.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect on modern slavery of immigration rules that would allow officials to refuse leave to remain in the UK on the grounds that an applicant has been rough sleeping.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The new Immigration Rules make provision for the refusal or cancellation of permission to stay in the UK on the basis of rough sleeping. The new rule will apply on a discretionary basis to non-EEA citizens from 1 December 2020 and to newly arriving EEA citizens from 1 January 2021. The provision will be used sparingly and only where individuals have refused support offers such as accommodation and are engaged in persistent anti-social behaviour.
The safety and security of modern slavery victims remains a top priority. The Victim Care Contract (VCC) provides support to potential and confirmed victims of modern slavery who have received a positive Reasonable Grounds decision, and who have consented to support. The VCC provides support through accommodation (where needed), financial support and specialist support workers.
Following a positive Reasonable Grounds decision, adult victims will be provided with a period of recovery and reflection of at least 45 calendar days. During that period, support and assistance will be provided on a consensual basis and potential victims will not be removed from the UK. A period of recovery and reflection will not be observed where grounds of public order prevent it.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the change in the number of (a) British children and (b) Albanian adults being referred to the National Referral Mechanism in the last five years.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government is committed to tackling the heinous crime of modern slavery; ensuring that victims are provided with the support they need to begin rebuilding their lives and that those responsible are prosecuted. The number of National Referral Mechanism (NRM) referrals has increased every year since the NRM was introduced in 2009.
The increase in referrals is likely to be indicative of greater awareness of the NRM and improved law enforcement activity, as well as an increase in the recorded NRM referrals related to young people involved in county lines activity. The Home Office have published statistics on the nationality of NRM referrals for adults and children on a quarterly basis from Quarter 2 2019. Prior to this the NCA published this data. On 19 October we published the 2020 UK Annual Report on Modern Slavery which sets out an assessment of trends in modern slavery in the UK.
Home Office statistics can be found: here:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-referral-mechanism-statistics
Statistic published by the NCA can be found here: https://nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/who-we-are/publications
Modern Slavery Annual report can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2020-uk-annual-report-on-modern-slavery
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 10 September 2020 to Question 86063 on Domestic Abuse: Victims, when the Government plan to publish their findings into changes in the Policing and Crime Act 2017 relating to pre-charge bail conditions.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government consultation on the pre charge bail system closed on 29 May, receiving over 1,000 responses. Officials are continuing to engage with key stakeholders from across the criminal justice sector on reforms to the pre-charge bail process and the Government remains committed to improving the effectiveness of this system. We are planning to publish our response to the consultation in early 2021.
Pre-charge bail, including the use of conditions to protect domestic abuse and other victims, continues to be available where it is necessary and proportionate.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) process is and (b) agreed timescales are for the return of confiscated mobile phones to asylum seekers by Border Force; and what steps her Department takes to communicate that process to affected asylum seekers.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Immigration Enforcement search all migrants upon arrival at the Tug Haven at Dover. In the event that a mobile phone is discovered it will be seized as part of an investigation into the organised crime group involved in the facilitation.
The migrant will be informed verbally that the phone will be kept for evidential purpose for three to six months. They are provided with a receipt and contact details. Attempts will be made, to communicate this in their first language, although this can be challenging due to external factors.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that refugees and asylum seekers entering at the UK border do not have their mobile (a) photos and (b) contacts seized by border authorities without the owner of the device receiving a copy of that information.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Organised crime groups involved in immigration crime are highly exploitative of vulnerable adults and children, charging large sums of money for their illegal services.
This revenue is often used to fund other forms of criminality. Phones are seized to gather evidence to establish Organised Crime Group links. The dismantlement of these Organised Crime Groups is essential to protect vulnerable migrants. Where there is no requirement to retain the mobile phone for evidential purposes, they are returned to the owner.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
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 expanding the T5 visa scheme for Hong Kong residents by making it renewable after 24 months until they are eligible for settled status after five years.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme with Hong Kong is a reciprocal agreement currently capped at 24 months. In line with similar agreements with other territories it is primarily a cultural exchange programme rather than a route to settlement and it only applies to those aged under 30.
Other immigration routes are available to Hong Kong residents which lead to settlement in the UK, plus we have already announced our intention to create a route to settlement for British National (Overseas) resident in Hong Kong and their dependents.