Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had has with the Minister for Women and Equalities on her Department's plans to mark Anti Bullying Week 2021.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Home Office is running a series of events across the week in order to mark Anti Bullying Week 2021.
Events include:
Tackling Bullying Harassment and Discrimination (BHD) - ‘One Year On: One Kind Word’
‘Shared action, learning and insight’ Hear from colleagues across the Department on their BHD work
Meet the People Committee on BHD Working Group members - Hear from strategic leaders on how they are tackling BHD Hosted by Co-Chair of People Committee on BHD Working Group
This week also marks a year since the introduction of the department’s Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination (BHD) Programme.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will increase the number of Afghan refugees the UK will accept from the current 5,000.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government has committed to welcoming around 5,000 people in the first year of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme, and up to 20,000 in total. This is one of the most ambitious resettlement schemes in our country’s history.
It is important that we resettle people safely and provide appropriate support including with healthcare, education, jobs and housing. When considering the number of people we resettle, it is right that we take into account the capacity of local communities to provide this support. We would urge the Honourable Members to encourage Local Authorities to come forward with offers of support.
A policy statement covering further details of the Scheme is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/afghanistan-resettlement-and-immigration-policy-statement.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with Bedfordshire Police on tackling anti-social use of fireworks.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
There have not been recent discussions between the Home Secretary and Bedfordshire Constabulary regarding anti-social use of fireworks, however the Home Office maintains regular engagement with policing partners on a range of issues of crime and anti-social behaviour. The Government takes the issues associated with the sale and use of fireworks seriously. There is a comprehensive regulatory framework already in place for fireworks that controls the sale, availability and use of fireworks, as well as setting a curfew and noise limit. Enforcement powers exist for local authorities to take action when fireworks are unsafe, sold illegally, or misused.
Local authorities and the police have powers to tackle the misuse of fireworks, where it arises. This includes a range of flexible tools and powers available to local agencies to tackle anti-social behaviour through the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 (‘the 2014 Act’). Local areas decide how best to deploy these powers depending on the circumstances and specific local concerns.
It is for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners, as operational leaders and elected local representatives, to decide how best to respond to individual crimes and local priorities.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to Answer of 27 May 2021 to Question 6486, how many refunds of the Immigration Health Surcharge have been received by health and social care workers following the Prime Minister's announcement on ending the charge for health and social care workers in May 2020.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Since the Prime Minister’s announcement, the Home Office has made thousands of refunds to eligible customers working in the health and care sector. This covers both refunds and reimbursements under the schemes operated by the Home Office and Department of Health and Social Care respectively. We continue to consider the best way to publish data on the health and care worker exemption.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has plans to introduce tougher penalties for the anti-social use of fireworks.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government takes the issues associated with the sale and use of fireworks seriously. There is a comprehensive regulatory framework already in place for fireworks that controls the sale, availability and use of fireworks, as well as setting a curfew and noise limit. Enforcement powers exist for local authorities to take action when fireworks are unsafe, sold illegally, or misused.
Local authorities and the police have powers to tackle the misuse of fireworks, where it arises. This includes a range of flexible tools and powers available to local agencies to tackle anti-social behaviour through the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 (‘the 2014 Act’). Local areas decide how best to deploy these powers depending on the circumstances and specific local concerns.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that police and intelligence services have adequate funding and training to ensure the safety of Hong Kong people living in the UK on Hong Kong BNO visas.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office have announced a police funding settlement of up to £15.8 billion for 2021/22. This is a total increase of up to £600 million on 2020/21 for the policing system.
Police Officers continue to receive training and updates throughout their career. This can include to address specific changes in law, to deal with emerging issues and continued professional development.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Home Office:
What recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on the effect of the Prevent duty on freedom of speech in (a) higher education, (b) further education and (c) schools.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Department for Education and the Home Office work closely together to ensure the threat of terrorism is addressed appropriately through our education system.
The Prevent Duty should not suppress or limit lawful free speech and is only relevant where there is a risk that someone may be drawn into terrorism.
As a Government, we are committed to protecting freedom of speech. This will be strengthened with the Freedom of Speech in Higher Education Bill that was recently introduced to Parliament.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to waive the Immigration Health Surcharge for holders of Hong Kong BNO visas.
Answered by Kevin Foster
There are no plans to introduce a waiver for the Immigration Health Surcharge on the British Nationals (Overseas) (BN(O)) route.
Like others coming to the UK applicants to the route should contribute to the cost of the NHS Services they will be using, rather than these costs fall to UK taxpayers more widely.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 28 June 2021 to Question 20545 on Counter-terrorism: Databases, for what reason her Department does not control that counterterrorism database; and what assessment she has made of the potential effect of that database being owned by the Police on the Government's ability to regulate that information.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Prevent is a multi-agency programme, which requires the collaboration of multiple specified authorities. Alongside other partners, the police play an essential role in most aspects of Prevent work.
Police have responsibility for part of the delivery of Prevent, including receipt of referrals, deconfliction to check the individual referred is not already under investigation, and assessment of vulnerability to radicalisation. It is entirely appropriate for police to hold such data, which is managed in accordance with Management of Police Information (MOPI) guidelines.
The Home Office maintains oversight of Prevent delivery and uses data to identify trends and monitor performance. This involves working closely with a range of front-line partners, including the police, alongside Local Authority Prevent Co-ordinators, Health and Education Prevent leads, and policy leads from other government departments where appropriate.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 28 June 2021 to Question 21344 on Counter-terrorism: Equality, if she will publish (a) details of what Equality Impact Analyses have been conducted on the Prevent strategy and (b) the reports of those analyses.
Answered by Kevin Foster
We have no plans to publish any EIAs pertaining to Prevent.