Asked by: Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps the Government has taken to tackle extremism in the UK.
Answered by Sarah Newton
We are taking a comprehensive approach to tackling terrorism and violent extremism at source, but also, through our counter-extremism strategy, we are looking at extremism more widely. We want to defeat not just terrorism and violent extremism but extremism wherever it occurs.
Asked by: Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average length of time taken to consider an application for a UK visa was in cases where an applicant referenced Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights in each of the last three years.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
I am sorry but ‘Article 8’ is not a specific Visa category. To answer this question would involve individual scrutiny of every application within the period. This would incur disproportionate cost.
Overall information on work in progress and performance against service standards for UKVI and Border Force is published in the Home Office’s transparency data, available at:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data
Asked by: Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications (a) received, (b) accepted and (c) refused for UK visas have referred to rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights in each of the last three years.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
To answer this question would involve individual scrutiny of every application within the period. This would incur disproportionate cost.
Information on the numbers of Visas issued is available at:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release
Asked by: Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the potential financial benefits to universities involved in the introduction of the Tier 4 visa pilot scheme.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Tier 4 visa pilot scheme is designed to test the benefits of a differentiated approach within Tier 4, whilst ensuring any changes do not undermine the robust application of immigration requirements. No estimate has been made of financial benefits to the participating institutions. The results of the pilot will be carefully monitored to determine whether the scheme should be rolled out more widely. We will carefully monitor any impacts and liaise with stakeholders before any further steps are taken.
Asked by: Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2015 to Question 18865, who has attended each meeting of the Community Engagement Forum to date; and who has been invited to attend future meetings.
Answered by Karen Bradley
In his speech on countering extremism in July 2015, the Prime Minister said that he wanted to hear directly from all those in our society who are tackling extremism. The Community Engagement Forum is one of the ways the Prime Minister is doing this. The Forums provide a platform for a wide range of partners to share their experiences and learn from each other. Attendance at the Forums is fluid to ensure Ministers can hear from a wide range of partners. To date, the Community Engagement Forum has met on 13 October 2015 and 19 November 2015. The attendees have been from a wide range of backgrounds and were representatives of all parts of the UK.
The following individuals attended the first meeting of the Community Engagement Forum on 13 October 2015
David Cameron, Prime Minister
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for Countering Extremism
Theresa May, Home Secretary
Louise Casey, Department for Communities and Local Government
Max Chambers, Special Adviser on Home Affairs
Camilla Cavendish, Number 10
Brendan Threlfall, Number 10
Arooj Shah, Councillor, St Mary’s Ward, Oldham
Sean Harriss, Chief Executive, Lambeth Council
Paul Martin, Chief Executive, Wandsworth Council
Sheikh Musa Admani, Imam and Muslim chaplain, City University, London
Fareed Ahmad, Ahmadiyya Muslim Association
Farooq Aftab, General Secretary, Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association
Michael Nazir-Ali, former Bishop of Rochester
Khatun Sapnara, circuit judge
Aina Khan, solicitor
Fiyaz Mughal OBE, Director, Faith Matters
Sadja Mughal OBE, Director, Jan Trust
Haras Rafiq, Managing Director, Quilliam Foundation
Sara Khan, Co-founder and Director, Inspire
Wahida Shaffi, Near Neighbours Coordinator; National Women’s Programme Lead, Christian Muslim Forum
Faiza Vaid, Executive Director, Muslim Women’s Network
Aysha and Kiran Iqbal Patel, Directors, Odara
Kamal Hanif OBE, Executive Head, Waverley School, Birmingham
Alun Francis, Principal and Chief Executive, Oldham College
Imam Qari Asim, Chief Imam, Leeds Makkah Mosque (was invited but unable to attend)
The following individuals attended the second meeting of the Community Engagement Forum on 19 November 2015:
Rt. Hon. Nicky Morgan MP, Education Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities
Lord Ahmad, Minister for Countering Extremism
Louise Casey, Independent review on isolated communities
Alun Francis, Principal and Chief Executive of Oldham College
Aina Khan, Head of Islamic Department, Duncan Lewis Solicitors
Sajda Mughal OBE, Managing Director at Jan Trust
Mary Ney, Supporting Commissioner, Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council
Syima Aslam, Organiser of Bradford Literary Festival
Farook Yunus, Leader of Kumon Y’all
Sara Khan, Director and Co-founder of Inspire
Shaukat Warraich, Chief Executive, Faith Associates
Anil Bhanot OBE, Managing Trustee and Director of Hindu Council UK
Gillian Merron, Chief Executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews
William Nye, Secretary General of the General Synod of the Church of England
Lord Singh of Wimbledon CBE, Director of the Network of Sikh Organisations
Christine Fischer, Catholic Education Service
Pascale Vassie, Executive Director, National Resource Centre for Supplementary Education (NRCSE)
Martin Pratt, Director of Children, Schools and Families, Camden Council
Matthew Coffey, Chief Operating Officer, Ofsted
Phil Champain, Director 3 Faiths Forum
Her Honour Judge Khatun Sapnara, Circuit Judge East London Family Court and Kingston Crown Court
Sue Robb, Head of Early Years, 4Children
The next Community Engagement Forum is scheduled for 14 January 2016. The government is also engaging directly at ministerial level with representatives from community, faith and civil groups, and have engaged directly with both the Scottish and Welsh governments.
Asked by: Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many representatives from (a) England, (b) Northern Ireland, (c) Scotland and (d) Wales attended each meeting of the Community Engagement Forum to date.
Answered by Karen Bradley
In his speech on countering extremism on 20 July, the Prime MInister said that he wanted to hear directly from all those in our society who are tackling extremism. The Community Engagement Forum is one of the ways the Prime Minister plans to do this. The Forum provides a platform for people to share their experiences and learn from each other. Attendance varies from meeting to meeting to ensure Ministers can hear from a wide range of people.
To date, the Community Engagement Forum has met on 13 October 2015 and 19 November 2015. The attendees have been from a wide range of backgrounds and were representing interests at both a local and national level.
Further Forums are planned for 2016.
Asked by: Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many meetings of the Community Engagement Forum have taken place in 2015 to date; and how many such meetings are planned in the next 12 months.
Answered by Karen Bradley
In his speech on countering extremism on 20 July, the Prime MInister said that he wanted to hear directly from all those in our society who are tackling extremism. The Community Engagement Forum is one of the ways the Prime Minister plans to do this. The Forum provides a platform for people to share their experiences and learn from each other. Attendance varies from meeting to meeting to ensure Ministers can hear from a wide range of people.
To date, the Community Engagement Forum has met on 13 October 2015 and 19 November 2015. The attendees have been from a wide range of backgrounds and were representing interests at both a local and national level.
Further Forums are planned for 2016.