Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will remove the reference to the so-called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus from the list of locations included in the Passenger Locator form on www.gov.uk and replace it with the north of Cyprus, consistent with the longstanding policy on Cyprus of successive UK Governments.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Passenger Locator Form has been amended to ensure it reflects Government policy in respect of the name applied to the north of Cyprus.
The ‘Country of Issue’ drop down list for travel documents was amended to ‘Cyprus, northern’ and made available for users on 6 March 2021.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the recent conviction in Belgium of the Iranian diplomat, Assadollah Assadi, for terrorism offences, if she will take steps with her European counterparts to facilitate cooperation between law enforcement bodies in different countries to investigate whether other Iranian diplomats and embassies are involved in terrorism.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The safety and security of our citizens is the Government’s top priority. We will continue to work closely with our international partners to protect the UK and our interests from any Iran-based threats.
The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement includes a deal on law enforcement and criminal justice cooperation which delivers a comprehensive package of capabilities that will ensure we can work with counterparts across Europe to tackle serious crime and terrorism – protecting the public and bringing criminals to justice.
We remain committed to working together with European partners to counter the threats we all face, within Europe and beyond.
Specific investigations and prosecutions are a matter for the independent law enforcement agencies and prosecutors concerned. We do not comment on specific cases.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the forthcoming trial against an Iranian diplomat in Belgium on terrorism charges, what discussions she has had with police services on threats against Iranian dissidents and political activists in the UK.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The UK takes a zero-tolerance approach to violence and threats. We will continue to work closely with our international allies to protect the UK and our interests from any Iran-based threats.
It is our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on the security arrangements for protected individuals. To do so could compromise the integrity of those arrangements and affect the security of the individuals concerned.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will increase funding for policing in London.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The police funding settlement for 2020/21 sets out the biggest increase in funding for the policing system since 2010.
In 2020/21 the Metropolitan Police will receive total cash funding of up to £2939.9 million, this is an increase of up to £193 million compared to 2019/20.
In 2020/21 City of London Police will receive total cash funding of up to £67 million, this is an increase of up to £5.6 million compared to 2019/20.
The Government has been clear that the police will get the financial support they need to see them through the COVID-19 pandemic, and that they are listening to what the police needs.
Future police funding, including details of the 2021/22 Police Funding Settlement, will be announced once the 2020 Spending Review has been concluded.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many additional police officers have been allocated to London during the last 12 months.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We are increasing the number of police officers in England and Wales by 20,000 over the next three years.
The Metropolitan Police Service was allocated 1,369 additional officers in the first year of the police uplift which covers the period to the end of March 2021.
At 30 September 2020 the Metropolitan Police Service has already recruited
its year one allocation of 1,369 additional officers.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will hold discussions with the Mayor of London on allocating more police officers to the borough of Barnet.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We are increasing the number of police officers in England and Wales by 20,000 over the next three years.
As part of this uplift the Metropolitan Police Service has been allocated 1,369 additional officers in the first year to be recruited by the end of March 2021.
At 30 September 2020 the Metropolitan Police Service has already recruited its year one allocation of 1,369 additional officers.
The deployment of police officers is an operational decision for the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police who should be held accountable by
the Police and Crime Commissioner for London, Sadiq Khan.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps au pairs from EU countries, who are not classified as workers by the Government, should take to define their employment in the UK in the event that they apply for pre-settled status.
Answered by Kevin Foster
EU citizens resident in the UK by 31 December 2020 can apply for UK immigration status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS), to enable them to continue living and working in the UK after 30 June 2021. Their eligibility for the EUSS will not be affected if they are absent from the UK over the Christmas period and they will not require a visa to return to the UK in January 2021.
Eligible EU citizens have until 30 June 2021 to make an application to the EUSS. Applicants only need to complete three key steps: prove their identity, show their residence in the UK and declare any criminal convictions. Eligibility for the EUSS is not generally concerned with whether the applicant has been engaged in a qualifying activity, such as employment.
From 1 January 2021, EU citizens newly arriving in the UK and non-EU citizens will be treated equally under the new points-based immigration system. The UK has not operated a dedicated immigration route for au pairs since 2008 and has no plans to introduce one. However, the UK currently operates eight Youth Mobility Schemes which are principally designed for cultural exchange. We have indicated our desire to negotiate a youth mobility arrangement with the EU or with individual countries within it, if a collective agreement is not possible.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether au pairs from the EU who are currently working in the UK and who return home for Christmas will require a visa to return to the UK in January 2021.
Answered by Kevin Foster
EU citizens resident in the UK by 31 December 2020 can apply for UK immigration status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS), to enable them to continue living and working in the UK after 30 June 2021. Their eligibility for the EUSS will not be affected if they are absent from the UK over the Christmas period and they will not require a visa to return to the UK in January 2021.
Eligible EU citizens have until 30 June 2021 to make an application to the EUSS. Applicants only need to complete three key steps: prove their identity, show their residence in the UK and declare any criminal convictions. Eligibility for the EUSS is not generally concerned with whether the applicant has been engaged in a qualifying activity, such as employment.
From 1 January 2021, EU citizens newly arriving in the UK and non-EU citizens will be treated equally under the new points-based immigration system. The UK has not operated a dedicated immigration route for au pairs since 2008 and has no plans to introduce one. However, the UK currently operates eight Youth Mobility Schemes which are principally designed for cultural exchange. We have indicated our desire to negotiate a youth mobility arrangement with the EU or with individual countries within it, if a collective agreement is not possible.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans to continue (a) access to the UK for au pairs and (b) other cultural exchange programmes after the end of the transition period.
Answered by Kevin Foster
EU citizens resident in the UK by 31 December 2020 can apply for UK immigration status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS), to enable them to continue living and working in the UK after 30 June 2021. Their eligibility for the EUSS will not be affected if they are absent from the UK over the Christmas period and they will not require a visa to return to the UK in January 2021.
Eligible EU citizens have until 30 June 2021 to make an application to the EUSS. Applicants only need to complete three key steps: prove their identity, show their residence in the UK and declare any criminal convictions. Eligibility for the EUSS is not generally concerned with whether the applicant has been engaged in a qualifying activity, such as employment.
From 1 January 2021, EU citizens newly arriving in the UK and non-EU citizens will be treated equally under the new points-based immigration system. The UK has not operated a dedicated immigration route for au pairs since 2008 and has no plans to introduce one. However, the UK currently operates eight Youth Mobility Schemes which are principally designed for cultural exchange. We have indicated our desire to negotiate a youth mobility arrangement with the EU or with individual countries within it, if a collective agreement is not possible.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to prevent unlawful migration via small boats crossing the Channel.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Keeping our border secure is the Government’s highest priority and we are committed to doing everything we can to stop these dangerous Channel crossings which are putting vulnerable lives at risk.
The Home Office liaises directly with the French Interior Ministry on addressing the issue of illegal migration, engaging at an official, diplomatic level and supported at an operational level through regular UK-French Migration Committees.
Through joint-working with France, the UK has funded the continued deployment of French law enforcement along the coast of northern France, who are patrolling constantly in order to detect attempted crossings by migrants. Funding has been allocated, among other projects, for further security improvements at ports in northern France and on the ground, which includes drones, specialist vehicles and detection equipment to stop small boats leaving European shores.
Intelligence flows are also key to dismantling the organised crime groups behind crossings. We have restructured and repurposed our approach to support to better inform and direct how and where law enforcement is deployed.