Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's aims, purpose and forward plans are for the Overseas Domestic Worker Advisory Group; on what date that group last met; and when the group's next scheduled meeting is.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Government engages with a wide range of stakeholders on policy development concerning immigration routes, including Overseas Domestic Worker visas, and will continue to do so in future. The last meeting of the Overseas Domestic Worker Advisory Group was on 19 October 2022 and the date of the next such meeting is to be determined.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help tackle (a) the charging of illegal fees in the recruitment process and (b) exploitative working conditions for care workers recruited from overseas.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office’s sponsor licence system places clear and binding requirements and obligations on employers looking to recruit and manage overseas employees. Should an employer be found to be in breach of these requirements we will take action and can remove their ability to recruit from overseas.
The Department of Health and Social Care has published guidance on applying for jobs from abroad as part of wider efforts to address concerns about exploitative recruitment and employment practices. It aims to help prospective overseas candidates make informed decisions when seeking health or social care jobs in the UK and includes information on how to avoid exploitation and where to report concerns and/or access wider support or help in the UK. The guidance can be found here (www.gov.uk/government/publications/applying-for-health-and-social-care-jobs-in-the-uk-from-abroad/applying-for-health-and-social-care-jobs-in-the-uk-from-abroad
The recently updated Code of Practice for the International Recruitment of Health and Social Care Personnel also sets stronger ethical standards which providers and recruiters should ensure they meet when recruiting internationally. The Code of Practice can be found here (www.gov.uk/government/publications/code-of-practice-for-the-international-recruitment-of-health-and-social-care-personnel/code-of-practice-for-the-international-recruitment-of-health-and-social-care-personnel-in-england
Providers should only engage with agencies and other recruiting organisations that are on the Code of Practice Ethical Recruiters List organisations on this list have committed to adhering to the Code of Practice. The list can be found here ((www.nhsemployers.org/articles/ethical-recruiters-list)
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2023 to Question 186612 on Police: Workplace Pensions, if she will make it her policy to seek information on the number of serving police officers who opted out of the police pension scheme within the last ten years in each force.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Each Chief Constable is responsible for the administration of the police pension scheme for their force. This includes collecting and holding any data relevant to the running of the scheme.
The Home Office works with the Police Pension Scheme Advisory Board and the National Police Chiefs’ Council to understand how forces are managing their pension scheme and how members and officers are using the scheme.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2023 to Question 186612 on Police: Workplace Pensions, what information she holds on the number of police officers by force who have left the police service for reasons other than retirement.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the number of police officers leaving the police service in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin. Data on the number of police officers who’ve left the police service, by leaver type, can be accessed in the ‘Police Workforce Leavers Open Data Table’ here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1093591/open-data-table-police-workforce-leavers-270722.ods. The latest data covers leavers in the year ending March 2022.
The next release of the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, which will cover leavers in the year ending March 2023, is scheduled for release at 9.30am on Wednesday 26th July.
Across England and Wales, we now have 149,572 officers, more than at any time in history and 3,542 more than the previous peak in 2010.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of serving police officers that have opted out of the police pension scheme.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not publish information on the number of serving police officers that have opted out of the police pension scheme.
The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of serving police officers in England and Wales, on a bi-annual basis in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin. The Home Office also provides a quarterly update on the number of police officers (headcount terms only), as part of the Police Officer Uplift Programme, in the ‘Police Officer Uplift’ statistical bulletin.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Immigration of 20 February 2023, Official Report, column 33, on what basis her Department determined that the freedom of information request on (a) the number of legal practitioners her Department is monitoring, (b) the nature of that monitoring, (c) when that monitoring began and (d) whether (i) her Department or (ii) a private firm was carrying out that monitoring was not in the public interest.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The consideration made was set out in the response to those Freedom of Information requests.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people applied for indefinite leave to remain after completing the 10-year route to settlement based on their family or private life since 2012.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The information requested could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has taken recent steps to increase processing times for applications to extend limited leave to remain; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
UK Visas and Immigration are currently operating within their global customer service standards across all of the main legal migration routes for customers who make an entry clearance application from overseas and for applications made inside the UK.
Details of current performance against these customer service standards are updated regularly and can be found at:
Visa decision waiting times: applications outside the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab).
Visa decision waiting times: applications inside the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of sex offenders who have had restrictions placed on them to prevent them from changing their name through a (a) sexual harm prevention or (b) sexual risk order.
Answered by Sarah Dines
The UK has some of the toughest powers in the world to deal with sex offenders and those who pose a risk, and we are committed to ensuring that the system is as robust as it can be.
Data on the number of convictions for breaches of the notification requirements for registered sex offenders is published by the Ministry of Justice in the Multi-Agency Public Protection arrangements (MAPPA) annual report, which is available here: MAPPA_Annual_Report_2022.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk). The most recent report showed that the number of offenders cautioned or convicted for breaches of their notification requirements in 2021-2 was 1,905.
Data on the number of prosecutions of registered sex offenders who fail to inform the police of their name change the number who have had restrictions placed on them relating to name change are not collated centrally. The courts can, however, place a range of restrictions or requirements on offenders through sexual harm prevention orders and sexual risk orders to mitigate the risk of sexual harm.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of prosecutions of registered sex offenders who fail to inform the police of their name change in a timely manner.
Answered by Sarah Dines
The UK has some of the toughest powers in the world to deal with sex offenders and those who pose a risk, and we are committed to ensuring that the system is as robust as it can be.
Data on the number of convictions for breaches of the notification requirements for registered sex offenders is published by the Ministry of Justice in the Multi-Agency Public Protection arrangements (MAPPA) annual report, which is available here: MAPPA_Annual_Report_2022.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk). The most recent report showed that the number of offenders cautioned or convicted for breaches of their notification requirements in 2021-2 was 1,905.
Data on the number of prosecutions of registered sex offenders who fail to inform the police of their name change the number who have had restrictions placed on them relating to name change are not collated centrally. The courts can, however, place a range of restrictions or requirements on offenders through sexual harm prevention orders and sexual risk orders to mitigate the risk of sexual harm.