Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether employers are legally required to follow Disclosure and Barring Service guidance on identification.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
An employer, or Registered Body, is responsible for verifying the applicant’s identity in accordance with the Disclosure and Barring Service’s identity checking guidelines. They are legally required to follow Disclosure and Barring Service guidance on identification. This is one of the conditions attached to registration within The Police Act 1997 (Criminal Records) (Registration) Regulations 2006.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether employers are able to refuse an employee's Disclosure and Barring Service check application if the employee does not provide photographic identification.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The DBS identity guidance (see link below) includes the provision for non-photographic documents. Employers or Registered Bodies may require photographic identity documents to be shown as part of their own employment policies or recruitment processes.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/documents-the-applicant-must-provide
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many citizenship ceremonies have been cancelled as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Following Government guidelines and social distancing measures, normal arrangements for citizenship ceremonies have been suspended at present. The volume of individuals awaiting citizenship ceremonies is a matter for Local Authorities and figures are not recorded centrally by the Home Office.
The time allowed for people to arrange a citizenship ceremony has already been extended to 6 months. Local Authorities are currently liaising with applicants and exploring alternative options to resume ceremonies.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people are waiting for citizenship ceremonies.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Following Government guidelines and social distancing measures, normal arrangements for citizenship ceremonies have been suspended at present. The volume of individuals awaiting citizenship ceremonies is a matter for Local Authorities and figures are not recorded centrally by the Home Office.
The time allowed for people to arrange a citizenship ceremony has already been extended to 6 months. Local Authorities are currently liaising with applicants and exploring alternative options to resume ceremonies.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to extend the three month period for people who have been issued with letters confirming citizenship ceremonies; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Following Government guidelines and social distancing measures, normal arrangements for citizenship ceremonies have been suspended at present. The volume of individuals awaiting citizenship ceremonies is a matter for Local Authorities and figures are not recorded centrally by the Home Office.
The time allowed for people to arrange a citizenship ceremony has already been extended to 6 months. Local Authorities are currently liaising with applicants and exploring alternative options to resume ceremonies.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has deprioritised any Statutory Instruments in relation to the UK leaving the EU; and if he will publish the criteria his Department uses to deprioritise those Instruments.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Government’s objective has always been to have a functioning statute book in place by Exit Day and to ensure that the most critical secondary legislation was made by this point.
Each SI was considered carefully, on a case-by-case basis; the Government’s objective was met. Public impact was the prime consideration, and so if an instrument was needed only to make minor technical changes that were deemed inessential for exit day, then those fell later in the plan than others.
These considerations and assessments made have meant that the Government has been able to lay the critical secondary legislation required before we exit the EU.
The laying of EU Exit SIs allows Parliament to fulfil its essential scrutiny role. The exact nature of this scrutiny, and the steps required before an SI completes its passage, is dependant on the type of SI. The Government remains confident of passing the necessary legislation required to ensure a functioning statute book by exit day.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what arrangements were made for the declaration of (a) financial and (b) other interests by technical advisers to the independent review of the Investigatory Powers Bill before their appointment.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The Government has published the Terms of Reference for the Independent Review of Bulk Powers, which set out the composition of the review team. It was for David Anderson, as the independent reviewer to select the team best equipped to carry out the review and to critically appraise the need for bulk capabilities. David Anderson also published a summary for each member of the team setting out their experience and the diverse qualities which they will bring to the review.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to establish equality in pension provision for surviving spouses of police officers across the different countries of the UK.
Answered by Mike Penning
As policing is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland and Scotland, the Northern Ireland Executive and the Scottish Government are responsible for the design and funding of police pensions in those parts of the United Kingdom.
On 18 January 2016, the Police Pensions Regulations 1987 and the Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006 were amended to allow widows, widowers and civil partners of police officers in England and Wales who have died on duty and who qualified for a survivor pension after 1 April 2015 to continue to receive their survivors’ benefits for life. There are currently no plans to change this policy in England and Wales.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Wilson Doctrine has been consistently applied to the communications of the hon. Member for Walsall South; and whether that hon. Member has been subject to surveillance.
Answered by John Hayes
The Government’s position on the Wilson Doctrine was set out by the Prime Minister in a written ministerial statement made on 4 November 2015.
As the Prime Minister made clear, the Wilson Doctrine has never been an absolute bar to the targeted interception of the communications of Members of Parliament or an exemption from the legal regime governing interception. The Doctrine recognised that there could be instances where interception might be necessary.
The Prime Minister announced that as matter of policy the PM will be consulted should there ever be a proposal to target any UK Parliamentarian’s communications under a warrant issued by a Secretary of State. This applies to Members of Parliament, members of the House of Lords, the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Welsh Assembly and UK members of the European Parliament. It applies to all activity authorised by a warrant issued by a Secretary of State: any instance of targeted interception and, electronic surveillance and equipment interference, when undertaken by the Security and Intelligence Agencies. This is in addition to the rigorous safeguards already in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) and the Code of Practice issued under it which set out a series of robust safeguards for any instance of interception.
It is long standing policy of successive Governments neither to confirm nor deny any specific activity by the Security and Intelligence Agencies. Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 it is an offence for anyone to identify an individual interception warrant or an individual interception that takes place.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Burmese Home Affairs Minister, Lt. Gen. Ko Ko, is excluded from entering the UK.
Answered by James Brokenshire
It is Home Office policy not to comment on whether an individual is, or is not, excluded from the UK unless the person concerned has already put this information into the public domain themselves, or if the information is already in the public domain.