Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will issue national guidance to police to provide a receipt or paperwork to confirm that a person has produced their driving documents when requested.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Under section 164 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 a police officer has the power to require the production of a driving licence and under section 165 of the same Act the power to obtain names and addresses of drivers and others, and to require the production of MOT and insurance certificates.
It is for individual police forces and their chief officers to determine how they handle document production and whether to provide any form of receipt or confirmation.
The Home Office has no plans to issue national guidance to police to confirm that a driver has produced their driving documents in line with road traffic legislation.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help protect British peoples' (a) assets and (b) other interests that are held abroad in the context of trends in the level of (i) cyber fraud and (ii) digital asset theft.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Home Office works closely with international partners and law enforcement, including the National Crime Agency, to tackle the threat from cyber crime from abroad as well as at home to protect the UK and its interests. 70% of fraud has an overseas element, and so international collaboration is a critical part of our work to protect British people and their assets from fraud.
The UK is committed to international cooperation on cyber crime. As part of this, we have driven international policy making on ransomware through the UK’s leadership position in the Counter Ransomware Initiative, leading the world’s first international government statement against ransomware payments in 2023 and the world’s first joint policy guidance for ransomware victims with the cyber insurance sector in 2024.
Working with key international partners, we have secured key safeguards in the UN Cybercrime Convention which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2024. The Convention will also standardise legislative and investigative practises on cyber crimes, ensuring all nations improve their capability to deal with the threats that have been changed in scale or reach by the internet.
As a global leader in the fight against fraud, the UK is driving forward policy and operational activity with key partners and on the multilateral stage. This has included playing a central role in the adoption of the first ever UN resolution on fraud at the 12th Conference of Parties for the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (UNTOC). We have also recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Nigeria to provide increased protection for victims, faster law enforcement intervention and earlier disruption of cross-border criminal groups.
We will continue to prioritise initiatives to keep the public safe from the evolving transnational threat as part of the new Fraud Strategy and cyber crime initiatives.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that asylum interviews are conducted (a) in full and (b) without unnecessary delay.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Asylum interviews are conducted in line with the published guidance available here: Conducting asylum interviews: caseworker guidance - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle safeguarding issues relating to (a) children at risk of being removed from the UK in contravention of a court ruling and (b) other children with a foreign national parent.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The statutory guidance ‘Working together to safeguard children’ 2023 is clear that, if at any time it is considered that a child may be in need or has suffered significant harm or is likely to do so, a referral should be made immediately to a local authority’s children’s social care service. Child protection agencies and the police treat allegations of abuse very seriously; they will investigate and take appropriate action, including prosecution, where there is sufficient evidence of an offence having been committed.
A prohibited steps order (PSO) prevents a parent from carrying out actions in the exercise of their parental responsibility for a child without the court’s agreement. A PSO may prohibit a named person from removing a child from the United Kingdom.
The court can also make other orders to support such an order to prevent the removal of the child from the United Kingdom, such as an order to surrender a passport.
Breach of a PSO is a contempt of court, with penalties including a fine or imprisonment.
A Port Alert Order is designed to prevent a child, or a Vulnerable adult being removed from England and Wales on the instruction of a Judge of the Family Court on Behalf of the High Court, or directly from a High Court Judge. Police then watchlist the named individual to ensure any intention to travel is identified. If travel is identified, then an alert is sent to the relevant Port and Police Force. The Order instructs police at port to seize the travel documents of the person subject to the Order (for example their Passport, Identity Card or other Travel Document) to prevent the child or Vulnerable adult from leaving the country.