Live Home Office Questions House of Commons

round-up of the day in both Houses of Parliament at 11pm. First,

questions to Home Secretary Amber Rudd and her team of ministers.

Order, order. Questions to the Secretary of State for the Home

Department. Mr Ian Austin. Western End number one, Mr Speaker. Thank

you, Mr Speaker. The latest labour market statistics show that more

British people are in work than ever before. The unemployment rate is at

its lowest level for more than a decade and nine in ten people in

jobs are UK nationals. However, the Prime Minister has been clear that

as we in the negotiations to leave the European Union, it must be a

priority to regain more control of the numbers of people who come here

from Europe. Ian Austin. Politicians lecturing people in places like the

Black Country with national statistics, because it has different

impacts in different communities. Why are unskilled migrants still

coming here while we have got hundreds of thousands of unemployed

people in Britain? Why don't they require large firms to train up

local apprentices if they'd do have to hire someone from abroad? I think

it's a bit rich getting that sort of lecture from a Labour Party member,

the Labour Party who failed to put on controls in the 2004 enlargement

and most of whom were in charge then... There are no lectures coming

from here, only hard answers. The answer is that we will be

restricting immigration when we moved to leave the European Union.

Does the Home Secretary agree that students should be removed from the

tens of thousands target? And does she also agree that since the data

is extremely poor summer we should strain every sinew to try and get

better quality data on the basis of which we can form a judgment about

whether and if so, how we can ensure that exports, which are what

students are, are maximised in this country? Hopelessly long, sorry!

You've got to do a lot better than that! Home Secretary. Thank you, Mr

Speaker. Students play an important role in contributing to the economy

and are most welcome in the UK. The internationally recognised

definition of a migrant is someone coming here for over 12 months, so

they are likely to stay within that definition, although I'm aware there

are different views on this matter. Yvette Cooper. Thank you, Mr

Speaker, the pressure is on, the Home Secretary refers to net

migration. She was asked about the target. Does she agree that

International students should be taken out of the Government's

target, as the Foreign Secretary has said over the weekend, and as the

Chancellor of the X to seemed to hint weeks ago? Does she think that

foreign students should be included in the target? Well, as I told the

house, Mr Speaker, there are different views on this. The

definition that I referred to was for international students, which is

held by the ONS, over 12 months they represent an immigrant and therefore

part of the numbers. Not sure that students are an skilled anyway, but

nevertheless, on the subject of unskilled migrants, isn't it a fact

that there are people in this country who won't do the jobs that

are unskilled migrants do? And isn't it the point therefore that in the

Black Country and elsewhere, it should be not Brussels after Brexit

but it could be the United Kingdom which will decide which migrants are

needed to do the jobs that UK people won't do? My honourable friend

raises an important point and the fact is that there are still one in

1018-24 -year-olds who are unemployed and we want them to have

the opportunity to take up these jobs. -- one in ten, 18-24 year

olds. We want them to take up these jobs together with apprenticeships

and participate more in local employment and work more with local

young people to make sure that they can indeed take those jobs. The UK

relies on over 80,000 seasonal workers to pick its fruit and veg

every year. 90% of these come from the EU, figures protect. -- will the

Government safeguard our agricultural future going forward?

The honourable lady has raised an important question and I know that

the national farmers union net with my colleague, the Immigration

Minister, recently to talk about that. We are important -- we know it

is important to have some sort of seasonal scheme in place and we're

looking into it. Has the Home Secretary had discussions with

Cabinet colleagues about the pull factor of the increase in the living

wage and what effect that might have on net migration? I thank my

honourable friend for that question. He is right that the National Living

Wage could have a pull factor and there are other factors at play

which I would urge him to consider, such as currency fluctuations, which

can have the opposite effect. Hilary Benn. Thank you Mr Speaker. As she

aiming and it -- a deal is reached -- assuming a deal is reached, can

the Home Secretary tell the Home Office how they're going to document

an estimated 3 million people so that employers and landlords will no

to whom after they can legally offer a job or accommodation and therefore

distinguish them from those EU citizens who arrived after that? The

honourable gentleman raises an important point and we are aware

that there is a certain expectation and concern about the European Union

citizens here. As the Prime Minister has said, she hopes to be able to

reassure them, but it is right that we do that while also looking at the

over 1 million EU citizens in the UK. There will need to be some sort

of the key meditation, that is entirely right, but we need to do it

in a phased approach to make sure we can use all the technological

advantages we are able to harness to ensure that all immigration is

carefully handled. London School of Economics, centre of economic

performance looked at the issue of immigration employment and they

found that the areas with the largest increase in EU immigration

had not seen the sharpest falls in employment and wages since 2008.

There is still no evidence of an overall negative impact on

immigration on jobs and wages. But on the question of students, in all

parts of the house there is an increasing consensus that students

should be taken out of the immigration target. Technically,

anyone that stays for more than 12 months may be an immigrant, but in

practice they should not be in the target. Home Secretary. I thank the

Right Honourable Lady for her comments and she might want to take

up her interesting views with the honourable member for Dudley North,

who seems to take a widely different view. One thing is for certain, when

we leave the European Union we will have more control over immigration

from the European Union and we will make sure that the immigration we

get from the European Union gets the right balance of attracting the type

of people who can really boost UK businesses that need it. Thank you,

Mr Speaker. Immigration remains a reserved matter and we will consider

the needs of the UK as a whole, applying different immigration rules

to different parts of the United Kingdom will complicate the

immigration system, harming its integrity and causing difficulty for

employers who need the flexibility to deploy their staff over different

parts of the UK. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I know the Home Secretary

agrees with me that we say that vote leave were irresponsibly short of

detail during their campaign but one of the details they did give us was

when the former Justice Secretary promised us that Scotland would be

responsible for its immigration policy. Is that still the case was

that plan? I think if the honourable gentleman was paying attention, he

would have noticed we said it remains a UK dependency and

retaining part of the United Kingdom, could I suggest he looks at

the powers within Scotland act to make Scotland a more attractive

place where people want to come and live and work. Notwithstanding all

the attractions of living in Scotland, isn't the balance of

population movement still to the south? Minister. Well, we do have a

specific Scotland shortage of occupation list and that does

recognise the need to attract certain types of occupation to

Scotland and that does take account of Scotland's needs. Stuart

McDonald. Mr Speaker, one group of families with a distinct... 150,000

kids separated from parents abroad because this Government has the

least family friendly immigration rules in the developed world. Almost

half of Scotland's people do not... How will he explain to those

children why they have to live apart from one parent? Mr Speaker, at

least the SNP are honest about the fact that they want to increase

immigration, unlike the Labour Party who repeatedly refused to say that

is their policy. I'm sure there is no suggestion that anyone would be

anything other than honest in this chamber. Stuart MacGill. The

question for the Minister is what is so difficult about immigration

rules? Many visas Thai people do a specific job. Special visas have

rules for certain UK cities. We have a completely distinct immigration

system with Ireland. But the Speaker except there is no... I think if the

honourable gentleman were to examine the evidence of the fresh talent

scheme that the Government reviewed in 2008, they would see that only

44% of those applicants remained in Scotland and only half of those jobs

were appropriate to the level of education that the people who took

them actually got. Would my honourable friend agree that there

is a good reason why it is a reserved power and that the slippery

slope that Scottish Nationalists are trying to take us down would, it

seems to its logical conclusion, end up at the border? Well, I'm always

very careful not to get onto slippery slopes otherwise you end up

at the bottom of the hill in a bad place.

You can always coming to be limited. Different parts of the country have

different Labour and immigration needs. In the Northern Isles are

fishing industry is being crippled because boats cannot get the visas

for the crews they need to go to sea. Will the Minister meet me and

representatives of industry to find a way around that? I recognise the

problem and indeed have had many meetings with them on the members on

this issue. I do not recall that during the referendum campaign the

fishermen around the coasts were campaigning to repatriate pounds so

they could attract more Filipinos to the industry but I do understand the

problem. We have reformed policing to ensure

there is a sector led approach to improving representation. We have

established the College of policing delivering a major programme of

work. And alongside this is an innovative schemes such as fast

tracking and police now, making the workforce more diverse than ever.

Does my honourable friend agree that even though a lot of work has been

done some forces have a long way to go to make the quote a better? Cobb

my honourable friend makes a very good point, the police have done the

grading of work on diversity generally particularly seeing more

women. But there is more to do around BME committees. I hope the

forces themselves across the country will be focused on this as they go

through recruitment exercises. It is difficult for any police force to

represent the community it serves given that cuts mean we have lost

over 19,000 officers since 2010. Will the Minister look again

following the bungling of the police funding formula to make sure that

forces like Northumbria get the fair funding deal my constituents need

and deserve? I would say that actually police forces across the

country are recruiting at the moment and there has also been a protection

in police funding. We are doing a formula review in Northumberland and

I will be meeting the PCC there to discuss that. But also benefiting

from the ability to increase presets above most others. All police

officers deserve our praise the volunteer special constables who

serve on foot in the local area in which they live, particularly

representing their local communities really well. Would the Minister

congratulate Northamptonshire on the efforts it is taking to recruit more

volunteer official constables? I am very happy to support and endorse

those comments, volunteers in the police we are looking to empower

even further and they do a fantastic job and deserve our great thanks. I

want to say to the Minister, how long, how long? I don't normally

believe" is that it has been a long time coming to get a really diverse

numbers of police in this country. So let's see some action. Let's see

some action in recruiting more people who actually police the roads

in our country where you can drive like a lunatic because you know

there is nobody to catch you. I am glad the honourable gentleman has

joined of all cause under Labour. This covenant has trusted local

police forces to make sure they recruit to suit their own forces,

which is why we are seeing more BME and women representation. Is the

Minister aware that a more diverse police force has been an aim of

forces like Metropolitan Police since the 1970s, and he is he aware

that the underlying reason there has been limited success is sadly

continuing poor police community relations? And is he aware that

funding cuts are currently restricting the recruitment of

officers whatever their colour or gender? What I would say to the

honourable lady as I said earlier she may like to note that the

government for protection in for police funding this year in the

settlement and so police are benefiting from that. Police forces

across the country are recruiting and in fact the police is one of the

examples of how to get a diverse workforce. And they are now seeing

increases to about 25% of women in the latest recruitment. That is good

but we need to go further and I'm glad she was to join us in seeing

that delivered. Prime Minister has made it clear that article 50 will

be triggered before the end of March, 2017. We are still working

hard on the negotiating position but we do not want to show our hand

before we get into the poker game. Can I assure the honourable lady

that we are determined to get the deal for Britain. Given that the

government's approach to Brexit it seems to hinge upon their ability to

persuade other European member states to allow Britain to tout of

current freedom of movement rules while retaining tariff free access

to the single market, can the Minister name me one European

minister who has told him that this might be possible? Certainly there

are 3.2 million EU nationals here in the UK and it is in their interest

to be able to satisfy the government about their status here but as the

Prime Minister said the only circumstance where we would not want

to guarantee their second status is if there status of you canisters

elsewhere were not similarly guaranteed. Does the honourable

friend agree with me that free movement of workers together with

the operation of the laws of supply and demand inevitably depresses wage

levels in this country? Certainly I do not have a degree in economics

but it is true supply and demand operate in this area which is why

are determined to give in to control the numbers of those coming from the

EU in the same way we already controlled numbers coming from

outside the EU. In any discussion will be Minister raise the issue

referred to by my honourable friend of those recruitment agencies who

exploit workers from the EU and undercut UK workers, for example by

recruiting unskilled workers and saying that an advertising in

countries outside the UK. These are matters that need to be discussed

but I could just add the point already made by the Home Secretary

that during the transitional arrangements, when the Eastern

European countries joined the European Union, they were not in

place that would have protected jobs to some extent. Tackling knife crime

is a priority and we are taking firm action, including warning young

people about the dangers of carrying knives, working with retailers

online and on the high Street and legislating for tougher sentences.

During October, 21 police forces took part in a week of action

against knife crime. Habitual knife carriers were stopped and searched

and 12 individuals were arrested. I thank the Minister for that reply

and reminding us that the actions of Essex Police already taking over a

four-month period, then knife amnesty got 311 knives off the

Street. Would the Minister, to Southend to see the complexity is an

interaction between knife crime and drugs crime in Southend? I am very

grateful for my colleague to raise this point and I would be very

delighted to come and visit with him in Southend. I think you will be

very pleased to know that the Home Office is working with the Essex

Police and crime commission along with the Institute of community

safety to see what more we can do to help the situation they're in Essex.

I understand there is a meeting this week when they will be agreeing a

plan of local action. Last week there was a memorial service held in

Leicester for Mr Thompson who was killed with a knife only 16 years of

age. The figures for six 3100 knives in the amnesty, does the Home Office

minister have the figures for the whole country? I thank the

honourable gentleman for his question, I do not have the answer

to hand but what I can say is this was the first week 21 forces engaged

in operation sector which had usually beneficial effects in terms

of rendering weapons across the country but also arrests across the

country. They sent out an incredibly clear firm message. We will not

tolerate people carrying knives. With permission I will answer

questions six and question and together. Since 2010 ?1.2 billion of

criminal assets have been recovered. And a further ?3 billion have been

frozen. The serious crime act 2015 provided new powers and the criminal

finances bill will further improve our capability that there is more to

be done. Next year we will publish a new asset recovery action plan and

the Cabinet Office will look at the response to crime or broadly. This

will look at the Kevin Vickers, resources and powers available to

the forces. I thank the Home Secretary. The criminal finances

Bill contains many measures that can my honourable friend confirmed that

not only can we better combat illegal activity but also that the

principles of transparency will be upheld. A powerful statement could

be sent to those that wish to launder the proceeds of their crimes

in the UK. They are an investigative power and will be subject to the

same rules that apply to the existing civil recovery

investigative powers. Can she assure me that the asset recovery regime

will extend to all forms of crime particularly tax evasion? Whatever

people think about tax evasion being a victimless crime it is and it

should apply to that as well. My honourable friend is absolutely

right, that is an important part of the new Proceeds of Crime Act and it

will be included in there. Can Home Secretary say what discussion she is

having with their European counterparts to ensure you have

access to the data we can have access to in relation to assets held

abroad once we leave the EU? I can reassure the honourable lady that

I'm having extensive discussions with European counterparts and with

European bodies that help to keep us safe so that when we do leave the

European Union we will as far as possible be able to have access to

that information as well. When people voted to leave the EU they

did not vote to be less safe. Further to that question, the

question is will we be a member of Europe whole post exit from the

European Union? -- Europol. The honourable gentleman will be aware

we recently opted into new elements of Europol. I can tell the

honourable gentleman that we are one of the largest entry because two

Euro poll. It will be part of the ongoing negotiations. What practical

measures have been put in place to combat money laundering and

terrorist financing? She's absolutely right that the trouble is

that criminals will also is trying to get ahead of us in terms of

finding ways to launder the money and the proceeds of their

activities. We are determined to make sure we do that which is why we

have new legislation in place. Four is the Secretary of State aware that

cross-border flow of proceeds to criminal activity corruption and tax

evasion is estimated that over $1 trillion a year and a half this

money was looted from poor and developing countries? What steps is

the Home Secretary taking the making it easier for these countries to

recover stolen assets from UK Crown dependencies and overseas

territories and financial institutions? I say to the right

Honourable lady that would take it incredibly seriously about dealing

with the proceeds of crime and the idea there are people who commit

criminal acts and then come to the UK is very unwelcome. One of the

elements we have to deal with that of the new unexplained wealth

orders. They applied to foreign persons in the UK and they will go

part of the way to addressing exactly what she describes in terms

of the transfer of illegal funds. Mr Speaker in July the government

launched a national transfer scheme. The scheme is designed to support

local authorities like Peterborough City Council in support of the

national transfer scheme we will also increase funding by up to 33%.

, will my right honourable friend reassure me that for areas like

Peterborough which is already bearing a major burden in both EU

and non-EU migration that we will not be expected to pay once again

for the huge ongoing costs of children and young children who are

unaccompanied minors. There are 40 such cases of programmable in fact

receive central government funding? I can reassure my honourable friend

that each child has cancelled its author does attract additional

funding and so I have that will address his particular financial

concerns about the obligations of the council. I also would like to

put on record our grateful thanks for Peterborough Council who do such

a fantastic and generous job looking after some of these most needy

children. Martin Day. Unlike almost every

other EU country, the UK does not allow child refugees to sponsor

their parents to join them, a situation described as perverse.

Does the Speaker agree with me that it is in the best interests of the

child as well as society to allow the child to be with their parents?

Well, I understand the motive that the honourable gentleman makes his

point and put it forward. I would respectfully say to him that it

could very detrimentally -- have a very detrimental effect on the pull

factor... No, we will not be looking at that again. In relation to the

burden put on local authorities, could she say how the Modern Slavery

Act is going to affect this? In terms of the burden put on local

authorities, one of the elements I would prefer local authorities is

the controlling migration fund. This is a new source of funds that I

hoped they would be able to access to support unaccompanied minors and

in terms of the Modern Slavery Act, I will have to come back to you on

that. Child protection organisations feel that a lack of support and

resources is preventing some authorities from offering be

required level of professional services to adequately protect

vulnerable children from traffickers. The Home Secretary tell

me why over a quarter of local authorities are unable to

participate in the national transfer scheme for unaccompanied children?

And will she agreed to look at this as a matter of urgency? I would say

to the honourable lady that the funds that we put in place to

support unaccompanied children is a sum that we agreed after

consultation with local authorities to work out the cost, the average

cost. We acknowledge that some children will have different needs

and therefore end up being more expensive, and some less. So we hope

this is the right amount to be able to is them. We believe it is the

right amount. I will do to delete refer them to the controlling

migration fund. -- I will particularly refer them to that.

Thank you Mr Speaker. For the year ending 2016, 60% of violence against

the Person offences recorded by the police resulted in a charge or

summons. There were almost 30,000 convictions for violence against the

person offences in 2016, which represents over 75% of the people

prosecuted and is a rise of 15% on the previous year -- 1500 the

previous year. Thank you Mr Speaker. According to Home Office data,

violence against the person and sexual offences has risen under this

Government and its predecessor, whilst charges have fallen or

broadly stayed the same as in the case of sexual offences. In Enfield

we have seen an 11% increase in violent crime over the last year.

Why should people trust the Government when public safety is

being put at risk with these statistics and falling police

numbers? To the honourable lady, she may be actually confusing recorded

crime... What we are seeing is an increase in recorded crime. I have

to say that is something we should welcome because it is showing a

better recording of crime and more of a willingness of victims to come

forward. Thank you Mr Speaker. In 2014, the now Prime Minister said

there were, and I quote, "Utterly unacceptable failings in the

recording of crime that has let down victims". But all three forces

inspected this August are not recording crimes properly. In

Manchester, 17,000 violent crimes were quite simply ignored. Can the

Minister tell this house why his Prime Minister failed to make any

progress in two years? Well, actually I would say to the

honourable lady that the Prime Minister and previous Home Secretary

are seeing a reduction in crime and the police should be proud of seeing

a reduction in crime whilst running things in an efficient way for the

benefit of the taxpayer, but we are seeing an increase in recorded

crime, because of the increase in willingness of victims to come

forward because of confidence in the police in dealing with these issues,

and that is to be welcomed. Mr Speaker, freedom of speech and

religion are core values that make our country great. They are indeed

protected by law. What is or isn't a joke or constitutes a satire is I

believe in the eye or the ear of the beholder and not perhaps for the

Government to talk about. Mr Speaker, why did the Home Secretary

and... Not give voice to these principles during the manhunt and

vilification of gymnast Louis Smith? Mr Speaker, I published a hate crime

action plan and one of the first actions I took when I came into

office in July and it is this action plan that I would refer my

honourable friend to, so that anybody who is the victim of any

sort of hate crime, which I think is what he is referring to, has the

ability and the confidence to report what is going on to make sure that

the police take action, so that they don't feel singled out and abused.

The intention of the adults at risk policy developed as a result of a

review by Stephen Shaw is part of a wider programme of work that aims to

improve the way in which a vulnerable people in detention are

managed. This should enable the delivery of the honourable lady's

question. The policy came into effect on the 12th of September and

the intention is to ask Stephen Shaw to carry out a short review in 2017

to assess progress. Thank you Mr Speaker. The Government's commitment

to reduce the number of survivors of sexual abuse in detention is welcome

but how will we know if this is happening? Is the number collected

from women who disclose they are victims of sexual violence and will

this information be made available? I thank the honourable lady for her

question and she is right to point out that we are taking significant

steps to make sure that people are detained for the minimum time and

people's vulnerabilities are properly understood and access to

mental health services and other services are made available. We are

going to ask for an independent review Owen Burke -- over the course

of the year to make sure that that is working. Mr Speaker, it requires

countries to develop gender sensitive procedures for example

women only accommodation. What steps are the Government taking to

guarantee the safety of women in accommodation? The honourable lady

is quite right to point out the importance of making sure that women

are safe, it is an absolute priority of this Government to keep women and

girls safe, including in our detention system. The Government has

signed the Istanbul convention and will be ratifying the Istanbul

convention and as the honourable lady knows, we are well exceeding

all the targets within that convention. Questionable 14, please,

Mr Speaker. Mr Ben Wallace. We have established a joint fraud task force

this year bringing together Government, law enforcement and the

financial sector to tackle the crime of fraud. The recent arrests of 14

individuals involved in laundering and proceeds from cybercrime

demonstrates a multi-agency approach and how it is crucial in tackling

cyber crime and cider and able fraud. Thank you Mr Speaker. Fraud

both in person and online is of great concern to my constituents in

South East Cornwall. Particularly amongst the elderly and vulnerable

groups. Will my honourable friend join with me in congratulating and

supporting the work of voluntary organisations like the CAD and

victim support who are supporting in preventing fraud through education

and supporting victims of crime? I'm grateful to my honourable friend for

pointing out the very important work that many of these voluntary bodies

do in raising awareness. Citizens advice, age concern and victim

support, they make sure that people in the lead up to Christmas for

example, are aware of the pitfalls that await them online and these

scammers and fraudsters who pick on some of the most vulnerable people

in society. Thank you Mr Speaker, I would certainly welcome any

voluntary work that can be done but with the level of fraud crime now

?193 billion a year and local police forces clearly completely unable to

cope with... What we need to see is a far more serious strategy from

Government about tackling the spread of online crime. Can the Minister

tell us what more can be done to support local police forces and

offer advice and protection for our constituents? I'm grateful to the

honourable member for his question, first of all that is why we

established the joint task force including PCC 's, Lee's forces and

support groups to coordinate better our response. The Government has

been creating the cyber eyewear campaign to help businesses be aware

of the fraud that can await them and banks have been supporting the take

five. The Government has invested billions of pounds in making sure

that our law enforcement agencies have the capacity to tackle that

crime when it is presented. Police have described so-called binary

option betting websites -- betting websites that masquerade as

investment vehicles as the biggest scam being perpetrated in the UK.

What does the Government intend doing about them? First of all when

one of those websites is reported, we set about trying to make sure we

dismantle it or signpost people away from those areas. In Scotland that

is devolved and that is up to Police Scotland. But broadly we want to

make sure the consumer is aware of what awaits them online and can take

steps for example went Christmas shopping to make sure that

fraudsters don't take their money away.

Thank you Mr Speaker. In July this year we implemented new powers in

the immigration act 2016 to prevent migrants profiting from working

illegally, by making this an illegal events. This ensures that profits of

work illegally can be seized as the proceeds of crime and cameras in

conviction. Can he set out to the house other measures the Government

is taking for those who are here illegally and access benefits in the

UK such as housing benefit payments? Could I reassure my honourable

friend that adults with no legal status here are not eligible to

receive public funding that way. Victims of people trafficking tell

me that they are prevented very often from assisting incremental

prosecutions against individuals from committing criminal offences

because they don't have any access to public funds. What discussions

has the Home Office had with the Ministry of Justice concerning

providing support to those who are victims of people trafficking.

Minister. I certainly agree with him that people who are here illegally

are exploited in terms of model slavery because they have been

trafficked in many cases and it is important we treat those people with

a degree of compassion and respect and treat them differently to people

who are not in that situation. The Home Office constantly reviews its

capabilities in order to deliver the Government's agenda. Work is under

way to understand and respond to the immediate capability impact as a

result of the position to leave the European Union. The Secretary of

State has just confirmed that there are 3 million new citizens in the UK

that will have to be documented. If this processing adds roughly 10% to

the Home Office workload, does the Minister accent that this will cost

at least ?100 million a year and required 3000 extra staff? And if he

doesn't, what is his estimate? Could I make it clear that people who are

here from elsewhere in the EU working legally do not need to

receive additional documentation at this time because we can reassure

them that their status is a short. What happens in the future is a

matter for negotiations. But we make it absolutely clear that no add

additional documentation is needed at this stage. The Minister updating

the systems in border control and immigration going forward,

particularly as with Brexit we will need to count people in and out more

effectively and more investment in our ports like Dover. Certainly exit

checks introduced in 2015 have given us an additional tool to be able to

track people as they enter and in particular leave the country and new

technologies such as have helped very much in that regard.

Thank you Mr Speaker. The Internet represents new technologies and

opportunities for terrorists and we must confront this challenge. The

new Powers act ensures the intelligence agencies have the

powers they need in a digital age to disrupt terrorist attacks, subject

to oversight. The bill adds to the ability of UK law enforcement to

disrupt and identify terrorist activity. Does my honourable friend

agree with me that passing of the investigatory Powers act is an

important part of ensuring that our security services and law

enforcement agencies are able to combat those who wish to do us harm?

Minister. Yes, it is. It's also important that we recognise and it's

all very well having the capability but they must also have the

capacity, and that is why over the next five years the Government is

making an extra ?2.5 billion available to the security agencies.

We will use this to strengthen our network of counterterrorism, abroad

and at home. Can my right honourable friend

confirm how much the government is investing to boost the UK capability

to respond quickly to a firearms attack particularly in light of what

we have seen happen on the continent? I'm grateful, the overall

counterterrorism police spent has been protected in real terms

following the recent European attacks and we have revised our risk

assessments and delivering another ten specialist response capability

including ?144 million programme over the next five years uplift in

armed policing in order to respond more quickly and effectively. We are

past 3:15pm but that has never bother me and it would be unkind to

the point of courted to exclude the honourable the member for

Chippenham. In March this year we published the new violence against

women and girls strategy which sets out an ambitious programme of reform

supported by increased funding of ?80 million. To make tackling these

crimes everybody's business, ensuring victims get the support

they need and bringing more perpetrators to justice. We have

also introduced a new domestic abuse offence to capture coercive control

and are consulted on new measures to protect victims of stalking. Colback

is a trustee of a local domestic abuse charity I know first-hand just

how worrying these offences can be. Will the Minister meet with me and

my police and crime commission in my constituency to see what more we can

do together? My honourable friend is absolutely right to pay tribute to

voluntary sector organisations that do so much to support victims and of

course I would be delighted to meet with her police and crime commission

heard her constituency to see what more we can do to support those

victims. Does the Minister share my concern that survivors who have been

supporting local victims forever two decades are just about to close

through lack of funding and I wonder whether the Minister might be

willing to meet with me to discuss what more resources are providing a

service locally for those victims? The honourable lady is quite right

to raise that case, I'm absolutely horrified to hear of such a valued

service facing the situation and of course I will be very pleased to

meet with her to see what more we can do to access funding. With

18,000 domestic violence offences against women in Leeds in the last

year alone does the Minister agree with me that we need to do more to

educate boys and men about this crime so that figure comes down? The

right honourable gentleman has really raised a very important

point. About the important role can play and the importance of educating

young people about appropriate sexual relationships and he will be

pleased to know that there are excellent world-class resources made

available not only from the Home Office but from the odds just to do

this and in fact more work is going on in schools than ever before.

Topical number one. Mr Speaker to mark the UN's 16 days of activism

against gender-based violence it is vital we work together to do all we

can to end violence against women and girls and as I made clear at the

conference I attended last week protecting vulnerable appeal is one

of my top priorities and as the member for Leeds North West said we

must include many net as well. Last week for instance I hosted an event

with ministerial colleagues, campaign groups and survivors to

raise awareness and demonstrate my commitment at ending FGM within a

generation. This government will continue to take steps to achieve

our ambition that no woman should live in fear of this and every girl

should grow up feeling safe and protected. Colback despite those

good intentions twice as many women are reporting rape now than four

years ago and the proportion of those reports which lead to

successful prosecutions has gone down. In my constituency of Slough I

speak to women who have been raped, who have had to wait up to 20 months

for specialist counselling. When is she going to improve the care of

victims of violence? The honourable lady will be aware that the

reporting of crime particularly for rape is something we encourage

because we want people to have the confidence to know that they can do

that and they can be treated well. In terms of funding we absolutely

recognise the need for funding to support people which is why the new

violence against women and girls strategy has been launched and we

have faced an increase of ?80 million up to 2020 to make sure that

we do just that. The way domestic violence Forum are concerned that

judges are requiring them to admit onto their programmes violent

fathers who are interested in shown remorse. They are finding it

difficult to fund these programmes when there are some attended to want

to want to be there and others who don't. Will my honourable friend

work with Minister of Justice to resolve this? My honourable friend

raises a really important point and I very much appreciate the concerns

of the Waveney domestic violence forum. I can assure him I am working

closely with the Secretary of State for Justice to proof the family

justice response to domestic abuse and working with the judiciary to

consider what additional protections may be necessary. But also

supporting innovative pilots working with perpetrators of domestic abuse

which includes disruption as well as support. Mr Speaker of the worrying

rise of post-referendum hate crime which we all condemn has

disproportionately affected women with hijabs ripped off, death

threats and the Tweed at the weekend wanting to" Jo Cox" the honourable

member for Proctor. Is the government after years of inactivity

on social media platforms embarrassed by this burgeoning abuse

of women on and off-line and does it them straight another aspect of

Brexit where they clearly have no plan? The honourable lady is quite

right to raise these absolutely horrendous crimes that have

absolutely no place in our society. Says quite wrong to say to say we

have been sitting on our hands. We have introduced a whole series of

offences which I'm pleased to say the police are successfully

prosecuting people. We have done ground-breaking work with the

internet industry who are taking the responsibilities industry to take

down the instances of hate crime online. As I am sure the Minister

beware my area is a low crime and but in the last few weeks there have

been three serious assaults on our high street. Could the Minister

please advise what more the government could do to tackle knife

crime is in London boroughs like Sutton. My right honourable friend

is quite right to raise the three serious situation and I do commend

him along with him the work of responsibility have been working on

operation sector including knife sweets. What I do recommend my

colleague to do is speak to the head of Sutton Borough Council and see if

they would be interested in working with the Institute of community

safety to undertake an area review to make sure everything is being

done to stop this dreadful crime. Last Thursday I met Jenny Hocking,

the 70-year-old retired social G lecturer who was extraordinarily

arrested on November 17 in a Council directed dawn raid to chop down six

trees on her street with the assistance of 12 officers from South

Yorkshire Police against it now turns out the views of the local

police crime commission. What assurances can she give this house

that council do not drag police officers of the future into such

absurd Draconian initiatives? The right honourable gentleman is right

to raise this. The fact is it is of course a local matter and it sounds

like the balance that is so importantly trod between peaceful

protest and responding to the law may have been slightly handled in a

rather tricky way in his own constituency. While I would always

urge peaceful protest to be allowed I wonder sometimes whether the

police forces get the right balance in terms of the example he has been

given. There is now a two-year visitor Visa from China, what plans

does my right honourable friend have to extend that to countries that are

developing, that our key business partners such as India? As was made

clear Join the time Mr's recent successful visit this is one of our

largest Visa Marquez and we continue to make improvements to the Visa

services. India continues to attract large numbers of the these

applications and in the last year there were 385,000 Indian nationals

visiting, an increase of 6% year-on-year. The Chief Constable of

Northumbria Police has dismissed the idea that Britain's exit from the EU

would lead to a reduction in the number of foreign criminals

operating in the UK. Under soft Brexit does the government intends

to retain its participation in the European arrest warrant framework? I

am sure he will appreciate it is not appropriate for us to outline our

negotiations but I will say that as the promised on Home Secretary have

outlined we put security and safety first and it is paramount for this

government. And illegal waste site caused weeks of distress for local

residents, will my right honourable friend meet with me to discuss what

additional changes to the law can be made to prevent such instances as

well as how the costs incurred by the Fire Service can be recovered

from the site operators? This is an issue she has raised on behalf the

Fire Service, I do appreciate this, a challenging situation for the Fire

Service and balancing the best way to deal with it and that in itself

does incur costs and I will be very happy to meet with her to discuss

that. Why has the government got no data at all on what happens to

victims of human trafficking after they exit government funded

shelters? Or about how many go back to their traffickers? The all-party

Parliamentary group specifically raised this matter five years: the

government promised to respond. Can the Minister tell us what the

department has done? I think the honourable lady for raising this and

what I can say is that we are pressing to do exactly that. I have

spoken to Kevin Hyland, the Independent commission on the

subject, I have had a roundtable with one working with commissioners

and the police force to ensure that not only to the press charges but

they actually collect information from the governments of -- victims

of modern slavery. Why has the Home Office blocked three Iraqi Syrian

ships from coming to the UK to consecrate the first Orthodox

Church, is it not shameful that they have been given the reason there is

not enough money? It is not appropriate for me to comment on

individual cases but these are all in line with guidelines. There will

almost 600 assaults on the first moments of this year on police

officers in the West Midlands alone. Will the Minister made with me and

representatives of the Police Federation and the honourable member

for Halifax to discuss the growing problem of assaults on emergency

service workers? I would say to the honourable gentleman of history he

will be aware of the debate we have had in this chamber and elsewhere on

this issue. It is completely unacceptable to have any kind of

assault on the police. It is an aggravated factor that we are

working with the Ministry of Justice and meeting with the Police

Federation in the next few days. I welcome the recently announced Home

Office measures regarding police confidence to investigate sexual

offences. Would the Home Secretary agree with me that it is time for

the police to take a serious look at the respective training regimes

which I suggest is that the core of the unfortunate publicity? I think

my item honourable friend makes an important point. As the Home

Secretary outlined thusly, the importance we put on this issue and

it is important with the HMRC we saw a country singer that we need to

ensure that these teams are properly trained. -- HMIC. If the refugee

children could arrive directly from conflict regions rather than via

Calais, would the Home Secretary commit to looking again at the rules

say children do not risk their lives to be with their families? I say to

the honourable lady we are constantly looking at our

immigration laws to make sure we have the right balance to support

vulnerable children in the continent who are trying to help -- who we try

to help. We also have other programmes will be directly help

vulnerable children out in the conflict regions. , cut those of us

with coastal constituencies in the south of England are feeling

particularly vulnerable to the activities of people traffickers.

What measures are being taken since the review of small ports and

airports promised by the previous intelligence minister?

I share my honourable friend's view that we need to be constantly

vigilant about people traffickers trying to fall between the tracks of

our security and apply that terrible trade.

Angela Smith. Mr Speaker, the Government seems determined to put

restrictions on the freedom of movement at the heart Brexit, and

yet the multicultural sector is heavily dependent on 80,000 workers

a year coming from within the European Union to do work. Will the

Government commit that whatever form Brexit takes will not leave that

industry in the lurch and they will continue to get the workers they

need? Well, the result of the referendum makes it clear that we

need to control the numbers coming from the European Union but that

negotiations were taking into account those and other matters

brought forward. Doctor Julian Lewis. Past waves of immigration

have proved successful because of the integration of the new

communities into the existing community. The report by Louise

Casey hasn't yet been published but according to reports, it suggests a

form of cultural separatism in the Islamic community. Is this true and

if so, will we be giving that report and appropriately thoughtful reply?

Secretary. I thank my honourable friend for his question, which gives

me the opportunity to thank Louise Casey for her report and to say to

him and to the house that we will of course be studying it carefully to

make sure that we can learn better about how to improve integration in

our communities. I trust we will be hearing about it in the house before

very long, in fact I think I can say that with complete certainty. Thank

you Mr Speaker. What steps is the Government taking to identify and

address criminal activity associated with Scottish limited partnerships?

This has been raised injuring the passage of the criminal finance bill

by her honourable friend and other members of the Scottish National

Party. The Department has agreed to take forward a review. These chaps

have already spoken, I think I will take Allison. Thank you Mr Speaker,

very generous of you! I have two -- two constituents, one with a

granny in Iran who cannot get to see her because of the ludicrousness of

appointments. I would be grateful to speak to the honourable lady about

this issue. Would she tell us what plan she has to redesign our

passport and will it be blue black? I thank my honourable friend Floyd

's contribution to this vital debate and I look forward to having further

discussions with him about the best way to handle it! Very reassuring.

The person convicted to spend the rest of his life in prison, is the

Home Secretary aware of the murder of four young men who commit the

police had acted differently, in London, two of the lights may well

have been saved? It's unfortunate to say the least that on occasions,

when investigating murder, the Met police seems to operate on the sort

of model of Inspector Clouseau? Minister. I would say to the

honourable gentleman I'm happy to look at the specifics but I cannot

comment on the specifics of specific cases. The Met police are out there

everyday investigating and preventing crime to the benefit of

London. Mr Speaker, when conducting the formula review for policing

allocations, would the Minister assure me that the needs of rural

constabularies, particular those of Wiltshire, will be properly

considered? We look at the funding review, we are looking at all

aspects, roll forces are feeding directly into that and I'm aware of

the issues they are raising and we will feed back on that as we get

that review. Many Russian nationals involved in the murder of... They

have harboured there assets in the UK. In the form of an amendment to

the criminal finance is built. Will the Government now support this so

that we can keep Russian corruption out of London? Minister. I'm

grateful to the honourable member, I met with him to discuss it and we

are looking at it as table. It's certainly the case that we already

have a number of powers to deal with people such as the accused in this

area, but we're going to look at that and reflect on it and we will

get back to you in that report. I'm sure ministers will want to join me

in welcoming the first Syrian family to arrive in my constituency under

the community sponsorship scheme and congratulate those providing support

to the family. Will ministers also take a look at the B commissioning

arrangements across all local authorities for asylum seekers and

refugees to ensure we can look after all these people properly? I would

like to join the honourable lady in congratulating her constituents and

I would like to welcome all the -- congratulate and thank all the

community groups stepping forward to assist these families. Often these

families need a lot of assistance with helping with translation and

learning being this language and helping with their families. Of

course I will keep the support under review. Order. Will the member

wishing to take her seat please come to the table.

I swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance

to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors according to

law, so help me God.