House of Commons - Home Affairs Committee - The Work of the Immigration Directorates (April-September 2013) - HC 820
House of Commons - Home Affairs Committee - The Work of the Immigration Directorates (April-September 2013) - HC 820

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2014-03-28

Total Pages: 82

ISBN-13: 9780215070425

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The numbers coming from Bulgaria and Romania since the end of transitional controls appear rather more a trickle than a flood. The Government's failure to commission an estimate of these numbers has led to unnecessary anti-immigrant. It is essential that for future enlargement of the EU the Government commission research on the impact of migration to the UK. The Migration Advisory Committee should be tasked by the Government to provide an estimate of the numbers arriving in our country. The Government must also not sell citizenship to the highest bidder. Those who seek to acquire British citizenship should be fit and proper. The Warnings Index and our borders controls are still not fit for purpose and there is a real possibility that dangerous criminals have been able to enter the UK without the authorities knowing. The verdict in the Baksim Bushati case described UK's defences to illegal immigration to be "leaking like a sieve" and Border Force as "powerless" and as "hopelessly undermanned". The Migration Refusal Pool also remains a concern. Capita have found over 34,000 cases where the person has left the UK. Apart from the fact that we have a system where the Home Office cannot know where over 30,000 people are, we then pay a private company, Capita, to clarify that they have left. Capita appear to get paid for just finding out they aren't here, not actively having to do anything to remove them. This work could have been undertaken by the Home Office directly

HC 712 - The Work of the Immigration Directorates (January - June 2014)
HC 712 - The Work of the Immigration Directorates (January - June 2014)

Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Home Affairs Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 60

ISBN-13: 0215080939

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In 1998, the previous government abolished exit checks, paper-based embarkation records of passengers departing from the UK, because they were too resource intensive. Those universal exit checks were replaced by an intelligence-led approach, using CCTV and greater liaison between border agencies, port operators and transport carriers. This approach was subsequently superseded by the e-Borders programme, announced in February2005. The e-Borders programme has stalled and was "terminated" in March 2014 and that the Home Office would bereplacing individual systems, such as the Warnings Index and Semaphore, separately. At the moment, data for air passengers travelling in and out of the UK is sourced from carrier lists, known as Advanced Passenger Information (API). Air passengers buy tickets in advance and check in a reasonable time before departure, so API coverage is good, about 80% and increasing. Coverage is not so good for rail and ferry passengers, partly because of the ticketing systems and partly because customers can decide to travel, buy a ticket and have checked in at a time near to departure. Both the Minister and the Director General of Border Force have assured the Committee that 100% exit checks will be in place by 31st March 2015. To deliver exit checks, the Home Office needs to find a mechanism that can count all of the rail and maritime passengers as they depart the UK by the end of March. Exit checks will be carried out by the transport operators' staff, not Border Force. The Committee hope this can be delivered.

HC 772 - The Work of the Immigration Directorates (Q3 2015)
HC 772 - The Work of the Immigration Directorates (Q3 2015)

Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Home Affairs Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 81

ISBN-13: 0215091329

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UKVI altered its service standards timetable so that a higher proportion of new straightforward claims for asylum are given an initial decision within six months. This is at the same time as the number of applications is rising. The total number of main applications in the year ending September 2015 was 19% higher than in the year ending September 2014. In Q3 2015 the number of main applicants and dependants reached 12,028 compared to 7,567 in Q2 2015. The number of asylum applications surpassed the number of decisions made in Q3 2015. We are concerned that the department may not be able to maintain the service levels it has set itself on initial decisions for new asylum claims within 6 months. To do so may require further funding and resources. We recommend that the Home Office reconsider its country guidance on Eritrea, taking into account the findings of the Independent Advisory Group on Country of Origin Information. We will continue to monitor closely the proportion of successful and unsuccessful asylum applications from Eritreans

Access to Justice
Access to Justice

Author: Ellie Palmer

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2016-01-28

Total Pages: 406

ISBN-13: 1849469334

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Building on a series of ESRC funded seminars, this edited collection of expert papers by academics and practitioners is concerned with access to civil and administrative justice in constitutional democracies, where, for the past decade governments have reassessed their priorities for funding legal services: embracing 'new technologies' that reconfigure the delivery and very concept of legal services; cutting legal aid budgets; and introducing putative cost-cutting measures for the administration of courts, tribunals and established systems for the delivery of legal advice and assistance. Without underplaying the future potential of technological innovation, or the need for a fair and rational system for the prioritisation and funding of legal services, the book questions whether the absolutist approach to the dictates of austerity and the promise of new technologies that have driven the Coalition Government's policy, can be squared with obligations to protect the fundamental right of access to justice, in the unwritten constitution of the United Kingdom.

HC 203 - Child Sexual Explpotation and the Response to Localised Grooming: Follow-Up
HC 203 - Child Sexual Explpotation and the Response to Localised Grooming: Follow-Up

Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Home Affairs Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 74

ISBN-13: 0215078306

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This report is a follow-up to the Committee's second report of session 2013-14. That report revealed results of an inquiry into children being treated in an appalling way not just by their abusers but, because of catastrophic failures by the very agencies that society has appointed to protect them. There is no mechanism at all to suspend or remove a Police and Crime Commissioner for behaviour which falls short of criminal. The current report includes a draft Bill which suggests mechanisms for removing PCCs from their post. It is vital that children's services are dramatically improved to prevent a similar situation from happening again. It was shocking that evidence of child sexual exploitation in Rotherham was ignored by both Rotherham Council and South Yorkshire Police. A number of individuals attempted to bring these crimes to light, only to face obstacles from the Council and Police which in some cases questioned their credibility and the veracity of their claims. If the Council and Police had taken these warnings seriously, the abusers could have been brought to justice more quickly and some of the later victims could have been spared their ordeal. The proliferation of revelations about files which can no longer be located gives rise to public suspicion of a deliberate cover-up. The only way to address these concerns is with a full, transparent and urgent investigation

HC 629 - Police, the Media, and High Profile Criminal Investigations
HC 629 - Police, the Media, and High Profile Criminal Investigations

Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Home Affairs Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 24

ISBN-13: 0215078446

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This report considers the events surrounding the police raid on 14 August of the home of Sir Cliff Richard OBE in Berkshire, and the circumstances under which the BBC came to have advance information about the raid. It concludes that South Yorkshire Police's handling of this situation was inept. The naming of suspects (or the confirming of a name when it is put to a force) when there is no operational need to do so is wrong. South Yorkshire Police should not have tried to cut a deal with the journalist, but rather approached senior BBC executives to explain the damage that such premature disclosure could do to the investigation. The BBC's Director General, Lord Hall, confirmed to the Committee that the BBC would act on such requests from Chief Constables. In the absence of any such approach from South Yorkshire, the BBC was well within its rights to run the story, although as a result Sir Cliff himself has suffered enormous, irreparable damage to his reputation. It appears that the BBC reporter clearly identified the source of his leak as Operation Yewtree. It is unfortunate therefore that South Yorkshire Police did not notify the Metropolitan Police so that the source of the Yewtree leak could be investigated.

HC 238 - Her majesty's passport Office: Delays in Processing Applications
HC 238 - Her majesty's passport Office: Delays in Processing Applications

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2014-09-16

Total Pages: 52

ISBN-13: 0215078101

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Applications for a passport are administered by Her Majesty's Passport Office (HMPO). This executive agency of the Home Office was established on 13 May 2013. At the beginning of June 2014, it became apparent that there were delays in the processing of passport applications. Members of the public who did not contact their MPs were held in queues and their cases were not dealt with a sufficient level of service. All applicants should be able to receive details of their applications, regardless of whether they follow it up themselves, or if it is followed up by their constituency MP. A number of people have ended up out of pocket due to HMPO's inability to meet its service standard. HMPO should compensate all those people who made an initial application on or after 1 May 2014, who subsequently upgraded to the fast-track service and who met the criteria for the free upgrade which was later offered and the Home Office should remove the agency status from Her Majesty's Passport Office (HMPO) bringing it back under the direct control of Ministers.

HC 1163 - Reform of the Police Federation
HC 1163 - Reform of the Police Federation

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2014-05-16

Total Pages: 28

ISBN-13: 0215072766

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The Committee were shocked by the scale of bullying that was found at the Federation's Headquarters. It is disgraceful that any Chairman should have been hounded out for championing the long-overdue reforms set out in the Normington Report. Only a new National Chair, elected directly by the Federation's rank-and-file members, will have the authority to implement these changes in full. At a local level, while some smaller branches struggle financially, others have accumulated reserves which add up to around £35 million, some of it in obscure "No. 2" accounts. A new funding formula, with subscriptions going straight to the centre and being distributed to branches, would remedy this. Federation funds should serve the Members and the public directly, not the organisation itself. Police officer's from every corner of England and Wales should receive an immediate rebate on their current subscriptions, which have accumulated into unnecessary reserves of around £70 million, and a subscription freeze for next year. There needs to be full transparency of all the Federation's accounts, at both national and local level.. Our police service is the best in the world but its reputation has been extensively damaged by the Federation suffering a sustained period of self inflicted harm.

HC 231 - Counter-Terrorism
HC 231 - Counter-Terrorism

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2014-05-09

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 0215071956

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Recent events involving Boko Haram, Al-Shabab and Al Qaeda show that the terrorist threat to the UK is as grave as at any point in the past thirteen years. Interpol have the resources and experience to build a platform and the UK must take the lead in bringing others to the table. However, ensuring public safety cannot be the sole purview of the counterterrorism command and the security service, it is a responsibility in which all UK citizens and companies take a share. Stopping British men and women going to become foreign fighters, in Syria and other theatres of conflict, and engaging with them when they return is vital to avoid endangering the security of the UK. Whether in classrooms, local community centres, or through the global reach of the internet and social media, a clear message needs to be sent to those at risk. The agencies are at the cutting edge of sophistication and are owed an equally refined system of democratic scrutiny. It is an embarrassing indictment of our system that some in the media felt compelled to publish leaked information to ensure that matters were heard in Parliament. The Intelligence and Security Committee should be given a democratic mandate in the same way as other Select Committees

HC 200 - Tobacco Smuggling
HC 200 - Tobacco Smuggling

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2014-06-14

Total Pages: 52

ISBN-13: 0215072987

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There is an urgent need for improvements to the Government's 'Tackling tobacco smuggling' strategy. It is a matter of grave concern that, despite an increase in the resources over the last three years the numbers of arrests, prosecutions and convictions for organised crime cases involving tobacco have all fallen. It is vital that there is no reduction in enforcement action. The time of Jamaica Inn is over and our fight against tobacco smuggling must be a priority. It is most surprising that no UK tobacco manufacturer has ever been fined for over-supply of products to high-risk overseas markets, and that only one statutory warning letter has been issued. The penalties available are too weak and enforcement too rare. An immediate review should be taken against all historic and ongoing cases in order to ensure those who have committed an offence do not go unpunished. The standardised packaging decision should be made on the basis of health. It is vital that consideration of the potential effects on smuggling is thorough and common sense steps are taken to ensure that criminal gangs do not profit from the Government's decision