Contributions
3,654 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDLicensing: Closing TimeI assure the noble Lord that this system is in place. The fines do go up, from £1,000 to £10,000. It would be an unusual licensee who wished to have several £10,000 fines.29 Sept 2020HANSARDLicensing: Closing TimeComing from a county authority, the noble Lord will know that quite often the powers lie at county level regarding planning and other things. It is important that, whether we…29 Sept 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Child TraffickingThe noble Lord will want, as I do, to see the online harms White Paper become a Bill in Parliament. Much work is going on to tackle that sort of abuse, which is probably on the…29 Sept 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Child TraffickingThe noble and learned Baroness will probably know that we have already rolled them out in a third of local authorities in England and Wales. That work is progressing, starting…29 Sept 2020HANSARDLicensing: Closing TimeMy Lords, there is a general acknowledgement that the sector is struggling with an hour of its business being cut. The scientific basis is that the number of infections is going…29 Sept 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Child TraffickingThe noble Lord may recall the NCA swoop of a few months ago that pulled in many illicit articles and items. You cannot look at child trafficking in isolation; it is part of a…29 Sept 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Child TraffickingMy Lords, protecting those at risk from abuse and exploitation is a priority for this Government. Throughout the pandemic, the Government have continued to monitor and respond to…29 Sept 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Child TraffickingThe Government see it as very important that we continue not only to share such data but to have access to it. To that end, it is a top priority going forward.29 Sept 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Child TraffickingThe noble Baroness will recall that, through the Modern Slavery Act 2015, the Government introduced the statutory defence for victims of modern slavery to protect those really…29 Sept 2020HANSARDLicensing: Closing TimeI acknowledge all the views of noble Lords who want the curfew later, and I know the Mayor of Manchester wants the curfew earlier, but the Government have to balance the economic…29 Sept 2020HANSARDAsylum SystemMy Lords, outside the EU, last year we granted family reunion visas to almost 7,500 people, and have granted 29,000 since 2015, so there is a family reunion route through…28 Sept 2020HANSARDAsylum SystemI was very pleased to meet my honourable friend Kevin Foster MP and the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Durham last week to establish how people, whether they are fleeing a…28 Sept 2020HANSARDAsylum SystemWhat I can tell the noble Lord is that, as he will know, caseworkers have gone through an awful lot of training with the help of UKLGIG and Stonewall to ensure that people who…28 Sept 2020HANSARDAsylum SystemI think the noble Baroness will know that, in discussion with the ONS and others, we have set that rate as the one we think appropriate.28 Sept 2020HANSARDAsylum SystemMy Lords, the Home Office is working to improve asylum decision-making processes. The work will simplify, streamline and digitise processes, ensuring that asylum claimants are…28 Sept 2020HANSARDAsylum SystemI can certainly confirm that. Clearly, it is in everybody’s interests, including somebody who is coming here to claim asylum, that we process cases quickly and expedite them…28 Sept 2020HANSARDAsylum SystemClearly, France is geographically very close to us. We are in constant dialogue with France. We do not seek to replicate Dublin, of course, but in our reaching out to the EU with…28 Sept 2020HANSARDAsylum SystemThe noble Lord will appreciate that the past nine months have been unprecedented in terms of being able efficiently to deliver certain things, including the outcome of asylum…28 Sept 2020HANSARDAsylum SystemMy Lords, the right reverend Prelate, absolutely rightly, points to the work that local authorities are doing and we are most grateful to them; 80 local authorities have pledged…28 Sept 2020HANSARDAsylum SystemIn an ideal world, we would have been doing face-to-face interviews, but for the simpler cases, if you like, virtual interviews have been more efficient. That is not right in…28 Sept 2020