The work of the UK Border Agency (December 2011-March 2012)

The work of the UK Border Agency (December 2011-March 2012) PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215047304
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 132

Get Book Here

Book Description
For the first time the Committee has collated the backlog of outstanding cases in the various areas where the UK Border Agency deals with casework. This report criticises the Agency for failing to conclude the total backlog of 276,460 cases. The Committee makes a number of key recommendations: a team should be established to examine why the 3,900 foreign national offenders living in the community as of 4 April have not been deported; deportation proceedings for foreign national prisoners must begin at the time of sentencing; a list of those countries refusing to accept the return of their own criminals who have committed offences in the UK must be published; the Agency should expand its checks to include a wider range of databases in order to assist with tracing of those in the controlled archive; students should be removed from net migration target; face to face interviews for all foreign students must be compulsory; the Agency must be represented at 100%, not 84%, of all tribunal hearings; all inspection visits on Tier 4 must be unannounced; the Agency must inform the informants as to possible illegal immigrants of the outcome of their tip-off and provide a breakdown of the outcomes of its enforcement visits. The Committee reiterates that Senior Agency staff should not receive bonuses until the Agency's performance improves and bonuses paid in the past contrary to the Committee's recommendations should be repaid

The work of the UK Border Agency (December 2011-March 2012)

The work of the UK Border Agency (December 2011-March 2012) PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215047304
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 132

Get Book Here

Book Description
For the first time the Committee has collated the backlog of outstanding cases in the various areas where the UK Border Agency deals with casework. This report criticises the Agency for failing to conclude the total backlog of 276,460 cases. The Committee makes a number of key recommendations: a team should be established to examine why the 3,900 foreign national offenders living in the community as of 4 April have not been deported; deportation proceedings for foreign national prisoners must begin at the time of sentencing; a list of those countries refusing to accept the return of their own criminals who have committed offences in the UK must be published; the Agency should expand its checks to include a wider range of databases in order to assist with tracing of those in the controlled archive; students should be removed from net migration target; face to face interviews for all foreign students must be compulsory; the Agency must be represented at 100%, not 84%, of all tribunal hearings; all inspection visits on Tier 4 must be unannounced; the Agency must inform the informants as to possible illegal immigrants of the outcome of their tip-off and provide a breakdown of the outcomes of its enforcement visits. The Committee reiterates that Senior Agency staff should not receive bonuses until the Agency's performance improves and bonuses paid in the past contrary to the Committee's recommendations should be repaid

HC 800 - Evaluating the new Architecture of Policing: The College of Policing and the National Crime Agency

HC 800 - Evaluating the new Architecture of Policing: The College of Policing and the National Crime Agency PDF Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215081579
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 56

Get Book Here

Book Description
Since 2010 the Home Secretary has set out an ambitious plan for the new landscape of policing. However, more progress has to be made to declutter the landscape and ensure that the organisations created meet the rapidly evolving challenges facing 21st century policing. Force mergers are clearly back on the agenda. The College of Policing was a great idea that has both vision and purpose. However, numerous hurdles, weak foundations, and an unrepresentative board have hindered its ability to function to its full potential. In time, the College has the power to fashion a new concept of policing. For the local bobby, he or she needs a certificate of policing that is affordable, an oath that is binding and ethics that are ingrained within its DNA, and training that is practical, however at the moment none of this exists. The NCA has been a success, and has proved to be more responsive and more active than its predecessor SOCA, but it is not yet the FBI equivalent that it was hailed to be. Its reputation has been damaged by the unacceptably slow response to the backlog of child abuse cases sent to it by Toronto Police. The NCA must establish practical benchmarks against which its performance can be assessed. Its current asset recovery is not of a sufficient volume when set against its half a billion pound budget.

Work of the UK Border Agency (August - December 2011)

Work of the UK Border Agency (August - December 2011) PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215043702
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 82

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this Home Affairs Committee's report into the Work of the UK Border Agency, it criticises the Agency for failing to deport more than 600 foreign national prisoners who were released between 1999 and 2006 and are still in the country and for failing to clear the "controlled archive" of lost applicants. At the current rate it will take a further 4 years to close all cases. The Committee found that the Agency has still not resolved all of the asylum 'legacy' cases first identified in 2006. Instead, there are 17,000 ongoing cases still awaiting a final decision and the Agency appears to be discovering more cases. The Committee remains uncertain over the feasibility of the Government's e-borders timetable. It finds it difficult to see how the scheme can be applied to all rail and sea passengers by December 2014. It acknowledges that the Government must have a comprehensive e-border system if it is to be effective. However, it needs clarity on policy and practicalities for achieving this. The Committee makes a series of specific recommendations aimed at improving the working of the Agency, concerning: appeals, bogus colleges, data provided and use of statistics. It calls on the Home Office to act immediately to deal with the public scepticism over the effectiveness of the UK Border Agency and to require clarity in the information produced for both the public and Parliament.

The work of the Border Force

The work of the Border Force PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215047366
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 36

Get Book Here

Book Description
Maximum queue times at major UK ports have been consistently too high for the last 12 months. Some carriers are resigning themselves to reducing their revenue because Border Force lacks capacity. Many airlines have years of experience in providing advanced passenger information to the United States are now obliged to provide advanced information to e-Border although this information is not always used optimally. The Committee recommends that Border Force: adopt a target for reducing the maximum queuing times; adopt a more frequent measurement of queues in order to improve accuracy and to inform staff rostering decisions; install "waiting time" boards in all arrivals halls at major ports; keep E-gates operational at all times when flights are arriving; and if the control room at Heathrow continues to be a success then adopt the model at other major ports where appropriate. The Home Office should: reintroduce the risk based entry check pilot; carry out a full reappraisal of the number of Border Force staff needed across the UK if it wishes to persist with 100% entry checks for all passengers; and bring forward the reinstatement of 'smart zones'. It was also of notable concern that Border Force has been unable or unwilling to provide comparable data on the number of drug seizures carried out by Border Force in April 2011 and April 2012; the number of passengers about whom security alerts were issued to the Border Force that were actually encountered trying to enter the UK; or the number of illegal migrants trying to enter the UK through the 'Lille Loophole'

The Work of the UK Border Agency (April-June 2012)

The Work of the UK Border Agency (April-June 2012) PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215049926
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 100

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Agency's backlog is growing at an alarming rate-it has increased by over 25,000 cases since the first quarter of this year. The backlog consists of: the Migration Refusal Pool which contains records of individuals without leave to remain in the UK, who cannot be traced and has grown by 24,000 records since the first quarter of this year-it now totals 174,000; ex-Foreign National Offenders with 3,954 ex-FNOs living in the community whilst deportation action against them proceeds; the so-called 'controlled' archive with cases the Agency has no control over, it does not even know where the applicants are -there were 95,000 cases in archive' at the end of June this year and senior management promised to clear it by 31st December which would mean writing off 81,000 files; Asylum and migration live cohorts where the UKBA has managed to trace an applicant thought to have been lost and is working to close their case- with 29,000 cases in the live cohorts at the end of June this year. The UKBA must adopt a transparent and robust approach to tackling the backlogs instead of creating new ways of camouflaging them. Until the entire backlog is cleared the Committee does not believe that senior staff should receive any bonuses. The Committee also doubts that the Agency is adequately equipped to deal with the increase in asylum applications. Cases waiting for an initial decision after 6 months have risen by 36% since June 2011. The Committee is further concerned about the quality of decision making. Poor decision making may result in people being returned home when they face persecution and torture

Appointment of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary

Appointment of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215047502
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 28

Get Book Here

Book Description
This report discusses the pre-appointment hearing of the preferred candidate, Tom Winsor, to the post of Chief Inspector of Constabulary. Pre-appointment hearings are to assess the suitability of the preferred candidate, but that cannot be done effectively in a vacuum and the Committee were disappointed that the Home Secretary initially refused to provide information on the selection process or the shortlist. The Committee recommends that the Government in future provide such information in keeping with the recommendation from the Liaison Committee. The Home Affairs Committee is content for the Home Secretary to proceed with Mr Winsor's appointment. This is considered against the background that his nomination was controversial. If appointed he will be the first Chief Inspector who has never served as a police officer. They urge Mr Winsor to reach out to forces, police officers of all ranks and their representative bodies to build bridges. He must create a strong relationship with forces and with police and crime commissioners. The Home Affairs Committee will take a continued interest in the work of the Chief Inspector and look forward to hearing evidence from him on a regular basis

HC 710 - Appointment of the Chair of the Independent Inquiry into Sexual Abuse

HC 710 - Appointment of the Chair of the Independent Inquiry into Sexual Abuse PDF Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 021508151X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 28

Get Book Here

Book Description
On 7 July 2014, the Home Secretary announced the establishment of an Independent Panel Inquiry to consider whether public bodies and non-state institutions had taken seriously their duty to protect children from sexual abuse. Baroness Butler-Sloss, former President of the Family Division of the High Court, was appointed Chair of the panel on 8 July, but she stepped down on 14 July after MPs and survivor groups expressed concerns about the possibility that the inquiry might have to consider decisions taken by her late brother, Sir Michael Havers, as Attorney General in the 1980s. Fiona Woolf CBE JP, the Lord Mayor of London, was appointed Chair on 5 September, but stepped down on 31 October after concerns were raised about her social contacts with Lord and Lady Brittan. On 4 February 2015, the Home Secretary announced plans to appoint Justice Lowell Goddard, a judge of the High Court of New Zealand, as the new Chair of the inquiry. She also announced that she would be dissolving the existing Panel and establishing a new, statutory inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005. Prior to the announcement of the new proposed Chair, the Committee took oral evidence about the panel inquiry During those evidence sessions witnesses' views were heard on the Home Office's process for selecting candidates for the new chair. There were well-publicised problems with the appointment of the Panel, which resulted in the early resignation of two previous Chairs. It is important that a Chair is now appointed who will command the confidence of survivors

HC 201 - Female Genital Mutilation: The Case for a National Action Plan

HC 201 - Female Genital Mutilation: The Case for a National Action Plan PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215073339
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 64

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Committee recommends the immediate implementation of a national action plan and specific steps to respond to the growing FGM crisis. A number of successful prosecutions would send a clear message to those involved that FGM is taken with the utmost seriousness in the UK and will be punished accordingly. There should be an extension to the right to anonymity to include victims of FGM to aid prosecution. The good example of France should be emulated and there is a case for a system that empowers medical professionals to make periodic FGM assessments where a girl is identified as being at high risk. The Multi-Agency Guidelines on FGM should also be placed on a statutory footing to provide a stronger incentive for the provision of training on FGM to all those who need it. The Committee's further recommendations include: the inclusion of mandatory questioning on FGM for antenatal booking interviews and at GP registration, and changes to the Personal Child Health Record/Red Book to refer explicitly to FGM; a requirement for all schools to provide training on FGM and Headteachers to read guidance or face funding penalties; the introduction of FGM protection orders similar to those which exist for forced marriage. In 12 months' time, if reporting does not increase, a failure to report should be made a criminal offence. Better services for women and girls affected by FGM including refuge shelters for those at risk also need to be provided

Drugs

Drugs PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215050960
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 154

Get Book Here

Book Description
Whilst it supported a number of steps the Government has taken in its 2010 drug strategy, it believes more needs to be done to comprehensively address the drugs problem in the UK. The report focuses on the need to 'break the cycle' of drug addiction, and highlights in particular the need for improved treatment in prisons and wider society, and for early intervention with better education and preventative work. Three key areas were covered: prisons; treatment and the calling for the establishment of a Royal Commission into the issues. The Committee was disturbed to find that almost a quarter of prisoners found it easy to get drugs in prison and recommended that measures such as regular random drug tests based on suspicion be increased. It was concerned that the Government's policy of recovery was not being implemented, in particular that drug rehabilitation in prison was undermined by the lack of support for offenders on release, and did not take into account prescription drug addiction. The Committee is also concerned that the goal of retaining addicts in treatment has precluded attempts at recovery. It supported the Government's objective of recovery but noted that this will require a range of treatment options, with each individual needing a tailored treatment plan. The Committee highlighted residential rehabilitation and the use of buprenorphine as an alternative to methadone as two treatment methods which were currently under-utilised. Treatment must also be supplemented by housing, training and employment support if required

HC 199 - Gangs and Youth Crime

HC 199 - Gangs and Youth Crime PDF Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Home Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215081706
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 32

Get Book Here

Book Description
The London Metropolitan Police Service reported in 2012, that they had identified 259 violent youth gangs and 4,800 'gang-nominals' in 19 gang-affected boroughs. Also in 2012, Greater Manchester Police identified 66 Urban Street Gangs and estimated the total number of gang members across Greater Manchester to be 886. The Office of the Children's Commissioner's 2013 inquiry into child sexual exploitation in gangs and groups found that 2,409 children and young people were subject to sexual exploitation in gangs and a further 16,500 children at risk, using a survey period of August 2010-October 2011. 21 police forces in England identified that they had criminally active gangs operating in their area. In total, individual forces reported 323 gangs as being criminally active, with 16 being associated with child sexual exploitation. In London between March 2013 and February 2014, only six per cent of stop-and-searches were conducted on females. London, while experiencing the most gang-related violence of any area in the country, has obtained only fourteen gang injunctions.