The safety and security of our citizens is the Government’s top priority.

We’ve been negotiating an agreement with the EU to equip operational partners on both sides with capabilities to protect citizens and bring criminals to justice.

As set out in the UK’s published Approach to Negotiations, we have maintained an agreement in this area should include arrangements that support data exchange for law enforcement purposes. There is a good degree of convergence in what the UK and EU have been negotiating in terms of operational capabilities.

We are also seeking adequacy decisions, on both general and law enforcement processing, from the European Commission, which will allow more broadly the current smooth exchange of data to continue.

In the event that it is not possible to reach an agreement, the UK has well-developed and well-rehearsed plans in place. In particular, we will transition from our current arrangements with EU Member States to alternative, non-EU arrangements by the end of the Transition Period, where available and relevant. Broadly speaking, this means making more use of Interpol, Council of Europe Conventions and bilateral channels.

For other law enforcement data sharing, in the absence of adequacy decisions Member State law enforcement agencies will be able to rely on alternative mechanisms in order to transfer data to the UK.

The safety and security of our citizens is the Government’s top priority.

We’ve been negotiating an agreement with the EU on law enforcement and criminal justice to equip operational partners on both sides with capabilities to protect citizens and bring criminals to justice.

As set out in the UK’s published Approach to Negotiations, we believe an agreement in this area should include: arrangements that support data exchange for law enforcement purposes; operational cooperation between law enforcement authorities; and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. We have therefore proposed this agreement should include capabilities similar to those provided by SIS II, ECRIS and PNR.

The UK is not seeking membership of either Europol or Eurojust – that is not how third country arrangements with these agencies work. In line with the UK Approach, our legal text provides for cooperation between the UK and Europol and UK and Eurojust to facilitate multilateral law enforcement and criminal justice cooperation.

The UK will continue to be a global leader on security and one of the safest countries in the world.

The Extradition (Provisional Arrest) Act 2020 (‘The Act’) provides UK law enforcement agencies with the power of arrest on an international arrest alert (typically in the form of an Interpol Notice) which has been certified by the National Crime Agency. The Act was amended at Third Reading in the House of Commons on 8 September to add EU Member States to the Schedule of countries within scope of this power.

The Act will be commenced at the end of the Transition Period and its provisions were drafted to allow commencement for the EU Member States only should it prove to be necessary and not if there is an agreement which provides for the continuation of a warrant-based system after 31 December.

We continue to discuss with the EU an agreement on law enforcement and criminal justice cooperation in criminal matters. The agreement should equip operational partners on both sides with the capabilities that help protect citizens and bring criminals to justice promoting the security of all our citizens. As set out in the UK’s Approach to Negotiations, we have proposed this should include capabilities similar to those provided by the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS) and by SIS II.

Our focus is on reaching an agreement with the EU and we will continue to work hard to achieve it. We are also working closely with the police, other law enforcement and criminal justice agencies in the UK, as well as the devolved administrations, to ensure we are ready for a range of possible outcomes at the end of the year.

The Government has been clear that there will be no immediate changes in the circumstances of European nationals entering or currently residing in the UK.

It has been the practice of this Government not to make such forecasts. There are numerous different factors that can affect migration flows. Projections of UK’s population are published by the independent Office for National Statistics. http://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationprojections

As projections, these do not take account of the potential impact of Government policies or economic conditions. ONS produce estimates of short term migration for England and Wales https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/shorttermmigrationestimatesforenglandandwalesmid2014estimates

The majority of those coming as ‘short term migrants’ were for the reason “other” (which includes activities such as: holidays and travelling; visiting family and friends; and working holidays).

Whilst all asylum claims including those accepted under Dublin III are registered on the Home Office Case Information Database (CID), this data is not currently held in a way that allows it to be reported on automatically and is therefore not currently available.

It has been the practice of this Government not to make such forecasts. There are numerous different factors that can affect migration flows.

It has been the practice of this Government not to make such forecasts. There are numerous different factors that can affect migration flows.

Article 50 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union deals with the process of exiting the EU.

More detail is set out in the Government’s White Paper: ‘The process for withdrawing from the European Union’, published on 29 February. The White Paper is available on the GOV.UK website, using the following link: www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-process-for-withdrawing-from-the-european-union

As set out in the Government’s White Paper on the process for withdrawing from the European Union, published on 29 February 2016, the rules for exiting the EU are set out in Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union. The process that would be followed is unprecedented – no country has ever used Article 50. It would be a complex negotiation involving all 27 remaining EU Member States and the Commission.

Should the UK leave the EU, future collaboration in relation to the relevant EU Prüm measures would depend on the outcome of the negotiation. Two non-EU countries (Norway and Iceland) have concluded an agreement to access Prüm, although both are part of the border-free Schengen area. The agreements were concluded in 2010, but neither agreement has yet entered into force.

The UK Government does not hold information on the number of unaccompanied asylum seeking child refugees in EU Member States by (a) gender and (b) age group.

This is collected by each Member State and compiled by Eurostat. It is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database

The UK Government is currently consulting with France, Italy and Greece to establish how best we can implement the recent Lord Dubs’ amendment to the Immigration Bill. This will include an assessment of numbers and needs of unaccompanied children in these Member States.

Pursuant to my statement of 21 April, HCWS687, the 75 UK expert personnel deployed to Greece to support implementation of the EU-Turkey Migration Agreement will conduct a number of duties. A proportion of the UK expert personnel will work closely with European Asylum Support Officer (EASO) coordinators and the Greek Asylum Service to process cases through the admissibility process and provide expert support to the Greek authorities and other EU partners on overall co-ordination of the response. Supporting the operation of the Greek asylum service is a fundamental part of this Government’s approach to identifying children in need of protection at the earliest possible opportunity and ensuring children are identified as eligible for family reunification consideration under the terms of Dublin Regulation.

This of course is in addition to the support that we are already providing to European partner Dublin Units. Following calls from EASO we have already deployed two UK experts to support the Greek Dublin Unit and a third is due to be deployed in May. We are also deploying an expert to the Italian Dublin Unit in May under the hotspot operation mission. This deployment is in addition to the long term support we are providing to the Italian Dublin through a bilateral agreement. We are confident that through our concerted joint efforts we can identify and facilitate the swift transfers of cases through our national systems and make effective use of the Dublin Regulation.

The Criminal Justice and Data Protection Regulations 2014 implement two EU Framework Decisions on the mutual recognition of freezing orders (freezing evidence, the proceeds of crime or the instrumentalities of crime) and confiscation orders. The Regulations provide that these orders are sent under a certificate with the presumption that an order issued in one EU Member State will be recognised and enforced quickly against relevant property in another Member State, with a limited ability to refuse to cooperate.

The UK believes that the ability to recognise and enforce such orders quickly is an important tool for seizing criminal assets, and the UK has strongly encouraged other Member States to implement these decisions to allow them to be used to recover criminal assets across the EU. The process for leaving the EU is set out in Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. The process is unprecedented. There is more detail set out in the Government’s White Paper on the process for withdrawing from the EU, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/504216/The_process_for_withdrawing_from_the_EU_print_ready.pdf

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answers I gave on 22 March to Questions 31324 and 31325 from my Hon. Friend the Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell) and the answers I gave on 9 March to Question 29833 from the Hon. Member for Hammersmith (Andy Slaughter) and to Question 29873 from my Hon. Friend the Member for Rochester and Strood (Kelly Tolhurst).

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answers I gave on 22 March to Questions 31324 and 31325 from my Hon. Friend the Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell) and the answers I gave on 9 March to Question 29833 from the Hon. Member for Hammersmith (Andy Slaughter) and to Question 29873 from my Hon. Friend the Member for Rochester and Strood (Kelly Tolhurst).

Data on cases progressed under the Dublin Convention is recorded on the main immigration database. However, this data is not held in a way that allows it to be reported on automatically and is therefore not currently available.

Data on cases progressed under the Dublin III Regulation is recorded on the main immigration database. However, this data is not held in a way that allows it to be reported on automatically.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answers I gave on 9 March to Question 29833 from the hon. Member for Hammersmith (Andy Slaughter) and to Question 29873 from the hon. Member for Rochester and Strood (Kelly Tolhurst).