Written questions by Hall.

With reference to the Law Commission’s report entitled Hate crime laws: Final report, published on 7 December 2021, whether her Department is taking steps to implement the recommendation to extend aggravated offence provisions to include hostility based on (a) sexual orientation and (b) gender identity.

We have a robust legislative framework in place to respond to hate crimes.The Government has committed to ensuring parity of protection for aggravated offences and will bring forward a suitable amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill at the Lords' Committee stage to give effect to that commitment.

What steps she is taking to (a) reduce missing incidents and (b) provide additional support to people at risk of going missing from BAME communities.

Effective multi-agency working is the key to reducing missing person incidents, particularly for vulnerable cohorts, such as children with care experience who are at more likely to go missing repeatedly.The Missing Persons Authorised Professional Practice (APP), issued by the College of Policing, sets out best practice guidance for all missing person investigations for police forces in England and Wales in order to prevent missing incidents as well as ensure that all safeguarding partners play a role in an investigation; this includes multi-agency enquiries. The APP for missing persons is publicly available on the College’s website.In addition to the APP, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead for Missing Persons has developed the ‘Multi-agency response for adults missing from health and care settings’ framework, which is being rolled out, and the ‘Missing Children from Care’ framework, which has been piloted in West Yorkshire. These frameworks outline good practice that can be adopted by local areas when setting up their own multi-agency protocols for the strategic and operational response to a missing incident, with an aim to ensure that the appropriate safeguarding partner responds in the best interest of the missing person.In response to concerns about unconscious bias in the police response to missing persons from BAME communities, the Home Office has funded the NPCC for Missing Persons to conduct research to explore disproportionality and discrimination in police missing persons investigations; comparing how risk is categorised in different ethnic groups. The final report is nearing completion. The NPCC lead for Missing Persons is committed to working with partner agencies to understand issues of disproportionality and addressing any issues. I will continue to monitor developments and insights from partners to ensure our response remains effective.

What steps she is taking to (a) reduce missing incidents and (b) provide additional support to people at risk of going missing who are care experienced.

Effective multi-agency working is the key to reducing missing person incidents, particularly for vulnerable cohorts, such as children with care experience who are at more likely to go missing repeatedly.The Missing Persons Authorised Professional Practice (APP), issued by the College of Policing, sets out best practice guidance for all missing person investigations for police forces in England and Wales in order to prevent missing incidents as well as ensure that all safeguarding partners play a role in an investigation; this includes multi-agency enquiries. The APP for missing persons is publicly available on the College’s website.In addition to the APP, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead for Missing Persons has developed the ‘Multi-agency response for adults missing from health and care settings’ framework, which is being rolled out, and the ‘Missing Children from Care’ framework, which has been piloted in West Yorkshire. These frameworks outline good practice that can be adopted by local areas when setting up their own multi-agency protocols for the strategic and operational response to a missing incident, with an aim to ensure that the appropriate safeguarding partner responds in the best interest of the missing person.In response to concerns about unconscious bias in the police response to missing persons from BAME communities, the Home Office has funded the NPCC for Missing Persons to conduct research to explore disproportionality and discrimination in police missing persons investigations; comparing how risk is categorised in different ethnic groups. The final report is nearing completion. The NPCC lead for Missing Persons is committed to working with partner agencies to understand issues of disproportionality and addressing any issues. I will continue to monitor developments and insights from partners to ensure our response remains effective.

What the average processing time is for a spousal visa application.

An applicant applying for a family visa at entry clearance should get a decision within 12 weeks.Visa decision waiting times: applications outside the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)An applicant applying in the UK to extend a family visa (spouse or partner on a ...

What her planned timetable is for processing asylum seekers currently resident in hotels.

The Government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly and fairly. This includes our accommodation sites, as the Home Office clears the backlog, increases removals and continues to identify a range of option...