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Written Question
Asylum: Community Development
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are taking steps to develop engagement forums with asylum seeker and refugee communities.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We regularly engage with stakeholders through standalone meetings and various forums such as the Asylum Strategic Engagement Group, which includes organisations who both speak for and represent asylum seekers.

The Asylum Lived Experience Advisory Panel (ALEAP) is a regular engagement forum, which enables refugees with recent lived experience of the UK asylum system an opportunity to discuss the impact of Home Office policies and processes across their asylum journey.

It is important that we distinguish between individuals who need protection and those seeking to work here who can apply for a work visa under the Immigration Rules.


Written Question
Asylum: Churches
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what statistical evidence is held by the Home Office to support the claim made by former Home Secretary in the Daily Telegraph on 3 February that between 6 September 2022 and 13 November 2023, she “became aware of churches around the country facilitating industrial-scale bogus asylum claims”.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Every asylum claim is determined on its individual merits in line with our published policy and guidance. There are a small number of recent cases which have raised concerns that not all conversions are necessarily genuine and it is right we work with faith leaders to better understand these cases.

We are unable to comment further on the former Home Secretary’s remarks. She was reshuffled on 13th November 2023.


Written Question
Immigration
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Reid of Cardowan (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of immigration on (1) public services, (2) housing, and (3) infrastructure.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Government has been clear that net migration is too high and is determined to bring it down to sustainable levels to help protect public services and housing against unsustainable pressure.

In May 2023, the Government announced measures to restrict the number of overseas students able to bring dependants. On 4 December 2023, the Home Secretary announced a new package of measures to reduce net migration further. These include limitations on family dependants being brought in by care workers and senior care workers; increasing the salary threshold for the Skilled Worker route; commissioning the Migration Advisory Committee to review the Shortage Occupation List; and raising the minimum income requirement for Family visas progressively over the next few years. These measures are now being implemented and were the subject of a WMS by the Minister for Legal Migration and the Border on January 30th.

Taken together with the measures the Government announced in May 2023, this means that around 300,000 people who were eligible to come to the UK last year would not be able to do so in future.

We keep all our immigration policies under review and work closely with key government departments to ensure that the immigration system best serves the UK, reflects the public’s priorities and protects public services against undue pressure.

A full analysis of the impact of the package will be published in a regulatory impact assessment in due course.


Written Question
Immigration
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Reid of Cardowan (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the level of immigration to the UK for the past year; and how many individuals were granted visas for (1) work, (2) study, (3) family reunification, and (4) asylum.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’ [https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release]. Data on work and study visas granted are published in table Vis_D02, of the ‘Entry clearance detailed dataset’ [https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release]. Data on family reunification visas granted are published in table Fam_D01 and data on the number of people applying for and being granted asylum are published in table Asy_D01 and Asy_D02 of the ‘asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’ [https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/immigration-system-statistics-data-tables#asylum-and-resettlement]. Information on how to use these datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks. The latest data relates to 2023 Q4.

Not everyone granted a visa will become an ‘immigrant’ as per the United Nations definition of a long-term migrant. Information regarding immigration and emigration is a matter for the independent Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’ [https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-statistics?keywords=immigration&content_store_document_type=upcoming_statistics&organisations%5B%5D=home-office&order=relevance].


Written Question
Public Expenditure
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Mid Bedfordshire)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the additional funding provided to the police in the Spring Budget 2024, HC 560, published on 6 March 2024, will have a consequential impact on the police allocation formula.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government has announced an additional £234m will be invested in police productivity over the next four years.

This funding will be used to pilot or roll out cutting-edge technology such as live facial recognition, automation and the use of drones as first responders. It will also set up a Centre for Police Productivity to support police forces’ use of data and deliver this technology, maximising productivity and the use of AI.

Funding will be distributed to specific programmes and we are working with policing partners to allocate this funding. This funding will help all forces to free-up police officer time and improve performance.


Written Question
Asylum: Community Development
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that asylum seekers housed in asylum accommodation have access to free and accessible community spaces to build social connections.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office contracted accommodation providers deliver induction briefings and information packs which include signposting to voluntary sector services alongside local leisure and recreational facilities and services, for all new arriving asylum seekers.

The AASC Requirements below give a detailed breakdown of the services to be undertaken by our accommodation providers and to the standards we expect:

http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2018-1112/AASC_-_Schedule_2_-_Statement_of_Requirements.pdf.

Additionally, all asylum seekers have access to a 24/7 Advice, Issue Reporting and Eligibility (AIRE) service provided for the Home Office by Migrant Help, where they can raise any concerns regarding accommodation or support services.


Written Question
Visas: National Security
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Robert Jenrick (Conservative - Newark)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2024 to Questions 16488 and 16489 on Visas: National Security, for what reason his Department does not publish this information.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

Our caseworking systems do not include MI reporting that differentiates between the various non-conducive refusal types and so the information requested is not available in a reportable format.


Written Question
Immigration Controls
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people with valid digital immigration status have been detained at the UK border for non-possession of physical immigration status documents in the last 12 months.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

Border Force do not hold the data on people who have been detained for not possessing evidence of their permission to enter, obtained digitally, in an easily accessible format.

Immigration system statistics, year ending December 2023, are available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-december-2023.


Written Question
Immigration Controls
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Reid of Cardowan (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to ensure effective border control and management of illegal immigration, in particular addressing any gaps in enforcement or security protocols.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Due to the steps we have taken, small boat arrivals fell by 36% in 2023 compared to the previous year; Albanian arrivals were down by over 90%. This reflects our continuing work with the French Government to prevent these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary crossings from taking place.

Immigration Enforcement is taking robust action to tackle illegal migration through:

  • returning more than 25,000 people in 2023 who have no right to be in the UK, including more than 5,700 Albanians;
  • increasing the number of illegal working visits by over 68% as of September 2023, compared to the same period in 2022; and
  • disrupting organised crime groups, resulting in 246 arrests of people smugglers in 2023.

In terms of security protocols, the government does not routinely comment on individual cases or operational matters.

Our highest priority is protecting the safety and security of this country, which is why the UK has world-class police, security and intelligence agencies and a robust counter-terrorism framework in place.

As you would expect, security checks are already undertaken for all those identified arriving through illegal migration routes and law enforcement have the powers to deal with them appropriately.


Written Question
Ukraine: Military Aid
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Smith of Hindhead (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assistance they can give to organisations providing support to the Armed Forces of Ukraine who want to refurbish boats confiscated from illegal English Channel crossings to help aid the demand for small boats for medical evacuations along the Dnipro River.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The migrant vessels, which this campaign is endeavouring to persuade the Home Office to send to Ukraine, are totally unsuitable for the purposes suggested. They have been assessed by Home Office experts as valueless from a military perspective and lethally dangerous otherwise, with at least 20 deaths linked to them since August 2023 alone.

The Home Office’s opposition to sending these vessels to Ukraine is well-founded and is informed by the assessment of border security and military experts.

The UK remains firmly committed to supporting Ukraine in their fight against Russian aggression. To date, we have provided almost £12bn in total military, humanitarian, and economic support. This includes £2.5bn in military aid for 2024/25, an increase of £200m on the previous two years.

We continue to work closely with the Ukrainian Government, together with our international partners, to ensure that their Armed Forces receive the support they need.