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Written Question
Visas: Graduates
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether UK Visa and Immigration is meeting the eight-week service standard for processing graduate visas.

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

We are operating within the eight-week service standard for Graduate applications.

Some applications may take longer if we have requested further information, or if their personal circumstances are complex. Further details can be found at Visa processing times: applications inside the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).


Written Question
Visas: Palestinians
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of calls for a Palestinian visa or Gaza family scheme to enable Palestinians in Gaza to be reunited with relatives in the UK and access temporary sanctuary.

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

The UK Government is monitoring the situation in Israel and Gaza closely to ensure that it is able to respond appropriately. UKVI is working closely with the FCDO in supporting family members of British nationals evacuated from Gaza who require a visa, signposting the necessary steps and expediting appointments at the Visa Application Centre.

British citizens and those with settled status in the UK, together with their foreign national dependants, (spouse, unmarried/civil partner, child under 18), may come to the UK provided that they have valid travel documents and existing permission to enter or remain in the UK; or are non-visa nationals. They must also pass appropriate security checks.

The Government allows individuals with protection status in the UK to sponsor their partner or children to stay with or join them here through our refugee family reunion policy, provided they formed part of the family unit before the sponsor fled their country of origin to seek protection.

There are additional safe and legal routes for people to come to the UK should they wish to join family members here, work or study. They would need to meet the requirements of the relevant Immigration Rule under which they were applying to qualify for a visa.


Written Question
British National (Overseas): Airports
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will set a target date for British National (Overseas) passport holders to be able to use eGates at the UK border.

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

The Government regularly reviews eGate eligibility for all nationals arriving in the UK, including British National (Overseas) passport holders.

In the New Plan for Immigration, the Government set out our ambition to digitise the border. To deliver this we aim to increase the use of eGates at the border by those currently eligible and investigate options to extend eGate eligibility to those unable to use them. Any shorter-term changes need to be balanced against the impact these have on delivering the longer-term ambition.


Written Question
Migrant Workers: Domestic Service
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Independent Review the Overseas Domestic Workers Visa by James Ewins, published on 16 December 2015, what the Government's policy is on the implementation of proposed changes in that review to the overseas domestic worker visa rules that have not yet been implemented.

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

The Home Office keeps immigration route policy under review, including that for the Overseas Domestic Worker route. We have introduced a number of reforms to the route for overseas domestic workers since 2015; designed to build on existing safeguards and in line with the broader immigration system. Employers of overseas domestic workers must act in accordance with UK employment law, and workers who find themselves a victim of modern slavery are protected by the National Referral Mechanism and may be eligible to apply for permission to stay as a domestic worker who is a victim of modern slavery.


Written Question
Migrant Workers: Domestic Service
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when his Department last reviewed the potential risk of abuse and exploitation of migrant workers under the overseas domestic worker visa rules.

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

The Home Office keeps immigration route policy under review, including that for the Overseas Domestic Worker route. We have introduced a number of reforms to the route for overseas domestic workers since 2015; designed to build on existing safeguards and in line with the broader immigration system. Employers of overseas domestic workers must act in accordance with UK employment law, and workers who find themselves a victim of modern slavery are protected by the National Referral Mechanism and may be eligible to apply for permission to stay as a domestic worker who is a victim of modern slavery.


Written Question
Migrant Workers: Domestic Service
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the conclusions of the Independent Review of the Overseas Domestic Workers Visa by James Ewins, published on 16 December 2015, relating to protection of employment rights of migrant workers in private households, if he will (a) review and (b) reverse changes to the rules for that visa.

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

The Home Office keeps immigration route policy under review, including that for the Overseas Domestic Worker route. We have introduced a number of reforms to the route for overseas domestic workers since 2015; designed to build on existing safeguards and in line with the broader immigration system. Employers of overseas domestic workers must act in accordance with UK employment law, and workers who find themselves a victim of modern slavery are protected by the National Referral Mechanism and may be eligible to apply for permission to stay as a domestic worker who is a victim of modern slavery.


Written Question
Crime: Children
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many crimes were committed by children under the age of 10 in England in (a) 2018 and (b) 2023.

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

The Home Office collects and publishes information on the investigative outcomes of crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales. This includes the number of cases that were closed due to offender being below the age of criminal responsibility. This is recorded in the official statistics as outcome 11 “prosecution prevented: suspect under age” and the latest data can be accessed here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables

This will not cover all offences committed by children under 10, as the Home Office recorded crime collection does not include all summary only offences, that is those that can only be dealt with at Magistrates Courts.


Written Question
Knives: Crime
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the charge rate for knife crime offences was in England in (a) 2018 and (b) 2023.

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

Overall levels of violent crime experienced by the general population are down by 51% since 2010, according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales. Levels of serious youth violence, as measured by the number of under-25 hospital admissions following an assault with a knife or other bladed instrument, are down by 25% in England and Wales compared with the year ending 2019.

The Home Office collects and publishes data on the investigative outcomes of crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales. These data can be found in the Home Office Open Data Tables, available here: Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).


Written Question
Police: Retirement
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when retired police officers subject to immediate detriment will be contacted with the resolution.

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

The relevant legislation provides that all eligible members of the police pension scheme will be given a choice to remedy the discrimination set out in the McCloud judgment and that information should be provided to eligible members by 1 April 2025.

Adjustments to individual members’ benefits are an administrative matter, and the police pension scheme is locally administered by each of the separate police forces in England and Wales. The Home Office does not hold information on administrative processes in forces.


Written Question
Speed Limits: Cameras
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the VECTOR-SR speed cameras are (a) visible to road users and (b) compliant with regulations.

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

The Government’s Home Office Type Approval (HOTA) process oversees the accuracy and reliability of vehicle speed measurement devices to ensure they meet the specified requirements.

It is up to the traffic authority, the police and other agencies to decide whether to install speed cameras and how they wish to operate them.

This is a local decision in which the Department does not become involved.