Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Afghan citizens have been brought to the UK through the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Programme during (1) 2022, and (2) the last three months; and, in each case, how many of them are women and children.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We are continuing the process to grant Indefinite Leave to Remain to all eligible individuals who arrived during the evacuation: officials have already registered over 13,000 (and counting) applications for resettlement from Afghans in the UK, with biometric residence permits being issued accordingly. In the meantime, applicants remain eligible to work and access services under their continuing leave.
At 12 August 2022, we have granted Indefinite Leave to Remain to 11,303 individuals across the ARAP and ACRS, since they opened in April 2021 and January 2022, respectively. We are unable, at this time, to provide a breakdown of whether a grant of leave was made under the ARAP or the ACRS Pathway 1. Work is underway to assure information relating to all the individuals relocated under the ARAP and ACRS on case working systems.
The ACRS will provide up to 20,000 women, children and others at risk, with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK. Once this work concludes, statistics on both schemes - including the number of people resettled under each - will be included in future editions of the Immigration Statistics.
More information on the number of grants of Indefinite Leave to Remain issued to Afghans resettling under the ARAP or ACRS can be viewed at gov.uk.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, if any, with the government of India, regarding the introduction of the Youth Mobility Scheme between that country and the UK.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Her Majesty’s Government maintains regular dialogue with the Government of India on the introduction of the Youth Mobility Scheme (branded the India Young Professionals Scheme), a joint commitment included in the Migration and Mobility Partnership agreement signed between the UK and India on 4 May 2021. In addition, the agreement established an official channel for dialogue on all matters concerning implementation of the partnership agreement, the Joint Working Group.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many cyclists who knocked over pedestrians in London in each of the last three years were fined.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office collects and publishes data on Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) and other outcomes for motoring offences on an annual basis as part of the ‘Police Powers and Procedures’ statistical publication. However, information on the type of vehicle is not available. The most recent data for FPNs issued for motoring offences covers the years 2011-2020, are available here:
The Department for Transport publish statistics on road casualties, including accidents involving cyclists, these data can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-annual-report-2020
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many cyclists were (1) apprehended, and (2) fined, for riding on pavements in London for each of the last three years.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office collects and publishes data on Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) and other outcomes for motoring offences on an annual basis as part of the ‘Police Powers and Procedures’ statistical publication. However, information on the type of vehicle is not available. The most recent data for FPNs issued for motoring offences covers the years 2011-2020, are available here:
The Department for Transport publish statistics on road casualties, including accidents involving cyclists, these data can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-annual-report-2020
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many cyclists were (1) apprehended, and (2) fined, for going through red traffic lights in London for each of the last three years.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office collects and publishes data on Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) and other outcomes for motoring offences on an annual basis as part of the ‘Police Powers and Procedures’ statistical publication. However, information on the type of vehicle is not available. The most recent data for FPNs issued for motoring offences covers the years 2011-2020, are available here:
The Department for Transport publish statistics on road casualties, including accidents involving cyclists, these data can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-annual-report-2020
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are making special provision for visas to the UK for Afghan doctors and nurses who wish to be evacuated, to help address the NHS staffing gap in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government responded swiftly to the fast-moving and challenging events in Afghanistan, including supporting the largest and fastest evacuation in recent history. We can be proud as a country we helped over 15,000 people to safety from Afghanistan in August 2021 and we continue to do all we can to enable those who are eligible to relocate to the UK through the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy and Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme.
The Department of Health and Social Care is also working with DWP to develop pathways to support Afghans who are already in the UK to access roles in the health and social care sector.
On the issue of NHS staffing gaps, the Government has done a number of things to ensure the NHS has suitable resources. We are on schedule to deliver 50,000 more nurses by the end of this Parliament to deliver a sustainable long term workforce supply. With the National Health Service and Health Education England, we have established a programme to improve retention and support return to practice, invest in and diversify training and increase ethical and sustainable international recruitment. We have also made £2 billion made available in 2021/22 and a further £8 billion from 2022 to 2025 to increase activity, tackle backlogs in elective care and reduce waiting times for patients.
In August 2020, the Government launched the Health and Care Visa which provides for fast-track entry, reduced application fees and dedicated support. Health and Care Visa applicants are also exempt from paying the Immigration Health Surcharge. These benefits also extend to Health and Care Visa applicants dependents.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether access to the Youth Mobility Scheme Visa is routinely included as part of trade negotiations with other countries.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
No, Youth Mobility Scheme negotiations are considered separately from trading arrangements and are not routinely included as part of trade negotiations. Every Free Trade Agreement is unique and reflects the balance of the overall package negotiated.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made regarding negotiating bilateral agreements for the Youth Mobility Scheme Visa to (1) any EU member state, and (2) any other countries, who are not already members of the scheme.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
We remain open to negotiating Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) arrangements with other countries and territories including the EU or nations within it. However, as each YMS is subject to a bilateral, reciprocal agreement which also provides benefit to UK nationals with the detail negotiated and agreed between the relevant parties, we are unable to disclose the status of negotiations as they occur. Further details of additional YMS agreements will be announced once they are concluded.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have received regarding negotiating bilateral arrangements for the Youth Mobility Scheme Visa from (1) any EU member state, and (2) any other countries, who are not already covered by the scheme.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
We remain open to negotiating Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) arrangements with other countries and territories including the EU or nations within it. However, as each YMS is subject to a bilateral, reciprocal agreement which also provides benefit to UK nationals with the detail negotiated and agreed between the relevant parties, we are unable to disclose the status of negotiations as they occur. Further details of additional YMS agreements will be announced once they are concluded.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have a cap on the total number of visas they will allocate through the Youth Mobility Scheme.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Quotas are set annually in line with Memoranda of Understanding negotiated with individual countries and territories, and in non-pandemic times linked to the number of UK nationals travelling overseas to take advantage of the reciprocal arrangements. The allocations for each year are published in the Immigration Rules.
There is no overall cap on the number of visas available on the scheme as a whole, and we remain open to negotiating new agreements with other countries and territories.