Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of transit visas for fishing operatives.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Government’s longstanding position has been that foreign nationals need permission to work in UK waters and that transit visas, designed to cater for those intending to simply travel through UK waters, have never been an appropriate visa to use to work on a long-term basis in the UK.
The fishing sector is well catered for under the points-based-system, with a range of fishing roles eligible for the Skilled Worker visa. The sector have been able to access the Skilled Worker visa since April 2021 and we have offered a generous package of support to assist the industry.
Government expects the sector to be moving to full compliance with the immigration system as soon as possible, and to assist in this, a generous package of support has been provided, including enhanced visa support, adding some fishing occupations to the Shortage Occupation List this summer and engagement with the sector to drive up their usage of the skilled worker visa. Government encourages the sector to take up this generous package of support.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the eligibility criteria of the Frontier Worker Permit on shipping crew availability for UK supply chains and goods availability in (1) 2023, (2) 2024, (3) 2025 (4) 2026.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Frontier Worker permit scheme implements our obligations under the Citizens’ Rights Agreements to protect the rights of EU, EEA and Swiss citizens who were frontier working in the UK (that is employed or self-employed in the UK but residing elsewhere) before the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, for as long as they continue to be frontier workers.
We do not publish data on Frontier Worker permits by occupation, and so data is not available on Frontier Worker permits issued to shipping crew.
Those coming to the UK to work after the end of the transition period are not protected by the Citizens’ Rights Agreements and are therefore required to apply under the points-based immigration system. This enables migrants to come to the UK to work in the shipping and wider offshore sectors, subject to meeting the skills and salary thresholds and other requirements.
There are specific arrangements for transiting crew who are joining ships in the UK or taking temporary shore leave. In many cases, crew can exceptionally enter the UK without an entry clearance and undertake limited forms of work.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the eligibility criteria of the Frontier Worker Permit on shipping crew availability for UK vessels in (1) 2023, (2) 2024, and (3) 2025.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Frontier Worker permit scheme implements our obligations under the Citizens’ Rights Agreements to protect the rights of EU, EEA and Swiss citizens who were frontier working in the UK (that is employed or self-employed in the UK but residing elsewhere) before the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, for as long as they continue to be frontier workers.
We do not publish data on Frontier Worker permits by occupation, and so data is not available on Frontier Worker permits issued to shipping crew.
Those coming to the UK to work after the end of the transition period are not protected by the Citizens’ Rights Agreements and are therefore required to apply under the points-based immigration system. This enables migrants to come to the UK to work in the shipping and wider offshore sectors, subject to meeting the skills and salary thresholds and other requirements.
There are specific arrangements for transiting crew who are joining ships in the UK or taking temporary shore leave. In many cases, crew can exceptionally enter the UK without an entry clearance and undertake limited forms of work.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the options for an extension to or replacement of the Frontier Worker Permit for 2026 and beyond.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Frontier Worker permit scheme implements our obligations under the Citizens’ Rights Agreements to protect the rights of EU, EEA and Swiss citizens who were frontier working in the UK (that is employed or self-employed in the UK but residing elsewhere) before the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, for as long as they continue to be frontier workers.
We do not publish data on Frontier Worker permits by occupation, and so data is not available on Frontier Worker permits issued to shipping crew.
Those coming to the UK to work after the end of the transition period are not protected by the Citizens’ Rights Agreements and are therefore required to apply under the points-based immigration system. This enables migrants to come to the UK to work in the shipping and wider offshore sectors, subject to meeting the skills and salary thresholds and other requirements.
There are specific arrangements for transiting crew who are joining ships in the UK or taking temporary shore leave. In many cases, crew can exceptionally enter the UK without an entry clearance and undertake limited forms of work.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of allocation and use of Frontier Worker permits on the deployment of crews from the EU and European Economic Area on ferry routes between (1) Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and (2) Great Britain and Ireland.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’.
Data on the number of applications for the Frontier Worker permit, broken down by nationality, are published in table Vis_D01 of the entry clearance visa applications and outcomes detailed dataset. Data for the Frontier Worker permit can be selected using the ‘Frontier Worker’ visa type subgroup.
Data relating to the country of residence or employment type for Frontier Worker permits is not available.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the allocation and use of Frontier Worker permits for crews on freight ferries between (1) Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and (2) Great Britain and Ireland.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’.
Data on the number of applications for the Frontier Worker permit, broken down by nationality, are published in table Vis_D01 of the entry clearance visa applications and outcomes detailed dataset. Data for the Frontier Worker permit can be selected using the ‘Frontier Worker’ visa type subgroup.
Data relating to the country of residence or employment type for Frontier Worker permits is not available.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to develop a comprehensive strategy to address fraud and financial crime, particularly that committed against older people.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Fraud Strategy will be published shortly.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of existing laws in preventing the distribution of illegal content, including extreme pornography and prohibited images of children, via online services.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Online child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) is an appalling crime that this government is committed to stamping out.
The UK already has some of the most robust legislation in the world to combat online child sexual abuse.
Possession of indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children carries a maximum sentence of 5 years’ imprisonment. In addition, the offence of taking, making, distribution and possession with a view to distribution of any indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph of a child under 18 carries a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment.
In addition, we have strengthened legislation to ensure that those who arrange (or facilitate) to meet a child under the age of 13 for sexual purposes receive sentences commensurate to their crimes. In the PCSC Act, we have amended Section 14 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to include offences against children under 13 (Sections 5-8) and increased the maximum sentence from 14 years to life imprisonment.
The Government is bringing forward the Online Safety Bill, which will require user-to-user and search services to tackle illegal content. The most stringent obligations relate to child sexual abuse and exploitation. Companies will be required to introduce proactive measures to prevent their users from encountering priority illegal content. This includes extreme pornography and child sexual abuse material.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the (1) cost, (2) duration, and (3) means of application, for the Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
To strengthen the security of the UK border, the Government is introducing an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme. This scheme is similar in nature to the USA ESTA and the EU ETIAS Scheme which will be introduced this year.
Applicants will need to complete a quick, light-touch ETA application form for a small fee. They will need to provide biographic and biometric data, and answer a short set of suitability questions.
The exact cost of an ETA application be announced in due course.
If granted, an ETA will be valid for multiple trips over a 2 year period, or until the expiry date of the passport used to apply, whichever is sooner.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to publish details of the mitigations for (1) non-British and Irish residents of the Common Travel Area, and (2) tourists, travelling from air and sea ports in the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
To strengthen the security of the UK border, the Government is introducing an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme.
Individuals arriving in the UK, including those crossing the land border into Northern Ireland, must enter in line with the UK’s immigration framework, including the requirement to obtain an ETA when it is introduced. The UK will not operate routine immigration controls on journeys from within the Common Travel Area, with no immigration controls whatsoever on the land border.
The Government is committed to working with a wide range of stakeholders, including the tourism sector, to ensure the ETA scheme is implemented smoothly.