Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 19 February (HL13430), whether disclosing further details of their planning to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is in the public interest; if not, why not; and if not, what assessment they have made of the compliance of such non-disclosure with paragraph 1.3(d) of the ministerial code, published in January 2018.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Paragraph 1.3(d) of the ministerial code states Ministers should be as open as possible with Parliament and the public, refusing to provide information only when disclosure would not be in the public interest, which should be decided in accordance with the relevant statutes and the Freedom of Information Act 2000;
Information relating to the Her Majesty’s Government planning to avoid the hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is exempt from disclosure under section 35 (1) (a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which states; Information held by a government department or by the Welsh Assembly Government is exempt information if it relates to (a) The formulation of Government policy.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many crossing points there are on the island of Ireland between the UK and the Republic of Ireland; and what estimate they have made of how many vehicle movements take place each day at such points; and what percentage of these are commercially related vehicle movements.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The data used by the Home Office regarding vehicle movements between UK and the Republic of Ireland is from the Department of Infrastructure (Northern Ireland) published on the Parliament UK website entitled The Land border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. The link to this paper can be found below: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmniaf/329/32904.htm#_idTextAnchor009
The land border between Northern Ireland and Ireland Contents - introduction from the publication.
1.The UK Government and the European Union (EU) both acknowledge the unique circumstances of Northern Ireland in the light of the UK’s decision to leave the EU. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that will share a land border with the EU after Brexit. In the referendum, Northern Ireland voters voted to remain in the EU by a majority of 56% to 44%. In UK as a whole, voters voted by 52% to 48% to leave the EU. Northern Ireland’s constitutional framework, under the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, has a distinctive cross-border dimension. Once the UK leaves the EU, the land border in Northern Ireland will change from an internal to an external EU border. This report considers the implications of the UK’s changing relationship with the EU for the Northern Ireland land border.
Information regarding CTA movements can be found on the additional data paper published on the parliament UK website. The link to this paper can be found below.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what planning the Home Office has undertaken with regard to the technical means by which a soft border on the island of Ireland may be retained, other than by way of the EU Withdrawal Agreement.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Her Majesty’s Government has undertaken planning to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland but will not be giving further details at this stage.
The UK Government has been resolute in its commitments to Northern Ire-land and remains committed to avoiding a ‘hard border.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Home Office officials received a bonus payment for securing immigration removals in the period 2012 to 2017.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
To collate and supply the infomation requested would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold.
The nearest approximation the number of bonuses and how those work, for staff working in Immigration Enforcement and its predecessor UK Border Agency was set out in a letter dated 25 June 2018 from the Home Office Permanent Secretary to Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP. A copy of that letter was deposited in the Library, and I am arranging for Lord Bassam of Brighton to receive a copy.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people were wrongfully detained under immigration powers between 2012 and 2017; and, of those, how many were part of the Windrush generation.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Information on the number of people detained wrongfully under immigration powers between 2012-13 and 2016-17 is set out in Sir Philip Rutnam’s letter to the Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP, dated 25 June 2018 and that is deposited in the House Library. I am arranging for a copy of that letter to be provided to Lord Bassam of Brighton.
The Home Office is reviewing all cases of immigration detention, dating back to 2002, of Caribbean Commonwealth nationals now aged over 45 (i.e. born before 1 January 1973), to establish whether any of those people could have entered the UK prior to 1973 and therefore might be protected by the Immigration Act 1971. As the Home Secretary told the Joint Committee on Human Rights on 6 June 2018, that work is due to be completed by the middle of July 2018. Its findings will be reported to Parliament within the regular series of updates, to the Home Affairs Select Committee, to which the Home Secretary has made an explicit commitment.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people complained about ill treatment by the Home Office since 2010; how many of those complaints are still outstanding; and what is the estimated time it will take to resolve those outstanding cases.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
For immigration and customs routes, data is not recorded in a manner which would allow for a report on how many complaints since 2010 relate to ill-treatment.
To find the number of complaints which relate to ill-treatment, number outstanding and expected time to resolve each complaint wouldrequire a trawl through each individual case to ascertain the nature of the enquiry, and this would breach the disproportionate cost threshold.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of individuals and families affected by the impact of the hostile environment policy.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Successive Governments have brought forward measures to prevent illegal immigration and the misuse of public services and benefits.
Impact assessments on the Immigration Acts 2014 and 2016 were published during the passage of the legislation, and key compliant environment measures on immigration checks by employers and landlords have been the subject of public consultations.
Many checks, such as right to rent and right to work, are applicable to everyone in the UK on a non-discriminatory basis. Checks are often conducted independently of the Home Office and so it is not possible for the Government to accurately estimate the number of individuals who have been impacted by these measures.
However, it is right that we understand the impact of the compliant environment, and that safeguards are effective in protecting vulnerable persons and preventing unintended consequences for those lawfully in the UK.
In light of Windrush, we are reviewing our safeguards and recognise the need to put in place an evaluation scheme to do this.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in determining the compensation scheme for victims of the hostile environment policy towards the Windrush generation; and whether the scheme will cover any losses in connection with (1) employment opportunities, (2) housing, (3) physical, psychological and mental ill health problems, and (4) meeting Home Office immigration status requirements.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The compensation scheme for those of the Windrush generation that might have been affected is in the process of being established.
The call for evidence for that scheme ended on 8 June and the Home Office are now preparing to launch the next stage of consultation, working with affected communities. The scheme will be set up as soon as possible after we have consulted on the design and scope of what should be included.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what were the Home Office's annual targets for the removal of illegal migrants for each year since 2010; and how many people were removed because of inadequate documentation in each of those years.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
My Department’s approach is set out in Sir Philip Rutnam’s letter to the Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP, dated 14 May 2018 that my Rt Hon Friend the Minister of State for Immigration deposited in the House Library.
We are currently prioritising Caribbean Nationals. The Home Office has been checking records back to 2002 when electronic records began, looking at all removals and deportations of Caribbean nationals aged 45 plus. So far there have been 63 cases identified where Caribbean individuals could have entered the UK before 1973. This means of the total 8000 total deportation and administrative removal records that came up, so far there is a focus on 63, there is something in their record that indicates they could have entered before 1973. Of these, there are 32 Foreign National Offenders and 31 administrative removals.
We are now reviewing each of these cases carefully in more depth - including bringing paper files out of storage if necessary - to determine whether anyone who was protected under the 1971 Act was removed or deported unlawfully. This work will be independently assured. This does not mean that 63 people have been wrongfully removed or deported. It is the number of cases which merit further investigation.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of individuals and families who have been adversely affected by the hostile immigration environment strategy.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The term 'hostile environment' was first coined by Alan Johnson when he was Home Secretary. The current Home Secretary has made it clear that he will no longer be using this term.
Successive Governments have brought forward measures to prevent illegal immigration and the misuse of public services and benefits. Impact assessments on the Immigration Acts 2014 and 2016 were published during the passage of the legislation, and key compliant environment measures on immigration checks by employers and landlords have been the subject of public consultations.
Many checks, such as right to rent and right to work, are applicable to everyone in the UK on a non-discriminatory basis. Checks are often conducted independently of the Home Office and so it is not possible for the Government to accurately estimate the number of individuals who have been impacted by these measures.