Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the increase to the immigration health surcharge by 66 per cent in 2024.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Devolved Health Administrations (DHAs). After deducting administration/collection costs, the Home Office transfers the balance to DHSC and the DHAs through the Estimates process, according to the Barnett Formula population percentages.
Information on the income raised by the IHS is published annually in the Home Office Annual report and Accounts. Note that the IHS total is made up of both amounts of Retained Income and amounts payable to the Consolidated Fund.
During the 2022-23 financial year, the IHS generated £1,706m.
During the 2023-24 financial year, the IHS generated £1,782m.
Information on the income for the 2024-25 financial year will be available once the accounts are published later this year.
The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review. The Home Office undertook an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) and an Impact Assessment (IA) alongside the IHS increase.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the changes to the qualification period for indefinite leave to remain apply to people who are already living and working in the United Kingdom or whether the changes will apply to new visa applicants only.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year and further details on the proposed scheme will be provided at the time.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much income the NHS has received from immigration health surcharge payments in each of the last two financial years.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Devolved Health Administrations (DHAs). After deducting administration/collection costs, the Home Office transfers the balance to DHSC and the DHAs through the Estimates process, according to the Barnett Formula population percentages.
Information on the income raised by the IHS is published annually in the Home Office Annual report and Accounts. Note that the IHS total is made up of both amounts of Retained Income and amounts payable to the Consolidated Fund.
During the 2022-23 financial year, the IHS generated £1,706m.
During the 2023-24 financial year, the IHS generated £1,782m.
Information on the income for the 2024-25 financial year will be available once the accounts are published later this year.
The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review. The Home Office undertook an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) and an Impact Assessment (IA) alongside the IHS increase.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how the recruitment of more modern slavery case workers announced in October 2024 will improve National Referral Mechanism waiting times for conclusive grounds decisions for women, which, according to recent data from the International Organization for Migration, are 16 months longer than for men.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government inherited a system in which decision-making times were too long and that is why we made it a priority to reduce these via the recruitment of additional 200 decision makers. This will support all victims, and the backlog of cases has already reduced significantly,
NRM statistics are published and can be found here Modern slavery: NRM and DtN statistics, October to December 2024 - GOV.UK
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether their forthcoming Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy will consider victims of sexual exploitation in the light of recent data from the International Organization for Migration showing that fewer women and girls are being supported through the National Referral Mechanism.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is working closely with law enforcement to tackle the drivers of trafficking for sexual exploitation, including through law enforcement operational intensifications aimed at tackling modern slavery threats and targeting prolific perpetrators. We are currently considering policy options on how we can best support those impacted by sexual exploitation, including in the context of our violence against women and girls strategy.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the £25,000 cap on grants under Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme in 2025–26 will apply to works (1) which are at tender stage with finances committed, (2) which are currently in progress, and (3) in relation to which contracts have been signed.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We expect the cap will be applied to all claims received on or after 1 April 2025. We will provide published guidance on scheme applications and eligibility in due course.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to continue the Review of Civil Legal Aid; and if so, when they intend to publish a final report.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We are committed to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the civil legal aid sector and are keen to work closely with practitioners and their representative bodies to look at how best we can address this.
We want to understand the different ways in which the justice system can be improved and will be carefully considering our options on the way forward. This includes considering the evidence on civil legal aid gathered over the past year.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to increase fees payable for (1) barristers, and (2) solicitors, undertaking legal aid cases.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We want to understand the different ways in which the justice system can be improved and will be carefully considering our options on the way forward, including with regards to legal aid. We acknowledge that the sustainability of the profession is central to a successful legal aid system.
We will carefully consider the evidence including, for example, information gathered as part of the Review of Civil Legal Aid.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report Car Wash Code of Practice Project Report: Home Office Modern Slavery Prevention Fund, published by Nottingham Trent University and submitted to the Home Office in October 2022.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Home Office funded the evaluation report conducted by the Responsible Car Wash Scheme and Nottingham Trent University, as part of its grant funding under the Modern Slavery Prevention Fund, a one-off pot of funding to build the evidence base on what interventions work to prevent modern slavery.
The Home Office has shared the evaluation of this project with the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority so the lessons from this project can be incorporated into operational activity to improve standards within the hand car wash sector. The Government has no plans to respond directly to the report.
In addition, the Director of Labour Market Enforcement (DLME) sets out the scale and nature of labour exploitation in their annual strategy to ensure the three labour market enforcement bodies are targeting the highest-risk industries. The most recent 23-24 DLME strategy highlights hand car washes as a sector at risk of labour exploitation.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will respond to the report Car Wash Code of Practice Project Report: Home Office Modern Slavery Prevention Fund, published by Nottingham Trent University and submitted to the Home Office in October 2022.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Home Office funded the evaluation report conducted by the Responsible Car Wash Scheme and Nottingham Trent University, as part of its grant funding under the Modern Slavery Prevention Fund, a one-off pot of funding to build the evidence base on what interventions work to prevent modern slavery.
The Home Office has shared the evaluation of this project with the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority so the lessons from this project can be incorporated into operational activity to improve standards within the hand car wash sector. The Government has no plans to respond directly to the report.
In addition, the Director of Labour Market Enforcement (DLME) sets out the scale and nature of labour exploitation in their annual strategy to ensure the three labour market enforcement bodies are targeting the highest-risk industries. The most recent 23-24 DLME strategy highlights hand car washes as a sector at risk of labour exploitation.