Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what has been the cost of legal advice received in relation to the management of Manston migrant centre.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The costs of advice cannot be accurately calculated as the majority of advice has been provided by Home Office departmental lawyers as part of their advisory role.
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of recognising regional languages in the immigration system, including of protected minority groups.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
Language skills are an important part of integration for those coming to work, study or settle in the UK. We keep the language requirements set out in the immigration rules under regular review.
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Home Office immigration decisions were made in (1) 2017/18, (2) 2018/19, (3) 2019/20, (4) 2020/21, and (5) 2021/22; and how many such decisions were overturned on appeal in each of those years.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Home Office publishes a range of data related to immigration in the Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release. Attached is the most recent publication of data for asylum and resettlement.
Data on appeal outcomes is published by HM Courts and Tribunals Service.
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many requests for reimbursement have been received by HM Passport Office since 2010; and how much has been paid out annually since that year.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
It is HM Passport Office's policy to reimburse any reasonable out of pocket expenses as a result of its error or to refund where no processing costs have been incurred.
The table below shows the total amount of reimbursements by HM Passport Office to its customers in each financial year from 2017/18 which includes refunds for cancelled appointments or where fees have been taken in error or duplicated.
Year | Total reimbursement paid to customers |
2017/2018 | £1,191,918.64 |
2018/2019 | £1,624,641.40 |
2019/2020 | £1,104,321.74 |
2020/2021 | £364,254.15 |
2021/2022 | £2,175,767.44 |
2022/2023 (to 30 November 2022) | £3,139,740.50 |
Data relating to the number of requests for reimbursement, or the total reimbursements paid in each financial year prior to 2017/18, is not held in a reportable format.
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much the arrangement with Albania to fast-track the removal of Albanian nationals who have travelled to the UK via small boats, announced on 25 August, will cost; and how many Albanians seeking asylum in the UK they expect to be removed under this arrangement.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
Following the new approach agreed with the Albanian government last week, we are in close discussions with them on the operational details. Further information including final actual spend will be provided within Home Office financial statements in the usual way.
We continue to work extremely closely with our Albanian partners on a range of issues and are committed to building on our cooperation to date, including on tackling illegal migration. That includes the excellent operational collaboration with Albanian law enforcement, and our readmissions agreement signed last year, which has already seen over 1,000 Albanian foreign national offenders and immigration offenders removed from the UK, including some who crossed the channel illegally to come to the UK.
The UK and Albania pledged to fast track the removal of Albanians with no right to be in the UK wherever possible, and to send senior Albanian law enforcement to the UK to speed up processing and share information with our authorities. In co-operation with the Government of Albania, we are taking every opportunity to intercept the activities of organised criminal gangs and people smugglers, and speed up the removal of Albanians and other nationals with no right to be in the UK.
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much will be paid each month by the UK, and to whom, as part of the UK–France Joint Statement of 14 November.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The funding arrangement agreed on 14 November was considered in terms of economy, efficiency, effectiveness and equity when considering it's value.
We work closely with France to tackle illegal migration and jointly monitor the impact of funding arrangements, including the financial package agreed on 14 November, through daily operational contact and regular strategic reviews with agreed metrics.
Our joint work has seen the prevention of over 31,000 crossings so far this year. It would be inappropriate to publish the detail of these reviews as they contain sensitive operational details and relate to ongoing operational bilateral discussions.
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment of value for money was undertaken in relation to the UK–France Joint Statement of 14 November; and when that assessment will be published.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The funding arrangement agreed on 14 November was considered in terms of economy, efficiency, effectiveness and equity when considering it’s value.
We work closely with France to tackle illegal migration and jointly monitor the impact of funding arrangements, including the financial package agreed on 14 November, through daily operational contact and regular strategic reviews with agreed metrics.
Our joint work has seen the prevention of over 31,000 crossings so far this year. It would be inappropriate to publish the detail of these reviews as they contain sensitive operational details and relate to ongoing operational bilateral discussions.
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many British National (Overseas) nationals from Hong Kong have accessed Welcome Programme support since April 2021; and what has been the cost of this support from then to date.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The UK-wide Welcome Programme was launched in April 2021, providing a comprehensive support package with an easily accessible universal offer as its foundation, progressing to targeted support for those most in need. The universal offer is open to all BN(O) visa holders in the UK and includes a network of 12 virtual Welcome Hubs across the UK, funding for VCSE organisations to deliver national and regional projects and a comprehensive Welcome Pack on GOV.UK, at a combined cost of £12.1 million to date. The Programme also funds targeted support provided by local authorities on a demand-led basis for individuals requiring additional assistance. Through this, over 2000 BN(O)s have been supported with English language provision at up to £850 per person, at a cost of approximately £1.5 million to date. There have been no claims for destitution support to date.
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much they have spent each month since January 2019 on supporting asylum seekers in the UK who are waiting for their asylum applications to be processed.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The United Kingdom has a statutory obligation to provide destitute asylum seekers with accommodation and other support whilst their application for asylum is being considered. The cost of supporting an asylum seeker is dependent on the level of support they receive.
Total expenditure on asylum including asylum support is published in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, available at Gov.UK.
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the administrative cost of processing each visa compared to its application fee.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The current fee-setting criteria are set out in Section 68(9) of the Immigration Act 2014.