Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to re-establish the Arts and Entertainment Taskforce.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government values the contribution from workers in the creative industries and is committed to ensuring there are immigration routes that work for them. There is an excellent immigration offer for workers within the creative industries and we continually keep our policies under review.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending the Licensing Act 2003 to include a legal definition of the term drunk.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The High Court has set out in case law (Neale v E 1984) that the word ‘drunk’ should be given its ‘ordinary and natural meaning’.
It is an offence under S.141 of the Licensing Act 2003 knowingly to serve alcohol to someone who is drunk. It is also an offence under S.142 of the Licensing Act 2002 to obtain alcohol for someone who is drunk. Those who commit either offence could be fined up to £1000.
Ultimately the decision to serve alcohol to a person is taken by an appropriate person within a licensed premises – for example a designated premises supervisor.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to extend the temporary off-sales regulatory easement in the Business and Planning Act 2020 beyond 31 March 2025.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Home Office conducted a consultation on the future of the temporary off-sales regulatory easement earlier this year. A response will be published in due course.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to provide the UNHCR with a renewed quota under Pathway 2 of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has made an important commitment to resettle Afghans fleeing persecution and those who served alongside the UK.
As of the end of June 2024, the latest published Immigration Statistics show that around 30,100 people had been brought to safety from Afghanistan and the region. The latest release is available at:
The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), designed to support those who have assisted UK efforts in Afghanistan and stood up for UK values, as well as vulnerable people, has seen 12,131 individuals resettled to the UK, as of 30 June 2024.
Our immediate priority for the ACRS is the relocation of those individuals who have already been identified as eligible for resettlement under our resettlement schemes but have not yet travelled.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visas his Department has granted to applicants from North Macedonia in each year since 2020.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on visas granted, by nationality, are published in table Vis_D02 of the Entry clearance detailed dataset. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relate up to the end of 2023.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to introduce a (a) visa exemption, (b) visa on arrival and (c) eVisa scheme for people from North Macedonia.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
There are no plans to introduce a visa exemption or visa on arrival for North Macedonians. The introduction of eVisas will help travellers prove their status at the UK border in a secure, timely and efficient manner. This introduction will not be country specific.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department plans to provide funding to Women's Aid in the next three financial years.
Answered by Laura Farris
Tackling violence against women and girls is a government priority. Our strategies aim to transform the whole of society’s response to these crimes with actions to prevent abuse, support victims and ensure more perpetrators are bought to justice.
The Home Office has provided funding to Women’s Aid of up to £1.34m until March 2025 to deliver the Flexible Fund. This fund will help hundreds of domestic abuse victims next year who will receive lifeline payments to help escape tormenting and often life-threatening abuse, providing the chance to rebuild their lives. We are also investing £753k into Women’s Aid next year to improve the awareness of domestic abuse amongst young people.
Funding beyond March 2025 is subject to future budgets which will be set through the next Spending Review process.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether UK Visa and Immigration is meeting the eight-week service standard for processing graduate visas.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
We are operating within the eight-week service standard for Graduate applications.
Some applications may take longer if we have requested further information, or if their personal circumstances are complex. Further details can be found at Visa processing times: applications inside the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether officials in his Department with responsibility for engaging with hon. Members are given training on the types of visas that are available.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Officials responsible for engaging with Hon. Members are required to complete an initial 12-week training programme, which includes training on the visa routes available.
Following the initial training programme, officials are subject to assurance checks on all their work until they are assessed to meet the required quality standard.
Ongoing development ensures that officials keep their understanding of immigration routes up to date.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason his Department has reduced the amount of support given to people living in asylum accommodation which provides all their meals to £8.86 per week.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The level of the allowance given to those supported under section 95 and section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 is reviewed each year to ensure it covers an asylum seeker’s essential living needs.
In setting the rates, we have utilised an alternative methodology to determine the costs of essential needs, which uses a ‘disaggregated CPI’ (Consumer Prices Index). The methodology has been designed to offer a more accurate measure of changes in the price of items to cover essential living needs. As previous rate increases have been made using CPI rates, this has led to an overestimate of the cost of essential needs for an individual in catered accommodation, therefore, using the methodology set out above, the catered rates have been slightly reduced.
Individuals accommodated in hotels and other catered sites are also provided 3 meals a day, snacks, water, toiletries, and some other services, in addition to their weekly allowance. Additional support is also available to pregnant women, young children, and individuals who provide evidence of exceptional needs.