Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of civil servants in his Department who are on temporary contracts are women.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The proportion of female Civil Servants in the Home Office who are on temporary contracts is 50%.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether all Afghan people who have been accepted for transfer to the UK will fly in on flights arranged by the Government.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Resettlement of eligible Afghans remains a top priority for this government. As of June 2023, around 24,600 vulnerable people affected by the events in Afghanistan have been brought to safety.
The UK government and our partners will arrange and fund travel for those accepted under our Afghan schemes as part of the resettlement and relocation process. Depending on the individual circumstances, this may be via charter or commercial flights.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied asylum seeking children that have gone missing from hotels are unaccounted for as of 7 November 2023.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
UASC hotels are temporary accommodation that provide safeguarding for a child until they are ready to be transferred through the National Transfer Scheme (NTS) from an entry local authority to another local authority in the UK for ongoing care and support.
The Home Office has put in place further funding throughout 2023-24 of £6,000 for every unaccompanied child moved from a UASC hotel to a local authority within five working days to encourage quicker transfers into local authority care.
We take the safety of those in our care seriously. We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all young people in emergency interim hotels are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with a local authority.
The data requested cannot be provided as it comes from live operational databases that have not been quality assured.
The most recent published data can be found at Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the cost to the public purse of (a) digital and (b) print advertising in Scotland by her Department was in each month of the last eight years.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Hon Member to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities transparency pages where we regularly publish any spend exceeding £250: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dluhc-departmental-spending-over-250
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the safety of Afghan people who have been accepted for transfer to the UK who have remained in Pakistan after 1 November 2023.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
We are in close contact with the Government of Pakistan to try to ensure that Afghans eligible to resettle in the UK are not subject to deportation. The former Foreign Secretary, received assurances from Foreign Minister Jilani on 27 October that they would be safe (recorded in their exchange on X (formerly Twitter) the same day). We have provided photo ID approved by the Government of Pakistan to all eligible families to show that they are part of the UK's schemes. And we have provided guidance to those families on what to do if they are approached by the police and a telephone number to allow them to contact the British High Commission if needed.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many private limited companies that formed in 2021 have filed accounts with HMRC as of 7 November 2023.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
HMRC has interpreted this question to refer to details of Corporation Tax (CT) returns filed by companies incorporated in 2021.
The deadline for filing all of those CT returns has not yet been reached, and some companies will have, or may still inform HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) that they are not trading, therefore HMRC would not expect returns from them. Given this, up to date and accurate information cannot be provided.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2023 to Question 200463 on Refugees: Afghanistan, if she will take steps to establish the number of Afghan people based in Pakistan awaiting applications to be processed by the Visa Application Centre.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The number of Afghans awaiting applications to be processed at Visa Application Centre is internal management information and is not for public release at this time.
Cross government work continues at pace to provide resettlement to those located in third countries.
Data on Afghanistan resettlement is released quarterly and the latest release is available to view at: Afghan Resettlement Programme: operational data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to respond to the final report of the Brook House Inquiry.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Government will carefully consider the findings of the Brook House Inquiry in its detailed report, including the recommendations in relation to the management of the immigration detention estate and the welfare of detained individuals.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration has not been reappointed.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) is a statutory public appointment. These appointments are made by Ministers in line with the Governance Code on Public Appointments, which states “there is no automatic presumption of reappointment; each case should be considered on its own merits”.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of Afghans people based in Pakistan awaiting applications to be processed by the Visa Application Centre.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Ministry of Defence first consider all applications under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP). Afghan citizens and their family members assessed as eligible for relocation will then be referred to the Home Office for permission to enter the UK.
As of June 2023, we have relocated over c.12,200 people under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy Scheme (ARAP) initiative, while over 11,500 people have been granted settled status, since the scheme launched in April 2021.