Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to (a) assess instances of and (b) help tackle transnational repression.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The UK will not tolerate transnational repression and will stand up for the rights of all people to live here safely and freely. The National Security Act 2023 represents a step change in our ability to counter foreign interference, and provides the security services and law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to deter, detect, and disrupt modern-day state threats.
We do everything we can to keep citizens safe and the country secure. This involves taking a proactive approach to countering the most acute forms of state-directed threats to individuals. Anyone who thinks they might be a victim should report incidents or suspicious activity to the Police.
The Defending Democracy Taskforce, working across Government, is reviewing the UK’s response to transnational repression to ensure we have a robust and joined up response across government and law enforcement.
I recently announced new training for frontline officers to increase their understanding of threats that foreign powers present, and enhance their ability to combat these.
We will also be reforming our systems and processes within government to more effectively deal with transnational repression.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he is taking steps to help ensure that people with indefinite leave to remain that was granted before the digitisation of his Department's records are able to prove their immigration status when travelling.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
As part of our move to a ‘digital by default’ border and immigration system, physical immigration documents are being replaced by fully digital eVisas (an online record of the person’s immigration status).
Customers with indefinite leave to enter or indefinite leave to remain (also known as settlement) who currently prove their rights using a physical document such as a wet-ink stamp in their passport or a vignette sticker, are encouraged to make a ‘No Time Limit’ (NTL) application.
If their NTL application is successful, they will get a BRP to prove their rights. They should carry their BRP, along with their passport, when travelling internationally. Once they have a BRP, they will be able to create a UKVI account to access their eVisa later this year. By the end of 2024, ‘No Time Limit’ applicants will receive an eVisa, rather than a BRP. Further updates on this change will be available in due course.
Customers who do not create a UKVI account will be able to use their legacy physical document such as a wet-ink stamp in their passport or a vignette sticker during 2025 when travelling. However, creating a UKVI account will bring a range of benefits to customers. This includes the fact that an eVisa cannot be lost or damaged, like a vignette, and there is no need for a potentially costly replacement. Customers who replace their legacy document with an eVisa will benefit from the automated access that public bodies, including the Department for Work & Pensions and the National Health Service will securely have to their immigration status, which will streamline access to key services. We are also developing technology to enable carriers to check immigration status automatically via systems checks for those with eVisas, reducing the need for carriers to make physical documentation checks and improving the passenger experience.
Further information about eVisas and future updates will be available at www.gov.uk/evisa.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many hotels that were previously used to provide accommodation for asylum seekers and subsequently closed by his Department have subsequently been reopened for that purpose.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office has been clear that the use of hotels is a temporary and necessary measure to ensure we meet our statutory obligation to accommodate destitute asylum seekers.
Since October 2023, none of the 150 hotels that have ceased to be used for accommodating asylum seekers have been re-contracted or re-used by the Home Office for this purpose.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is his policy to create a UK visa scheme for Palestinian (a) families displaced in Gaza and (b) orphans from Gaza.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office is not currently considering establishing a separate route for Palestinians to come to the UK. In any humanitarian situation, the UK must consider its response in the round. Palestinians who wish to join family members in the UK must do so via the existing range of routes available.
Immediate family members of British citizens, and those settled in the UK, who wish to come and live in the UK and do not have a current UK visa can apply under one of the existing family visa routes. UKVI is working closely with the FCDO in supporting family members of British nationals to exit from Gaza who require a visa, signposting the necessary steps and expediting appointments at the Visa Application Centre.
Any application for a UK visa will be assessed against the requirements of the Immigration Rules and our suitability requirements. Consideration will be given to compelling, compassionate and exceptional circumstances raised and may be taken into account where certain requirements are not met.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 November 2023 to Question 359 on Abortion: Demonstrations, what progress his Department has made on implementing safe access zones.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recently ran a public consultation on non-statutory guidance to support the introduction of the offence of interference with access to or provision of abortion services, which closed on 22 January. We are now considering the responses received and will publish the final guidance in due course.
We anticipate commencing Section 9 of the Public Order Act 2023 no later than Spring 2024.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to tackle car crime in north London.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is committed to tackling vehicle crime. The latest estimates from the Crime Survey for England and Wales shows there were 726,000 incidents of vehicle-related theft in the year ending September 2023. This represents a 39% fall, when compared with the year ending March 2010, when there was an estimated 1,198,000 such incidents.
The Government is working closely with police and motor manufacturers through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group, chaired by ACC Jennifer Sims, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime, to take forward a programme of work to prevent and reduce vehicle crime nationally. This includes training police officers on methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles and working with industry to prevent theft. A network of vehicle crime leads has been established in every police force in England and Wales, ensuring forces share information about emerging trends in vehicle crime and are better able to tackle regional issues. The Metropolitan Police Service are represented on the Working Group and have an established vehicle crime lead.
We are also legislating through the Criminal Justice Bill to create two new offences where a person possesses, makes, adapts, supplies or offers to supply electronic devices where there are reasonable grounds to suspect they will be used in vehicle theft. The legislation will make it easier for police to prosecute criminals making and supplying these devices, as well as vehicle thieves.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will have discussions with business on the potential merits of putting information about domestic abuse on period products.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Government engages regularly with businesses and employers to raise awareness of domestic abuse and to ensure that all survivors can access support to encourage a whole system response to improving signposting to services which are accessible to all.
We do not currently have plans for such an initiative.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the clarity of the updated caseworker guidance for processing late applications for the EU Settlement Scheme from people with permanent residency cards.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) caseworker guidance was updated on 16 January in light of operational experience and stakeholder feedback regarding the assessment of reasonable grounds for applying late to the EUSS.
The updated guidance now addresses circumstances where a person may have had a reasonable belief they did not need to apply earlier to the EUSS, or a reasonable basis for being unaware they needed to apply. This may include where they had been issued with a permanent residence document under the EEA Regulations, which implemented free movement law in the UK.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an estimate of the number of new refugees who become homeless after leaving asylum accommodation.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office does not hold the information requested.
All individuals who receive a positive decision on their asylum claim are eligible to receive support and accommodation for at least 28 days from when their decision is served.
We offer move on support through Migrant Help or their partner organisation to assist all newly granted refugees to integrate into society and to mitigate the risk of homelessness. This includes providing advice on accessing the labour market, on applying for Universal Credit and signposting to local authorities for assistance with housing.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2023 to Question 6818 on Refugees: homelessness, what support his Department is providing to local authorities to reduce the risk of homelessness for new refugees.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
There are no plans to extend the move on period beyond the 28-day period set out in legislation. All individuals who are granted leave should currently be receiving a minimum of 28 days on asylum support after they have been issued a Biometric Residence Permit.
We are working with our partners, including local authorities, to provide timely notification of key events that impact them. Additionally, we are working with our Strategic Migration Partnerships to facilitate regional sessions with councils and to share data.
Our accommodation providers are directly working with local authorities to notify them when an individual is due to have their asylum support ended.
We continue to work closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to ensure the right asylum decision data is being shared with local authorities to enable effective planning and to lessen the impact on existing homelessness and rough sleeping pressures.