Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to mandate individual risk assessments for all employees in her Department before they return to the workplace following the easing of covid-19 restrictions; and how many individual risk assessments for people returning to work have been conducted by her Department as of 21 February 2022.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Managers of Home Office employees are already strongly encouraged to use the Department’s Covid-19 Individual Risk Indicator (CIRI) tool to have a structured conversation with their team members before they return to their workplace.
The CIRI tool enables a personalised discussion of the employee’s individual needs, concerns and risk factors to enable practical steps to be taken to facilitate their return to the workplace.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's Immigration Rules, what the criteria is for assessing safe third countries for asylum seekers; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The technical changes to the Immigration Rules laid on 10 December will send a strong message to those who could and should have claimed asylum in the first safe country they entered. They will not be able to make claims at sea and they may not have their claims decided in the UK.
Our Immigration Rules set out clear criteria which must be met in order for a third country to be considered safe for a particular applicant.
I made a statement on the Rules changes on 16 December.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development on Returns or Readmissions Agreements for those deemed to be (a) irregular migrants, (b) refused asylum and (c) inadmissible; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
As an EU Member State, the UK participated in a number of EU Readmission Agreements (EURAs) with third countries. Now that the Transition period has ended, we are no longer party to these and, where appropriate, we are looking to transition these arrangements into bilateral agreements. The Home Office continues to work closely with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development on this. As negotiations with individual countries are ongoing, it would not be appropriate to make a statement at this time.
Negotiations have now concluded with the EU. The UK and EU have agreed a joint declaration noting the importance of effectively managing migratory flows. The UK will continue to engage bilaterally and multilaterally with Member States to discuss suitable practical arrangements on illegal migration, asylum, returns and family reunion for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether external bodies were consulted in advance of publishing new Immigration rules changes; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
We have laid changes to the Immigration Rules that are vital to curb irregular migration, which is often facilitated by criminal gangs seeking to arrange dangerous journeys for profit. We have been absolutely clear that we will do all we can to make the use of small boats to cross the Channel an unviable option for reaching the UK.
It is a longstanding principle that asylum seekers should claim at the earliest opportunity in the first safe country they reach. Under existing Rules, any claimant who travelled through a safe country before claiming asylum in the UK could expect their claim to be considered inadmissible.
This is a technical change to the existing Rules which were already coming into effect from January. For these reasons, changes to the Rules on place of claim and third country inadmissibility have not been subject to formal public consideration.
I made a statement on the Rules changes on 16 December.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with his counterparts in (a) EU countries, (b) EEA states and (c) non-EU or EEA states on bilateral deals on or which include Returns or Readmission Agreements for those deemed to be (i) irregular migrants, (ii) refused asylum or (iii) deemed inadmissible; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
As an EU Member State, the UK participated in a number of EU Readmission Agreements (EURAs) with third countries. Now that the Transition period has ended, we are no longer party to these and, where appropriate, we are looking to transition these arrangements into bilateral agreements. The Home Office continues to work closely with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development on this. As negotiations with individual countries are ongoing, it would not be appropriate to make a statement at this time.
Negotiations have now concluded with the EU. The UK and EU have agreed a joint declaration noting the importance of effectively managing migratory flows. The UK will continue to engage bilaterally and multilaterally with Member States to discuss suitable practical arrangements on illegal migration, asylum, returns and family reunion for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers were in (a) full board hotels and (b) full board barracks in the UK on 30 October 2020; and how many hotels are being used for that purpose as of 16 November 2020.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The current global pandemic has presented us with significant challenges when it comes to the provision of asylum accommodation, including sourcing sufficient suitable accommodation to meet demand.
The use of hotels and wider government facilities are a short-term measure and we are working to move people to longer-term dispersal accommodation as soon as it becomes available.
The latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of asylum seekers accommodated in each local authority area, which includes those in hotel and wider government facilities. These statistics can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets#asylum-support.
The Home Office does not publish a breakdown of these statistics which disaggregates the type of accommodation being used to accommodate asylum seekers.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the review of asylum support and accommodation provided in Glasgow has been completed; and when she plans to publish the findings of that review.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
We are committed to improving accommodation and support services experienced by asylum seekers, as evidenced by the evaluation of the provisions in Glasgow during the pandemic and our commitment to act on the findings.
The evaluation is nearing completion, and the sharing of the relevant actions will be considered once the evaluation has been concluded.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) artificial intelligence and (b) machine learning projects are being (i) undertaken and (ii) considered for her Department.
Answered by James Brokenshire
As such, the information requested is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been classed as (a) having specific needs and (b) at risk under Annex G to Schedule 2 Statement of Requirements and with reference to the asylum accommodation contractors’ duties in paragraphs 1.2.1.3 to 1.2.16 of Schedule 2 and paragraphs 1.2 to 1.3 of Schedule 25 to the asylum accommodation contracts.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
This information is not help in a reportable format and to provide it could only be done at a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will publish the (a) dates and (b) redacted minutes of the meetings of the Home Office’s Safeguarding Board for the AASC /AIRE contracts, established in November 2019.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
A safeguarding framework has been produced, which is supported by our service providers safeguarding documentation.
The date and minutes of the Safeguarding Board will be published shortly.