Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to publish the report entitled Prostitution and sex work: nature and prevalence in England and Wales.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
As part of the Government’s response to the 2016 Home Affairs Select Committee report into prostitution, the Home Office provided £150,000 to fund research specifically into the nature and prevalence of prostitution in England and Wales.
This independent research was led by the University of Bristol and will enable us to inform an objective evidence base before we can consider any changes to policy and legislation in respect of prostitution.
The report was published on 30 October and is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nature-of-prostitution-and-sex-work-in-england-and-wales
Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to answer Question 2871 tabled on 21 October 2019 by the hon. Member for Luton South.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The response for UIN 2871 was answered on 4th November 2019.
Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of applicants to the EU Settlement Scheme who are resident in Luton who have (a) been granted settled status, (b) been granted pre-settled status and (c) had their application turned down in each year since the introduction of that scheme.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Published information on EU Settlement Scheme applications by region and local authority can be found in the Home Office’s ‘EU Settlement Scheme quarterly statistics’, local authority statistics tables, table EUSS_LA, available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/826752/eu-settlement-scheme-local-authority-statistics-28-august-2018-to-30-june-2019.ods.
The latest published information on EU Settlement Scheme applications concluded for the UK can be found in the Home Office’s ‘EU Settlement Scheme monthly statistics’ available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/eu-settlement-scheme-statistics-august-2019. It was noted in this release that one application was refused on suitability grounds during the period from 1 August to 31 August 2019.
The available data is of applications received and processed since testing began on 28 August 2018, just over 12 months ago. The Home Office does not currently publish statistics on EU Settlement Scheme application outcomes by local authority.
The Home Office is committed to publishing more detailed quarterly statistics on the EU Settlement Scheme. Home Office statisticians are currently considering the content of the next quarterly release and will take into account the views of statistics users.
Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the closure of the Crown post office in Luton on the accessibility to biometric information services for visa or immigration applications.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Customers making immigration applications can no longer use Post Office branches to enrol their biometrics in the majority of cases. Most customers now enrol their biometrics at a UK Visas & Citizenship Application Service (UKVCAS) centre.
The previous service offered by the Post Office was biometric enrolment only, whereas the new UKVCAS service brings together multiple services to make the application process more streamlined.
The UKVCAS service is run by our commercial partner, Sopra Steria Ltd (SSL), who undertook market research to identify service locations; their research included the impact on customer travel time, cost and accessibility. The results of this were that 62% of customers will, on average, have to travel less than 25 miles to visit a core service point, with 78% travelling less than 50 miles.
SSL can also cater for customers who wish to have more flexible, on-demand, mobile application services, for example at university campuses, employers’ offices or individual customers’ homes.
As part of this contract SSL continuously captures and analyses customer feedback and reviews customer demand to ensure there is sufficient capacity. During May and June SSL opened six additional sites: Manchester, Cardiff, Exeter, Leeds, Sheffield and Edinburgh, with the view to open more.
For information on the closest core and enhanced service points to Luton, please see the UKVCAS website at: https://www.ukvcas.co.uk/locations.
Asked by: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria his Department uses to determine the locations in the UK where biometric information for visa or immigration applications can be provided.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The majority of customers will be able to submit their biometrics and supporting information for their visa application via a UK Visa and Citizenship Application Service (UK VCAS) centre, which are run by Sopra Steria Ltd (SSL) on behalf of UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI). However, Individuals who have higher needs, may be vulnerable, or whose circumstances may be complex and would benefit from face to face interaction with the Home Office are directed to Service and Support Centres (SSC) where they will receive support with their application. The SSCs are all based in pre-existing locations which were previously used as premium service centres, which broadly align with the postal districts of our customers.
There are currently six core UKVCAS service points and seven core SSC’s across the UK at which application submission services are offered. The SSCs are based in Belfast, Cardiff, Croydon, Glasgow, Liverpool, Sheffield and Solihull.
SSL undertook market research to identify initial service locations for the UKVCAS service points; their research included the impact on customer travel time, cost and accessibility. Beyond that, SSL offer a range of enhanced services in a further 50 UKVCAS locations. These services enable customers to submit their biometric information (photo and fingerprints) and supporting evidence in one location. 62% of customers will, on average, have to travel less than 25 miles to visit a core service centre, with 78% travelling less than 50 miles. Appointments may be offered for individual customers and/or family groups to enrol their biometrics together.