Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has examined the Canadian Provincial Nominee Programme scheme as part of its policy planning for a new UK immigration system after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Prime Minister has proposed that there should be an Implementation Period immediately after the UK leaves the EU, while we and the EU put in place the necessary preparations for the future arrangements, and to ensure that people and businesses only have to plan for one set of changes. During this time, EU citizens will continue to be able to come and live and work in the UK, but there will be a registration system
There is a wide range of options as to how EU migration might work after that Period. We are considering these options very carefully and we will take decisions based on evidence and the views of stakeholders.
We will be setting out initial proposals for our future immigration arrangements shortly.
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many meetings she has had with Scottish Government Ministers on the Government's proposed reforms to the UK's immigration system after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Government is considering a range of options for the immigration system for EU citizens after the UK leaves the EU. Since the Referendum result last year, Ministers have been undertaking an extensive programme of engagement and evidence gathering with all interested parties including the Devolved Administrations, businesses, educational institutions and many others. Most recently, I discussed the recent agreement on citizens’ rights and next steps on the future immigration arrangements at the Joint Ministerial Committee (European Negotiations) on 12 December 2017. Home Office officials also have frequent meetings with their colleagues in the Devolved Administrations, including the Scottish Government.
On 27 July, the Government commissioned the independent Migration Advisory Committee to advise on current patterns of EU migration across all sectors, and the role of migration in the wider economy and society. This will be an important element in our decisions about future immigration arrangements that work for all parts of the UK.
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of reforming the immigration system with a view to increasing working age populations in regions where growth in that demographic has halted or is in decline; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
There is a wide range of options as to how EU migration might work we leave the EU. We are considering these options very carefully and we will take decisions based on evidence. As part of this, on 27 July, the Government commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to gather evidence on patterns of EU migration and the role of migration in the wider economy, ahead of our exit from the EU. We have asked the MAC to report by September 2018 and flagged that interim reports throughout the period would be helpful as we develop future immigration arrangements that work for the whole of the UK.
Immigration remains a reserved matter and we will consider the needs of the UK as a whole. Applying different immigration rules to different parts of the UK would complicate the immigration system, harming its integrity, and cause difficulties for employers who need the flexibility to deploy their staff to other parts of the UK.
The Government will be setting out initial proposals for our future immigration arrangements shortly.
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which Scottish business sectors have made representations to her on immigration schemes for Scotland after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Government is considering a range of options for the immigration system for EU citizens after the UK leaves the EU. Since the Referendum result last year, Ministers have been undertaking an extensive programme of engagement and evidence gathering with all interested parties including the Devolved Administrations, businesses, educational institutions and many others. Most recently, I discussed the recent agreement on citizens’ rights and next steps on the future immigration arrangements at the Joint Ministerial Committee (European Negotiations) on 12 December 2017. Home Office officials also have frequent meetings with their colleagues in the Devolved Administrations, including the Scottish Government.
On 27 July, the Government commissioned the independent Migration Advisory Committee to advise on current patterns of EU migration across all sectors, and the role of migration in the wider economy and society. This will be an important element in our decisions about future immigration arrangements that work for all parts of the UK.
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a maximum time limit of eight days for the registration of deaths in England.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Section 16(3) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 requires deaths to be registered by a qualified informant within five days for England and Wales. There are no current plans to amend this legislation.
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions has she had with (a) WhatsApp and (b) other technology companies on access by the security services to encrypted messages sent by a person of interest.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The Government is in favour of strong encryption: it is critical to protect UK citizens from harm online, and billions of people use it every day for a range of services including banking, commerce and communications.
However, like many powerful technologies, encrypted services are abused by a small minority of people. There is a particular problem with end-to-end encryption where certain providers have deliberately designed their systems so that even they cannot see the content of the message.
The Secretary of State meets with a range of stakeholders to discuss various issues as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings. However, we are committed to working with service providers to fulfil our collective responsibility to protect us from terrorists and those who commit serious crimes, while allowing providers to protect privacy. We are quite clear that it is essential for law enforcement to access content when there is a clear need and when properly warranted. The Government will continue to press for that ability.
A mature dialogue between government and industry on this issue is crucial, and we expect them to live up to their responsibilities: working with law enforcement where there is a warrant authorised by a Secretary of State and approved by a senior judge under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016.
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing regional variations in the salary thresholds for tier two visas for skilled non-EU migrants.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Government is committed to developing an immigration system that serves the national interest and are clear that applying different immigration rules to different parts of the UK would complicate the immigration system, harm its integrity, and cause difficulties for employers who need the flexibility to deploy their staff to other parts of the UK.
The Government commissioned the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to undertake a comprehensive review of the Tier 2 route in June 2015.
The MAC concluded and has repeatedly recommended that we should not operate different salary thresholds for different regions and countries in the UK. More information about the MAC and its report on Tier 2 can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/migration-advisory-committee-mac-review-tier-2-migration