Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on resourcing Kent County Council to look after unaccompanied asylum seeking children.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office and the Department for Education are working closely with HMT to resolve funding arrangements as soon as possible. This is subject to litigation so I am afraid I cannot say much more at this stage.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Syrian refugees who claimed asylum in the UK since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011 have returned to that country.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office does not hold data on the location of refugees after they are granted asylum. We cannot therefore comment on the total number of Syrian asylum seekers who have since left the UK.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many migrants were housed in hotels in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office accommodates some supported asylum seekers and resettled Afghans temporarily in hotels. The number of asylum seekers accommodated in each local authority, although not broken down into hotels or other accommodation can be found at Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Data is published on a quarterly basis, with the latest information published 24 February 2022. The next quarterly figures are due to be released in May 2022. There are currently over 12,000 resettled Afghans in bridging accommodation. This cohort includes Afghan nationals who may be eligible for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP), the Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) and British nationals.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many migrants who came to the UK by crossing the Channel in 2021 have been removed from the UK.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office routinely publishes data on Irregular Migration to the UK and can be found at: Irregular migration to the UK, year ending December 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and also routinely publish data on the number of outcomes of asylum applications at initial decision, broken down by nationality, age, sex and applicant type and can be found at Asy_D02 of the published immigration statistics: Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many migrants who came to the UK by crossing the Channel in 2021 have had their asylum cases processed.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office routinely publishes data on Irregular Migration to the UK and can be found at: Irregular migration to the UK, year ending December 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and also routinely publish data on the number of outcomes of asylum applications at initial decision, broken down by nationality, age, sex and applicant type and can be found at Asy_D02 of the published immigration statistics: Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate she has made of the number of migrants who (a) entered the UK at Dover (b) were stopped and returned to France immediately and (c) have been deported following a review of their status.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office do not routinely publish this level of data on clandestines, as this could compromise immigration controls and impact on national security.
The Home Office works closely with partners in the UK and overseas to strike people smuggling at source – identifying and dismantling the organised crime groups that facilitate illegal immigration. Additionally, the UK works abroad to reduce factors that may push or force people to attempt such journeys - through creating jobs, tackling modern slavery, providing education and delivering life-saving humanitarian assistance in response to conflicts and natural disasters.
We will continue to work closely with our French counterparts to maintain border security and keep legitimate passengers and trade moving.
At juxtaposed controls and ports around the country, Border Force officers use some of the most advanced detection technology available to find and stop migrants attempting to reach the UK illegally.
The Home Office publishes data on the number of returns from the UK in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of Returns are published in table Ret_D01 of the Returns detailed datasets.
Please note that only some of those returned will have previously entered the UK illegally; others may have entered legally, for example those who enter on a visa and overstay their period of valid leave and are therefore not separately identifiable in the data.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Home Office:
What steps she is taking to ensure that businesses have access to temporary non-UK EU workers after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Government is considering options for our future immigration system very carefully. Our decisions will be based on evidence and engagement with stakeholders. After we leave the EU, we will want to control immigration from the EU whilst continuing to attract the brightest and best to work or study in Britain. We will ensure that businesses and communities have the opportunity to contribute their views before any final decisions are made.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to screen for the Ebola virus passengers from West Africa who travel to the UK by train or ferry from (a) France and (b) other countries.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Ebola screening is being carried out by Public Health England. Decisions to carry out screening at specific ports have been taken by Ministers on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer. Screening has not been implemented at any ferry ports at this point. Screening has been operational at St Pancras International railway stationsince 24 October, identifying passengers who have travelled to the UK from the affected region through Paris or Brussels.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to tackle the threat from radical Islamists.
Answered by James Brokenshire
We face a real and serious threat in the UK from international terrorism. The UK’s Counter Terrorism Strategy, CONTEST, sets out our approach
to countering this threat and is based around the ‘4 Ps’ – Pursue: the investigation and disruption of terrorist attacks; Prevent: working to stop
people becoming terrorists or extremists, or supporting terrorism/extremism; Protect: improving our protective security to stop a terrorist attack; and Prepare: working to minimise the impact of an attack and to recover from it as quickly as possible. Taken together these programmes of work tackle the threat to the UK and its interests overseas from terrorism. On 1 September the Prime Minister announced the government’s intention to
introduce new counter-terrorism powers in order to meet the threats posed by the current conflicts in Syria and Iraq. The forthcoming legislation includes measures to disrupt travel to Syria or Iraq and manage the risk posed by returnees. These measures are currently being developed and will be brought forward shortly.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will bring forward proposals to expand the scope of the sex offenders' register to include serial stalkers and domestic violence perpetrators.
Answered by Norman Baker
The list of qualifying offences for the sex offender notification requirements is kept under review by the Home Office. Convicted stalkers are already captured on the Police National Computer.
In addition, the Home Secretary has established a National Oversight Group to ensure that the recommendations from HMIC’s March Review into domestic abuse are acted upon. This includes work to improve data collection and data sharing on serial abusers.
The Home Office consultation on strengthening the law on domestic abuse closed on 15 October. We are currently considering the responses and we will consider all of the issues raised in order to determine next steps to offer the best possible protection for victims.