Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of Afghan refugees that will be resettled in the UK following referral by the UNHCR.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Afghan Citizens’ Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) commenced on 6 January 2022, providing up to 20,000 women, children and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK.
We are working closely with UNHCR to begin receiving referrals under Pathway 2 of the ACRS. Under this Pathway, UNHCR will refer individuals and families based on an assessment of protection needs. Further detail will be set out in due course.
The pace of actual arrivals in any particular period will depend on a range of factors including the flow of referrals from UNHCR and the availability of suitable accommodation and support in the UK.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the average length of stay of asylum seekers in initial accommodation; and what steps she is taking to ensure that initial accommodation is being used for short term stays only.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office monitors the length of stay in Initial Accommodation and Contingency Accommodation on a regular basis.
The asylum accommodation system is under enormous pressure because of the significant and sustained increase in asylum intake over the last 12 months and the build-up of the population as a result of Covid-19 related measures. This has resulted in over 25,000 asylum seekers being accommodated in temporary contingency accommodation, such as hotels. This is not acceptable; it is not fair on the taxpayers, and it does not offer the right solution for communities or those seeking asylum; it must change.
That is why I wrote to all Local Authorities on 13 April 2022 to set out plans for Full Dispersal. This will reduce and then eliminate the use of hotels for asylum seekers by moving to a full dispersal model for asylum accommodation. This will mean expanding our existing approach of using private rental sector housing to all local authority areas across England, Scotland and Wales.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to review the minimum standards of welcome packs provided to asylum seekers.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office provides initial accommodation to asylum seekers to ensure they are not left unsupported if otherwise destitute. They are given free, furnished accommodation with food, toiletries, and other essentials, and a weekly cash allowance to cover other living needs such as clothing. This support is routinely reviewed.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the quantity and quality of the (a) shoes, (b) underwear, (c) toiletries and (d) other essential basics provided to asylum seekers arriving in the UK in the welcome packs issued by initial accommodation providers; and what steps the Government is taking to ensure that basic standards of dignity are met.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office provides initial accommodation to asylum seekers to ensure they are not left unsupported if otherwise destitute. They are given free, furnished accommodation with food, toiletries, and other essentials, and a weekly cash allowance to cover other living needs such as clothing. This support is routinely reviewed.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce the waiting time between asylum seekers being granted section 95 status and receiving an Aspen card.
Answered by Kevin Foster
When an asylum seeker in full-board initial accommodation (where there is Migrant Help physical presence) has been granted section 95 states an Aspen card will be issued within 4-6 working days. Where individuals are in other accommodation locations they will be sent Aspen cards by Royal Mail post, once issued.
We have undertaken improvement work to reduce the waiting time by introducing twice weekly reporting and ensuring prompt data sharing with Migrant Help.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how long asylum seekers who have been granted section 95 status currently have to wait to receive an Aspen card.
Answered by Kevin Foster
When an asylum seeker in full-board initial accommodation (where there is Migrant Help physical presence) has been granted section 95 states an Aspen card will be issued within 4-6 working days. Where individuals are in other accommodation locations they will be sent Aspen cards by Royal Mail post, once issued.
We have undertaken improvement work to reduce the waiting time by introducing twice weekly reporting and ensuring prompt data sharing with Migrant Help.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many outstanding applications there are from Ukrainian nationals for visas to enter the UK outside of the Ukraine Sponsorship scheme and the Ukraine Family Scheme.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Applications from Ukraine nationals are being prioritised by UKVI.
Information on the number of visas granted under the Ukraine Family Scheme can be found in our published data on the GOV.UK webpage: Ukraine Family Scheme: application data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
To capture numbers beyond this data would require a manual trawl and to do so would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many outstanding applications there are from Ukrainian nationals for visas to enter the UK which were submitted before the Ukraine Family Scheme opened.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Statistical information regarding the number of Ukrainian nationals applying for UK visas prior to the launch of the UFS is regularly released by UKVI.
The latest published statistics can be found here: Immigration statistics, year ending December 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)