Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many door supervisor licences are being used (a) by people in static security roles and (b) for the purpose of door supervision at licenced premises in the most recent period for which that data is available.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Dissolution.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Minister for Immigration plans to reply to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Manchester Withington dated 24 September 2020 on an ongoing application for leave to remain in the UK, HO ref: J1086026.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
A response to the Honourable Member was issued on 4th February.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Minister for Immigration plans to reply to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Manchester Withington of 4 September 2020 on an ongoing application for leave to remain in the UK, HO ref: K1248262.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
I am sorry for the delay in responding. The Minister for Immigration Compliance and the Courts responded on 18 January 2021.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Home Office:
What recent progress her Department has made on reducing the time it takes to process passport applications.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The measures put in place to increase capacity for processing passport applications have successfully helped to reduce turnaround times.
This includes rolling out a new system which increases the ability to process applications from home, and which is now processing almost 60 per cent of UK digital applications.
On 23 September, the median processing time for passport applications received from the UK was 8 working days.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, who has been invited to attend the Glasgow summit on tackling drugs misuse on 27 February 2020; what the criteria was for participants to receive an invitation to that summit; whether people are still able to apply to attend that summit; and whether that summit will accept input and evidence from expert organisations not currently listed as attending.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Summit will be an opportunity for dialogue between partners from all parts of the UK on the challenges of, and potential solutions to tackling the harms of, drug misuse. There will be representation at the Summit from all parts of the UK, including contributions from Glasgow, from public health leads of all four nations, and from UK Government Ministers as well as Ministers from each of the devolved administrations.
The Summit will bring together different perspectives across healthcare, law enforcement, prevention and recovery. As part of this there will be discussion of the forthcoming findings of the independent Review of Drugs, hearing from Professor Dame Carol Black about the demand and supply landscape and the nature of drug misuse. Dame Carol’s work will make an important contribution to the evidence base that can be used take action to tackle drug misuse and the harms it causes.
The full list of invitees is being finalised, taking account of suggestions from the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as from a range of UK Government departments and others. Invitations that have so far been issued include those to the chief medical officers for each part of the UK and chief scientists in relevant departments and in the devolved administrations. Further invitations will be issued over the coming days. Attendance at the Summit is by invitation only and it is not possible to apply to be invited. There will not be scope to receive further evidence in addition to the evidence that will be discussed by attendees, as is usual for events of this nature.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Sopra Steria’s delivery of the UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services (UKVCAS), what assessment he has made of the (a) availability of free appointments and length of waiting times for applicants, (b) affordability of paid appointments for applicants and (c) the affordability of the pay-per-minute UKVCAS helpline.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
As part of their bid and delivery programme, Sopra Steria Limited (SSL) undertook market research to identify initial service locations and this included the impact on customer travel time, cost and accessibility.
There are currently six core sites across the UK at which application submission services are offered free of charge and beyond that, SSL offer a range of enhanced services in a further 52 locations. 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.
UKVCAS offers customers the option to arrange an appointment at any of its core service points, located in Croydon, Cardiff, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and Belfast. The UKVCAS core service points offer appointments up to 35 days in advance. Free appointments are available Monday to Friday between 10:00 and 16:00, any appointments outside these times, and those at enhanced service points, are subject to a charge. The charges for these services were based on the extensive customer research SSL completed as part of their bid. SSL will continue to review prices in light of customer insight and demand.
We are aware that customers are currently experiencing difficulties in securing free appointments and this is resulting in them having to wait longer for an appointment. New appointments are released by SSL on a daily basis and UKVI continue to work with SSL to increase the number of appointments available to its customers through opening new service points and increasing the number of appointments available at its existing service points experiencing high demand.
In relation to your concern around the cost of the UKVCAS support line, this is an added value service which is optional to customers who wish to find out more information about the application service. Customers who do not wish to avail of this chargeable service, may also contact SSL via their website, where they can choose from two options “make an enquiry” or “make a complaint”. Once a customer has booked an appointment, they will also be provided with a local rate 0330 number on their booking confirmation.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Department’s Interim Assessment of the first year of the Independent Child Trafficking Advocates (ICTA) service, what assessment he has made of the merits of expanding the ICTA scheme to all unaccompanied and separated children.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The ICTA service was rolled out in three early adopter sites in Greater Manchester, Hampshire and Wales in January 2017 with an additional £2m invested to expand the ICTA provision into West Midlands, East Midlands and Croydon. This will mean the service will be available in one third of all local authorities by April 2019.
Unaccompanied children are looked after by the relevant local authority and are entitled to the same services as any other looked after child. Under these arrangements, unaccompanied children will have a professional social worker and an independent reviewing officer to oversee their care arrangements. All unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in England are referred to the Refugee Council’s Children’s Panel and they are also entitled to legal assistance in pursuing their asylum claim. The Government believes that these arrangements ensure unaccompanied children are provided with the independent and tailored support and advice that they need.
Section 48 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, which makes provisions for ICTAs, is being considered in the Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act led by Frank Field MP, Baroness Butler-Sloss and Maria Miller MP. The Government will carefully consider their recommendations, including any recommendations for the national rollout of ICTAs.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 October 2018 to Question 173617 on Asylum: Dunkirk, what programmes the Government is funding to improve security at the shared border in northern France.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Working closely with French partners over the last 4 years, the UK has in-vested almost €150M to enhance border security in Northern France. This work has included physical security measures at all three Juxtaposed ports of Calais, Dunkirk and Coquelles (Eurotunnel), consisting of a com-bination of high security fencing, lighting, CCTV and perimeter detection technologies. Alongside this there has been the installation of secure parking areas for HGV’s and coaches to protect them and to ensure the fluidity of the approach roads.
The Sandhurst Treaty, signed by the Prime Minister in January 2018, demonstrates the ongoing enhanced joint action by the UK and France to manage our shared border and tackle organised immigration crime. This includes a commitment from the UK to invest an additional £44.5m to pro-tect the shared border. Part of this is being spent to reinforce the security measures in and around smaller ports in northern France, including Dunkirk and Ouistreham near Caen. The Sandhurst Treaty funding has also been used to establish the Joint Information and Coordination Cen-tre (‘CCIC’), which will facilitate cooperation between law enforcement bodies on combatting illegal migration.
The UK has established the Organised Immigration Crime Taskforce which brings together officers from Border Force, the National Crime Agency, Immigration Enforcement and the Crown Prosecution Service. The Taskforce seeks to use every opportunity, whether that be in source countries, countries migrants travel through or in Europe to identify and tackle organised crime groups involved in organised immigration crime.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions his Department has had with their French counterparts on the forced eviction of of asylum seekers at the Grande-Synthe camp in Dunkirk.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Following the clearance of the ‘Jungle’ camp in Calais in 2016, French authorities have worked extensively to ensure that similar camps do not form across Northern France. This remains a domestic matter for the French and as such the British Government are not consulted prior to any clearances which take place. Following the closure of the Grande-Synthe camp, we were informed by French authorities that the migrants have been moved into asylum accommodation, where their claims will be considered and the necessary support will be provided.
In January 2018, the UK and France signed the Sandhurst Treaty, which demonstrates our ongoing commitment to prevent irregular migration and to the continued operation of the juxtaposed controls. Our cooperation with France includes joint work to improve security at the shared border in northern France; to reduce illegal migration flows towards northern French ports and to support France in returning migrants with no legal right to be in Europe.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of drug consumption rooms on tackling (a) HIV infection rates and (b) drug-related deaths.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government has no plans to introduce drug consumption rooms (DCRs). We are not prepared to sanction or condone activity that promotes the illicit drugs trade and the harms that trade causes to individuals and communities.
The Government’s report, Drugs: International Comparators (2014), notes that DCRs have emerged in some countries as a response to public health risks associated with open drug scenes, most often to address acute problems specific to a local area. There is some evidence for their effectiveness in reducing health risks for drug users in those particular contexts, however the UK does not experience public drug taking on the same scale.
DCRs are controversial and there remain legal and ethical issues for agencies involved. Furthermore, there is no legal framework for the provision of DCRs in the UK.