Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2022 to Question 100624 on Immigration: Fees and Charges, when he plans to publish the revised policy on overseas fee waivers.
Answered by Kevin Foster
We expect to publish the new guidance by the summer of 2022.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to increase capacity in Her Majesty's Passport Office to enable significant additional appointments for fast track applications to be made within the next six weeks.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Appointments for urgent services are released three weeks in advance, with new appointments available on a daily basis.
These will be booked quickly in busy periods. While Her Majesty’s Passport Office has maximised the appointment capacity at its seven public counters, it continues to explore options to increase appointment capacity to further support customers with urgent travel needs.
HM Passport Office has increased its staffing numbers by 500 since April 2021, and is in the process of recruiting a further 700. This has helped to ensure that passport applications continue to be processed in higher numbers than ever before. Across March and April 2022, HM Passport Office completed the processing of nearly two million applications.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason there are delays between her Department deciding to approve permission to travel for an applicant to the Homes for Ukraine Scheme and that applicant receiving an email with confirmation of that decision.
Answered by Kevin Foster
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2022 to Question 100624 on Immigration: Fees and Charges, when he plans to publish the revised policy on overseas fee waivers.
Answered by Kevin Foster
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her policy is on the potential merits of a public inquiry on the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The attacks on the Mulberry Bush and Tavern In The Town public houses on 21 November 1974 were horrific events. I recognise the desire to see those responsible brought to justice.
There is an ongoing criminal investigation by West Midlands Police into the bombings. It would be inappropriate to make a decision on whether to establish a public inquiry into the circumstances of the bombings before the investigation has concluded.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) applications for British citizenship by naturalisation have been made and (b) applicants have been granted British citizenship by naturalisation in each of the last six years.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office publishes UK data on applications and grants of British Nationality in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’.
Data on applications and grants of British Citizenship by naturalisation, by year, are published in table Cit_01 of the Citizenship summary tables dataset. The latest data relates to 2021.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 25 October 2021 to Question 57193 on Immigration: Fees and Charges, when the revised policy on overseas fee waivers will be published.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The overseas fee waiver policy is being revised to include an assessment of affordability for specified applications on the human rights route.
The revised policy and related application system is currently being developed and is expected to be published shortly.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2021 to Question 81078 on the revised policy on overseas fee waivers, whether any urgent applications have been granted a fee waiver since the policy was suspended pending revision.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Some urgent applications have been granted. The data on this is locally held, unverified and therefore not suitable for publication.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 30 September 2021 to Question 51783 on the revised policy on overseas fee waivers, how many urgent applications have been granted a fee waiver since the policy was suspended pending revision.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Home Office Migration Statistics do not currently capture the number of applications for overseas fee waivers received or placed on hold since the previous policy was suspended and the new route has not been officially launched.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many anti-vaccination protestors have been arrested for harassment and intimidation outside school gates since September 2021.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office does not centrally hold data regarding the number of anti-vaccination protesters arrested outside of school gates since September 2021.
The use of powers to manage protests is an operational decision for the police. Through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, the Government is introducing new measures which will allow the police to take a more proactive approach in managing highly disruptive protests.