Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of implementing trauma-informed training specific to the experiences of asylum-seekers and refugees for staff in the public sector.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
In April 2021 a £1m spending review allocation was obtained to support the mental health and wellbeing of adult asylum seekers.
In September 2022 we contracted an external organisation of clinical psychologists, experienced in co-developing evidence-based mental health and wellbeing strategies, to explore how Trauma Informed Practice (TIP) could be embedded into asylum processes from first point of contact to asylum decision undertaken by the Home Office, whilst optimising outcomes of the process.
We prioritised far-reaching collaboration to shape recommendations. Intrinsic to this was operationalising governance structures involving internal stakeholders, health bodies, the UNHCR, Devolved Administrations, NGOs and people with lived experience of claiming asylum. We facilitated open discussion and generated informed contributions by sharing relevant information at every stage of the process with our partner group giving stakeholders opportunity to scrutinise, co-create and legitimise recommendations demonstrating objectivity and flexibility to reshape and re-frame their work in response to asylum policy changes.
This review and design phase was completed in March 2023. In April 2023 we launched the next phase of the programme, this work will continue until March 2025.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
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 taking steps with the devolved Administrations to develop a UK-wide strategy for refugee integration.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Integration is a devolved matter.
We discussed funding arrangements with the Devolved Administrations on the recently launched Refugee Employability Programme (REP) in order to ensure refugees across the UK are supported. The REP is a new integration and employability support service to help refugees integrate into society and become self-sufficient.
We continue to engage regularly with the Devolved Administrations on a range of matters, including refugee integration, to collaborate, share best practice and discuss appropriate funding mechanisms where relevant.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to publish the next review of the asylum-support allowance.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office annually reviews the level of the asylum support rate to assess the correct level of financial support that should be provided to meet essential living needs.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the implications for her policies of reports of potential violence towards refugees deported to Rwanda from the UK by (a) organisations or bodies under the control of the Rwandan Government and (b) other groups originating within Rwanda.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Rwanda has an established record of welcoming asylum seekers and refugees and our assessment, as set out in the relevant Country Policy and Information Notes (CPINs), found it to be a generally safe and secure country.
The Memorandum of Understanding and associated Notes Verbales set out the support in place for individuals relocated to Rwanda and details of the oversight provided by the Joint Committee and independent Monitoring Committee.
The UK and Rwanda have a strong relationship. Working together, the Migration and Economic Development Partnership will see people who come to the UK through dangerous and illegal routes relocated to Rwanda, where they will be given the opportunity to settle and rebuild their lives.
We have always maintained that this policy is lawful, including complying with the Refugee Convention, and last year the High court upheld this. We continue to defend the policy against legal challenge.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what systemic provisions are in place to support families who have fled domestic violence who wish to apply for passports that require countersignatures and documentation that might be difficult for them to secure given significant changes in their circumstances such as relocation or a change of name.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
HM Passport Office has in place comprehensive guidance on handling passport applications from vulnerable customers, this includes victims of domestic violence.
This allows examiners to exercise discretion in applying normal requirements in relation to documentation or countersignatures.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what compulsory training is in place for public-facing staff of HM Passport Office on communicating with and supporting families who have fled domestic violence who are applying for passports.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
His Majesty’s Passport Office delivers mandatory training to public-facing staff that is designed to enable recognition of vulnerability indicators, and to help them to meet the needs of vulnerable customers.
Further guidance for HM Passport Office staff regarding vulnerability considerations, including those suffering from domestic abuse, can be found on GOV.UK:
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to facilitate urgent visas for Ukrainian (a) spouses and (b) other immediate family members of British nationals to enable them to travel to the UK following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Answered by Kevin Foster
As set out in the Home Secretary’s statement to the House on 1 March, a fee free, bespoke Ukraine Family Scheme has been introduced which allows both the immediate (spouse, civil partner, durable partner, minor children) and extended (parent, grandparent, adult children, grandchildren, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, in-laws and their immediate family) family members to join their relatives in the UK.
The UK-based sponsoring relative must be a British citizen, a person who is present and settled in the UK (including those with settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme), a person in the UK with refugee leave or with humanitarian protection or a person in the UK with limited leave under Appendix EU (pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme). This route was launched on 4 March.
We are setting no limit on the numbers of people who can come here. We will be glad to welcome as many Ukrainians as wish to come under this scheme.
We continue to keep the situation in Ukraine under constant review. Further information on the visa process for Ukrainian family members who wish to come to the UK can be found here:
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of her Department's efficiency in responding to Members of Parliament correspondence in relation to immigration casework.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Department works to a target of responding to 95% of MPs written correspondence within 20 working days. Performance has been impacted by a very significant increase in the volume of correspondence received, alongside the need for Ministers and officials to instigate a remote process for drafting and signing correspondence during the period of COVID-19 restrictions.
The Department recognises it has not been able to meet the service standard in some cases but has implemented an action plan to clear backlogs and drive up performance.
Staff unable to perform front facing roles in the Department have been redeployed to assist in clearing MPs correspondence backlogs. The Department are also contacting MPs offices by telephone to offer to close urgent cases by telephone, whilst continuing to work through the backlog and to offer regular engagement surgeries to discuss and resolve some of the enquiries they have made.
The Department uses a workflow tool which records all Operational MPs correspondence. The Department runs reports each day which summarise the daily situation in relation to intake and output and the age of each piece of MPs correspondence. The report also monitors the daily progress of output towards the weekly 95% target.
Presently different areas of the Department work on different IT systems for Correspondence, but the Department is undergoing a transfer so all Correspondence is on one system to help improve efficiency. This should be completed in 2021.
The latest published data on UKVI performance against the service standard, which includes data up to and including the end of quarter 3-2020/21, is held at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/customer-service-operations-data-november-2020.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers have been evicted from their homes in England in areas where covid-19 local lockdown measures have been in place.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
We have commenced the cessation of support for both positive cases (who move on to be supported in Local Authority accommodation) and negative cases (failed Asylum seekers).
A Notice to Quit is served on all discontinued cases by the provider and steps taken to remove people from the accommodation following the end of grace period.
Due to the sequencing of both cessations themselves and the additional local restrictions being put in place the number who have received a Notice to Quit where Covid 19 measures are in place is not available in a recordable format.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many reports of anti-social behaviour were made in relation to mopeds in (a) Salford and Eccles constituency and (b) Greater Manchester in each of the last three years.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Home Office collects data on the number of anti-social behaviour incidents recorded by the police forces in England and Wales. From this information it is not possible to identify how many of such incidents related to mopeds.
Anti-social behaviour incidents recorded by the police are published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and can be found here: