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 applications are pending where the claimant has a recorded mental health condition; and how many of these are claims have been awaiting decision for (a) three years (b) two years and (c) 12 months.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Department does not hold data on the number of asylum seekers who have mental health issues and have been waiting a decision for two years, three years and 12 months in a reportable format.
The basis of a person’s asylum claim and any personal information is recorded on their individual Home Office file, but not in a way that can be easi-ly aggregated, so this information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost, because it would require a manual search through individual records. Even then, the data may not be sufficiently reliable, as it is worth noting that the claimants do not always disclose their mental health issues to case-workers despite having opportunity to do so.
The Home Office publishes data, in its quarterly Immigration Statistics release, on the number of asylum applications lodged in each year, broken down by outcome, including cases with a decision, or appeal outcome, or not known, as at May 2018 (time of publication), in table as_06 (Asylum, volume 2).
Latest edition available at:
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time decision-making staff deal with (i) visa applications and (ii) asylum applications (A) currently and (B) in 2009.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
UK Visas and Immigration regularly reviews its capacity plans and resources and redeploys staff where necessary to help meet and maintain service standards for individual services or routes.
However, to provide the number of decision-making staff and support staff who were employed to process visa and asylum applications in 2019 and 2009 it would require a manual check through resourcing databases and would encounter disproportionate costs.
Data on staffing within UK Visas & Immigration is published online at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data#staffing-data
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time support staff in his Department work on (i) visa applications and (ii) asylum applications (A) in 2019 and (B) in 2009.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
UK Visas and Immigration regularly reviews its capacity plans and resources and redeploys staff where necessary to help meet and maintain service standards for individual services or routes.
However, to provide the number of decision-making staff and support staff who were employed to process visa and asylum applications in 2019 and 2009 it would require a manual check through resourcing databases and would encounter disproportionate costs.
Data on staffing within UK Visas & Immigration is published online at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data#staffing-data
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will release all documents relating to the 1984 strike at Cammell Lairds Shipyard and the subsequent arrest and imprisonment of 37 striking workers.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The Home Office does not hold any files relating to the 1984 strike at Cammell Lairds Shipyard and the subsequent arrest and imprisonment of 37 striking workers.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for asylum applications that were submitted (a) three years ago, (b) two years ago and (c) within the last 12 months are awaiting a decision.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Home Office publishes data, in its quarterly Immigration Statistics release, on the number of asylum applications lodged in each year, broken down by outcome, including cases with a decision, or appeal outcome, not known as at May 2018 (time of publication), in table as_06 (Asylum, volume 2)
Latest edition available at:
The next update of this table is due in August 2019.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of his staff leave their respective posts on an annual basis; how many vacant posts there are in his Department; and what proportion of posts in his Department are currently vacant.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Department records actual staffing levels but does not centrally record the number of posts or vacancies. It is therefore not possible to provide details of vacant posts.
The level of turnover within the Department is currently 5.35% per annum.
Turnover represents the number of staff that leave the Home Office, voluntarily or otherwise,
i.e. through resignation or dismissal.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) visa applications and (b) asylum applications were awaiting a decision on 22 January 2019.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
All asylum claims lodged in the UK are carefully considered on a case by case basis, based on their individual merits, against a background of relevant case law and up to date country information.
The available information for the number of visa applications awaiting a decision up until the end of September 2018, can be found at table Visa_03 of the International Operations Transparency Data at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-operations-transparency-data-november-2018
The available information for the number of Asylum Applications awaiting a decision up until the end of September 2018 can be found at table Asy_11 of Asylum Transparency Data at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-transparency-data-november-2018
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps is he taking to enable Yemeni Nationals seek asylum in the UK after the closure of the British Embassy in Yemen.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
We have a proud history of providing protection for those who need it, in accordance with our obligations under the Refugee Convention. All asylum claims lodged in the UK are carefully considered so that we do not return anyone who faces persecution or serious harm in their country.
However, in line with the approach taken by other signatories to the Refugee Convention, we do not consider asylum claims lodged outside the UK and there is no provision in our Immigration Rules for people to be allowed to travel to the UK to seek asylum. Those who need international protection should claim in the first safe country they reach that is the fastest route to safety.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions his Department has had with Greater Manchester Police on the effect of (a) funding and (b) the number of police officers on tackling (i) serious and organised and (ii) gun crime in Greater Manchester.
Answered by Nick Hurd
Home Office Ministers have regular discussions with law enforcement partners as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) coordinates the operational response of police forces across the UK (including GMP), however, the size and composition of the police workforce is an operational decision for chief officers. The Home Office is working with the NPCC Serious and Or-ganised Crime (SOC) leads to implement the SOC Strategy.
The Government is committed to tackling gun crime and is taking steps to address the issue. This includes measures taken forward in the Offensive Weapons Bill to ban certain rapid firing rifles, and bump stocks, introducing greater regulation of antique firearms, consulting on statutory guidance on firearms licensing to improve standards and the consistency of police licensing decisions, and tightening controls on firearms dealers.
We will ensure the police have the resources they need and police resources will be a priority for the Home Office at the next Spending Review. Overall, public investment in policing is growing by over £1bn from £11.9 billion in 2015/16 to £13 billion in 2018/19, including counter-terrorism policing, local policing and funding of national programmes
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data his Department holds on the number of people resident in Salford and Eccles constituency that (a) did not have a legal right to stay and (b) were removed or forced to depart the UK in (i) 2011 (ii) 2012 (iii) 2013 (iv) 2014 (v) 2015 (vi) 2016 (vii) 2017 (viii) 2018.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Any estimate of the exact size of the illegal population in Salford and Eccles constituency is extremely difficult and there would be considerable uncertainty around it.
Exit checks were introduced in April 2015 and are, over time, providing more detailed insights into the behaviour of migrants and how they comply with the restrictions placed upon their length of stay in the UK. The Government is focused on making it harder for people to live in the UK illegally.
For those removed or forced to depart the UK across the periods specified, providing the information requested would require a manual check of individual records which could only be done at disproportionate cost.