Asked by: Baroness Hamwee (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to appoint an Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The role of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner (IASC) as set out in the 2015 Modern Slavery Act is to encourage good practice in the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of slavery and human trafficking offences and the identification of victims.
The Home Secretary recognises the importance of the IASC and had launched a new open competition to recruit for this role on the 23 February 2023, the process for which is now at an advanced stage.
Asked by: Baroness Hamwee (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government on what date they expect the EU will bring into force ETIAS (the European Travel Information and Authorisation System) and the EES (Entry / Exit System); what progress has been made in preparation for physical arrangements for crossing the border with EU Member States under these systems; and what agreement for these the Government has reached with the Police aux Frontières.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The EU Justice and Home Affairs Committee will meet on 19th October to agree a timeline for EES and ETIAS implementation. HMG are working towards EES implementation in late 2024. ETIAS was originally expected to go live six months after EES, but we await confirmation of this in October.
The Government is engaging both the European Commission and French Government through officials holding routine technical meetings to understand and influence the implementation plans of the new system. This includes working with port owners and operators to understand and support their plans to mitigate EES and ETIAS impacts at the border. HMG’s focus is on the juxtaposed locations of Dover, St Pancras and Eurotunnel as the EES processes there will take place before departure from the UK.
We have recently received agreement in principle from the French Ministry of Interior to proceed with a proposal to relocate the coach facility at the port of Dover to enable EES, ETIAS and border control checks to take place in one location.
However, it is ultimately for EU Member States and port owners and operators to implement the new system.
Asked by: Baroness Hamwee (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether all unaccompanied children seeking asylum on arrival in the UK and accommodated in Home Office-funded hotels are now being referred to Kent County Council Children’s Services ”at the earliest possible point” in accordance with Home Office guidance; and how quickly such referrals are being made.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Home Office recognise the longstanding role that Kent County Council has played in supporting unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) and former unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and are grateful for their contribution.
The Home Office notifies Kent County Council about all UASC arriving in their area. The notification is completed along with the National Transfer scheme referral, as quickly as possible - with the length of time taken to complete the referral process being dependant on arrival numbers.
Asked by: Baroness Hamwee (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to support Ukrainian refugees and host families over the Christmas period to ensure that any breakdowns in host relationships under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme do not lead to homelessness.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
We are greatly appreciative of the overwhelming generosity shown by sponsors in accommodating guests under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. The Government has been working closely with local councils, voluntary and community organisations to ensure sponsors and their guests can access the support they need from public services.
We have developed advice on hosting and provide training courses to help sponsors welcome and host their guests which can be accessed (attached) here: www.gov.uk/guidance/sources-of-support-for-sponsors-hosting-people-from-ukraine
Asked by: Baroness Hamwee (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to support Ukrainian refugees over the Christmas period to ensure that issues with re-matching under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme do not lead to homelessness.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
We are greatly appreciative of the overwhelming generosity shown by sponsors in accommodating guests under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. The Government has been working closely with local councils, voluntary and community organisations to ensure sponsors and their guests can access the support they need from public services.
We have developed advice on hosting and provide training courses to help sponsors welcome and host their guests which can be accessed (attached) here: www.gov.uk/guidance/sources-of-support-for-sponsors-hosting-people-from-ukraine
Asked by: Baroness Hamwee (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government in respect of (1) family visa applications, (2) asylum applications, and (3) visit visa applications, for the purpose of visiting close family members, whether tools involving artificial intelligence or machine learning are used in the assessment of applications; and if so, what artificial intelligence or machine learning is used.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
We recruit using standard Civil Service recruitment processes and all our decision makers must meet minimum Civil Service recruitment standards. Once appointed the Home Office offers a comprehensive training programme and mentoring framework for decision makers. In relation to methods used, it should be noted that tools involving machine learning or artificial intelligence are not used in the assessment of family visa applications.
Records for the number of staff assessing family visa applications are not maintained as far back to 2010. During that time, the department has undergone various organisational changes, and has also employed temporary staff, so we are unable to provide accurate data on the number of caseworkers who have ceased employment. However the average number of decisions made each week in respect of family visa applications do not form part of any current transparency data applications and are not published. The transparency data does, however, include a range of processing data and the latest data can be found at: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
In relation to the records for the number of staff assessing family visa applications, they are not maintained back to 2010. Resource is also often used flexibly, so if data was available, we would be unable to provide accurate figures in respect of the amount of caseworkers engaged in considering family visa applications for each year since 2010.
Asked by: Baroness Hamwee (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government in respect of (1) family visa applications, (2) asylum applications, and (3) visit visa applications, for the purpose of visiting close family members, how caseworkers are recruited; and what are the essential criteria that applicants are expected to meet.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
We recruit using standard Civil Service recruitment processes and all our decision makers must meet minimum Civil Service recruitment standards. Once appointed the Home Office offers a comprehensive training programme and mentoring framework for decision makers. In relation to methods used, it should be noted that tools involving machine learning or artificial intelligence are not used in the assessment of family visa applications.
Records for the number of staff assessing family visa applications are not maintained as far back to 2010. During that time, the department has undergone various organisational changes, and has also employed temporary staff, so we are unable to provide accurate data on the number of caseworkers who have ceased employment. However the average number of decisions made each week in respect of family visa applications do not form part of any current transparency data applications and are not published. The transparency data does, however, include a range of processing data and the latest data can be found at: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
In relation to the records for the number of staff assessing family visa applications, they are not maintained back to 2010. Resource is also often used flexibly, so if data was available, we would be unable to provide accurate figures in respect of the amount of caseworkers engaged in considering family visa applications for each year since 2010.
Asked by: Baroness Hamwee (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in respect of (1) family visa applications, (2) asylum applications, and (3) visit visa applications, for the purpose of visiting close family members, how many decisions are reached each week as an average (a) annually from 2012 to 2020, and (b) monthly since 2020.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
We recruit using standard Civil Service recruitment processes and all our decision makers must meet minimum Civil Service recruitment standards. Once appointed the Home Office offers a comprehensive training programme and mentoring framework for decision makers. In relation to methods used, it should be noted that tools involving machine learning or artificial intelligence are not used in the assessment of family visa applications.
Records for the number of staff assessing family visa applications are not maintained as far back to 2010. During that time, the department has undergone various organisational changes, and has also employed temporary staff, so we are unable to provide accurate data on the number of caseworkers who have ceased employment. However the average number of decisions made each week in respect of family visa applications do not form part of any current transparency data applications and are not published. The transparency data does, however, include a range of processing data and the latest data can be found at: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
In relation to the records for the number of staff assessing family visa applications, they are not maintained back to 2010. Resource is also often used flexibly, so if data was available, we would be unable to provide accurate figures in respect of the amount of caseworkers engaged in considering family visa applications for each year since 2010.
Asked by: Baroness Hamwee (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government in respect of (1) family visa applications, (2) asylum applications, and (3) visit visa applications, for the purpose of visiting close family members, (a) how many, and (b) the proportion of, caseworkers who have ceased employment in each year since 2010.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
We recruit using standard Civil Service recruitment processes and all our decision makers must meet minimum Civil Service recruitment standards. Once appointed the Home Office offers a comprehensive training programme and mentoring framework for decision makers. In relation to methods used, it should be noted that tools involving machine learning or artificial intelligence are not used in the assessment of family visa applications.
Records for the number of staff assessing family visa applications are not maintained as far back to 2010. During that time, the department has undergone various organisational changes, and has also employed temporary staff, so we are unable to provide accurate data on the number of caseworkers who have ceased employment. However the average number of decisions made each week in respect of family visa applications do not form part of any current transparency data applications and are not published. The transparency data does, however, include a range of processing data and the latest data can be found at: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
In relation to the records for the number of staff assessing family visa applications, they are not maintained back to 2010. Resource is also often used flexibly, so if data was available, we would be unable to provide accurate figures in respect of the amount of caseworkers engaged in considering family visa applications for each year since 2010.
Asked by: Baroness Hamwee (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in respect of (1) family visa applications, (2) asylum applications, and (3) visit visa applications, for the purpose of visiting close family members, how many caseworkers are engaged in considering applications for each year since 2010.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
We recruit using standard Civil Service recruitment processes and all our decision makers must meet minimum Civil Service recruitment standards. Once appointed the Home Office offers a comprehensive training programme and mentoring framework for decision makers. In relation to methods used, it should be noted that tools involving machine learning or artificial intelligence are not used in the assessment of family visa applications.
Records for the number of staff assessing family visa applications are not maintained as far back to 2010. During that time, the department has undergone various organisational changes, and has also employed temporary staff, so we are unable to provide accurate data on the number of caseworkers who have ceased employment. However the average number of decisions made each week in respect of family visa applications do not form part of any current transparency data applications and are not published. The transparency data does, however, include a range of processing data and the latest data can be found at: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
In relation to the records for the number of staff assessing family visa applications, they are not maintained back to 2010. Resource is also often used flexibly, so if data was available, we would be unable to provide accurate figures in respect of the amount of caseworkers engaged in considering family visa applications for each year since 2010.