Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many BNO Visa holders from Hong Kong live in each London borough.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The latest statistics relating to the BN(O) route can be found here: How many people come to the UK each year (including visitors)? - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk
The Home Office does not hold the information requested as the vast majority of applicants to BN(O) route apply for Entry Clearance from abroad, prior to having a settled UK address.
Those who choose to come to the UK on the Hong Kong BN(O) route have the right to live, work and study anywhere within the UK.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Afghan refugees are awaiting housing resettlement following their entry into the UK through Government schemes.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Through Operation Warm Welcome, Afghans resettling in the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) will be supported in accessing accommodation alongside the vital health, education, and support into employment they need, to fully integrate into society.
As stated in the recently published, 'Afghan Resettlement: Operational Data' factsheet, at 12 Aug 2022, the UK:
The factsheet will be updated every quarter – with the next iteration scheduled for publication on 24 November 2022.
The Home Office will also include Afghan resettlement statistics in its quarterly Immigration Statistics publications, in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help ensure that UK companies are transparent about the actions they are taking to prevent modern slavery in their supply chains.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires businesses with a turnover of £36m or more and who operate part of their business in the UK, to report annually on the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.
The transparency legislation was designed to enable consumers, investors and civil society to scrutinise business action. In March 2021, the Government launched the Modern Slavery Statement Registry to radically enhance transparency by bringing together modern slavery statements on a single platform and making the data readily available for the public. Since launch, over 8,950 modern slavery statements covering over 30,320 organisations, have been submitted to the registry on a voluntary basis.
The Government is committed to strengthening our approach to modern slavery and building on the world-leading legislation on transparent supply chains introduced in the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
Following a public consultation, the Government committed to taking forward an ambitious package of measures to strengthen the Act’s transparency legislation, including:
In January 2021 the Government further committed to introduce financial penalties for organisations who fail to meet their statutory obligations to publish annual modern slavery statements.
These measures require primary legislation which will be introduced when parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government has taken steps to enter into a youth mobility agreement with (a) the EU, (b) France, (c) Spain, (d) Italy and (e) Germany.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We remain open to negotiating Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) arrangements with other countries and territories including EU Member States. However, as each YMS is subject to a bilateral, reciprocal agreement which also provides benefit to UK nationals with the detail negotiated and agreed between the relevant parties, we are unable to disclose the status of negotiations as they occur. Further details of additional YMS agreements will be announced once they are concluded.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will proscribe Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
Whilst the Government keeps the list of proscribed organisations under review, we do not routinely comment on whether an organisation is or is not being considered for proscription.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans he has to change the law on gun control in the UK, following the recent fatal shooting in Liverpool.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The tragic death of nine year old Olivia Pratt-Korbel on 22 August was truly shocking.
We have some of the toughest firearms controls in the world which we keep under constant review to safeguard against abuse by criminals and to preserve public safety. In recent years we have tightened controls on antique firearms, consulted on further changes to support firearms safety, and introduced Statutory Guidance on firearms licensing to Chief Officers of Police to improve the consistency and quality of decision-making. The recent shootings in Liverpool are the subject of ongoing investigations but we will not hesitate to strengthen the controls further if necessary.
The Home Secretary visited Merseyside on 26 August and announced a £150,000 package to support the communities of Liverpool and Knowsley, which will provide specialist trauma informed support in nearby schools, as well as mental health provisions for those closely affected.
The Home Secretary also announced £350,000 to expand the ‘Clear, Hold, Build’ pilot to other areas in Merseyside affected by Serious and Organised Crime.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her planned timetable is for bringing forward legislative proposals to reduce the prevalence of modern slavery in supply chains.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government is committed to strengthening our approach to modern slavery and building on the world-leading legislation on modern slavery in supply chains introduced in the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
As part of its response to the 2018 Independent Review of the Modern slavery Act, the Home Office conducted a public consultation on potential changes to the Modern Slavery Act’s transparency legislation. Following the consultation, the government committed to taking forwards an ambitious package of measures to strengthen the Act’s transparency legislation, including:
In January 2021 the Government further committed to introduce financial penalties for organisations who fail to meet their statutory obligations to publish annual modern slavery statements.
These measures require primary legislation and as announced in the Queen’s Speech, a Modern Slavery Bill will be brought forward when parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that adequate resources are allocated to help the timely processing of (a) UK passport renewals and (b) the EU Settlement Scheme.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Her Majesty’s Passport Office has added 850 staff since April 2021. This has helped to ensure that more passport applications are being processed than ever before, with the processing of approximately three million applications being completed between March and May.
Processing capacity will increase further, with an additional 350 staff arriving within the summer.
Within the EU Settlement Scheme, we are committed to ensuring our operational teams have the resources they need to run an efficient and effective system, and we actively monitor workflows to ensure sufficient resources are in place to meet demand.
Our aim is to process all applications to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) as quickly as possible, yet each individual case is considered on its own facts. Cases may take longer dependent on the circumstances of the case, for example, if the applicant is facing an impending prosecution or has a criminal record. Anyone awaiting the outcome of their application can evidence their rights with their Certificate of Application which is issued as soon as possible after a valid application is received.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department has spent on consultancy fees in each of the last five years.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office does hold information on consultancy spending and reports this in the Annual Report and Accounts.
You can refer to the links and pages below for the available published information that relates to consultancy spending.
Pages 99-101 of the 2020-21 Home Office Annual Report and Accounts
HO annual report and accounts 2020-21 (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Pages 88-89 of the 2019-20 Home Office Annual Report and Accounts
Home Office annual report and accounts 2019 - 2020 (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Pages 79-80 of the 2018-19 Home Office Annual Report
Home Office Annual Report and Accounts 2018-19 (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Pages 71-72 of the 2017-18 Home Office Annual Report
Home Office Annual Report - 2017-18 (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Pages 59-61 (pages 61-63 on the PDF reader) of the 2016-17 Home Office Annual Report
ho_annual_report_and_accounts_2016_2017.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Information relating to financial year 2021-22 will be available once the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts have been laid before Parliament. This is expected to be prior to the summer recess.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many outstanding visa applications there are for Ukrainian refugees as of 29 June 2022.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Information on the number of visas received and granted under the Ukraine Family Scheme and the Homes for Ukraine Scheme can be found in our published data on the GOV.UK webpage: Ukraine Family Scheme and Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine) visa data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)