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Written Question
Fraud: International Cooperation
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to collaborate with its counterparts in other countries to tackle fraud.

Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)

Last week the Government hosted the first ever Global Fraud Summit.

This brought together Ministers and senior representatives from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Singapore and the Republic of Korea as well as the United Nations, European Union, Financial Action Task Force and INTERPOL to emphasise the need for international collaboration to tackle fraud.

We agreed an ambitious communiqué which sets out a new international framework to better understand and address the threat and keep our citizens safe.

We will continue to build upon these commitments whilst also engaging bilaterally with key countries to build capability and strengthen their ability to tackle and disrupt fraud before it reaches the UK.


Written Question
Asylum: Rwanda
Wednesday 20th March 2024

Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what safeguards his Department has put in place to ensure that people with a rejected asylum application being offered voluntary relocation to Rwanda are giving informed consent.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)

The option of voluntary relocation will be given to failed asylum seekers. If they wish to relocate, it is only right that we facilitate that in order to save taxpayers’ money and pressures on our public services.

Regarding the voluntary relocation of individuals to Rwanda, it would be inappropriate to provide a running commentary on individual cases.

If a person expresses an interest in the voluntary relocation, we are supporting people in ensuring that they have all the information they need in order to make a decision.


Written Question
Asylum: Rwanda
Wednesday 20th March 2024

Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people with rejected asylum applications have been approached regarding voluntarily relocation to Rwanda as of 13 March 2024.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)

The option of voluntary relocation will be given to failed asylum seekers. If they wish to relocate, it is only right that we facilitate that in order to save taxpayers’ money and pressures on our public services.

Regarding the voluntary relocation of individuals to Rwanda, it would be inappropriate to provide a running commentary on individual cases.

If a person expresses an interest in the voluntary relocation, we are supporting people in ensuring that they have all the information they need in order to make a decision.


Written Question
Asylum: Rwanda
Wednesday 20th March 2024

Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria his Department plans to use for selecting people with rejected asylum applications for proposed voluntary relocation to Rwanda.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)

The option of voluntary relocation will be given to failed asylum seekers. If they wish to relocate, it is only right that we facilitate that in order to save taxpayers’ money and pressures on our public services.

Regarding the voluntary relocation of individuals to Rwanda, it would be inappropriate to provide a running commentary on individual cases.

If a person expresses an interest in the voluntary relocation, we are supporting people in ensuring that they have all the information they need in order to make a decision.


Written Question
Asylum: Christianity
Monday 11th March 2024

Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of asylum claims based on false conversions to Christianity between 6 September 2022 and 13 November 2023.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

This information is not recorded in a reportable format.

Information regarding initial decisions on asylum claims, by outcome, is contained within the ASY_D02 tab of the Asylum applications, decisions and resettlement dataset: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

This does not include information regarding whether the asylum claimant changed their religion.


Written Question
Migrants: Health Services
Wednesday 6th March 2024

Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2024 to Question 13206 on Migrants: Health Services, whether applicants who applied for entry clearance under paragraph 319X of the Immigration Rules before 12 April 2023 pay the Immigration Health Surcharge if their application is processed after that date.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

Appendix Child Joining a Non-Parent Relative, also known as Appendix CNP, allows for extended family with protection status in the UK to sponsor children to join them where there are serious and compelling circumstances. This can be in situations where a child has no parents or relatives to care for them, or where the parents or relatives in their own country cannot safely care for the child.

Simplification of the Immigration Rules, by inserting Appendix CNP on 12 April 2023, did not impose different Immigration Health Surcharge requirements, but replicated the existing provisions contained under paragraph 319X.

There were no policy changes made to the requirements of this route and it was solely formatting changes in line with the wider simplification format. Decision makers have been instructed to consider all applications made before and after 12 April 2023 under Appendix CNP. This means that all applications submitted prior to, and after, 12 April 2023 must pay the Immigration Health Surcharge. The requirement to do so may be waived where the sponsor is determined to be destitute, but it is in the best interests of the child to come to the UK.


Written Question
Migrants: Health Services
Monday 26th February 2024

Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to case no. GWF066389479, for what reason an applicant who has been granted entry clearance under paragraph 319X of the Immigration Rules or Appendix CNP has been asked to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge despite the application being submitted before 12 April 2023.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

Applicants who have been granted entry clearance under paragraph 319X on the Immigration Rules or Appendix Child Staying with or joining a Non-Parent Relative (Appendix CNP) for more than 6 months, are required to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge which covers the period of leave to enter they have been granted.

Applicants who have been granted entry clearance under paragraph 319X on the Immigration Rules or Appendix Child Staying with or joining a Non-Parent Relative (Appendix CNP) for 6 months or less are not required to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge.


Written Question
Migrants: Health Services
Monday 26th February 2024

Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to case no. GWF066389012, for what reason an applicant who has been granted entry clearance under paragraph 319X of the Immigration Rules or Appendix CNP has been asked to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge despite the application being submitted before 12 April 2023.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

Applicants who have been granted entry clearance under paragraph 319X on the Immigration Rules or Appendix Child Staying with or joining a Non-Parent Relative (Appendix CNP) for more than 6 months, are required to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge which covers the period of leave to enter they have been granted.

Applicants who have been granted entry clearance under paragraph 319X on the Immigration Rules or Appendix Child Staying with or joining a Non-Parent Relative (Appendix CNP) for 6 months or less are not required to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge.


Written Question
Asylum: Housing
Monday 26th February 2024

Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to notify local authorities of when (a) asylum seekers and (b) settled refugees are relocated to their area as a result of hotel closures.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The programme of hotel closures is managed carefully to ensure those asylum seekers still eligible for support are relocated to suitable alternative Home Office accommodation, which may be in a different location from their current hotel. The Home Office’s accommodation providers manage the moves of asylum seekers from one location to another. Whilst we expect impacts on local authorities to be minimal, we have put in place additional resource to work with our accommodation providers and local partners to manage this process and minimise disruption. We are working with our partners, including local authorities, to provide timely notification of key events that impact them.


Written Question
Asylum
Monday 26th February 2024

Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he is taking steps to help ensure the adequacy of resources for supporting the integration of asylum seekers into British society in (a) local authorities and (b) organisations in the (i) voluntary, (ii) community and (iii) faith sector.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

This Government’s priority is to focus our efforts and resources to support those who most need it. As not all of those who seek asylum are found to need international protection, integration resources are available to those granted permission to stay. Under the New Plan for Immigration, the Government committed to offering an enhanced integration package for refugees arriving through safe and legal routes.

Individuals granted asylum have access to the labour market and to mainstream services that support their integration, including benefits and healthcare. We are working across Government to ensure these services meet the needs of all newly granted refugees.

Support is offered from Migrant Help or their partner organisation to all individuals when they receive a decision on their asylum claim. This support includes providing advice on accessing the labour market, on applying for Universal Credit and signposting to local authorities for assistance with housing.