Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how her Department decided on the amount of £39.60 per week as standard asylum support payments.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office reviews the level of the support allowances each year to ensure that they meet the essential living needs of asylum seekers and their dependants who would otherwise be destitute.
A report published in March 2018 sets out the methodology for assessing the appropriate level of the allowances used in the annual review and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-on-review-of-cash-allowance-paid-to-asylum-seekers.
The standard allowance was raised to £39.60 per week from £37.75 per week with effect from 15 June, an increase of around 5%. This increase was significantly higher than the general rate of inflation, which Office for National Statistics data shows was only 0.5% in the 12 months period to May.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
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 reinstating the link with mainstream benefits by setting the asylum support rate at 70 percent of universal credit.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office review the level of the support allowances each year to ensure that they meet the essential living needs of asylum seekers and their dependants. There are no plans to link the level of the allowances with Universal Credit rates.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's policy is on providing support to child refugees made homeless by the recent fires at the Moria refugee camp.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
We were very concerned by the impact of the devastating fire that destroyed the Moria migrant facility. The UK government responded to requests by the Greek Government to provide specific humanitarian goods. The UK has provided kitchen sets to nearly 2,000 vulnerable families to prepare and cook food, and solar lanterns to help them stay safe.
Throughout the pandemic the UK has remained ready to receive those accepted for transfer under the Dublin Regulation. We remain in regular contact with sending Member States, including Greece, who are responsible for arranging transfers. Three group flights from Greece arrived on 11 May, 28 July and 6 August, and we have received further transfers from Greece in recent weeks.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect of the minimum income requirement on families with a non-European person whose earnings have been affected by the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Minimum Income Requirement is set at a level which prevents burdens on the taxpayer and promotes integration.
We recognise COVID-19 will have an economic impact on earnings including on those families where, because of a non-EEA family member, the minimum income requirement applies. We have therefore made relevant adjustments in order to support those affected.
Such adjustments are among a range of measures put in place by the Home Office to support those affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. These are set out for customers on GOV.UK and are available here:
These are unprecedented times. We continue to monitor the situation closely and may make further adjustments to requirements where necessary and appropriate.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's policy is on deporting offenders who have grown up in the UK.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Under the UK Borders Act 2007 passed by the last Labour Government, the Home Secretary has a duty to deport a foreign criminal who is convicted in the UK and sentenced to a period of imprisonment of 12 months or more unless an exception applies. Where the automatic deportation threshold is not met, the Home Office will consider deportation under the Immigration Act 1971 where the person is a serious or persistent offender. Currently, European Economic Area (EEA) nationals are deported in accordance with European Union (EU) law on the grounds of public policy or public security. The UK’s departure from the EU means that, in future, an EEA national who commits an offence after the end of the transition period (31 December 2020) will be considered under the same deportation thresholds that apply to non-EEA nationals.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has to provide additional support to police forces for enforcement of (a) social distancing and (b) other covid-19 restrictions on (i) 31 October and (ii) 5 November 2020.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government has been clear that it will provide police forces with the support they need to continue protecting the public and keeping communities safe through the coronavirus pandemic.
The government continues to work closely with policing partners on the approach to managing the pandemic and any changes.
On 8 October the Government announced an additional £30m for police forces in England and Wales to step up their enforcement of COVID-19 restrictions through the autumn and winter months.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what date she plans to commence the NHS surcharge exemption for migrant doctors.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Government is committed to introducing the NHS surcharge exemption as soon as practicable.
The Prime Minister has confirmed that health and care staff who have paid the fee since 21 May will be refunded.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to issue guidance to police forces in England and Wales on wearing PPE when coming into physical contact with members of the public; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government recognises the importance of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for all of those on the frontline and has published guidance on appropriate PPE for emergency workers, including the police.
The NPCC and the College of Policing have issued operational guidance to all forces on the use of PPE tailored to their unique role to ensure officers and staff are protected sufficiently. The guidance covers how, when and what type of PPE to wear across a range of practical scenarios.
The guidance is available online here: https://www.college.police.uk/What-we-do/COVID-19/Documents/Personal-Protective-Equipment-Operational-Guidance-1.pdf