Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, where AI is being used in the immigration system; and whether she plans to extend the use of AI in the immigration system.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
AI is used in multiple areas within the immigration system, for example in relation to image recognition, summarisation, triage, matching and analysis. We plan to continue to test and pilot how we can use AI, where appropriate to do so, to support effective and efficient operations.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding has been allocated to community safety initiatives in (a) Greater Manchester and (b) Manchester Rusholme constituency in the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not have a defined range of initiatives that fall under the umbrella term of ‘community safety’. Greater Manchester Police’s funding will be up to £871.2 million in 2025-26, an increase of up to £55.6 million when compared to the 2024-25 funding settlement.
It is for locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners, or in this case the Mayor of Greater Manchester, to make decisions on how they use their funding and deploy their resources using their knowledge of local need.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's planned timetable is for the completion of the migration of casework operations to the new ATLAS system.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Since mid-2024, Atlas has been the primary caseworking system for operational teams across Migration & Borders with the legacy CID (Case Information Database) caseworking system only being used for very small volume case types. Work to migrate legacy CID ‘work in progress’ cases across to Atlas has been in progress since late 2024, and the capability to handle those small volume case types is due to be completed by the end of April 2025, when it is currently scheduled to decommission CID.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of notices given to asylum seekers to leave accommodation provided by his Department on trends in the level of demand for local government homelessness services in Greater Manchester.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Since September 2023, all individuals receive a minimum of 28 days’ support (including accommodation) after having been issued with a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP). There are no current plans to extend the 28 days prescribed in legislation due to the huge pressures on the asylum system.
We offer move on support to all individuals through Migrant Help or their partner organisation. This includes providing advice on accessing the labour market, on applying for Universal Credit and signposting to local authorities for assistance with housing. Individuals do not need to wait for their BRP to make a claim for benefits and are encouraged to do so as early as possible if they require them.
We work closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) to ensure the right asylum decision data is being shared with local authorities to enable effective planning and to lessen the impact on existing homelessness and rough sleeping pressures. Our accommodation providers are directly working with local authorities to notify them when an individual is due to have their asylum support ended.
We are working with our partners, including local authorities, to provide timely notification of key events that impact them. We are working with our Strategic Migration Partners (SMPs) to facilitate regional sessions with councils and to share data.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions he has had with local councils in Greater Manchester on the potential availability of housing for refugees who have reached the end of their move-on period.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Since September 2023, all individuals receive a minimum of 28 days’ support (including accommodation) after having been issued with a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP). There are no current plans to extend the 28 days prescribed in legislation due to the huge pressures on the asylum system.
We offer move on support to all individuals through Migrant Help or their partner organisation. This includes providing advice on accessing the labour market, on applying for Universal Credit and signposting to local authorities for assistance with housing. Individuals do not need to wait for their BRP to make a claim for benefits and are encouraged to do so as early as possible if they require them.
We work closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) to ensure the right asylum decision data is being shared with local authorities to enable effective planning and to lessen the impact on existing homelessness and rough sleeping pressures. Our accommodation providers are directly working with local authorities to notify them when an individual is due to have their asylum support ended.
We are working with our partners, including local authorities, to provide timely notification of key events that impact them. We are working with our Strategic Migration Partners (SMPs) to facilitate regional sessions with councils and to share data.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had discussions with local councils in Greater Manchester on the notice period given by accommodation providers when an individual is due to have their asylum support ended.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Since September 2023, all individuals receive a minimum of 28 days’ support (including accommodation) after having been issued with a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP). There are no current plans to extend the 28 days prescribed in legislation due to the huge pressures on the asylum system.
We offer move on support to all individuals through Migrant Help or their partner organisation. This includes providing advice on accessing the labour market, on applying for Universal Credit and signposting to local authorities for assistance with housing. Individuals do not need to wait for their BRP to make a claim for benefits and are encouraged to do so as early as possible if they require them.
We work closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) to ensure the right asylum decision data is being shared with local authorities to enable effective planning and to lessen the impact on existing homelessness and rough sleeping pressures. Our accommodation providers are directly working with local authorities to notify them when an individual is due to have their asylum support ended.
We are working with our partners, including local authorities, to provide timely notification of key events that impact them. We are working with our Strategic Migration Partners (SMPs) to facilitate regional sessions with councils and to share data.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department plans to consult representatives of Muslim organisations on the effectiveness of the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat
The Home Office works with a number of stakeholders in relation to the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme and our wider work on protective security for faith communities, including the police, delivery partners, other government departments, devolved administrations and faith and community organisations.
We continue to work closely with these stakeholders to understand the safety and security issues affecting Muslim communities in the UK, to ensure that our protective security interventions remain effective and aligned with good practice.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which organisations his Department consulted when establishing the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat
The Home Office works with a number of stakeholders in relation to the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme and our wider work on protective security for faith communities, including the police, delivery partners, other government departments, devolved administrations and faith and community organisations.
We continue to work closely with these stakeholders to understand the safety and security issues affecting Muslim communities in the UK, to ensure that our protective security interventions remain effective and aligned with good practice.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications have been approved under the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme as of 17 January 2024, by region.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat
The Protective Security for Mosque Scheme is a new scheme in 2023/24 and opened on 21 June 2023.
As of 17 January 2024, the Home Office has received 269 applications to the scheme. By region, applications have been received from the East Midlands (32), East of England (24), Greater London (57), North East (21), North West (54), South East (22), South West (8), West Midlands (36), Northern Ireland (3) and Wales (12).
Decisions on applications will be communicated to applicant mosques and Muslim faith community centres in due course. The scheme remains open to applicants and information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/places-of-worship-security-funding-scheme
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications have been denied under the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme as of 17 January 2024, by region.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat
The Protective Security for Mosque Scheme is a new scheme in 2023/24 and opened on 21 June 2023.
As of 17 January 2024, the Home Office has received 269 applications to the scheme. By region, applications have been received from the East Midlands (32), East of England (24), Greater London (57), North East (21), North West (54), South East (22), South West (8), West Midlands (36), Northern Ireland (3) and Wales (12).
Decisions on applications will be communicated to applicant mosques and Muslim faith community centres in due course. The scheme remains open to applicants and information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/places-of-worship-security-funding-scheme