Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2022 to Question 61079 on Refugees: Afghanistan, what estimate she has made of the number families making their own accommodation arrangements who have moved into permanent accommodation.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
We have been working as fast as possible to support Afghan families into homes of their own, so that they can settle into their local communities and rebuild their lives in the UK.
A number of evacuated families have taken steps to source their own accommodation, whether it be through the Find Your Own Accommodation scheme or independently.
Until data assurance activity for those evacuated to the UK via Op Pitting has concluded, and the number of people who have sourced accommodation without support from the Home Office is, subsequently, made clear, we will not hold this data in a reportable format.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2022 to Question 61080 on Homes for Ukraine Scheme, for what reason that information is not published.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The ambition is to process Ukraine Scheme applications within 48 hours, but there is no formal or published agreed Service Level Agreement (SLA) to publish data on.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2022 to Question 61080 on Homes for Ukraine Scheme, for what reason the information requested is not published.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The ambition is to process Ukraine Scheme applications within 48 hours, but this is not a formal or published agreed Service Level Agreement (SLA).
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the timescale is for people to receive a response after submitting an application to the Homes for Ukraine scheme as of 18 October 2022.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Data on Ukraine Schemes can be found here Ukraine Family Scheme, Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine) and Ukraine Extension Scheme visa data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Applications made under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme are being processed as quickly as possible, however the information requested is not published.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 28 July 2022 to Question 38653 on Refugees: Afghanistan, how many of the 7,000 Afghans referenced have moved into permanent accommodation.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We have been working as fast as possible to support Afghan families into homes of their own, so that they can settle into their local communities, feel safe and independent and rebuild their lives in the UK.
At 12 August 2022, 7,385 people have moved into a home, or have been matched to a home and are waiting to move in. This does not include families who have made their own accommodation arrangements.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to Answer 13 July 2022 to Question 32954, what proportion of applications have been processed within 48 hours in the last six months.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Data on Ukraine schemes can be found here Ukraine Family Scheme, Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine) and Ukraine Extension Scheme visa data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk), however the information requested is not published.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 July 2022 to Question 38652 on Refugees: Afghanistan, what steps the Government is taking to work with local authorities across the UK to identify more opportunities for people being housed in bridging hotels to move into permanent accommodation.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We continue to work at pace with over 350 local authority partners to meet the demand for housing and have moved – or are in the process of moving - around 7,400 people into homes since June 2021.
Both the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and the Home Office have teams which engage with local authorities and Strategic Migration Partnerships (SMPs) to encourage local authorities to pledge support.
We are providing funding to local authorities who support people through the Afghan Citizen's Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) or Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme to the value of £20,520 per person, over 3 years, for resettlement and integration costs. There is also an additional housing costs fund available over three years to provide a top-up to help councils meet the costs of renting properties of three bedrooms or more in recognition of the need to find larger homes for families for those evacuated from Afghanistan.
Local authorities and health partners who resettle families will also receive up to £4,500 per child for education, £850 for English language provision for adults requiring this support and £2,600 for healthcare.
We are also reaching out to landlords, developers, and the wider private rented sector to encourage further offers of properties, either directly to local authorities or through our housing portal.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse is of temporary housing for Afghan refugees.
Answered by Kevin Foster
In 2021, the UK Government undertook the biggest and fastest emergency evacuation in recent history, helping over 15,000 people to safety from Afghanistan. Since the end of Op PITTING, we have brought a further c.4,000 Afghans to the UK. Due to the scale and pace of the evacuation we were not able to source appropriate accommodation in the normal way, so we have had to use hotels as a temporary measure.
As of 18 July 2022, we are currently providing temporary accommodation for c.9,500 individuals resettling in the UK under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) or Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), whilst they await permanent accommodation.
Over 7000 Afghans have already moved or are in the process of being moved into their permanent accommodation. In addition to the work, we are doing to provide appropriate accommodation for Afghans, a number of families have, in recent months, taken steps to secure their own accommodation.
The cost of accommodating those resetting under ACRS or ARAP, whilst they await permanent accommodation, is estimated at £1 million a day. The Home Office works to secure contracts which offer the best value for money, whilst providing an appropriate level of support to those under its care.
We do not want to see Afghan families in temporary accommodation for any longer than is absolutely necessary. We are therefore working with local authorities across the UK to identify more opportunities for those being housed in bridging hotels to move into permanent accommodation.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Afghan refugees have found permanent accommodation since arriving in the UK following the Taliban taking control of Afghanistan.
Answered by Kevin Foster
In 2021, the UK Government undertook the biggest and fastest emergency evacuation in recent history, helping over 15,000 people to safety from Afghanistan. Since the end of Op PITTING, we have brought a further c.4,000 Afghans to the UK. Due to the scale and pace of the evacuation we were not able to source appropriate accommodation in the normal way, so we have had to use hotels as a temporary measure.
As of 18 July 2022, we are currently providing temporary accommodation for c.9,500 individuals resettling in the UK under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) or Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), whilst they await permanent accommodation.
Over 7000 Afghans have already moved or are in the process of being moved into their permanent accommodation. In addition to the work, we are doing to provide appropriate accommodation for Afghans, a number of families have, in recent months, taken steps to secure their own accommodation.
The cost of accommodating those resetting under ACRS or ARAP, whilst they await permanent accommodation, is estimated at £1 million a day. The Home Office works to secure contracts which offer the best value for money, whilst providing an appropriate level of support to those under its care.
We do not want to see Afghan families in temporary accommodation for any longer than is absolutely necessary. We are therefore working with local authorities across the UK to identify more opportunities for those being housed in bridging hotels to move into permanent accommodation.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Afghan refugees remain in hotels following their arrival in the UK in summer 2021.
Answered by Kevin Foster
In 2021, the UK Government undertook the biggest and fastest emergency evacuation in recent history, helping over 15,000 people to safety from Afghanistan. Since the end of Op PITTING, we have brought a further c.4,000 Afghans to the UK. Due to the scale and pace of the evacuation we were not able to source appropriate accommodation in the normal way, so we have had to use hotels as a temporary measure.
As of 18 July 2022, we are currently providing temporary accommodation for c.9,500 individuals resettling in the UK under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) or Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), whilst they await permanent accommodation.
Over 7000 Afghans have already moved or are in the process of being moved into their permanent accommodation. In addition to the work, we are doing to provide appropriate accommodation for Afghans, a number of families have, in recent months, taken steps to secure their own accommodation.
The cost of accommodating those resetting under ACRS or ARAP, whilst they await permanent accommodation, is estimated at £1 million a day. The Home Office works to secure contracts which offer the best value for money, whilst providing an appropriate level of support to those under its care.
We do not want to see Afghan families in temporary accommodation for any longer than is absolutely necessary. We are therefore working with local authorities across the UK to identify more opportunities for those being housed in bridging hotels to move into permanent accommodation.