Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria are used for selecting people to be accommodated on the Bibby Stockholm.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
We assess every individual against an agreed suitability criteria, guidance on this can be found here: Allocation of accommodation (publishing.service.gov.uk).
Each person’s suitability will be assessed at regular intervals and if they are no longer suitable for any reason, they will be moved to alternative accommodation.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data his Department holds on the (a) longest and (b) average length of time people are held in Brook House immigration removal centre.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The Home Office publishes data on detention in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on length of detention for people leaving detention is published in table Det_D03 of the ‘Detailed detention dataset’. The latest data relates to the end of September 2023. However this data is not broken down by last place of detention as this does not show where an individual spent their time in detention. In some cases, an individual may have spent a period of time detained elsewhere before being moved to their last place of detention.
Data on people leaving detention by last place of detention is published in table Det_04c of the ‘Detention summary tables’. However, this data is not broken down by length of detention, for the reason given above.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied children seeking asylum were in Home Office hotel accommodation as of 24 January 2024.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
As of the 24 January 2024, there were no children accommodated in the remaining UASC hotel.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had discussions with his Irish counterpart on trends in irregular migration flows via Irish ports in the last 12 months.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office has discussed migration with the Irish Department of Justice on several occasions over the last 12 months, including on matters relating to irregular migration trends via Ireland.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department carried out an equality impact assessment on the recent proposed changes to visa salary thresholds.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Analytical work has been undertaken across Government to support decision making in this process. A fact sheet and an initial assessment on the impact of the changes on immigration can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/fact-sheet-on-net-migration-measures-further-detail and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/legal-migration-statement-estimated-immigration-impacts/legal-migration-statement-estimated-immigration-impacts-accessible.
A full Regulatory Impact Assessment on these changes will be developed and the Government will publish an Equality Impact Assessment on this change, both in due course.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
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 the proposed changes to visa salary thresholds on individuals living in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Analytical work has been undertaken across Government to support decision making in this process. A fact sheet and an initial assessment on the impact of the changes on immigration can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/fact-sheet-on-net-migration-measures-further-detail and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/legal-migration-statement-estimated-immigration-impacts/legal-migration-statement-estimated-immigration-impacts-accessible.
A full Regulatory Impact Assessment on these changes will be developed and the Government will publish an Equality Impact Assessment on this change, both in due course.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data his Department holds on the number of people fined under article 2 of the Immigration (Employment of Adults Subject to Immigration Control) Order 2008 for each year since it came into force.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The link to the transparency data can be found here, and covers the period 2016 to September 2023: Immigration Enforcement data: Q3 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Right to Work statistics can be found on tab CP02 and Right to Rent statistics can be found on tab CP03.
The data for 2023 only includes the published data covering the period January to September.
The information within the transparency data refers to the total numbers of entities who have received a civil penalty, rather than “the number of people fined”. For employment, this could mean a limited company, a sole trader, or a franchise. For renting, an entity could include a landlord or a letting agency.
It is possible that some entities have been fined on more than one occasion.
Data prior to 2016 does not exist in the same reportable format.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data his Department holds on the number of people fined under section (a) 23(2) and (b) 25(4) of the Immigration Act 2014 for each year since the Act came into force.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The link to the transparency data can be found here, and covers the period 2016 to September 2023: Immigration Enforcement data: Q3 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Right to Work statistics can be found on tab CP02 and Right to Rent statistics can be found on tab CP03.
The data for 2023 only includes the published data covering the period January to September.
The information within the transparency data refers to the total numbers of entities who have received a civil penalty, rather than “the number of people fined”. For employment, this could mean a limited company, a sole trader, or a franchise. For renting, an entity could include a landlord or a letting agency.
It is possible that some entities have been fined on more than one occasion.
Data prior to 2016 does not exist in the same reportable format.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of visas submitted to the Visa Application Centre in Khartoum before its closure in April have not been processed.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We do not routinely publish visa application data by Visa Application Centre location. Entry Clearance Visas - Summary Tables for year ending September 2023 can be found here: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
We continue to assist customers applying from Sudan by offering flexibility with arranging appointments, collection of passports from third country VAC locations or courier of passports to third country residential addresses.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Written Statement of 6 December 2023 on Signing of the Rwanda Treaty [HCWS101], what his timescale is for beginning relocation of asylum seekers to Rwanda; and what plans he has for accommodating asylum seekers who are not relocated to Rwanda in the next five years.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The process of relocating asylum seekers to Rwanda will begin after the Treaty and the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill comes into force after having progressed through Parliament. The Treaty has been laid before Parliament under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 and the procedures under that Act must be complied with before the Treaty can be ratified and come into force.
Individuals whose asylum claims are declared inadmissible may be able to obtain support under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 if they would otherwise be destitute. Certain individuals may also be able to obtain support under sections 98 and 95 of this Act. Such support may include accommodation.