Asked by: Andrew Smith (Labour - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the introduction of safe return reviews on (a) the resources needed by her Department to implement that policy and (b) the integration of refugees into the UK.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
UK Visas & Immigration already have a dedicated resource in place to undertake safe return reviews when considering settlement applications from those granted refugee status or humanitarian protection. Caseworkers must consider whether there have been significant changes in country conditions or personal circumstances which means that an individual no longer needs our protection.
Those who need protection are normally granted 5 years’ limited leave after which they are able to apply for permanent settlement. This policy has been in place since 2005 when automatic settlement for refugees was abolished, so this Government has never operated a policy of automatic settlement for refugees. All applications are carefully considered on their individual merits and we have always been clear that protection will be granted for as long as it is needed.
Refugees have and will continue to make a valuable contribution to British society but those who want to remain in the UK permanently need to complete a qualifying period of leave before obtaining the benefits of settlement. Refugees have immediate and unrestricted access to the labour market and where it is clear that they continue to face persecution or serious harm on return to their country they are normally granted settlement. Those who are no longer at risk due to significant change in the country situation are able to return home or can choose to apply to remain here under other provisions of the Immigration Rules.
Asked by: Andrew Smith (Labour - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she expects paragraph 11 of Schedule 10 of the Immigration Act 2016 to be brought into force.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
We are currently working with the Ministry of Justice, Her Majesty’s Court Service and the First-tier Tribunal to implement the Secretary of State’s duty to arrange consideration of bail, as set out in paragraph 11 of Schedule 10 to the Immigration Act 2016. This is just one part of a large number of changes necessary to implement the wider immigration bail provisions in Schedule 10 and it will be commenced alongside those other provisions in due course.
Asked by: Andrew Smith (Labour - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department plans to take to publicise any changes to the residency rights of EU citizens living in the UK; and if she will provide a telephone number for such people to call for such information.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The rights of EU nationals living in the UK remain unchanged while we are a member of the European Union. We are currently considering the various options as to how EU migration might work once we have left, it would be wrong to set out further positions at this stage.
Asked by: Andrew Smith (Labour - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many family visit visa applications to the UK there were in the year ending 8 July (a) 2014, (b) 2015 and (c) 2016, by (i) overall number of decisions made, (ii) number of family visit visa grants, (iii) number of family visit visa refusals, (iv) number of family visit visa applications withdrawn and (v) number of family visit visa applications which lapsed.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The information on total entry clearance visitor visas granted is released quarterly as part of the Home Office’s Immigration Statistics, available at the .GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Andrew Smith (Labour - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been arrested under immigration powers by Immigration Enforcement Teams in Oxford East constituency over the last six-month period for which figures are available.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Home Office databases show that 16 arrests under immigration powers were made on Immigration enforcement visits in the Oxford East constituency in the six months from 1 August 2016 to 31 January 2017.
Asked by: Andrew Smith (Labour - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress is being made on providing sanctuary for refugee children currently in France, Greece and Italy.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
In 2016, we transferred over 900 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children to the UK from Europe, including more than 750 from France as part of the UK’s support for the Calais camp clearance. Approximately 200 of these children met the criteria for section 67 of the Immigration Act.
More eligible children will be transferred from Europe, in line with the terms of the Immigration Act, in the coming months and we will continue to meet our obligations under the Dublin Regulation. In addition to our long standing secondee in Italy, we have seconded an expert to Greece who has been working closely with UNHCR, IOM and the Greek authorities to identify potentially eligible children under section 67 of the Immigration Act and support transfers under the Dublin Regulation.
Asked by: Andrew Smith (Labour - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in how many cases in 2016 was the allegation that a proxy took an English examination on behalf of another person the basis for (a) deportation and (b) detention in an immigration removal centre.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
We do not hold this information in a format that allows us to provide the specific information requested.
All published information relating to ETS is in the UKVI Transparency Data which was most recently updated in November 2016.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/Temporary and permanent migration data: November 2016 - Publications - GOV.UK
Asked by: Andrew Smith (Labour - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many letters were sent to migrants during 2016 alleging that a proxy had sat and passed their English examination for them.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
We do not hold this information in a format that allows us to provide the specific information requested.
All published information relating to ETS is in the UKVI Transparency Data which was most recently updated in November 2016.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/Temporary and permanent migration data: November 2016 - Publications - GOV.UK