Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people with valid digital immigration status have been detained at the UK border for non-possession of physical immigration status documents in the last 12 months.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Border Force do not hold the data on people who have been detained for not possessing evidence of their permission to enter, obtained digitally, in an easily accessible format.
Immigration system statistics, year ending December 2023, are available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-december-2023.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the document entitled Draft terms of reference for the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group, what updates his Department has provided on relevant developments in its area of work to that group since 2019.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
Ministers and officials have regular discussions with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities over a range of issues. More broadly, I refer the hon. Member to the answer of 1 March 2024, Official Report, PQ 16019 on tackling anti-Muslim hatred.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the offence of coercive or controlling behaviour as set out in section 76 of the Serious Crime Act 2015 to include abuse in (a) cults and (b) sects.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
Controlling or Coercive Behaviour within an intimate or family relationship was made a criminal offence under the Serious Crime Act 2015. The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 removed the requirement for the parties to be ‘living together’ for the offence to occur. The Government has no plans to extend these provisions beyond intimate and family relationships.
The government will continue to work with the police and criminal justice agencies to ensure the law is used to maximum effect and that the new guidance is effective in identifying, investigating and evidencing CCB.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether an equality impact assessment was produced for the (a) Heathrow Changes project and (b) proposed roster system beginning on 29 April 2024 for the Heathrow Border Force.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Yes. An Equality Impact Assessment on the Heathrow Change Programme was completed and shared with trade unions.
An Equality Impact Assessment on the proposed roster was completed and shared with trade unions.
A further Equality Impact Assessment will be undertaken in line with the implementation of the new roster.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 6 December 2023 to Question 4737 on Visas: Applications, what proportion of UK Visa and Citizenship Application service appointments in Oxford were (a) free and (b) chargeable between 1 June and 30 November 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The UK Visa & Citizenship Application service in Oxford initially opened as a ‘pop-up’ on 30th May 2023 to meet demand in the South East region. All appointments were chargeable initially with a good supply of free appointments available in the wider region. A mix of free and chargeable appointments were made available in Oxford from August 2023 and over 50% of available appointments have been free to the customer since.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services appointments have been available at the Oxford Service Point in each month since January 2023; and what the cost to the applicant of such appointments was.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
A UK Visa and Citizenship Application (UKVCAS) service was opened in Oxford on 30th May 2023.
Capacity has fluctuated over time to meet demand, but UKVCAS has delivered on average (June 23 – Nov 23) 407 appointments per month and currently has capacity of c.480 free and chargeable appointments per month. The standard fee of £139 per appointment is applicable for chargeable appointments.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of her Department's IT systems when processing visa applications.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
As part of the agreed service standard in Home Office Digital, Data and Technology, operational performance of Home Office IT systems that support visa processing are regularly monitored. We review and improve these systems periodically to ensure they continue to support effective processing of visa applications.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's policy is on the future visa status of Sudanese nationals who have been given leave to enter the UK.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
We expect individuals holding a UK visa to comply with the conditions of the leave they have been granted.
Help and advice on immigration for those whose visas are expiring can be found on the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason pregnant women detained under the Illegal Migration Bill will not be subject to the 72 hour detention limit introduced in 2016; and what steps she has taken to assess the potential impact of the Illegal Migration Bill on pregnant women.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
It is important that we do not inadvertently create perverse incentives for evil people smuggling gangs to target particularly venerable groups. Therefore, pregnant women who come to the UK illegally and fall within the duty to remove will not be exempt from detention and removal under this Bill.
The Home Office takes the welfare of those in detention seriously. We will only detain pregnant women when it is necessary and in appropriate accommodation with appropriate healthcare provisions.
An equality impact assessment has been completed for the Illegal Migration Bill, and is available here: Illegal Migration Bill publications - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament.
The Home Office are not aware that any women who have been pregnant whilst in immigration detention have died during their perinatal period.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many women each year who were held in migrant detention while pregnant died in the perinatal period (a) before the implementation of the 72-hour detention limit for pregnant women in 2016 and (b) after the implementation of that limit.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
It is important that we do not inadvertently create perverse incentives for evil people smuggling gangs to target particularly venerable groups. Therefore, pregnant women who come to the UK illegally and fall within the duty to remove will not be exempt from detention and removal under this Bill.
The Home Office takes the welfare of those in detention seriously. We will only detain pregnant women when it is necessary and in appropriate accommodation with appropriate healthcare provisions.
An equality impact assessment has been completed for the Illegal Migration Bill, and is available here: Illegal Migration Bill publications - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament.
The Home Office are not aware that any women who have been pregnant whilst in immigration detention have died during their perinatal period.