Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will provide a breakdown of her Department’s £915 million Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend in 2021.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of safe and legal routes to the UK from Ukraine for children and families who have been displaced.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Government has created two saf e and legal routes for Ukrainians fleeing in fear of their lives clear.
the Home Office’s Ukraine Family Scheme announced on 4 March, and the Homes for Ukraine Scheme announced by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities on 14 March. It is the first scheme of its kind to be operationalised anywhere in the world
The Ukraine Family Scheme is fee-free and allows British nationals and people settled in the UK to bring family members to the UK, covering immediate family members plus parents, grandparents, children over 18 and siblings, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, cousins and in-laws. Individuals will be granted leave for three years and will be able to work and access public services and benefits.
DLUHC’s Homes for Ukraine scheme allows individuals, charities, community groups and businesses in the UK to bring Ukrainians to safety – including those with no family ties to the UK. There will be no limit on the number of arrivals, and those who come to the UK on the scheme will have permission to live and work here for up to three years. They will also have access to public services and benefits. The Scheme launched on 18 March 2022.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's target timeframe is for processing visa applications under the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The scheme has only been running for a short period so far; details on the number of visas issued will be released in due course.
This is a government led scheme, administered by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), to whom further queries can be directed.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the risk of children displaced from Ukraine being targeted by smugglers and traffickers.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
We stand with Ukraine and will always defend the Ukrainian people’s right to choose their own destiny. Thousands more Ukrainians will be welcomed to the UK as the Government continues its support for Ukraine in their fight against the Russian invasion.
The Government is committed to tackling the heinous crime of human trafficking. We will continue to clamp down on those who continue to exploit vulnerable people while providing tailored support for victims to help their recovery. We will continue to monitor the risk and threat of our Ukraine schemes being exploited by smugglers and traffickers.
The Government’s Ukraine Family Scheme and Homes for Ukraine Scheme have been designed to ensure we meet our safeguarding obligations, particularly for vulnerable children. For example, here caseworkers have concerns about the identity and relationship of an applicant to the Ukraine Family Scheme and their sponsor, they will undertake background checks on the sponsor.
In the Department’s operations, Border Force has a network of specially trained Safeguarding and Modern Slavery officers. Border Force has a key role in identifying victims and perpetrators of human trafficking as they cross the UK border to prevent modern slavery from happening, safeguard other vulnerable persons and help bring to justice those who commit crimes against them too.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 April 2021 to Question 185914 on British Nationality: Children, by what date she plans to have completed her review into fees for immigration and nationality applications in response to the recent Court of Appeal's ruling on citizenship application fees for children.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office has acknowledged the Court of Appeal’s judgment and has committed to reviewing the child citizenship registration fee in line with its duties under Section 55.
This review is on-going and the results will be published in due course
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 13 April 2021 to Question 175906 on British Nationality: Children, what review of fees for immigration and nationality applications has the Department undertaken in response to the Court of Appeal's ruling on citizenship application fees for children.
Answered by Kevin Foster
As advised in the answer to PQ 175906, all fees for immigration and nationality applications are kept under regular review and we ensure they are within the parameters agreed with HM Treasury and Parliament, as set out in Section 68 (9) of the Immigration Act 2014.
The Home Office has acknowledged the recent judgement and is reviewing the fee in line with its duties under Section 55.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to remove citizenship application fees for children.
Answered by Kevin Foster
We keep fees for immigration and nationality applications under review and ensure they are within the parameters agreed with HM Treasury and Parliament, as set out in Section 68 (9) of the Immigration Act 2014.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what diplomatic steps he has taken to promote the correct usage and proper functioning of Interpol red notices among his foreign counterparts.
Answered by Nick Hurd
INTERPOL is a crucial organisation enabling police to police cooperation between 194 member countries.
Any misuse of INTERPOL notices is taken very seriously by this government.
The Home Office continues to work with INTERPOL and the National Crime Agency (NCA), which acts as the UK’s National Central Bureau for INTERPOL, on this matter and strongly supports INTERPOL’s efforts to ensure systems are in place that protect individuals’ human rights. Article 3 of INTERPOL's Constitution strictly forbids any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to introduce a new seasonal agricultural workers scheme.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
For the time being, the United Kingdom remains a part of the European Union and the latest labour market statistics continue to show an increased number of EU citizens entering into the UK labour force. However, the Government has committed to keeping the position under review and we will continue to engage with the agricultural sector. Future decisions about the degree of labour market access that will be made available to EU citizens after the UK leaves the European Union have yet to be determined.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate the Government has made of the cost of implementation of the proposal set out in Safeguarding the position of EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU, published on 26 June 2017.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
As with other areas of the immigration system, we aim to keep costs to the taxpayer to a minimum by charging applicants a fee.
We recognise the cost of the new settled status application will be important for EU citizens, and intend to set fees at a reasonable level. Delivery options will be subject to negotiation with the EU so it is not currently possible to provide an estimate of the cost to the public purse.