Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has taken recent steps to increase processing times for applications to extend limited leave to remain; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
UK Visas and Immigration are currently operating within their global customer service standards across all of the main legal migration routes for customers who make an entry clearance application from overseas and for applications made inside the UK.
Details of current performance against these customer service standards are updated regularly and can be found at:
Visa decision waiting times: applications outside the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab).
Visa decision waiting times: applications inside the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people applied for indefinite leave to remain after completing the 10-year route to settlement based on their family or private life since 2012.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The information requested could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the number of people who are expected to apply for indefinite leave to remain after completing the ten-year route based on their family or private life in the next five years.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The data requested is not available in a reportable format.
Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the impact of the 10-year route to settlement on levels of integration in the period since 2012; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Those who meet all eligibility and specified evidential requirements of the Family Immigration Rules, will be granted on a five-year route to settlement (granted in two periods of 30 months, with a third application for indefinite leave to remain). Those who cannot or do not meet these requirements, or seek to rely on their private life, will instead have a longer route to settlement: 10 years (granted in four periods of 30 months, with a fifth application for indefinite leave to remain). This reflects our obligations under Article 8 of the ECHR.
The 10 year route, provides additional time for those applicants to better integrate into British society by being able to achieve an appropriate knowledge of the English language which, in turn, will enable them to obtain employment and take a full and active part in their community.
We are in the process of simplifying the immigration system, including the ten-year routes to settlement. As part of this simplification the impact of existing policies will be taken into account
Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of a fee waiver for applications for indefinite leave to remain.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The right to stay indefinitely is one of the most valuable entitlements offered for those seeking to enter or remain in the UK, and it is right that the fee should be higher than most for migrants staying temporarily in the UK.
A grant of indefinite leave to remain is not necessary to enable people to remain in the UK on the basis of their Article 8 or other ECHR rights, as these can be met through a grant of limited leave to remain. The provision of an affordability-based waiver for limited leave on family and private life routes allows an individual or family to remain here lawfully, and to then apply for settlement and pay the fee when the funds become available. As such, there are no plans to waive the fee for indefinite leave to remain.
Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people are waiting for the outcome of an application for further leave to remain; and how many and what proportion of those people have limited leave to remain on the 10-year route to settlement on the basis of their family or private lives.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
We do not currently hold any information regarding the proportion of these people who might have limited leave to remain in the UK and are consequently awaiting a decision on a visa extension application are on the ten-year route to settlement.
Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the accessibility of specialist medical services outside of London.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not directly decide the locations from which specialised services are provided on the National Health Service. NHS England is responsible for commissioning services which are prescribed as specialised services in legislation to meet the health needs of people across England. Other medical services are commissioned by one of 42 integrated care boards, or if relevant, by local authorities, for their relevant populations across England.
Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish the Departmental delivery plan that outlines its intention for each piece of retained EU law as committed to in a letter from the Minister for Industry and Investment Security to Baroness Andrews on 3 February 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is conducting analysis of its Retained EU Law stock to determine what should be preserved as part of domestic law, as well as REUL that should be removed, or amended. A list of regulations to be revoked or allowed to sunset, through the REUL Bill will be published in due course.
Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing an Energy Social Tariff.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As set out in the Autumn Statement, the Government will develop a new approach to consumer protection in energy markets, which will apply from April 2024 onwards.
The Government is committed to work with consumer groups and industry to consider the best approach, including options such as social tariffs, as part of wider retail market reforms.
Asked by: Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact animal-based products in medications have on the treatment options for (a) vegetarians and (b) vegans; and if he will take steps to require the switching from animal to plant-based alternatives to non-active ingredients within medicines wherever viable on new products.
Answered by Will Quince
The requirements for the information which must appear on medicines labelling is set out in Part 13 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. The primary purpose of the label is to unambiguously identify the medicine and to convey warnings in relation to safe and effective use of the product. There is no legal requirement for a pharmaceutical manufacturer to state whether a particular medicine contains animal-derived ingredients, as this does not convey warnings on the safety of the medicine.
However, the legislation allows for the inclusion of a statement such as ‘suitable for vegetarians/vegans’ where a company can provide evidence to demonstrate that no products of animal origin have been used in the manufacture of the ingredients or the medicine. Where a company proposes to include such a statement on the labelling or in the patient information leaflet, the Medicines and Healthcare products regulatory Agency will evaluate the evidence to determine the validity. Medicines are developed to treat or prevent particular medical conditions or symptoms and are licensed on the basis of quality, safety and efficacy. Although there are many medicines free from animal derived materials, no animal-free treatment options exist as the active ingredient cannot be made synthetically or animal derived materials are necessary for the formulation or manufacture of the product. As technology advances, we expect that more non-animal materials will become available.