Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will undertake a review of the Graduate route visa scheme.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under review, in consultation with a wide range of experts and other stakeholders.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to enable access to safe protest around the Tower of London.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The management of protests is an operational decision for the police.
The Government fully support the police to ensure that the right to protest can be exercised in a lawful way.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the potential for exploitation of migrant care worker visas being tied to individual employers; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of visa sponsorship being done via an independent body.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government condemns the exploitation of international care workers by rogue employers in the adult social care sector and continues to take robust action against this unscrupulous behaviour.
We have recently implemented a prohibition on Skilled Worker sponsors recouping sponsorship costs from those they sponsor, and those doing so now risk losing their licence. We also intend to ban any employer who flouts employment laws from acting as a sponsor in the future.
However, employer sponsorship is a core element of the UK’s economic immigration system and ensures those who most directly benefit from attracting workers to the UK play a vital role in maintaining the integrity of the system.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of industrial action by Northern Ireland immigration practitioners; and what steps she plans to take to ensure that asylum claims are not impacted.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All asylum claims will continue to be assessed on an individual basis, in line with published policies.
The Home Office continues to invest in a programme of transformation and business improvement initiatives to focus on speeding up decision making, reduce the time people spend in the asylum system and decrease the number of people who are awaiting an interview or decision.
This will enable us to maximise our capacity and progress cases in a more efficient and cost-effective way.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of Electronic Travel Authorisation exemptions for tourists travelling from Dublin to Northern Ireland for one week or less.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The introduction of ETAs is a significant change to our migration and border system, affecting a cohort of travellers who have previously been able to travel without making any prior application to the Home Office.
To ensure that the requirement is fully understood by eligible nationals, including visitors to Northern Ireland from Ireland, we have been working with a wide range of partners so that ETAs are not seen as a barrier to cross-border tourism on the island of Ireland.
This includes developing specific ETA comms for Northern Ireland in conjunction with umbrella organisations for the Northern Irish and Irish tourism industries, and individual members of those organisations.
We have also worked closely with the Northern Ireland Executive and Irish Government since the inception of the ETA policy. ETAs are crucial in delivering the Government’s commitment to strengthening the security of the UK border and the Common Travel Area. The ETA application is quick and light-touch, and many applications are decided within minutes.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of Electronic Travel Authorisations on (a) tourism and (b) the economy in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The introduction of ETAs is a significant change to our migration and border system, affecting a cohort of travellers who have previously been able to travel without making any prior application to the Home Office.
To ensure that the requirement is fully understood by eligible nationals, including visitors to Northern Ireland from Ireland, we have been working with a wide range of partners so that ETAs are not seen as a barrier to cross-border tourism on the island of Ireland.
This includes developing specific ETA comms for Northern Ireland in conjunction with umbrella organisations for the Northern Irish and Irish tourism industries, and individual members of those organisations.
We have also worked closely with the Northern Ireland Executive and Irish Government since the inception of the ETA policy. ETAs are crucial in delivering the Government’s commitment to strengthening the security of the UK border and the Common Travel Area. The ETA application is quick and light-touch, and many applications are decided within minutes.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions her Department has had with (a) the (i) Northern Ireland and (ii) Ireland tourism industry and (b) other stakeholders on the introduction of Electronic Travel Authorisations.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The introduction of ETAs is a significant change to our migration and border system, affecting a cohort of travellers who have previously been able to travel without making any prior application to the Home Office.
To ensure that the requirement is fully understood by eligible nationals, including visitors to Northern Ireland from Ireland, we have been working with a wide range of partners so that ETAs are not seen as a barrier to cross-border tourism on the island of Ireland.
This includes developing specific ETA comms for Northern Ireland in conjunction with umbrella organisations for the Northern Irish and Irish tourism industries, and individual members of those organisations.
We have also worked closely with the Northern Ireland Executive and Irish Government since the inception of the ETA policy. ETAs are crucial in delivering the Government’s commitment to strengthening the security of the UK border and the Common Travel Area. The ETA application is quick and light-touch, and many applications are decided within minutes.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions her Department has held with the (a) Northern Ireland Executive and (b) Irish Government on the introduction of Electronic Travel Authorisations.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The introduction of ETAs is a significant change to our migration and border system, affecting a cohort of travellers who have previously been able to travel without making any prior application to the Home Office.
To ensure that the requirement is fully understood by eligible nationals, including visitors to Northern Ireland from Ireland, we have been working with a wide range of partners so that ETAs are not seen as a barrier to cross-border tourism on the island of Ireland.
This includes developing specific ETA comms for Northern Ireland in conjunction with umbrella organisations for the Northern Irish and Irish tourism industries, and individual members of those organisations.
We have also worked closely with the Northern Ireland Executive and Irish Government since the inception of the ETA policy. ETAs are crucial in delivering the Government’s commitment to strengthening the security of the UK border and the Common Travel Area. The ETA application is quick and light-touch, and many applications are decided within minutes.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department will provide (a) guidance and (b) practical support to (i) charities, (ii) community groups and (iii) voluntary groups to assist them in complying with the requirements of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Free, dedicated guidance and support will be provided to ensure that those in scope will understand how to meet the obligations of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill. Guidance is currently being designed so that it is self-explanatory and easy to follow. It will be published ahead of the Bill’s requirements coming into force.
The Bill requires the production of two separate pieces of guidance: statutory guidance for the public to understand how they can meet the requirements of the legislation; and operational guidance which will set out how the regulator will discharge its duties. This will be freely available on the Security Industry Authority website and Gov.uk.
We continue to engage with key stakeholders across relevant sectors including those in the voluntary and community sector in developing this guidance.
In the interim, factsheets have been published on gov.uk which provide more detailed information on certain elements of the Bill Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill 2024: factsheets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). We also continue to encourage referral to the ProtectUK platform for the latest updates on the Bill.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill on (a) charities, (b) community groups and (c) voluntary organisations that organise events.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government is extremely mindful of the many community, voluntary-run and charity events that occur across the UK.
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill has been designed to achieve public protection outcomes whilst avoiding undue burden on businesses and other organisations.
Many organisations will have procedures and measures in place for fire safety and health and safety legislation. This Bill’s proposals are based on similar concepts, following similar systems and processes. The ‘reasonably practicable’ standard of requirements in both tiers is designed to allow procedures and measures to be tailored to the specific circumstances of a premises or event. This will enable those responsible to consider what is within their control and the resources they have available to them, as well as what is suitable and appropriate for their premises or event.
Dedicated guidance and support will be provided for those in scope of the Bill, to ensure that they have the required information on what to do and how best to do it. The guidance will be easy to follow, needing no particular expertise.