Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has considered the potential merits of extending visas issued under the (a) Ukraine Family Scheme, (b) Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme and (c) the Ukraine Extension Scheme; and whether he has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential impact of such schemes on Government provision for (i) housing, (ii) education and (iii) employment.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We are mindful that permission will start to expire, for the first arrivals under our Ukrainian schemes, from March 2025, and their need for certainty beyond that point to help them to plan ahead. We are keeping the need for a possible extension of permission to remain for those who are here on our Ukraine schemes under consistent review in line with the ongoing war.
The Government is providing funding to councils at a rate of £10,500 per person for guests who arrived before 1 January 2023 and £5,900 for guests who arrived after 1 January 2023 under the Homes for Ukraine scheme to enable them to provide support to families to rebuild their lives and fully integrate into communities. The Government is also providing £150 million of new UK-wide funding in the 2023/24 financial year to local authorities and devolved governments to help support Ukrainian guests move into their own homes and reduce the risk of homelessness.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) are also working across government to identify other ways to unblock barriers, helping Ukrainians access employment, commensurate with their skill set, liaising with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). In addition, the Government announced £11.5 million in the Spring Budget 2023 to fund intensive English language courses and employment support for up to 10,000 eligible individuals (across the UK) under the three humanitarian Ukraine visa schemes.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure it is complying with relevant legislation on housing in multiple occupation in the context of the provision of accommodation for asylum seekers in Belfast.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Home Office accommodation provider, Mears, is contractually obliged to ensure that asylum accommodation in Northern Ireland meets all statutory requirements, including housing in multiple occupation (HMO) licensing and planning.
The Statement of Requirements, available via the link below, sets out the full details of the contractual obligations:
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what routes to review are available to individuals who wish to challenge a decision on their application to the EU settlement scheme on the grounds of error if the decision was made on or after 5 October 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS), the option of administrative review no longer applies where a decision was made on an EUSS application on or after 5 October 2023.
The right of appeal under the Immigration (Citizens’ Rights Appeals) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 will continue to meet our obligations under the Citizens’ Rights Agreements to provide a means of redress for relevant decisions under the EUSS.
The change aligns the EUSS with other UK immigration routes, none of which provide for both an administrative review and a right of appeal.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of reintroducing the right to an administrative review of decisions on applications to the EU settlement scheme.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS), the option of administrative review no longer applies where a decision was made on an EUSS application on or after 5 October 2023.
The right of appeal under the Immigration (Citizens’ Rights Appeals) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 will continue to meet our obligations under the Citizens’ Rights Agreements to provide a means of redress for relevant decisions under the EUSS.
The change aligns the EUSS with other UK immigration routes, none of which provide for both an administrative review and a right of appeal.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of asylum claimants categorised as legacy and residing in Northern Ireland are awaiting a decision.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office publishes data on asylum claims and support in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on legacy and flow cases are published in tables Asy_10a and Asy_10b of the ‘Asylum and resettlement summary tables’. Please note that the Home Office does not publish data on these cases by support status, region or local authority.
The Home Office publishes certain asylum information by local authority. Data on asylum seekers in receipt of support (whilst awaiting a decision) by local authority can be found in table Asy_D11 of the ‘Asylum and resettlement local authority data’ detailed datasets. Asylum seekers are accommodated in Northern Ireland only if they apply for asylum there. Please note that this data does not include individuals not in receipt of support and is not broken down by legacy / flow application status. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook.
The latest data relates to 30 September 2023.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons some asylum applications take longer to be considered than others.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
We have taken action to accelerate decision-making and rapidly speed up processing times to eliminate the backlog of legacy initial asylum decisions by the end of 2023. Separate work is ongoing to more efficiently process all other asylum claims admitted to the UK asylum system awaiting consideration.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make it his policy to fast-track asylum applications for Palestinians in the UK.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
All asylum claims admitted to the UK asylum system, including those from Palestiniansare given careful consideration.
Asylum claims are prioritised in line with published policy, rather than in response to international incidents, including those who have waited the longest or those with acute vulnerabilities.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that asylum seekers are able to (a) make initial and (b) maintain contact with her Department.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's planned timescale if for reopening referrals under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme Pathway 3.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Supporting the resettlement of individuals eligible under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) remains a priority for HMG.
To date we have bought around 24,600 people affected by events in Afghanistan to safety. This includes the first individuals to be relocated under Pathway 3 of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS).
Under the first stage of Pathway 3, the government will consider for resettlement all eligible at risk-British Council and GardaWorld contractors and Chevening alumni, who expressed interest during the FCDO’s window of opportunity. This means that we will exceed the original allocation of 1,500 places for the first stage of ACRS Pathway 3. Our immediate focus is on ensuring their resettlement.
In the second stage of Pathway 3, our commitment to work with international partners and NGOs to welcome wider groups of Afghans at risk still stands. We are not able to open for referrals at this present time, but further information will be published in due course.
We are acutely aware of the difficult situation that many individuals find themselves in. We continue to work with likeminded partners and those countries neighbouring Afghanistan on resettlement issues, and in order to support safe passage for eligible Afghans.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of creating safe routes to the UK for Palestinians.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The safety of all British nationals continues to be our utmost priority. The UK is also calling for unimpeded humanitarian access in Gaza so that essential aid can reach civilian populations, including food, water, fuel and medical supplies.
The Home Office has not considered establishing a separate route for Palestinians to come to the UK. Since 2015, over half a million people were offered safe and legal routes into the UK. We are not able to provide a tailored route for every conflict.