Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of EU Settlement Scheme Family Permits missed the 30 June 2021 deadline; and what proportion of those that missed that deadline were due to departmental delay.
Answered by Kevin Foster
There is no deadline for applications for an EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) family permit by eligible family members wishing to join an EEA or Swiss citizen with EUSS status who was resident in the UK by the end of the transition period. They can continue to apply for an EUSS family permit after 30 June 2021.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers have been transferred into each local authority area in England in the last two years.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of asylum seekers accommodated in each local authority area, which includes those in hotel and wider government facilities. These statistics can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets#asylum-support
Data is published on a quarterly basis, with the latest information published 26 November 2020. The next quarterly figures are due to be released in February 2021.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what powers the police have to enforce covid-19 restrictions on people living in Tier 4 areas travelling to Tier 3 areas to shop during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
People are required to continue to follow the rules under the current restrictions. They are in place to protect the public and save lives during this national pandemic This means that you must not leave or be outside of your home without reasonable excuse. We also recommend that people stay local where possible. Stay local means stay in the village, town, or part of the city where you live.
The police will be able to take action against those who break these rules, including issuing a fixed penalty notice of £200 for the first offence.
People aged 18 or over can be issued with a fixed penalty notice:
The Home Office continues to work closely with the police and operational partners to ensure they have the powers, resources and guidance they need.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what powers the police have to enforce the wearing of face coverings in shops during the covid-19 outbreak; and whether the police may require people to produce documentation to prove a medical exemption from the requirements to wear face coverings.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Wearing of Face Coverings in a Relevant Place) (England) Regulations 2020, as amended, requires members of the public to wear a face covering in relevant indoor public settings unless an exemption applies, or the individual has a reasonable excuse.
The police have the power to enforce the requirement to wear a face covering including directing the individual to wear a face covering, directing the individual to leave the relevant place, and issuing a fixed penalty notice of £200 (reducing to £100 if paid within 14 days) doubling upon each repeat offence up to a maximum of £6,400.
Police officers receive guidance on the law and that they should use their discretion at all times. As they have done throughout the pandemic, the police apply a four-step escalation method - engaging, explaining and encouraging compliance before moving to take enforcement action.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional support the Government will provide to people with No Recourse to Public Funds who lose their jobs during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Government remains committed to protecting vulnerable people and has acted decisively to ensure that we support everyone through this pandemic. We have introduced a range of measures to ensure people can stay safe and many of these are available for those with a No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) condition.
For those whose jobs are impacted but have retained employment status, the assistance provided under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (which remains in place until 31st October) and the Self-employed Income Support Scheme are not classed as public funds and are available to all those who are legally working or self-employed respectively, including those with NRPF status and those on zero-hour contracts. Statutory sick pay and some other work-related benefits, which are also not classed as public funds and so are also available to all.
If an individual with NRPF has been working in the UK and lost their employment, if sufficient national insurance contributions have been made, they may be entitled to claim contributory Employment and Support Allowance.
We have also temporarily extended the eligibility criteria for free school meals to support some families with NRPF, in recognition of the difficulties they may be facing during these unique circumstances. More information, including eligibility details can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance. For families facing hardship, further government support is available which can be found on GOV.UK https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support.
Individuals whose lawful basis of stay in the UK is based on their family life or human rights can apply to have the NRPF condition lifted by making a ‘change of conditions’ application if they are destitute or at risk of destitution, if the welfare of their child is at risk due to their low income, or where there are other exceptional financial circumstances.
Local authorities may also provide basic safety net support, regardless of immigration status, if it is established that there is a genuine care need that does not arise solely from destitution, for example, where there are community care needs, migrants with serious health problems or family cases where the wellbeing of a child is in question.
The Government has published guidance and support for migrants affected by Covid-19 on GOV.UK https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-get-support-if-youre-a-migrant-living-in-the-uk.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to recommendation seven of the Windrush Lessons Learned Review, published in March 2020, what plans she has to review her Department's compliant environment policy.
Answered by Priti Patel - Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
I accepted the Windrush Lessons Learned review’s important findings in July and on 30 September I published the Comprehensive Improvement plan in response to the review. This includes our response to recommendation 7.
I am clear that the public expects us to enforce immigration laws approved by Parliament as a matter of fairness to those who abide by the rules and to protect tax-payer funded services, by ensuring that only those who are entitled to use publicly funded services can access them and that those who are here legitimately do not suffer negative consequences.
We do not intend to deviate from these key principles, but I have tasked my officials to undertake a full evaluation of the compliant environment policy and measures, individually and cumulatively, to make sure that the crucial balance is right. If we find evidence, they are not achieving our objectives, we will review and adapt our policies.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many reports of identity theft and fraud made to Action Fraud were referred to trading standards departments for investigation in each year from 2015 to 2019.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office collects information from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau on the number of recorded frauds and on the number of frauds disseminated to police forces for further investigation. The latest statistics are available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/817769/crime-outcomes-hosb1219.pdf
The Home Office does not hold information on the number of frauds or identify thefts referred to Trading Standards for further investigation.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to replace EEA regulations on immigration with alternative arrangements; and what those arrangements will comprise.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Following the UK’s exit from the European Union and the end of free movement, we will deliver on the people’s priorities by introducing a new points-based immigration system from 2021 to attract the brightest and best talent from around the world, with decisions based on what you have to offer, not where your passport is from.
We will set out the details of this firmer and fairer new system in the near future.