Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
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 currently waiting for the outcome of an application for further leave to remain; and if she will make an estimate of the proportion of those people who 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: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many memorandums of understanding her Department has agreed with countries on the Seasonal Worker scheme.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Government has agreed no memorandums of understanding with other countries concerning the Seasonal Worker route.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2023 to Question 171513 on Visas: Seasonal Workers, when her Department expects the compliance investigation into Fruitful Ltd to conclude.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Home Office guidance, compliance findings and information submitted by the sponsor are currently being analysed. This assessment process is within the published timeframe for a decision.
Details of the licence suspension process can be found at: Part 3: Sponsor duties and compliance (publishing.service.gov.uk).
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2023 to Question 171512 on Visas: Seasonal Workers, how many compliance investigations have been (a) launched and (b) concluded by her Department since the start of the seasonal worker scheme.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
To date compliance investigations have resulted in two outcomes, one was the revocation of a licence and the other a suspension of a licence, and that investigation is on-going.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2023 to Question 171512 on Visas: Seasonal Workers and with reference to the removal of AG Recruitment & Management Ltd's licence, which sponsor duties that company was found to be in breach of.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office revoked the sponsor licence for AG Recruitment which was found to be in breach of the agreed sponsor duties. Due to commercial sensitivities, the Home Office cannot specify the sponsor duties of which AG Recruitment was found to be in breach.
Details of the sponsors’ duties and compliance regulations with the relevant annexes can be found at: Part 3: Sponsor duties and compliance (publishing.service.gov.uk).
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the report by the University of Nottingham entitled Understanding risks of exploitation for vulnerable migrant workers in the UK during Covid-19 published July 2021, what assessment she has made of the impact for her policies of that report's finding on the number of labour inspectors per 10,000 workers and the International Labour Organisation's guidelines.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office are responsible for the resourcing of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA). We regularly assess funding of the GLAA.
The Director of Labour Market Enforcement has a statutory responsibility to assess the scale and nature of non-compliance in the labour market. Her 2022-23 strategy was recently published and sets out her assessment of the risks in the labour market and for vulnerable workers. Over the decade from 2010 to 2020 the UK funding to the labour market enforcement bodies (HMRC’s National Minimum Wage Team, Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate and Gangmasters Labour Abuse Authority) has increased to over £35 Million representing a 121% increase in funding.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps people using Seasonal Worker visas can take if they wish to raise grievances about the process; and what steps she is taking to ensure that seasonal workers are informed of their rights.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
AG Recruitment & Management Ltd had their licence revoked due to failing to meet the sponsor duties as per the sponsor guidance which can be found at Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors part 3: sponsor duties and compliance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Fruitful Ltd hold a sponsor licence, although it is currently suspended while the Home Office investigates the level of compliance with the sponsor duties.
The Scheme Operators are responsible for managing all aspects of the recruitment and placement of workers on UK farms, and ensuring their welfare in the UK which includes informing and being clear to workers of their rights. All operators have procedures for workers to raise grievances and for these to be resolved formally.
The Home Office and Defra monitor the scheme closely to ensure operators adhere to the stringent requirements set for ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the seasonal workers.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason her Department decided to remove the licence held by AG Recruitment as a sponsor of workers on the seasonal workers' visa scheme.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
AG Recruitment & Management Ltd had their licence revoked due to failing to meet the sponsor duties as per the sponsor guidance which can be found at Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors part 3: sponsor duties and compliance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Fruitful Ltd hold a sponsor licence, although it is currently suspended while the Home Office investigates the level of compliance with the sponsor duties.
The Scheme Operators are responsible for managing all aspects of the recruitment and placement of workers on UK farms, and ensuring their welfare in the UK which includes informing and being clear to workers of their rights. All operators have procedures for workers to raise grievances and for these to be resolved formally.
The Home Office and Defra monitor the scheme closely to ensure operators adhere to the stringent requirements set for ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the seasonal workers.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Fruitful Jobs retains its licence as a sponsor of workers on the seasonal workers' visa scheme.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
AG Recruitment & Management Ltd had their licence revoked due to failing to meet the sponsor duties as per the sponsor guidance which can be found at Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors part 3: sponsor duties and compliance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Fruitful Ltd hold a sponsor licence, although it is currently suspended while the Home Office investigates the level of compliance with the sponsor duties.
The Scheme Operators are responsible for managing all aspects of the recruitment and placement of workers on UK farms, and ensuring their welfare in the UK which includes informing and being clear to workers of their rights. All operators have procedures for workers to raise grievances and for these to be resolved formally.
The Home Office and Defra monitor the scheme closely to ensure operators adhere to the stringent requirements set for ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the seasonal workers.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to respond to the letter of 9 February 2023 from the hon. Member for Liverpool Walton on engagement with Hillsborough families.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to my response to Question 147411 issued on 27 February 2023: Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament.