Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of foreign seasonal labour in the hospitality sector in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Issues with recruitment in the Hospitality sector are not unique to the UK, with reports of similar issues in the USA, the Republic of Ireland and Spain. This indicates factors other than immigration policy need to be considered to resolve these issues.
Several roles in the hospitality sector (including chefs and managerial roles) are eligible for the Skilled Worker route in the Points Based System. Modelling by the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) suggest the new, lower salary and expanded skills thresholds, strike a reasonable balance between controlling immigration and business access to labour.
Other roles will need to be filled from the resident workforce and those with full work rights, including the 6.5 million applicants under our EU Settlement Scheme, dependants of work visa holders, and those coming to the UK under our new Ukraine Schemes, the British National (Overseas) route, the Graduate route and Youth Mobility Schemes.
Further advice from the MAC has been against the creation of sector specific visa routes.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which air charter company is being used for deportation flights to Rwanda.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Our priority will always be to keep our communities safe, and we make no apology for seeking to remove those with no right to remain in the UK.
For commercial reasons, we are unable to disclose the name of our contractor for this operation. Charter flight operations are an important means to remove individuals with no right to remain in the UK where there are limited scheduled routes. We manage the charter programme flexibly, balancing it with use of scheduled flights to best respond to operational needs. Costs for individual flights will vary based on a number of different factors and are regularly reviewed to ensure that best value for money is balanced against the need to remove those individuals with no right to remain in the UK.
The endless merry go round of late legal claims – which are often unfounded or without merit – can result in people being removed from flights at the last minute. However, our New Plan for Immigration will stop the abuse of the system and expedite the removal of those who have no right to be here.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential economic impact of mandating increased wages for seasonal workers on (a) fruit farmers and (b) consumer fruit costs.
Answered by Kevin Foster
As part of extending the Seasonal Worker visa route until the end of 2024, we have followed through on the recommendation made by the Migration Advisory Committee in their report of September 2018, which stated:
‘If a seasonal agriculture worker scheme was introduced we recommend that employers pay a higher minimum wage in return for the privileged access to labour this scheme would give the sector in order to encourage increases in productivity.’
The Government has introduced a minimum hourly rate of pay for the Seasonal Worker route as part of a wider package of work being jointly delivered with the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, seeking to ensure the welfare of participating migrant workers, and in particular to reduce the risks of debt bondage.
The Government published a review of the seasonal worker route on 24 December 2021, that clearly set out the types of migrant welfare issues we have identified within this route. The Director of Labour Market Enforcement has also flagged the agriculture sector, and specifically seasonal workers, as presenting a high risk for labour marker exploitation.
It is not the purpose of the UK immigration system to provide UK growers with a guaranteed source of cheap labour, or to perpetuate conditions which would not be acceptable to resident workers. The increase in the wage required from National Minimum Wage to £10.10 per hour is reasonable and necessary in order to ensure these vulnerable workers are receiving fair remuneration for their work.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason a rate of pay in excess of the national living wage has been mandated for seasonal workers by her Department.
Answered by Kevin Foster
As part of extending the Seasonal Worker visa route until the end of 2024, we have followed through on the recommendation made by the Migration Advisory Committee in their report of September 2018, which stated:
‘If a seasonal agriculture worker scheme was introduced we recommend that employers pay a higher minimum wage in return for the privileged access to labour this scheme would give the sector in order to encourage increases in productivity.’
The Government has introduced a minimum hourly rate of pay for the Seasonal Worker route as part of a wider package of work being jointly delivered with the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, seeking to ensure the welfare of participating migrant workers, and in particular to reduce the risks of debt bondage.
The Government published a review of the seasonal worker route on 24 December 2021, that clearly set out the types of migrant welfare issues we have identified within this route. The Director of Labour Market Enforcement has also flagged the agriculture sector, and specifically seasonal workers, as presenting a high risk for labour marker exploitation.
It is not the purpose of the UK immigration system to provide UK growers with a guaranteed source of cheap labour, or to perpetuate conditions which would not be acceptable to resident workers. The increase in the wage required from National Minimum Wage to £10.10 per hour is reasonable and necessary in order to ensure these vulnerable workers are receiving fair remuneration for their work.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications to the Homes for Ukraine scheme by unaccompanied 15 to 18-year-olds have been successful; and how many applicants have been directly informed by her Department that their application has been unsuccessful.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Unaccompanied minors are only eligible under the Homes for Ukraine scheme if they are reuniting with a parent or legal guardian in the UK – this is outlined in the Immigration Rules.
Data on the number of people issued under Homes for Ukraine can be found on the GOV.UK webpage: Ukraine Family Scheme and Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine) visa data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied 15 to 18-year-olds have applied for visas under the Homes for Ukraine scheme; and how many of those applications are currently pending.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Unaccompanied minors are only eligible under the Homes for Ukraine scheme if they are reuniting with a parent or legal guardian in the UK – this is outlined in the Immigration Rules.
Data on the number of people issued under Homes for Ukraine can be found on the GOV.UK webpage: Ukraine Family Scheme and Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine) visa data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 21 April 2022 to Question 154539 on Homes for Ukraine Scheme, how many and what proportion of applications to the Homes for Ukraine scheme have been lost as of 21 April 2022.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office is not aware any applications to the Homes for Ukraine scheme have been lost.
We have received thousands of applications for the Ukraine Family Scheme and Homes for Ukraine Scheme and in just five weeks, over 71,000 visas have now been issued so people can rebuild their lives in the UK through the Ukraine Family Scheme and Homes for Ukraine.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 21 April 2022 to Question 154538 on Homes for Ukraine Scheme, whether any applications to the Homes for Ukraine scheme made on 18 and 19 March 2022 have been lost.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office is not aware any applications to the Homes for Ukraine scheme have been lost.
We have received thousands of applications for the Ukraine Family Scheme and Homes for Ukraine Scheme and in just five weeks, over 71,000 visas have now been issued so people can rebuild their lives in the UK through the Ukraine Family Scheme and Homes for Ukraine.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason a rate of pay in excess of the national living wage has been mandated by her Department for seasonal workers.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office does not provide accomodation to migrants to the UK.
The Home Office does though have a statutory obligation to provide accommodation and other support to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute while their application for asylum is being considered.
The total expenditure on asylum is published in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ho-annual-reports-and-accounts.
We do not publish a breakdown of costs of our accommodation & support contracts by location or property type as such detail is considered commercially sensitive.