Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle people trafficking.
Answered by Sarah Newton
Tackling human trafficking and modern slavery remains a top priority for this government. The Modern Slavery Act 2015 provides law enforcement agencies the tools to tackle trafficking and modern slavery. In July, the Prime Minister announced a new taskforce to accelerate progress. The PM also pledged £33.5m of development assistance funding to tackle slavery in countries from where we know victims are regularly trafficked to the UK.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effect on employment in Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust of proposals that Tier 2 visa immigrants from outside the European Economic Area must be earning £35,000 or more to qualify for UK indefinite leave to remain; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Government announced in 2012 that from 6 April 2016 Tier 2 visa holders who apply for settlement in the UK will be required to meet a minimum annual salary requirement of £35,000. PhD level roles and those in shortage will be exempt from the £35,000 threshold. The Home Office published a full impact assessment on the changes to Tier 2 settlement rules when they were laid before Parliament on 15 March 2012. This included the potential effect on nurses. The impact assessment is available on the gov.uk website at:
Healthcare occupations, including paramedics, radiographers, and doctors working in emergency medicine, are included on the Shortage Occupation List.
On 15 October, the Home Secretary announced that nurses will be added to the list on a temporary basis, pending a full review by the independent Migration Advisory Committee. As workers are exempt from the settlement pay threshold if they are in a role that is or has been on the shortage occupation list at any time while they have been sponsored to do that role, all nurses currently sponsored in Tier 2 will be exempt from the £35,000 threshold when they apply for settlement. The Home Office has not made any assessment of the impact of the policy specifically on employment in Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the potential effect on nurses from the Philippines working in the NHS of proposals that Tier 2 visa immigrants from outside the European Economic Area must be earning £35,000 or more to qualify for indefinite leave to remain in the UK; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Government announced in 2012 that from 6 April 2016 Tier 2 visa holders who apply for settlement in the UK will be required to meet a minimum annual salary requirement of £35,000. PhD level roles and those in shortage will be exempt from the £35,000 threshold. The Home Office published a full impact assessment on the changes to Tier 2 settlement rules when they were laid before Parliament on 15 March 2012. This included the potential effect on nurses. The impact assessment is available on the gov.uk website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/117957/impact-assessment-tier2.pdf.
On 15 October, the Home Secretary announced that nurses will be added to the list on a temporary basis, pending a full review by the independent Migration Advisory Committee. This will ease pressure on the NHS at a time when the Government is introducing tough new controls on costly agency spending. It will help the NHS improve continuity of care for patients, invest in the frontline and maintain safe staffing levels. The Home Office has not made any assessment of the impact of the policy specifically on nurses from the Philippines working in the NHS.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent representations she has received on proposals that Tier 2 visa immigrants from outside the European Economic Area must be earning £35,000 or more to qualify for indefinite leave to remain in the UK; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Home Office has received various representations on the £35,000 settlement threshold for Tier 2 (the skilled worker category) since it was announced in 2012.
The Government announced in 2012 that from 6 April 2016 Tier 2 visa holders who apply for settlement in the UK will be required to meet a minimum annual salary requirement of £35,000. Prior to the announcement, both the Home Office and the independent Migrant Advisory Committee carried out a consultation on the changes. PhD level roles and those in shortage will be exempt from the £35,000 threshold.
The Home Office published a full impact assessment on the changes to Tier 2 settlement rules when they were laid before Parliament on 15 March 2012, which includes details of relevant consultation. The impact assessment is available on the gov.uk website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/117957/impact-assessment-tier2.pdf.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many nurses from the Philippines have been recruited to work in the NHS under Tier 2 visas in each year since 2010; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The table below shows the number of Certificates of Sponsorship for employment as a nurse that were used in applications from Filipino nationals for Tier 2 entry clearance visas:
2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 (to 30 June) |
505 | 148 | 175 | 374 | 726 | 346 |
The figures above include applications sponsored by all Tier 2 employers, including the NHS. The cost of obtaining figures for nurses sponsored by NHS employers would be disproportionate.
Additionally, the number of Certificates of Sponsorship used in entry clearance applications may not directly correlate with the number of Filipino national nurses recruited to work in the United Kingdom under Tier 2. For example, an individual may have used their Certificate of Sponsorship in an unsuccessful visa application, or may subsequently have decided against taking up a post.