Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether the Government has had discussions with Israeli counterparts on the (a) detention of children in Israeli military prisons and (b) allegations of potential human rights abuses against prisoners.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is committed to working with Israel to secure improvements in detention practices in Israel. We have made plain our concern about the continued reports of ill-treatment of Palestinian detainees in Israeli military detention, particularly of children. The UK repeatedly calls on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law and we have a regular dialogue with Israel on legal issues relating to the occupation.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has sought legal advice on the compatibility of the planned increase to the minimum income requirement with Article 8 of the Human Rights Act.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Full legal advice has been sought on the compatibility of the proposed increase to the Minimum Income Requirement element of the family immigration rules with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, as enshrined in domestic legislation in the Human Rights Act 1998.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if his Department will issue further guidance on how what level of savings will be required to meet the Minimum Income Requirement for those below the salary threshold.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The revised minimum income requirement (MIR) will be implemented in spring 2024
The Government will set out any transitional provisions associated with the increase in the MIR, and further policy details, in due course.
Any applications already submitted will be considered in line with the existing policy.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will take steps to help ensure that the child dependants of UK residents who are in Gaza are able to apply for the UK visas to which they are entitled in the context of the closure of visa application centres.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The UK Government is monitoring the situation in Israel and Gaza closely to ensure that it is able to respond appropriately.
British citizens and their foreign national dependants (spouse, unmarried/civil partner, child under 18), may come to the UK provided they have valid travel documents and existing permission to enter or remain in the UK; or are non-visa nationals.
Individuals including child dependents of UK residents who do not meet these criteria will have to make a visa application, and enrol their biometrics at a visa application centre(VAC) / biometric enrolment location in a nearby country. VACs in nearby countries are operating as normal but applicants should only travel if it is safe to do so.
Specific locations and operating hours can be found at the following website for UK Visa Application Centre | TLScontact (https://pos.tlscontact.com/default/palestine)
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people receiving the Disability Element of Working Tax Credits are not disadvantaged in the transition to Universal Credit.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
All individuals issued with a migration notice informing them that they must make a claim to Universal Credit will be assessed for transitional protection at the point of making a claim to Universal Credit.
Transitional protection, by way of a transitional element, will be then awarded to eligible claimants to ensure their entitlement to Universal Credit is not lower than the entitlement they received as part of their legacy benefits.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking as penholder for Sudan on the UN Security Council to (a) tackle the humanitarian situation in Sudan and (b) help ensure that human rights abuses are properly investigated.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We are working with international partners and humanitarian agencies to scale-up aid delivery in Sudan and neighbouring countries if and when the access situation improves, and through our ongoing work in the neighbouring countries and the UN. On 2 June the UK secured unanimous Security Council support for the renewal of the UN Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) which is leading coordination of international humanitarian efforts. We will look to renew its mandate further by 3 December. As Chair of the 'Sudan Core Group' (US, Norway, Germany, UK), we led on a UN Human Rights Council resolution, adopted on 11 October, which established an independent, international, Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan to investigate atrocities committed by all sides.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) African Union, (b) United Nations and (c) other countries on reaching a sustained ceasefire in Sudan.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is working with a range of partners, including Quad (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, US, UK), African and European countries, as well as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the African Union and the United Nations, to bring warring parties together and secure a permanent ceasefire. As a member of the African Union-convened Core Group on Sudan, the UK is working with regional and international partners to end hostilities and secure a peace process. UK Ministers attended the UN General Assembly in September, hosting a Ministerial-level Quad meeting reaffirming our shared interests in resolving the Sudan conflict. Ministers also raised Sudan in bilateral meetings with Egypt and South Sudan, paying tribute to their generosity in accepting refugees and calling for urgent action and the coordination of regional initiatives. UK leadership with 'Sudan Core Group' partners at the UN Human Rights Council led to a robust resolution on Sudan being passed. This resolution establishes an independent, international, Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) for Sudan so that those responsible can be held to account and to deter perpetrators from further crime.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of granting refugee status to the female medical students who are represented by the Linda Norgrove Foundation.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
As has been the practice under successive Governments the Home Office does not routinely comment on individual cases.
We remain committed to providing protection for vulnerable and at-risk people fleeing Afghanistan and so far have brought around 24,600 people impacted by the situation back to the UK.
We continue to work with likeminded partners and countries neighbouring Afghanistan on resettlement issues, and to support safe passage for eligible Afghans. We also continue to welcome individuals to the UK through the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) and Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP).
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure protections for people with disabled worker status are maintained in the managed migration to Universal Credit.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
People who are being moved to Universal Credit (UC) from Employment and Support Allowance take with them their Work Capability Assessment decision. They are not required to have another assessment to get the disability element they are entitled to on Universal Credit.
At the point of moving over to Universal Credit as part of the managed migration process, all claimants will be assessed for transitional protection and paid where appropriate. Transitional protection is designed so that eligible claimants will not have a lower entitlement to Universal Credit than they had entitlement to legacy benefits, at the point they move to the new benefit system.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that legacy benefit claimants do not have their support terminated before moving to Universal Credit.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
It is a fundamental principle of social security in the United Kingdom that people need to make a claim for benefits. For those already in receipt of benefits, Parliament made it clear, though its passage of the Welfare Reform Act 2012, that entitlement to those benefits would cease as Universal Credit (UC) was implemented.
The Department provides a range of support to individuals, to assist them during migration including a dedicated DWP telephone line and signposting to independent support through the Help to Claim service. Help to Claim is an independent service and is available to those moving from legacy benefits because of managed migration, voluntary moves, or a change of circumstances.
The Migration Notice is the key way in which we initially communicate with legacy benefit claimants to inform them of the requirement to migrate to UC within 3 months. However, we also provide a reminder after 7 weeks and at week 10. If claimants haven’t made a claim for UC and after the 3 month period, on a case by case basis, there is a grace period of 1 month within which a tax credit claimant can make a claim for UC without losing eligibility for transitional protection.
Terminating benefits is our last resort. If a claimant does not claim by their extended deadline, they will be notified that their current benefit(s) will be terminated, unless they have significant support needs requiring a further extension. For those claimants who require significant support, we hold case conferences with Advanced Customer Support Senior Leaders who provide local expertise, working with different organisations to take a multi-agency approach. Where a claimant’s legacy benefit(s) has been terminated and they make a claim to UC within one month, their claim can be backdated to their deadline date and still be awarded Transitional Protection where applicable.