Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to not deport family members of health care workers in the UK on Tier 2 visas who die of covid-19 as a result of their work.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Secretary confirmed, in a letter to the Home Affairs Select Committee on 29 April, families of eligible frontline healthcare workers who sadly pass away due to contracting the COVID-19 virus, will be granted immediate Indefinite Leave to Remain free of charge.
In the tragic circumstances suggested the dependents of the Tier 2 visa holder concerned would not have their leave curtailed or be removed from the UK.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance she has published to reinforce social distancing since the clap for key workers that took place on Westminster Bridge on 16 April 2020.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Social distancing measures should be followed in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus. The guidance was published on the 26th March 2020 and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people/guidance-on-social-distancing-for-everyone-in-the-uk-and-protecting-older-people-and-vulnerable-adults .
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of (a) providing financial support for, (b) extending the terms of the visas of and (c) granting leave to remain to family members of key NHS workers residing in the UK on a Tier 2 visa in the event that those key NHS workers die as a result of covid-19.
Answered by Kevin Foster
As set out in the announcement by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on 27 April, family members of NHS workers who die as a result of contracting Coronavirus (Covid-19) will receive £60,000.
The Home Secretary has also confirmed the Home Office will grant Indefinite Leave to Remain to family members of migrant NHS workers who die as a result of contracting Coronavirus (Covid-19).
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2020 to Question 3232, on Immigration: Northern Ireland, what the timeframe is for changing the immigration rules to allow the family members of people from Northern Ireland to apply for immigration status on broadly the same terms as family members of Irish citizens.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office intends to change the UK’s Immigration Rules so family members of the people of Northern Ireland can apply for immigration status on broadly the same terms as family members of Irish citizens and will open the route in the near future.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to answer Question 3232 tabled by the hon. Member for West Dunbartonshire on 14 January 2020.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The responses for UIN 3232 and 3233 were given on the 9th March 2020.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department continues to pursue deportation proceedings in cases in which people have been found to have been trafficked under section 22 of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Victims of trafficking and modern slavery who have committed crimes either in the UK or overseas are not exempt from a deportation assessment. As with the operation of the defence for slavery and trafficking victims in relation to certain offences (section 22 of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Crim-inal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015), an assessment is made, on a case-by-case basis, of the relationship between the crime committed and the circumstances of their trafficking or enslavement.
Under the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, a potential victim of trafficking cannot be removed or deported either during the reflection and recovery period or until a Conclusive Grounds decision has been made. At the end of the 45-day period, which is the minimum recovery and reflection period in Northern Ireland, considera-tion will be given to whether their deportation is appropriate under the UK Borders Act 2007, the Immigration Act 1971 or the EEA Regulations 2016.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the first successful use of the statutory defence under section 22 of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Act (NI) by an individual who had been found not to be a victim of human trafficking by the Home Office under the NRM process, if the Home Office will review how it handles such cases to ensure individuals found to be victims of human trafficking by the judicial system can be protected and their rights upheld.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The criminal justice system and NRM are distinct and separate systems. Sec-tion 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, which provides an equivalent statutory defence as section 22 of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Act (NI) has recently been the subject of an independent review in the Modern Slavery Act. The Government is considering carefully how it will respond to the recommendations of the review.
In addition, the Home Office already operates a process that allows negative NRM decisions to be reconsidered in light of new evidence. Reconsiderations are accepted on a case-by-case basis.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department has taken to locate the 114 documents in relation to child sexual abuse and hon. Members which were misplaced by his Department.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
In February 2013, the Permanent Secretary commissioned an investigation into information the Home Office received in relation to child abuse allegations, between 1979 and 1999. That investigation was unable to locate 114 potentially relevant Home Office files.
On 7 July 2014 the Home Secretary appointed Peter Wanless and Richard Whittam QC to carry out an independent review of the 2013 investigation.
On 29 July 2014, the Home Office Permanent Secretary directed that a physical search targeted on specific areas of the Department be undertaken to see if any of the 114 missing files could be located. This did not uncover any of the 114 missing files, though one was found prior to this exercise. As part of their Review, Wanless and Whittam interrogated what was known about each of the 114 files. They published their analysis within their final report, published November 2014.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to improve the performance of Border Force at UK Airports in clearing (a) EEA and (b) non-EEA passengers through immigration controls.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Border Force has taken a number of steps to help make the customer journey as smooth as possible while continuing to protect and secure the border. This includes additional proactive planning alongside the airport operators and airlines, and new passenger-facing communications tools that are designed to promote faster ways to travel.
Border Force is maximising staff available at the busiest times of day, increasing the number of border officers on e-gates, and deploying 220 additional staff over summer, mostly at Heathrow. Earlier this year, Border Force launched a nationwide campaign to recruit up to 1,000 Border Force officers.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has plans to simplify the eligibility criteria for the Registered Traveller scheme to (a) reduce the required frequency of travel and (b) remove the passenger fee.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
There are currently no plans to amend the Registered Traveller Service. However, we keep the service under regular review.