Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of establishing a separate stakeholder group to the Migration Advisory Committee with representatives from (a) the devolved administrations and (b) regional and city mayors.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has a UK-wide remit. On 27 July 2017, the Government commissioned the MAC to report on the impact on the UK labour market of the UK’s exit from the European Union and how the UK’s immigration system should be aligned with a modern industrial strategy. The commission specifically required the MAC to consider the impacts on different parts of the UK.
In taking evidence, the MAC has visited Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and every region of England.
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has carried out modelling on potential changes in migration numbers caused by the savings and salary thresholds for spousal visa applications being raised or lowered.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The savings and salary thresholds for spousal visa applications are dictated by the minimum income requirement. It was set following advice from the independent Migration Advisory Committee and considering the Policy Equality Statement published on 13 June 2012. In February 2017, the Supreme Court upheld the lawfulness of the minimum income requirement under the family Immigration Rules, including in terms of equalities impacts and in light of the published Policy Equality Statement.
Any future amendment to the minimum income requirement would be subject to thorough equality and impact analysis and a further Policy Equality Statement will be published.
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to introduce a maximum waiting time for a reply to applications for indefinite leave to remain under the ten-year settlement route.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The current maximum waiting time for a straightforward application for indefinite leave to remain under the ten-year settlement route is six months, there are currently no plans to change this.
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of Parliamentary cases received a response within the 20-working day service standard from the UK Visas and Immigration office at Festival Court in Glasgow in 2017.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Statistics on UKVI performance in answering written MP written enquiries within 20 working day target are published at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data
Final quarter statistics for 2017 are due to be published in February 2018.
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the proportion of spousal visa applications which failed because the sponsoring spouse is unable to meet the salary and savings thresholds in each of the last three years.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The specific information requested is not available in published statistics.
Information on the total number of entry clearance visa applications and resolved (i.e. grants, refusals, withdrawn and lapsed) cases, and the proportion of resolved cases that are either granted or refused, in the ‘Family: Partner’ category is published quarterly.
The most recent information can be found in the Home Office publication ‘Immigration Statistics, July – September 2017’, Visas data tables volume 1, table vi_01_q, available from https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-july-to-september-2017
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has examined the Canadian Provincial Nominee Programme scheme as part of its policy planning for a new UK immigration system after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Prime Minister has proposed that there should be an Implementation Period immediately after the UK leaves the EU, while we and the EU put in place the necessary preparations for the future arrangements, and to ensure that people and businesses only have to plan for one set of changes. During this time, EU citizens will continue to be able to come and live and work in the UK, but there will be a registration system
There is a wide range of options as to how EU migration might work after that Period. We are considering these options very carefully and we will take decisions based on evidence and the views of stakeholders.
We will be setting out initial proposals for our future immigration arrangements shortly.
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many meetings she has had with Scottish Government Ministers on the Government's proposed reforms to the UK's immigration system after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Government is considering a range of options for the immigration system for EU citizens after the UK leaves the EU. Since the Referendum result last year, Ministers have been undertaking an extensive programme of engagement and evidence gathering with all interested parties including the Devolved Administrations, businesses, educational institutions and many others. Most recently, I discussed the recent agreement on citizens’ rights and next steps on the future immigration arrangements at the Joint Ministerial Committee (European Negotiations) on 12 December 2017. Home Office officials also have frequent meetings with their colleagues in the Devolved Administrations, including the Scottish Government.
On 27 July, the Government commissioned the independent Migration Advisory Committee to advise on current patterns of EU migration across all sectors, and the role of migration in the wider economy and society. This will be an important element in our decisions about future immigration arrangements that work for all parts of the UK.
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of reforming the immigration system with a view to increasing working age populations in regions where growth in that demographic has halted or is in decline; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
There is a wide range of options as to how EU migration might work we leave the EU. We are considering these options very carefully and we will take decisions based on evidence. As part of this, on 27 July, the Government commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to gather evidence on patterns of EU migration and the role of migration in the wider economy, ahead of our exit from the EU. We have asked the MAC to report by September 2018 and flagged that interim reports throughout the period would be helpful as we develop future immigration arrangements that work for the whole of the UK.
Immigration remains a reserved matter and we will consider the needs of the UK as a whole. Applying different immigration rules to different parts of the UK would complicate the immigration system, harming its integrity, and cause difficulties for employers who need the flexibility to deploy their staff to other parts of the UK.
The Government will be setting out initial proposals for our future immigration arrangements shortly.
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which Scottish business sectors have made representations to her on immigration schemes for Scotland after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Government is considering a range of options for the immigration system for EU citizens after the UK leaves the EU. Since the Referendum result last year, Ministers have been undertaking an extensive programme of engagement and evidence gathering with all interested parties including the Devolved Administrations, businesses, educational institutions and many others. Most recently, I discussed the recent agreement on citizens’ rights and next steps on the future immigration arrangements at the Joint Ministerial Committee (European Negotiations) on 12 December 2017. Home Office officials also have frequent meetings with their colleagues in the Devolved Administrations, including the Scottish Government.
On 27 July, the Government commissioned the independent Migration Advisory Committee to advise on current patterns of EU migration across all sectors, and the role of migration in the wider economy and society. This will be an important element in our decisions about future immigration arrangements that work for all parts of the UK.