Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
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 treating Afghanistan as an Article 15(c) area.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
We will set out our position on Article 15(c) when we publish our updated Country Policy and Information Notes.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions is she having with Ministerial colleagues in the (a) Department for Work and Pensions and (b) Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on Afghan refugees' access to benefits and housing support.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Under Operation Warm Welcome, we are taking a cross-government approach to ensuring Afghans arriving in the UK are able to rebuild their lives, find work, pursue education and integrate with their local communities.
Those brought to the UK under ACRS will be able to apply for public funds. To ensure they will be supported properly, changes will be made to legislation so that, if necessary, people arriving under ACRS do not need to meet the habitual residence test.
We continue to work with local authorities to source appropriate accommodation as quickly as possible for families already in the UK. So far, 204 local authorities have agreed to house those who have been evacuated from Afghanistan, and we would strongly urge every council across the country to contribute to this national effort.
We are working with other government departments and local authorities to realise appropriate accommodation opportunities to meet the demands of this urgent national response.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
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 requiring employers, landlords and public officials to signpost EU citizens and their family members to the EU Settlement Scheme in the event that they have reason to believe that they may be eligible for a late application to the scheme.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The responsibility for making an application ultimately lies with the individual. However, employers, landlords and public officials have an important role to play in providing support, and the Home Office remains committed to ensuring those who are eligible for the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) can apply. £22 million of funding has been awarded to a network of 72 organisations across the UK, which includes local authorities and local government associations, and we recently undertook to provide further funding for the period between 1 October 2021 and 31 March 2022. This is to ensure information and assistance gets through to those who are hardest to reach, and no one is left behind.
As of September, the Home Office has delivered over 410 events reaching over 29,000 stakeholders, including employers, landlords, financial institutions, educational establishments, umbrella organisations, local authorities, foreign administrations and citizens, about the EUSS. We continue to work closely with employers and landlords to ensure information is effectively cascaded through stakeholder networks, listen to feedback and adapt our communications to ensure maximum effectiveness.
We have published guidance for employers and landlords, which clearly encourages them to signpost prospective or existing employees and tenants who have not applied to the EUSS and do not have any other form of UK immigration leave to make an application. For applications made from 1 July, EEA citizens and their family members are able to evidence their right to work or right to rent once they have submitted a valid EUSS application and the employer or landlord has contacted the Home Office.
To further support EEA citizens living in the UK, the Home Office has worked closely with HMRC and DWP on a programme to identify people who may not have applied to the EUSS but are eligible. Letters have been sent out to these individuals giving them step by step, practical advice on how to apply to the Scheme.
Under our flexible and pragmatic approach to late applications, where
Immigration Enforcement encounter a person without status under the EUSS who appears to be eligible, they will be provided with a written notice giving them an opportunity to apply to the scheme, normally within 28 days.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the HMICFRS report, entitled A duty to protect: Police use of protective measures in cases involving violence against women and girls, published on 24 August 2021, what steps she is taking to improve protections for the victims of domestic violence and abuse.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a top priority for this Government and we are committed to taking action to improve protections for the victims of domestic abuse.
Earlier this year we passed the landmark Domestic Abuse Act which will bolster the response to domestic abuse on every level. The Act will provide further protections to the millions of people who experience domestic abuse and strengthen measures to bring perpetrators to justice, as well as transform the support we give to victims, ensuring they have the protection they deserve. For the first time in history there will be a general purpose legal definition of domestic abuse which incorporates a range of abuses beyond physical violence, including emotional, coercive or controlling, and economic abuse.
In addition, we recently published a new Tackling VAWG Strategy which sets out our commitment to working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council to appoint a National Policing Lead on VAWG who will work to transform the way policing responds to these crimes and ensure effective coordination nationally. The new lead will report on progress to the Home Secretary-chaired National Policing Board.
The Strategy also includes commitments to: launch a communication campaign with a focus on targeting perpetrators and harmful misogynistic attitudes, educating young people about healthy relationships and ensuring victims can access support; provide a £5 Million ‘Safety of Women at Night’ fund, and work across Government to improve data, and in turn improve understanding, of these crimes.
We are considering the findings and recommendations of this report and will work closely with the College of Policing, National Police Chiefs’ Council, HMICFRS and VAWG stakeholders to ensure officers understand all the protective measures available to them.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether periods of (a) bereavement and (b) destitution will be treated as reasonable grounds for a late application to the EU Settlement Scheme.
Answered by Kevin Foster
In line with the Citizens’ Rights Agreements, there remains scope, indefinitely, for a person eligible for status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) to make a late application to the scheme where there are reasonable grounds for their failure to meet the deadline applicable to them.
As the Government has made clear, the guidance published on 1 April is not exhaustive and we will take a pragmatic and flexible approach to considering late applications to the EUSS in light of the particular circumstances of each case. This will include where the person is vulnerable and cases of bereavement, destitution or inability due to COVID-19 to access support in person.
There remains a wide range of support available for applicants, including from 72 organisations across the UK grant-funded by the Home Office to help vulnerable people apply to the EUSS. Additional support is also available for those who do not have the appropriate access, skills or confidence to apply online through Assisted Digital, which can offer assistance over the telephone.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether inclusion in one of the categories that her Department has assessed as vulnerable persons, is reasonable grounds to be eligible for late application to the EU Settlement Scheme.
Answered by Kevin Foster
In line with the Citizens’ Rights Agreements, there remains scope, indefinitely, for a person eligible for status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) to make a late application to the scheme where there are reasonable grounds for their failure to meet the deadline applicable to them.
As the Government has made clear, the guidance published on 1 April is not exhaustive and we will take a pragmatic and flexible approach to considering late applications to the EUSS in light of the particular circumstances of each case. This will include where the person is vulnerable and cases of bereavement, destitution or inability due to COVID-19 to access support in person.
There remains a wide range of support available for applicants, including from 72 organisations across the UK grant-funded by the Home Office to help vulnerable people apply to the EUSS. Additional support is also available for those who do not have the appropriate access, skills or confidence to apply online through Assisted Digital, which can offer assistance over the telephone.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether applicants to the EU Settlement Scheme who were unable to access in person support when making their application as a result of the covid-19 outbreak have reasonable grounds to submit a late application to the scheme.
Answered by Kevin Foster
In line with the Citizens’ Rights Agreements, there remains scope, indefinitely, for a person eligible for status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) to make a late application to the scheme where there are reasonable grounds for their failure to meet the deadline applicable to them.
As the Government has made clear, the guidance published on 1 April is not exhaustive and we will take a pragmatic and flexible approach to considering late applications to the EUSS in light of the particular circumstances of each case. This will include where the person is vulnerable and cases of bereavement, destitution or inability due to COVID-19 to access support in person.
There remains a wide range of support available for applicants, including from 72 organisations across the UK grant-funded by the Home Office to help vulnerable people apply to the EUSS. Additional support is also available for those who do not have the appropriate access, skills or confidence to apply online through Assisted Digital, which can offer assistance over the telephone.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to support digitally excluded people to make late applications to the EU Settlement Scheme.
Answered by Kevin Foster
In line with the Citizens’ Rights Agreements, there remains scope, indefinitely, for a person eligible for status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) to make a late application to the scheme where there are reasonable grounds for their failure to meet the deadline applicable to them.
As the Government has made clear, the guidance published on 1 April is not exhaustive and we will take a pragmatic and flexible approach to considering late applications to the EUSS in light of the particular circumstances of each case. This will include where the person is vulnerable and cases of bereavement, destitution or inability due to COVID-19 to access support in person.
There remains a wide range of support available for applicants, including from 72 organisations across the UK grant-funded by the Home Office to help vulnerable people apply to the EUSS. Additional support is also available for those who do not have the appropriate access, skills or confidence to apply online through Assisted Digital, which can offer assistance over the telephone.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether there is any time constraint on applications to the EU Settlement Scheme for people who have reasonable grounds for late submission.
Answered by Kevin Foster
In line with the Citizens’ Rights Agreements, there remains scope, indefinitely, for a person eligible for status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) to make a late application to the scheme where there are reasonable grounds for their failure to meet the deadline applicable to them.
The Home Office published non-exhaustive guidance on 1 April 2021 on what may constitute such reasonable grounds, to underpin a flexible and pragmatic approach to considering late applications to the EUSS in light of the circumstances of each case. This includes, for example, where a person establishes, when they first apply to work or study in the UK, an application to the scheme was not made on their behalf years earlier when they were a child by a parent, guardian or Local Authority. The latest version of the guidance is available at pages 30 to 48 here:
EUSS casework guidance (publishing.service.gov.uk).
The guidance makes clear applicants will be given the benefit of any doubt in considering whether, in light of information provided with the application, there are reasonable grounds for their failure to meet the deadline applicable to them under the EUSS, unless this would not be reasonable in light of the particular circumstances of the case.
Any change in approach will be reflected in a revision of the guidance.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance has been issued to her officials on interpreting reasonable grounds for late applicants to the EU Settlement Scheme for people who only become aware of their undocumented status in future years.
Answered by Kevin Foster
In line with the Citizens’ Rights Agreements, there remains scope, indefinitely, for a person eligible for status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) to make a late application to the scheme where there are reasonable grounds for their failure to meet the deadline applicable to them.
The Home Office published non-exhaustive guidance on 1 April 2021 on what may constitute such reasonable grounds, to underpin a flexible and pragmatic approach to considering late applications to the EUSS in light of the circumstances of each case. This includes, for example, where a person establishes, when they first apply to work or study in the UK, an application to the scheme was not made on their behalf years earlier when they were a child by a parent, guardian or Local Authority. The latest version of the guidance is available at pages 30 to 48 here:
EUSS casework guidance (publishing.service.gov.uk).
The guidance makes clear applicants will be given the benefit of any doubt in considering whether, in light of information provided with the application, there are reasonable grounds for their failure to meet the deadline applicable to them under the EUSS, unless this would not be reasonable in light of the particular circumstances of the case.
Any change in approach will be reflected in a revision of the guidance.