Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2024 to Question 14458 on Asylum: hotels, how many asylum seekers are being housed in UK hotel accommodation by his Department as of 17 April 2024.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office has been clear that the use of hotels is a temporary and necessary measure to ensure we meet our statutory obligation to accommodate destitute asylum seekers. We have already made significant progress by no longer using 100 hotels for asylum seekers on 31 March 2024. A total of 150 hotels will no longer be used for accommodating asylum seekers by the beginning of May, reducing the strain on local communities.
Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation (including in contingency hotels and other contingency accommodation) is published in table Asy_D11 here: Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Data is published on a quarterly basis.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether (a) changes to minimum income thresholds and (b) other changes to legal migration rules for (i) family and (ii) work visas apply to members of the armed forces.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We will set out full details of changes to the Immigration Rules for members of the Armed Forces when we intend to lay the Immigration Rules on 14 March.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many ARAP applicants awaiting a decision are residing in UK hotels as of 30 January 2024.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Relocation to the UK is only facilitated once ARAP eligibility status has been decided and entry clearance has been issued, therefore there are no ARAP applicants awaiting an immigration decision residing in UK hotels.
The UK has made an ambitious and generous commitment to resettle.
Afghans fleeing persecution and those who served the UK. The latest published Immigration system statistics - (www.gov.uk) show that (up to the end of September 2023) we have brought around 24,600 people to safety from Afghanistan and the region.
These statistics also show that:
ARAP arrivals correct as of around December 2023, and accommodation data, will be reflected in the next release of the Immigration Statistics, which is due around 22 February 2024.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total sum paid by the dependents of non-UK citizens was who served in the armed forces for (a) four and (b) five years and were granted indefinite leave to remain in (i) 2021, (ii) 2022 and (iii) 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We do not publish this data in the format required.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many non-UK citizens who served in the Armed Forces for (a) four and (b) five years applied for indefinite leave to remain and had to pay visa fees in (i) 2021, (ii) 2022 and (iii) 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We do not publish this data in the format required.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people approved for relocation under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy are residing in hotels in the UK as of 30 January 2024.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The UK has made an ambitious and generous commitment to resettle.
Afghans fleeing persecution and those who served the UK. The latest published Immigration system statistics - (www.gov.uk) show that (up to the end of September 2023) we have brought around 24,600 people to safety from Afghanistan and the region.
These statistics also show that:
ACRS and ARAP arrivals correct as of around December 2023, and accommodation data will be reflected in the next release of the Immigration Statistics, which is due around 22 February 2024.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who are eligible under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy are residing in hotels in the UK as of 30 January 2024.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The UK has made an ambitious and generous commitment to resettle.
Afghans fleeing persecution and those who served the UK. The latest published Immigration system statistics - (www.gov.uk) show that (up to the end of September 2023) we have brought around 24,600 people to safety from Afghanistan and the region.
These statistics also show that:
ACRS and ARAP arrivals correct as of around December 2023, and accommodation data will be reflected in the next release of the Immigration Statistics, which is due around 22 February 2024.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people that have relocated to the UK under the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme are residing in hotels.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The UK has made an ambitious and generous commitment to resettle.
Afghans fleeing persecution and those who served the UK. The latest published Immigration system statistics - (www.gov.uk) show that (up to the end of September 2023) we have brought around 24,600 people to safety from Afghanistan and the region.
These statistics also show that:
ACRS and ARAP arrivals correct as of around December 2023, and accommodation data will be reflected in the next release of the Immigration Statistics, which is due around 22 February 2024.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will publish a list of the military sites being used to house (a) Afghan and (b) other refugees and asylum seekers; and what the cost to the public purse is of using these sites for that purpose.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
Home Office does not hold the information requested as the costs are held by the Ministry of Defence.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Oral Statement from the Minister for Veteran Affairs of 13 December 2023 on Afghan Resettlement Update, Official Report, column 911, what estimate he has made of the potential cost of extending contracts for temporary hotel accommodation beyond 31 December 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government remains committed to ending the systemic use of hotels, and we do not plan to open new hotels to meet this increased demand.
The information requested on hotel contracts is not publicly available, however, a small number of hotels with existing contracts will be extended for a limited time period to help accommodate ACRS arrivals who have yet to be matched to settled housing solutions in the United Kingdom.
The latest published statistics on Afghan resettlement, up until the end of September, may be viewed at: Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The next publication of Afghan resettlement data sets is due to be published around 22 February 2024.