Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to expedite UK visas for Russian men who have been conscripted into the Russian military against their will and whom are morally opposed to war.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The government has no plans to expedite visas for Russian nationals subject to conscription in the military.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what comparative assessment she has made of the efficiency of each HM Passport Office branch for processing passport applications and renewals; and what steps her Department is taking to improve efficiency in branches that are comparatively less efficient.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Due to differences in some of the work undertaken at individual passport offices, such as more complex international work, productivity will vary at a local level. However, Her Majesty’s Passport Office has a range of tried and tested arrangements in place to monitor performance at local and national level, which helps to ensure that there is no disparity in the handling of like-for-like cases across each site.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to add further exemptions to her Department's absence policy to include absence related to reactions and side effects caused by covid-19 booster vaccination.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
There is an existing exemption in our attendance management policy covering the acute phase of Covid infection.
For absences relating to reactions to, or side effects from, Covid vaccination (which are likely to be of short duration), managers are encouraged to take a sympathetic approach under the normal provisions of our attendance management policy. We have no plans to introduce an exemption covering reactions to Covid vaccinations.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure the equity of her Department's decisions to grant indefinite leave to remain to Afghans and spouses of British citizens.
Answered by Kevin Foster
All decisions to grant indefinite leave to those evacuated from Afghanistan, including the spouses of British citizens, are taken on an individual basis and with consideration to the specific circumstances of the case.
These cohorts are treated more generously than other family members of British citizens because of the unique circumstances of the evacuation, alongside the need to quickly move people to safety without being able to assess their ability to meet the normal Immigration Rules.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans to add the garment industry to the Shortage Occupation List.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Skilled Worker route already contains several eligible occupations from this sector, such as weavers, upholsterers, tailors and dressmakers subject to salary and language requirements being met. An occupation at RQF3 or above does not need to be on the Shortage Occupation List to qualify for recruitment under the Skilled Worker Route.
In their last call for evidence the independent Migration Advisory Committee received evidence from several stakeholders from the garment industry, but they concluded this evidence did not warrant occupations from this sector being added onto the SOL. We will also not be creating more general routes allowing recruitment at or near the minimum wage into this sector via immigration as an alternative to investing in UK based staff and offering them rewarding packages of terms and conditions.
More generally those business facing recruitment issues should, in the first instance, engage with the Department for Work and Pensions about the support they can offer in seeking recruits and supporting training.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information his Department holds on the number of people who have lost money through telephone scams in each of the last five years in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) Falkirk constituency.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Victims of fraud and cyber-crime in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are encouraged to report these crimes directly to a centralised reporting centre called Action Fraud. Fraud victims in Scotland also reported crimes directly into Action Fraud until December 2019, when Police Scotland decided that victims should report incidents directly to them, via their 101 service. These reports are now recorded separately from Action Fraud data.
Action Fraud does not categorise fraud reports by the mode in which the fraud was conducted. Fraud can often encompass several different methods of communication, so it may not necessarily be clear to the victim what the primary vector for this kind of criminal attack was. Victim locations are only recorded when sufficient information is provided. For these reasons, the data requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
What information the Government holds on the sale of illegal drugs through private groups on Facebook; and if he will ensure that Facebook tackles that practice.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The government does not hold this information
A robust law enforcement response is a fundamental part of the government's drug strategy and we are taking coordinated action to tackle illegal drugs alongside associated criminal activity. Law enforcement agencies continue to work with internet service providers to shut down UK-based websites found to be committing offences such as selling drugs controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.
The government has been clear that more needs to be done to tackle online harms, including sale of illegal goods. That is why the Government published the Online Harms White Paper, which sets out our plans for world-leading legislation to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online and hold companies to account for tackling a wide range of online harms.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether EU nationals who work in the UK soft fruit sector will be able to continue to work in the UK after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Government’s policy paper (Cm 9464), which was laid before Parliament on 26 June, sets out our proposals for enabling European Union citizens residing in the UK before a specified cut off date (to be confirmed, but between 29 March 2017 and exit) to continue to live and work here. After five years’ continuous residence, they will be able to apply for UK settled status. There are no plans to differentiate according to work sector.
The details of the new scheme will be subject to negotiations. We will publish further detail on the specifics of the new application process, including detailed eligibility criteria and requirements, in due course.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will review immigration rules for spouse visas.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Supreme Court has upheld the lawfulness of the English language and minimum income requirements of the Immigration Rules for spouse visas. The requirements prevent burdens on the taxpayer and promote integration.
The Supreme Court agrees that they strike a fair balance between the interests of those wishing to sponsor a non-European Economic Area national spouse to settle in the UK and of the community in general.