Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 25 October 2021 to Question 58819 on Migrant Workers: Home Office, what steps her Department is taking to assess whether firms involved in the construction or maintenance of wind farms within territorial waters have measures in place to regularise the position of their workers, in line with the terms of the concession; and what criteria UK Visas and Immigration use as part of that assessment.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office does not collect or store the data on the number of overseas nationals working in the offshore industry in the UK from 2017 to date.
We do not collect information on employers using the concession. The Government has no plans to publish information on individual companies which is consistent with the wider immigration system.
The Home Office is unable to report on the cost or staff hours spent in relation to the concession. To obtain this information would require detailed reporting against many Home Office units and could only be obtained at disproportionate costs.
The Government regularly reviews the existence of concessions against the general principles of the immigration system to check whether they are necessary and regularly undertakes engagement with a wide range of stakeholders. This will continue to be the case in future.
The information about the concession is published online at:
Offshore wind workers Immigration Rules concession 2017: July 2021 update - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many employers have utilised the Offshore wind workers Immigration Rules concession 2017 to date.
Answered by Kevin Foster
We do not collect information on employers using the concession. The Government has no plans to publish information on individual companies which is consistent with the wider immigration system.
The information about the concession is published online at:
Offshore wind workers Immigration Rules concession 2017: July 2021 update - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many seafarers have been granted leave to enter the UK to join vessels working in UK territorial waters under the Offshore wind workers Immigration Rules concession 2017 to date.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold readily available data on the number of overseas nationals working in the offshore industry in the UK from 2017 to date.
The Government is committed to making the UK a global leader in green energy and supporting the offshore windfarm sector is a key part of this commitment.
The information about the concession is published online at:
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the (a) employers and (b) construction and maintenance projects that have utilised the Offshore wind workers Immigration Rules concession 2017, to date.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has no plans to publish information on individual companies or their work.
The information about the concession is published online at:
Offshore wind workers Immigration Rules concession 2017: July 2021 update - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with Ministerial colleagues in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on labour shortages in the offshore wind sector since 1 January 2016.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The concession allows the employment of foreign nationals who are joining vessels engaged in the construction and maintenance of offshore wind projects in UK territorial waters.
The information about the concession is published online at:
Offshore wind workers Immigration Rules concession 2017: July 2021 update - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Home Office regularly reviews its policies and regularly undertakes engagement with a wide range of stakeholders.
I frequently engage with colleagues across Government, including those in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on a wide range of issues, including the operation of the immigration system.
Additionally, the Government has no plans to publish information on individual companies.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the offshore wind industry’s efforts to regularise employment on construction and maintenance projects in UK territorial waters since the introduction of the Offshore wind workers Immigration Rules concession 2017.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The concession allows the employment of foreign nationals who are joining vessels engaged in the construction and maintenance of offshore wind projects in UK territorial waters.
The information about the concession is published online at:
Offshore wind workers Immigration Rules concession 2017: July 2021 update - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Home Office regularly reviews its policies and regularly undertakes engagement with a wide range of stakeholders.
I frequently engage with colleagues across Government, including those in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on a wide range of issues, including the operation of the immigration system.
Additionally, the Government has no plans to publish information on individual companies.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason the Offshore wind workers Immigration Rules concession 2017 has been extended until 1 July 2022.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The concession allows the employment of foreign nationals who are joining vessels engaged in the construction and maintenance of offshore wind projects in UK territorial waters.
The information about the concession is published online at:
Offshore wind workers Immigration Rules concession 2017: July 2021 update - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Home Office regularly reviews its policies and regularly undertakes engagement with a wide range of stakeholders.
I frequently engage with colleagues across Government, including those in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on a wide range of issues, including the operation of the immigration system.
Additionally, the Government has no plans to publish information on individual companies.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had since 1 January 2021 with representatives of the offshore wind industry on the extension of the Offshore wind workers Immigration Rules concession 2017 to 1 July 2022.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The concession allows the employment of foreign nationals who are joining vessels engaged in the construction and maintenance of offshore wind projects in UK territorial waters.
The information about the concession is published online at:
Offshore wind workers Immigration Rules concession 2017: July 2021 update - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Home Office regularly reviews its policies and regularly undertakes engagement with a wide range of stakeholders.
I frequently engage with colleagues across Government, including those in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on a wide range of issues, including the operation of the immigration system.
Additionally, the Government has no plans to publish information on individual companies.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the updated guidance on Offshore wind workers Immigration Rules concession 2017 published on 2 July 2021, which operational offshore wind projects are in scope of that concession.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The concession allows the employment of foreign nationals who are joining vessels engaged in the construction and maintenance of offshore wind projects in UK territorial waters.
The information about the concession is published online at:
Offshore wind workers Immigration Rules concession 2017: July 2021 update - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Home Office regularly reviews its policies and regularly undertakes engagement with a wide range of stakeholders.
I frequently engage with colleagues across Government, including those in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on a wide range of issues, including the operation of the immigration system.
Additionally, the Government has no plans to publish information on individual companies.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department’s December 2020 update to the Offshore wind workers Immigration Rules concession 2017, if she will list the companies in the offshore wind farm sector that have taken steps to regularise the position of their workers since that concession was introduced.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Government has no plans to publish information on which companies are regularising the stay of their workers.
The information about the concession is published online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/offshore-wind-workers-immigration-rules-concession-2017.