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Written Question
Asylum: Development Aid
Wednesday 19th July 2023

Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what percentage of the Overseas Development Assistance budget was spent on accommodating asylum seekers in the UK in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The latest data available was published on GOV.UK on 5 April 2023 as part of the provisional Statistics for International Development (SID). In this publication, Home Office In-donor costs for 2022 were £2,382m and total HMG ODA was £12,774m, in line with international spending rules. Here is a link to published statistics The Statistics on International Development: Provisional UK Aid Spent 2022 – GOV.UK

That is why we are shifting to cheaper and basic accommodation and delivering on out plan to stop the boats – which is the enduring way to alleviate unfair pressure on communities and the British taxpayer.


Written Question
Asylum: Housing
Tuesday 18th July 2023

Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost of accommodating asylum seekers in the UK was in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The Government has been clear that the use of expensive hotels to house the unprecedented number of asylum seekers crossing the Channel is unacceptable and must end. It is costing the UK taxpayer over £6 million a day. That is why we are shifting to cheaper and basic accommodation and delivering on out plan to stop the boats – which is the enduring way to alleviate unfair pressure on communities and the British taxpayer.

A link to the most recent published figures:

https://homeofficemedia.blog.gov.uk/2023/04/03/accommodation-sites-factsheet-april-2023/


Written Question
Travel Requirements: Applications
Monday 12th June 2023

Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the administration cost to the public purse of each Electronic Travel Authorisation application; and if she will make a statement.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

On 6 June, I set in a Written Ministerial Statement (https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2023-06-06/hcws821), that the proposed fee for an ETA application is £10.00. This is set at a level that will cover the costs of administering the system and is competitive compared with similar international schemes by international partners.

It is the government’s policy that those who use and benefit most from the immigration system should contribute towards the cost of operating the system, reducing the burden on the UK taxpayer.

The estimated cost of administering each ETA application will be published when the ETA fee is formally set in the Immigration and Nationality Fees Regulations in Autumn 2023.


Written Question
Passports: Applications
Monday 22nd May 2023

Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to prevent delays in processing passport applications; and if she will make a statement.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

Between January and April 2023, 99.5% of customers using the standard UK service received their passport within the published processing timeframe of ten weeks.


Written Question
Passports: Applications
Monday 22nd May 2023

Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps steps she is taking to improve waiting times for passport applications; and if she will make a statement.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

Between January and April 2023, 99.5% of customers using the standard UK service received their passport within the published processing timeframe of ten weeks.


Written Question
HM Passport Office
Monday 22nd May 2023

Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to improve access to priority appointments at the Passport Office; and if she will make a statement.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

Appointments for urgent passport services are released up to three weeks in advance to help meet the needs of the small proportion of customers who need a passport sooner than ten weeks. Appointment capacity is at normal levels.


Written Question
Nitrous Oxide: Sales
Monday 6th February 2023

Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of restricting the sale of nitrous oxide canisters by suppliers to nominated businesses only; and if she will make a statement.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

Supply of nitrous oxide for legitimate medical and industrial purposes is lawful. Nitrous oxide has legitimate uses, such as in medicine, dentistry and as a propellant for whipped cream canisters.

However, those who supply nitrous oxide knowing or reckless as to whether it is likely to be used for its psychoactive effect, are committing an offence under the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016. This includes a maximum custodial sentence of seven years’ imprisonment.

On 3 September 2021, the Government asked the independent statutory advisory body, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), to provide an updated assessment of the harms of nitrous oxide, including advice on whether it should be controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

The ACMD is independent of Government and can provide a broad range of recommendations, including advice on regulatory or legislative changes. The Government will consider the ACMD advice carefully before deciding how to proceed.


Written Question
Visas: Ukraine
Monday 4th July 2022

Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will open a help-line for individuals to use to check on the progress of their applications for visas for people coming to the UK from Ukraine; and if she will make a statement.

Answered by Kevin Foster

UKVI already have a dedicated Ukraine helpline in place to support enquiries for those applying under the Ukraine Family Scheme and Homes for Ukraine scheme.

The helpline can provide information on eligibility and the application process, and in cases of concern can escalate to teams who can look at the full case history and establish any issues.

We are currently reviewing the options and feasibility around offering a status checking option, these considerations are currently ongoing.


Written Question
Police: Complaints
Tuesday 22nd March 2022

Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help speed up the procedure for considering complaints made against police officers.

Answered by Kit Malthouse

In February 2020, the Government reformed the police complaints and discipline systems to make them more transparent, more independent and more proportionate. New measures were also introduced to improve timeliness of investigations, including a requirement for forces and the IOPC to provide written explanations where cases take more than 12 months.

The Home Affairs Select Committee have recently published their report into police conduct and complaints which highlighted areas of progress, including on timeliness of investigations. We will be responding to the report in due course.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Disease Control
Tuesday 8th March 2022

Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2022 to Question 121681, on Coronavirus: Disease Control, what recent discussions she has had with the Crown Prosecution Service on their investigation into fines which were wrongly handed down to people for alleged breaches of covid-19 restrictions; and if she will make a statement.

Answered by Kit Malthouse

The Home Office does not hold the information requested. This would be a matter for the Crown Prosecution Service. The CPS publish data on a monthly basis on all coronavirus prosecutions.

https://www.cps.gov.uk/cps/news/cps-review-findings-first-year-coronavirus-prosecutions

This link sets out the findings on all Fixed Penalty Notice cases and cover the period of the first lockdown including those issued erroneously.