Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has plans to take steps to implement a Family Scheme Visa for people in (a) Türkiye and (b) Syria who have family in the UK and have been left homeless following earthquakes in February 2023.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Government has no plans to implement specific schemes for those impacted by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, existing visa routes for those wishing to come to the UK are available.
The UK continues to provide lifesaving and emergency support, coordinating closely with the Turkish government and United Nations in Syria to ensure our support meets the needs on the ground and that we can stay responsive to emerging needs.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to respond to the Subject Access Request submitted in June 2022 from a constituent of the Hon. Member for Wirral West.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Department plans to respond to the subject access request by Friday 27th January 2023.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent guidance she has given to the (a) Border Force and (b) maritime tactics team on operationalising tactics for pushing back boats carrying illegal migrants in the English Channel.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Preventing the illegal entry of people to the UK in small boats is a priority for the Government. The turnaround tactics are one of a selection of tools to decrease the success rate of crossings and make the route less appealing to criminal facilitators, thereby saving lives.
Publishing details of the operational policy, the Border Force guidance and standard operating procedures, and the assessments which operational commanders use to determine when they should deploy the tactics would confer an advantage to organised criminal groups, giving them insight into how to counter or avoid the tactics.
The tactics will only be deployed when it is safe and legal to do so. We have received legal advice from leading counsel on the deployment of the tactics. We can confirm that the tactics are permitted under international and domestic law.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has received legal advice on the operation of a push-back policy for boats carrying illegal migrants in the English Channel; and what plans she has to implement a policy of pushing back those boats.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Preventing the illegal entry of people to the UK in small boats is a priority for the Government. The turnaround tactics are one of a selection of tools to decrease the success rate of crossings and make the route less appealing to criminal facilitators, thereby saving lives.
Publishing details of the operational policy, the Border Force guidance and standard operating procedures, and the assessments which operational commanders use to determine when they should deploy the tactics would confer an advantage to organised criminal groups, giving them insight into how to counter or avoid the tactics.
The tactics will only be deployed when it is safe and legal to do so. We have received legal advice from leading counsel on the deployment of the tactics. We can confirm that the tactics are permitted under international and domestic law.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral evidence of the Minister for Justice and Tackling Illegal Migration to the Home Affairs Committee on 17 November 2021, HC164, Qq 757, if she will publish the measures on implementing a policy of pushbacks in the channel; and what criteria operational commanders at sea will use to determine the appropriateness of deploying those measures.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Preventing the illegal entry of people to the UK in small boats is a priority for the Government. The turnaround tactics are one of a selection of tools to decrease the success rate of crossings and make the route less appealing to criminal facilitators, thereby saving lives.
Publishing details of the operational policy, the Border Force guidance and standard operating procedures, and the assessments which operational commanders use to determine when they should deploy the tactics would confer an advantage to organised criminal groups, giving them insight into how to counter or avoid the tactics.
The tactics will only be deployed when it is safe and legal to do so. We have received legal advice from leading counsel on the deployment of the tactics. We can confirm that the tactics are permitted under international and domestic law.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with (a) HM Coastguard, (b) the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, (c) the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and stakeholders involved in English Channel search and rescue; and if she will publish minutes and topics of discussion of those meetings.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Border Force officials have regular discussions with both HM Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, holding frequent strategic and tactical meetings to discuss the ongoing response to small boats in the Channel.
There are no plans to publish the minutes from these meetings.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons her Department has not yet responded to the North and Midlands Independent Monitoring Board for Short-term Holding Facilities, Annual Report 2016; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Further to my earlier answers to the Honourable Member for Barnsley Central and the honourable Member for High Peak, I will review the annual report of the North and Midlands Independent Monitoring Board for Short-Term Holding Facilities and respond within the next two weeks.