Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what criteria she decides whether to (a) predetermine an application before a person attends and (b) excuse the requirement to attend a Visa Application Centre to enrol their biometrics for a visa.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
People who apply for Entry Clearance to come to the UK are normally required to attend a Visa Application Centre (VAC) to enrol their biometric information. We published guidance on Gov.UK in November 2022 which explains who can be excused or deferred from having to enrol their biometric information.
Non-urgent requests for applications to be predetermined, or for individuals to be excused the requirement to attend a VAC to enrol their biometric information are being placed on hold. This is pending the publication of new guidance about how the department handles claims from individuals that it is unsafe for them to travel to a VAC.
We do not currently collate or publish information on how many applications are predetermined or the number of people who are excused from having to attend a VAC to enrol their biometrics.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many child asylum seekers were (a) registered as missing from hotels and (b) found after being registered as missing in 2022.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office has no power to hold asylum seekers, including under 18s, in hotels or any temporary accommodation if they wish to leave.
To minimise the risk of a minor going missing, records of those leaving and returning to the hotel are kept and monitored. Support workers accompany children off site on activities and social excursions, or where specific vulnerabilities are identified.
We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in temporary hotel accommodation are as safe and supported as possible whilst we seek urgent placements with a local authority. Young people are supported by team leaders and support workers who are on site 24 hours a day. Further care is provided in hotels by teams of social workers and nurses.
When a young person goes missing the ‘missing persons protocol’ is followed and led by our directly engaged social workers. A multi-agency, missing persons protocol is mobilised alongside the police and local authorities, to establish their whereabouts and ensure that they are safe.
The number of all missing asylum seekers are not available in a reportable format and to provide the information could only be done at disproportionate cost.
In 2022 there were 411 missing episodes from Home Office UASC Hotels. The young person was subsequently located for 218 of these 411 missing episodes.
Of the minors that are still missing; they breakdown as: 87% Albanians. The other 13% are Afghanistan (6%), Egypt (3%) and the remaining 6% are from India, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey and Vietnam. 14 were under 16 when they went missing and one was a female.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many child asylum seekers have been registered as missing in each of the last 5 years.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office has no power to hold asylum seekers, including under 18s, in hotels or any temporary accommodation if they wish to leave.
To minimise the risk of a minor going missing, records of those leaving and returning to the hotel are kept and monitored. Support workers accompany children off site on activities and social excursions, or where specific vulnerabilities are identified.
We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in temporary hotel accommodation are as safe and supported as possible whilst we seek urgent placements with a local authority. Young people are supported by team leaders and support workers who are on site 24 hours a day. Further care is provided in hotels by teams of social workers and nurses.
When a young person goes missing the ‘missing persons protocol’ is followed and led by our directly engaged social workers. A multi-agency, missing persons protocol is mobilised alongside the police and local authorities, to establish their whereabouts and ensure that they are safe.
The number of all missing asylum seekers are not available in a reportable format and to provide the information could only be done at disproportionate cost.
In 2022 there were 411 missing episodes from Home Office UASC Hotels. The young person was subsequently located for 218 of these 411 missing episodes.
Of the minors that are still missing; they breakdown as: 87% Albanians. The other 13% are Afghanistan (6%), Egypt (3%) and the remaining 6% are from India, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey and Vietnam. 14 were under 16 when they went missing and one was a female.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she is taking steps to ensure that children asylum seekers are not abducted from the hotels they are temporarily housed in.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office has no power to hold asylum seekers, including under 18s, in hotels or any temporary accommodation if they wish to leave.
To minimise the risk of a minor going missing, records of those leaving and returning to the hotel are kept and monitored. Support workers accompany children off site on activities and social excursions, or where specific vulnerabilities are identified.
We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in temporary hotel accommodation are as safe and supported as possible whilst we seek urgent placements with a local authority. Young people are supported by team leaders and support workers who are on site 24 hours a day. Further care is provided in hotels by teams of social workers and nurses.
When a young person goes missing the ‘missing persons protocol’ is followed and led by our directly engaged social workers. A multi-agency, missing persons protocol is mobilised alongside the police and local authorities, to establish their whereabouts and ensure that they are safe.
The number of all missing asylum seekers are not available in a reportable format and to provide the information could only be done at disproportionate cost.
In 2022 there were 411 missing episodes from Home Office UASC Hotels. The young person was subsequently located for 218 of these 411 missing episodes.
Of the minors that are still missing; they breakdown as: 87% Albanians. The other 13% are Afghanistan (6%), Egypt (3%) and the remaining 6% are from India, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey and Vietnam. 14 were under 16 when they went missing and one was a female.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle the over-policing of children.
Answered by Sarah Dines
Children are a protected group with specific needs and vulnerabilities and it is essential that police recognise this during any interaction. Specific safeguards exist for children including a statutory requirement to consider their safety and welfare during a search or when making a decision to arrest. It is positive that the number of children arrested has declined significantly over the last 10 years.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will introduce a sponsor guarantor scheme for visa applicants.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
There are already a number of visa routes, including work, study and family routes, where formal sponsorship is required with penalties in place if a sponsor is not meeting their obligations.
In other routes, we require evidence that a visa applicant can maintain and accommodate themselves during their stay in the United Kingdom and that they will leave the United Kingdom at the end of their stay.
We believe it is right that the responsibility to demonstrate they will maintain and accommodate themselves and leave the United Kingdom lies with the applicant.
We will refuse applications where this is not the case and individuals who become overstayers in the United Kingdom may be subject to a re-entry ban.
Our website (www.gov.uk) provides information about the obligations we expect from sponsors and visa applicants and re-entry bans.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to remove barriers in the visa application system.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Through the Future Borders and Immigration System (FBIS) programme, we are delivering a streamlined, simplified and modern visa system that meets the needs of the Home Office and its customers.
Increasingly, we are replacing physical and paper-based products and services with accessible, easy to use online and digital services. This provides applicants with an easy online application process, including providing biometrics and establishing or verifying identity using their smartphones.
To make our system accessible to all, we have expanded support for those that require assistance to make an online visa application. Our UKVI Resolution Centre has been extended and is now open seven days a week for telephone and email enquiries. We also have an assisted digital service which provides UK-wide support to customers who do not have access to technology, or the digital skills or confidence, to complete the forms online.
By creating clearer guidance and content on gov.uk we have made it simpler and more intuitive for people to understand if they are eligible for a visa, what steps they need to take to apply and, if granted, the conditions of their stay in the UK.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
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 introducing an Application Checklist in order to ensure the applicant has submitted all the correct information.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The online application forms currently generate a document checklist for the applicant to download at the end of their application form. This is also displayed at the end of the form after they have answered all of the questions. This checklist uses the answers entered in the form to establish the necessary documentation that an applicant needs to provide.
The paper application forms have an application checklist with a list of the documentation an applicant needs to provide at the end of the application form.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to remove visa fees for applicants that have been previously denied a visa.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office has no plans to remove visa fees for applicants who have previously been denied a visa. The fee paid is for the consideration of an application and is payable regardless of the decision made.
Where a fee is payable, it must be paid in full as specified by the Immigration and Nationality Fees Regulations 2018 in order for the application to be valid.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June to Question 8160 on Body searches: Children, for what reason police forces will be providing data on strip searches for 2021-22 on a voluntary basis.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
New data collections, such as the one proposed on strip searches, are often introduced on a voluntary basis when forces need time to make changes to their IT systems or recording processes to enable them to provide the requested data on a consistent basis.