Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions he has had with Mitre on the potential merits of employing instructors to train staff on how to direct asylum-seekers on to planes for Rwanda in Bedfordshire.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Since 2015, the Government has had training facilities to ensure escorts can respond professionally to the challenges of removing people with no right to be in the UK. This includes practical sessions, so escorts have the skills they need to deal with different scenarios.
As we continue to remove those with no legal right to be here, we will continue to ensure new escorts have the required high quality training and facilities as necessary.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to increase the speed at which asylum applications are processed for people from Sudan.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
We are carefully monitoring the situation in Sudan.
We are taking immediate action to clear the backlog of 92,601 initial asylum decisions relating to claims made before 28 June 2022 (“legacy claims”) by the end of 2023.
We are increasing the number of caseworkers to 2,500 by September 2023, streamlining interviews where one is required and simplifying guidance.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make a comparative assessment of the potential merits of providing (a) single-year and (b) multi-year financial settlements for police forces.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Spending Review 2021 provided certainty on budgets for all forces across England and Wales, with total funding increases confirmed for 3 years. In June 2022, the government also provided additional funding of £350m over 3 years to support forces in meeting the costs of the 2022 pay award. This has enabled forces to plan ahead and ensure they are delivering efficiency savings to generate the best value for money for the tax payer.
On 31 January, the Government confirmed a total police funding settlement of up to £17.2 billion in 2023/24, an increase of up to £287 million when compared to 2022/23. This settlement honours the commitments made at Spending Review 2021, giving forces the certainty to plan, complete and maintain their work to recruit additional officers through the Police Uplift Programme.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help improve Government relations with police forces.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government welcomes open and honest engagement with policing partners and Ministers meet regularly with senior policing leaders and staff associations on a range of matters.
We are continuing to invest in policing and are recruiting 20,000 additional officers to ensure policing has the resources it needs to fight crime. By March 2023, we will have the highest number of officers on record.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
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 increasing the number of authorised work hours for student visas.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Student route is for international students who wish to study in the UK and is not designed as a means to live and work in the UK.
Student visa holders who are studying a full-time course of study, at degree level or above, at a higher education provider with a track record of compliance are already able to work up to 20 hours per week during term-time and full-time during vacation periods.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the number of supporting documents the Passport Office received by mail in 2022; how many and what proportion of those documents were (a) lost and (b) damaged; and what the average length of time was for the reimbursement of lost and damaged documents.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
In 2022, His Majesty’s Passport Office has received over 7 million items by post in 2022. 74 documents, or approximately 0.001% of the items received, have been reported as lost and not recovered. 1,114 documents, or approximately 0.016% of the items received, have been reported as damaged on route to, or within, an HM Passport Office site.
The length of time for reimbursement due to loss and damage of documents is not held in a reportable format.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the (a) ethical and (b) scientific considerations of the use of x-rays of verify the age of child refugees.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
In December 2021, the Home Office set up an independent Age Estimation Science Advisory Committee to provide the Home Office Chief Scientific Adviser with independent advice – including scientific and associated ethical advice and guidance on existing and emerging scientific approaches that could be utilised for the purpose of age assessment. We are considering advice from this Committee and other sources. No official decisions have been made about if and how to implement scientific methods.
The use of X-rays specifically is regulated by the Justification of Practices Involving Ionising Radiation Regulations 2004, which requires that any practices involving the use of ionising radiation be justified on the basis that the individual or societal benefit of that practice outweighs the health detriment it may cause. Any use of X-rays for age assessment purposes will therefore be contingent on the appropriate approvals being met under these regulations.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to the correspondence of (a) 9 June, reference MY30876 and (b) 3 August, reference MY31701 from the hon. Member for Bedford constituency.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
I apologise for the delay. UK Visas and Immigration, MP Account Management team responded on 11 October 2022.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many fast-track passport appointments have been released by HMPO in (a) May 2022 and (b) since 1 June 2022.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Appointments for urgent services are released three weeks in advance. While this means new appointments are released daily, in busy periods these will be booked quickly.
Her Majesty’s Passport Office therefore continues to explore options to further increase appointment capacity to support its customers with urgent travel needs.
This work has led to the recent opening of an eighth public counter offering urgent service appointments, and further increasing appointment availability to help support those people who need their passport more quickly.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the nationalities are of asylum seekers identified for deportation to Rwanda.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Everyone who arrives illegally will be considered for relocation on a case by case basis.