Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of potential victims of slavery supported under the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract that would be in scope to have their support removed were sections 22 to 29 of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 enacted.
Answered by Laura Farris
The modern slavery provisions in the Illegal Migration Act 2023 (“the 2023 Act”) address the serious and immediate threat to public order arising from the exceptional circumstances around illegal entry into the UK.
The Public Order Disqualification in the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) was included in section 63 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022. Section 29 of the 2023 Act amends section 63 of the Nationality and Borders Act, expanding the cohort of individuals to whom the Public Order Disqualification applies. The 2023 Act also introduces, in sections 22-28, disqualifications from the NRM for those who are subject to the duty in section 2 of that Act, unless certain specific exemptions apply.
The Government is working on developing guidance regarding the operation of these measures which will be published when the provisions are implemented.
The published Illegal Migration Bill Impact Assessment sets out the monetised and non-monetised impacts of the legislation. The Impact Assessment did not produce monetised estimates of the number of individuals who would be in scope to have their support removed if sections 22 to 29 of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 were enacted. As such, it did not produce monetised estimates for: potential victims of slavery supported under the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract; individuals under the age of 18 who have been referred into the NRM since July 2023; or potential victims referred into the NRM. The Home Office is monitoring and evaluating the 2023 Act to monitor whether the measures introduced are meeting the objectives set and to provide insight on the process, impact and value for money of changes implemented.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the extant Public Order Disqualifications (POD) for potential victims of modern slavery in cases where there is an immediate and real risk of re-trafficking will apply to those expected to receive PODs under the Illegal Migration Act 2023.
Answered by Laura Farris
The modern slavery provisions in the Illegal Migration Act 2023 (“the 2023 Act”) address the serious and immediate threat to public order arising from the exceptional circumstances around illegal entry into the UK.
The Public Order Disqualification in the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) was included in section 63 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022. Section 29 of the 2023 Act amends section 63 of the Nationality and Borders Act, expanding the cohort of individuals to whom the Public Order Disqualification applies. The 2023 Act also introduces, in sections 22-28, disqualifications from the NRM for those who are subject to the duty in section 2 of that Act, unless certain specific exemptions apply.
The Government is working on developing guidance regarding the operation of these measures which will be published when the provisions are implemented.
The published Illegal Migration Bill Impact Assessment sets out the monetised and non-monetised impacts of the legislation. The Impact Assessment did not produce monetised estimates of the number of individuals who would be in scope to have their support removed if sections 22 to 29 of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 were enacted. As such, it did not produce monetised estimates for: potential victims of slavery supported under the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract; individuals under the age of 18 who have been referred into the NRM since July 2023; or potential victims referred into the NRM. The Home Office is monitoring and evaluating the 2023 Act to monitor whether the measures introduced are meeting the objectives set and to provide insight on the process, impact and value for money of changes implemented.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of potential victims of slavery referred into the national referral mechanism who would be in scope to have their support removed were sections 22 to 29 of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 enacted.
Answered by Laura Farris
The modern slavery provisions in the Illegal Migration Act 2023 (“the 2023 Act”) address the serious and immediate threat to public order arising from the exceptional circumstances around illegal entry into the UK.
The Public Order Disqualification in the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) was included in section 63 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022. Section 29 of the 2023 Act amends section 63 of the Nationality and Borders Act, expanding the cohort of individuals to whom the Public Order Disqualification applies. The 2023 Act also introduces, in sections 22-28, disqualifications from the NRM for those who are subject to the duty in section 2 of that Act, unless certain specific exemptions apply.
The Government is working on developing guidance regarding the operation of these measures which will be published when the provisions are implemented.
The published Illegal Migration Bill Impact Assessment sets out the monetised and non-monetised impacts of the legislation. The Impact Assessment did not produce monetised estimates of the number of individuals who would be in scope to have their support removed if sections 22 to 29 of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 were enacted. As such, it did not produce monetised estimates for: potential victims of slavery supported under the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract; individuals under the age of 18 who have been referred into the NRM since July 2023; or potential victims referred into the NRM. The Home Office is monitoring and evaluating the 2023 Act to monitor whether the measures introduced are meeting the objectives set and to provide insight on the process, impact and value for money of changes implemented.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funds he plans to provide for the UK’s Global Refugee Forum 2023 pledge on continued support for the integration of refugees in the UK.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
As pledged at the Global Refugee Forum 2023, the Government remains committed to enabling resettled refugees in rebuilding their lives in the UK. That is why refugees, as well as individuals arriving via our resettlement schemes with Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK, have access to mainstream benefits and services to support their integration.
The Home Office also provides local authorities with a core tariff of £20,520 per person to cover resettlement and integration costs for those who arrive through the UK Resettlement Scheme, the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme or the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy. In the first year, local authorities also receive up to £4,500 per child for education and £850 to cover additional English language provision for adults, and health partners receive £2,600 per individual to cover healthcare.
Those granted protection through the asylum system are offered support from Migrant Help or their partner organisation. This support includes providing advice on accessing the labour market, on applying for Universal Credit, and signposting to local authorities for assistance with housing.
Refugees who arrived through safe and legal routes or were granted Refugee Permission to Stay on or after 28 June 2022 have access to the Refugee Employability Programme (REP). This launched in England in September 2023 and delivers a range of activities to support refugees, including employment, English language and integration support.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funding he plans to allocate to refugee integration in 2024.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
As pledged at the Global Refugee Forum 2023, the Government remains committed to enabling resettled refugees in rebuilding their lives in the UK. That is why refugees, as well as individuals arriving via our resettlement schemes with Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK, have access to mainstream benefits and services to support their integration.
The Home Office also provides local authorities with a core tariff of £20,520 per person to cover resettlement and integration costs for those who arrive through the UK Resettlement Scheme, the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme or the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy. In the first year, local authorities also receive up to £4,500 per child for education and £850 to cover additional English language provision for adults, and health partners receive £2,600 per individual to cover healthcare.
Those granted protection through the asylum system are offered support from Migrant Help or their partner organisation. This support includes providing advice on accessing the labour market, on applying for Universal Credit, and signposting to local authorities for assistance with housing.
Refugees who arrived through safe and legal routes or were granted Refugee Permission to Stay on or after 28 June 2022 have access to the Refugee Employability Programme (REP). This launched in England in September 2023 and delivers a range of activities to support refugees, including employment, English language and integration support.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many care workers on the Health and Social Care visa are employed by visa sponsors who are (a) registered with the Care Quality Commission and (b) not registered with the Care Quality Commission.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Home Office does not publish data that would cover these requests.
However, care workers who are currently sponsored by non-CQC-registered providers will be able to continue working for those providers after the upcoming rules change.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many care providers lost their sponsorship license in each quarter since October 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Home Office does not publish data that would cover these requests.
However, care workers who are currently sponsored by non-CQC-registered providers will be able to continue working for those providers after the upcoming rules change.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that workers with the Health and Social Care visa are supported to find alternative work if their sponsor has had their licence revoked.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
UKVI Compliance Command work with local authorities and the Association of Adult Social Care Directors.
Relevant authorities receive prior notification of suspended and revoked sponsors and the numbers of workers affected by a compliance action.
This allows time for authorities to relocate workers with other care providers in the area and ensure continuity of care provision.
UKVI work proactively with authorities in the timing of revocations and where appropriate delay revocation and cancellation to allow workers the opportunity to find new sponsors.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of biometric residence permits issued in (a) the last 12 months and (b) each of the previous 10 years contained errors; what his Department's target time is for correcting such errors; and what the average time taken to correct such errors was in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
This information is not publicly available and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Annexes (a) C and (b) G of the statement of requirements at schedule 2 of the Asylum Accommodation and Support contracts have been incorporated into the allocation of asylum accommodation policy.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Allocation of Accommodation policy provides guidance on room sharing across all accommodation sites, including Napier, ex-MoD sites and vessels. The policy includes a suitability criteria which is applied when allocating accommodation to individuals. Accommodation providers are required to consider the suitability criteria, in addition to the Statement of Requirements, when considering whether room sharing is suitable and/or where an individual has any specific needs which have been raised.