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 - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
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 - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
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 - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
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 - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
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 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will set out the Government’s priorities for the 2024 Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 16).
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK played a leading role at COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity in securing agreement to a historic package of measures to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. Our priority for COP16 and beyond is to drive global delivery of these agreements both at home and abroad, by working closely with our international partners.
We have a number of priorities for COP16. These include supporting a global review of those National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans which will have been published by the time of the COP, in order to assess the extent to which the world is on track to meet the commitments made at COP15; finalising the details of the global mechanism for the sharing of benefits arising from the use of Digital Sequence Information (DSI) on genetic resources; and increasing the mobilisation of resources from all sources to halt and reverse biodiversity loss globally, including through the newly-established Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, to which the UK has already made an initial contribution of £10million.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which Ministers will attend COP16 to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK’s delegation to COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity was led by the Environment Secretary, who attended along with Ministers from two other Departments. The details of the delegation for COP16, including Ministerial representation, will be determined closer to the time but will be led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
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 - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
This information is not publicly available and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in other countries on COP16 to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ministers and senior officials across Government, led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, are in close and ongoing contact with their global counterparts about preparation for COP16. In addition, the Environment Secretary and Lord Benyon spoke to a number of their international opposites at the COP28 meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill on the restoration of marine habitats.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (OPRED) is responsible for regulating the environmental activity for oil and gas operations. Licenses are awarded by the North Sea Transition Authority only after OPRED is satisfied that the oil and gas activities will not have an adverse effect on the integrity of a relevant Special Area of Conservation or Special Protection Area; or significantly hinder the achievement of the conservation objectives of relevant areas. The Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill will not affect this comprehensive legal framework of environmental protection measures.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when the London Energy Security Conference will take place.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government now intends to hold the Energy Security Conference in 2025. The Secretary of State will discuss energy security with her international counterparts at events including the International Energy Agency meeting in Paris, the G7 in Turin, and bilateral meetings.