To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Immigration Controls: Airports
Wednesday 15th November 2023

Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to monitor waiting times for (a) UK and (b) non-UK passport holders to clear the UK Border at (i) Heathrow and (ii) Gatwick Airport.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

Border Force measures and monitors wait times at all major UK ports including Heathrow and Gatwick to ensure the flow of legitimate travel into UK.

Border Force is committed to ensuring passengers wait times are kept to a minimum, however this must be balanced with our duty to Border Security, checking 100% of passports and making sure that anyone or anything that might cause harm to the UK is correctly dealt with.

Resource and staffing requirements at every port are continually reviewed by Border Force who work closely with port operators to ensure resources are deployed flexibly as and when they are required.

The latest Border Force transparency data shows that 95% of arrivals to the UK were cleared within the service standard in the second quarter of this year and in July, 90% of passengers surveyed were satisfied with their experience at UK border control. The most recent data is available on Gov.UK; www.gov.uk/government/publications/border-force-transparency-data-q2-2023


Written Question
Immigration Controls: Airports
Wednesday 15th November 2023

Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that the number of operational e-gates at UK border points in airports adequately reflects the number of expected arrivals at different times of day.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

Border Force is committed to ensuring passengers wait times are kept to a minimum, however this must be balanced with our duty to Border Security, checking 100% of passports and making sure that anyone or anything that might cause harm to the UK is correctly dealt with.

Resource and staffing requirements at every port are continually reviewed by Border Force who work closely with port operators to ensure resources are deployed flexibly as and when they are required.


Written Question
Immigration Controls: Airports
Wednesday 15th November 2023

Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether there is a minimum staff presence ratio requirement for the operation of e-gates at UK border points.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The Home Office’s priority is to deliver a safe and secure border and we will never compromise on this. Border Force maintain 100% checks for all scheduled arriving passengers into the UK and this will be continued during any period.

To maintain border security we do not comment on the details of operational deployments. Border Force keeps its resourcing and staffing numbers under constant review in light of passenger arrival data provided by carriers and port operators.


Written Question
Refugees: Ukraine
Monday 13th November 2023

Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2023 to Question 202782, if she will make it her policy to ensure that there are no fees chargeable for any extension to the Ukrainian visa schemes.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

In line with the situation in Ukraine, working closely with the Ukrainian Government, as well as our international counterparts, we keep the need for a possible extension of UK sanctuary, beyond March 2025, under consistent review. This includes whether to require a fee.

We are mindful that permission will start to expire, for the first arrivals under our Ukrainian schemes, from March 2025, and their need for certainty beyond that point to help them to plan ahead.


Written Question
Refugees: Ukraine
Friday 20th October 2023

Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)

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 providing (a) visa extensions and (b) settlement routes for Ukrainian nationals who reach the end of the temporary leave granted through schemes established following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

In line with the situation in Ukraine, working closely with the Ukrainian Government, as well as our international counterparts, we keep the need for a possible extension of UK sanctuary, beyond March 2025, under consistent review.

The UK Government stands with Ukraine and firmly believe that Ukraine will be safe again. When it’s safe to do so, Ukraine will need the repatriation of its citizens to help recover and rebuild their economy and infrastructure. Our approach therefore has been to provide 36 months sanctuary under our Ukraine visas, which are temporary and do not lead to settlement. This 36 month period is longer than any other European scheme.

We are however also mindful that permission will start to expire, for the first arrivals under our Ukrainian schemes, from March 2025, and their need for certainty beyond that point to help them to plan ahead, for example if remaining in the UK, entering into rental agreements and living here independently. The scheme is actively under review across government.


Written Question
Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986
Thursday 19th October 2023

Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the (a) contributions to, (b) analysis of and (c) the government response to her Department’s consultation on Section 24 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)

The Government intends to bring forward proposals and engage with stakeholders this year on transparency of information and the protection of confidential information regarding the regulation of the use of animals in science.

In doing so, the Government intends to clarify section 24 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, taking account of the previous consultation.


Written Question
Visas: Overseas Visitors
Friday 21st July 2023

Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign nationals have (a) overstayed their visitor visa and (b) remained in the UK without returning to their country of origin in each year since 2015.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the entry method of all individuals seeking asylum is not published. However, analysis from the Migrant journey: 2022 report estimates that around 14% of people claiming asylum in 2022 held another form of leave within 7 days of lodging their application.

Additionally, the Home Office publishes data on the proportion of people who are known to have departed the UK before their visa expired in the ‘Reports on statistics relating to exit checks’. Data broken down by visa type are published in table 1 of the Exit Checks data tables. The latest data relates to the year ending March 2020.

Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.


Written Question
Asylum
Friday 21st July 2023

Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have applied for asylum after arriving on a short term visitor visa in each year since 2015.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the entry method of all individuals seeking asylum is not published. However, analysis from the Migrant journey: 2022 report estimates that around 14% of people claiming asylum in 2022 held another form of leave within 7 days of lodging their application.

Additionally, the Home Office publishes data on the proportion of people who are known to have departed the UK before their visa expired in the ‘Reports on statistics relating to exit checks’. Data broken down by visa type are published in table 1 of the Exit Checks data tables. The latest data relates to the year ending March 2020.

Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.


Written Question
Naturalisation
Thursday 23rd March 2023

Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of changing the requirement for naturalisation applicants to have been in the UK for five years before the qualifying period, in the context of people's inability for people to travel during the covid-19 pandemic.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The Nationality and Borders Act 2022 introduced the power to allow the Secretary of State to waive the requirement for an applicant to be in the UK at the start of the residential qualifying period for naturalisation. Published guidance sets out when discretion would normally be exercised and covers absence due to the pandemic. Guidance also makes it clear that we would apply the same approach to extended period of absences from the UK due to covid restrictions.


Written Question
Naturalisation
Thursday 23rd March 2023

Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of changing the requirement for naturalisation applicants via the spousal route to have been in the UK for three years before the qualifying period, in the context of people's inability to travel during the covid-19 pandemic.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The Nationality and Borders Act 2022 introduced the power to allow the Secretary of State to waive the requirement for an applicant to be in the UK at the start of the residential qualifying period for naturalisation. Published guidance sets out when discretion would normally be exercised and covers absence due to the pandemic. Guidance also makes it clear that we would apply the same approach to extended period of absences from the UK due to covid restrictions.