Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what immigration options to remain in the UK beyond the end of (a) September and (b) December 2022 will be available to Ukrainian Seasonal Worker visa holders who entered the UK after 18 March 2022; and whether those visa holders will be required to leave the UK and apply for a separate visa to re-enter the UK.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Following the Russian incursion into Ukraine, the Home Office quickly created the Ukraine Extension Scheme to support Ukrainian nationals who were already lawfully in the UK on visas that had or may expire.
These Ukrainian nationals are able to extend their permission to stay to 36 months. In line with the two other Ukraine schemes, and have all the rights and access to benefits in line with those schemes.
The Home Office is constantly keeping these schemes under review.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Ukrainian nationals in the UK on the agricultural Seasonal Workers visa, who have had their visas extended until the end of 2023, have also received their biometric residency permits displaying details of the extended right to be in the UK under this scheme.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office does not routinely publish data on these matters and a manual trawl would be required to determine these figures which would not be feasible.
To date the seasonal work providers have nominated 2914 individuals eligible for the Seasonal Worker Ukrainian Extension Scheme. These workers are also eligible for the more favourable Ukrainian Extensions Scheme which provides for 36 months of leave and does not tie individuals to a specific employer.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Ukrainian nationals in the UK on the agricultural Seasonal Workers visa have had their visas extended until the end of 2023.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office does not routinely publish data on these matters and a manual trawl would be required to determine these figures which would not be feasible.
To date the seasonal work providers have nominated 2914 individuals eligible for the Seasonal Worker Ukrainian Extension Scheme. These workers are also eligible for the more favourable Ukrainian Extensions Scheme which provides for 36 months of leave and does not tie individuals to a specific employer.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to publish her Department’s lessons learned review of the transition to ASPEN cards for asylum seekers in summer 2021.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government is aware of the report. The vast majority of service users have now received and activated their new Aspen card since the service went live on Monday 24th May 2021.
These cards are working and being used successfully to make purchases or withdraw funds (dependent on asylum seeker support type). Where replacement cards have been requested, they are being actioned swiftly and are being dispatched to service users accordingly. Card activation rates continue to increase. We are proactively working with partners to ensure that any eligible service users receive their new Aspen card and activate it successfully. In the interim, Emergency Cash Payments (ECPs) are being provided to support their critical needs.
There are no plans to publish the department’s Lessons learned review.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for her policies of the findings of AsylumMatters’ November 2021 report, Lessons Learned: How government contracts failed people seeking asylum, again.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government is aware of the report. The vast majority of service users have now received and activated their new Aspen card since the service went live on Monday 24th May 2021.
These cards are working and are being used successfully to make purchases or withdraw funds (dependent on asylum seeker support type). Where replacement cards have been requested, they are being actioned swiftly and are being dispatched to service users accordingly. Card activation rates continue to increase. We are proactively working with partners to ensure that any eligible service users receive their new Aspen card and activate it successfully. In the interim, emergency cash payments (ECPs) are being provided to support their critical needs.
There are no plans to publish the department’s lessons learned review.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason Ukrainian nationals entering the UK on seasonal worker visas after 18 March 2022 are not eligible to have their visa extended in line with Ukrainians in the UK on other types of visas; and whether she has plans to expand the eligibility window for the extension scheme.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Since 18 March 2022 both the Ukraine Family Scheme and the Homes For Ukraine have been available, for free, to all Ukrainian nationals and their families wishing to come to the UK for up to three years.
Any Ukrainian national choosing to arrive in the UK by any other route (including as seasonal workers) after this date is therefore expected to comply with the conditions of the leave they chose to apply for. If they subsequently wish to stay longer, they can apply for permission to stay on any existing routes they qualify for, the Ukraine Family Scheme (if they qualify), or leave the UK and apply to return under the Homes For Ukraine Scheme.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to extend visas for Ukrainian nationals entering the UK on seasonal workers visas after 18 March 2022.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Ukrainian nationals in this position will be provided with a biometric residency permit which will display details of their extended right to be in the UK under this scheme.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department plans to take to consult stakeholders on the development of statutory guidance for the Nationality and Borders Act 2022; and what her timeframe is for holding that consultation.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Any statutory guidance will be developed in line with the usual process, which includes any engagement, as required, with stakeholders over the coming months.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department plans to take to provide evidence to Ukrainian nationals that their Seasonal Worker visa has been extended to 31 December 2022.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Ukrainian nationals in this position will be provided with a biometric residency permit which will display details of their extended right to be in the UK under this scheme.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the guidance on Reporting and Offender Management Version 4.0, published on 6 May 2022, was amended to include the current guidance on Accompanied Reporting.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The purpose of reporting is to ensure those without leave to remain in the UK and illegal entrants remain in close contact with the Home Office. A reporting requirement of bail is used to enable case progression, interviews, offers of voluntary departure and travel document applications to be conducted to support removal actions. A person on a reporting regime will be considered for a variety of methods to report including in person within a Centre or a combination of telephone reporting, digital bail or electronic monitoring.
There has been no change to the current guidance on accompanied reporting. It remains at the discretion of the ROM manager and all representations will be considered. This was present in v1 issued 2017 and has not been amended since:
Accompanied reporting
The reporting centre manager has discretion as to whether a person reporting may have someone accompany them, such as a legal representative, a support or charity organisation worker, or volunteer. Where the person reporting is vulnerable, or where they are reporting for the first time, are typical examples of when assistance is requested.
You should not consider accompanied reporting to be routine, but it can be permitted in exceptional cases where specific requests are made to the reporting centre manager. A person accompanying the reporting person must only be allowed into the waiting area, you must not permit them to intervene on the person’s behalf at the counter.
A change in the new guidance is new asylum applicants will not be required to report until a negative decision is made on their application, unless exceptional circumstances apply, for example the applicant is also a foreign national offender (FNO), a restricted access case or a TCU case, these will be decided on a case-by-case basis.