Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
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 bringing forward legislative proposals to make the (a) possession and (b) recreational use of nitrous oxide an offence.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
No assessment has been made of the merits of making possession or use of nitrous oxide an offence. The Government takes seriously the harms relating to psychoactive substances such as nitrous oxide and it will continue to keep this issue under review and to consider any new or emerging evidence.
The supply of substances for their psychoactive effect is an offence. There are legitimate uses for nitrous oxide, such as in medicine, dentistry and as a propellant for whipped cream canisters, but those who supply nitrous oxide who know, or who are reckless as to whether, it will be used for its psychoactive effect may be subject to a maximum sentence of seven years’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both under the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether EU citizens who miss the EU Settlement Scheme deadline of 30 June 2021 because they are unaware of the scheme or that deadline but have no additional vulnerabilities will be eligible for late application.
Answered by Kevin Foster
In line with the Citizens’ Rights Agreements, the Government has made clear where a person eligible for status under the EU Settlement Scheme has reasonable grounds for missing the 30 June 2021 deadline for applications by those resident in the UK by the end of the transition period, they will be given a further opportunity to apply.
Non-exhaustive guidance on what constitutes reasonable grounds for missing the deadline can be found at pages 26 to 44 of the caseworker guidance, EU Settlement Scheme: EU, other EEA and Swiss citizens and their family members, which is available here:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-settlement-scheme-caseworker-guidance.
This includes where there are compelling practical or compassionate reasons why a person may have been unaware of the requirement to apply to the scheme by the deadline or may have failed to do so, or where a person with a residence document issued under the EEA Regulations was not aware they needed to apply to the scheme.
The guidance will be kept under ongoing review and updated as appropriate. It will underpin a flexible and pragmatic approach to considering late applications under the scheme, in light of the circumstances of each case.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to update the guidance, EU Settlement Scheme: EU, other EEA and Swiss citizens and their family members, which was last published on 6 April 2021.
Answered by Kevin Foster
In line with the Citizens’ Rights Agreements, the Government has made clear where a person eligible for status under the EU Settlement Scheme has reasonable grounds for missing the 30 June 2021 deadline for applications by those resident in the UK by the end of the transition period, they will be given a further opportunity to apply.
Non-exhaustive guidance on what constitutes reasonable grounds for missing the deadline can be found at pages 26 to 44 of the caseworker guidance, EU Settlement Scheme: EU, other EEA and Swiss citizens and their family members, which is available here:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-settlement-scheme-caseworker-guidance.
This includes where there are compelling practical or compassionate reasons why a person may have been unaware of the requirement to apply to the scheme by the deadline or may have failed to do so, or where a person with a residence document issued under the EEA Regulations was not aware they needed to apply to the scheme.
The guidance will be kept under ongoing review and updated as appropriate. It will underpin a flexible and pragmatic approach to considering late applications under the scheme, in light of the circumstances of each case.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2021 to Question 155013 on Graduates: Visas, for what reason people on a Tier 2 visa route cannot use time spent in the UK under a previous Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) visa to contribute towards their continuous residence requirement.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) was a temporary route designed to enable graduates to bridge the gap between studies and the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur)/ Innovator routes.
Time spent on temporary immigration routes do not lead to settlement, so would only contribute to meeting a continuous requirement under the provision for long term residents. This approach is consistent with other temporary routes.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
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 enabling international students who have completed their studies and whose Tier 4 visa leave expires ahead of 1 July 2021 to submit an early application to the Graduate Route opening on that date.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Those whose permission expires prior to the launch of the route will not be eligible, but will still benefit from the favourable switching provisions into the Skilled Worker route.
The Doctorate Extension Scheme for PhD students will remain open up until the launch of the new route.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to expand youth mobility schemes.
Answered by Kevin Foster
We have indicated our intention to continue operating and further expanding our youth mobility arrangements to additional countries.
Each Youth Mobility Scheme is subject to a bilateral, reciprocal agreement which also provides benefit to UK Nationals, with the detail negotiated and agreed between the relevant parties.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Tier 2 (General) working visas have been issued in each of the last 24 months.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office publishes data on Tier 2 (General) visas in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’.
Data on the number of Tier 2 (General) visas are published in table Vis_D02 of the entry clearance visas applications and outcomes dataset. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook.
The latest data relates to year ending December 2020. Data for the first quarter of 2021 are due to be published on 27 May 2021.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of applications to the EU Settlement Scheme in (a) each of the last 12 months and (b) total have been granted pre-settled status.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Total applications and conclusions by month up to December 2020 can be found in table EUSS_MON available at:
The latest top-level monthly figures can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/eu-settlement-scheme-statistics
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of applications to the EU Settlement Scheme in (a) each of the last 12 months and (b) total have been granted settled status.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Total applications and conclusions by month up to December 2020 can be found in table EUSS_MON available at:
The latest top-level monthly figures can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/eu-settlement-scheme-statistics
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications have been granted pre-settled status in (a) each of the last 12 months and (b) total under the EU Settlement Scheme.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Total applications and conclusions by month up to December 2020 can be found in table EUSS_MON available at:
The latest top-level monthly figures can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/eu-settlement-scheme-statistics