Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the EU Settlement Scheme.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The EU Settlement Scheme makes it straightforward for EU citizens and their family members to obtain the UK immigration status they need in order to stay here, guaranteeing their rights in UK law. Those resident here by 31 December 2020 have until 30 June 2021 to apply. Applicants only need to complete three key steps – prove their identity, show that they live in the UK and declare any criminal convictions.
The scheme is working well: according to the latest internal figures, more than 2.8 million applications have been received. The latest published statistics for the scheme are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/eu-settlement-scheme-statistics.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle the illegal use of motorcycles in Southampton.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The police have powers under the Road Traffic Act 1988 and Police Reform Act 2002 to seize vehicles being driven illegally without a valid driving licence or insurance or in an anti-social manner. Decisions on when to use these powers are operational matters for individual Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables in conjunction with local policing plans. They are best placed to understand how to meet the needs of local communities and I welcome the work Hampshire Constabulary are doing to tackle the illegal use of motorcycles under Operation Torque.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps is he taking to strengthen protections for shop workers that face (a) abusive, (b) threatening and (c) violent behaviour.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government recognises the damaging impact that violence and abuse toward shop staff can have.
That is why the National Retail Crime Steering Group brings together Government, the police, retailers and others to help ensure the response to these crimes, and wider related issues, is as robust as it can be. This includes guidance on reporting incidents to the police and the use of Impact Statements for Business which provide victims with a voice in the criminal justice process. The Home Office also provided £60,000 for a targeted communications campaign led by the Association of Convenience Stores to raise awareness.
In addition, we launched a call for evidence on violence and abuse toward shop staff to help strengthen our understanding of the scale and extent of the issue. The call for evidence has now closed and we are currently analysing responses. We intend to publish the Government’s response in due course.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment the UK has made on the effectiveness of the EU's Operation Sophia in deterring illegal migrants who seek entry into the UK.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Operation SOPHIA is just one part of the EU’s overall approach to tackling the migration crisis of 2015 onwards. It aims to break the smugglers’ business model in North Africa, alongside other interventions in the EU’s comprehensive approach to reducing migration flows, which also includes work in countries of origin and transit to reduce the need of migrants to leave their home country or move on from a safe third country in their region.
The Operation means that smuggling networks can no longer operate with impunity in Central Mediterranean international waters and it has put over 551 smuggling vessels beyond use and rescued over 44,000 migrants.
Operation Sophia is considered to have contributed to a reduction in the volume of migrants crossing the Central Mediterranean into Italy, and complements other EU work to reduce secondary movements across Europe, including towards France and the Channel ports. However, it is not possible to make a direct correlation between Operation Sophia and arrivals on the English coast
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were resettled in the UK under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme in each quarter since January 2014.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Work continues with local authorities and international partners to deliver the Government’s commitment to resettle 20,000 refugees under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) by 2020 and we are on track to do this. In July 2017 we took the decision to extend the scope of the scheme to include refugees who have fled the conflict in Syria but do not have Syrian nationality.
The latest published statistics show that by the end of September 2018 13,961 people have been resettled under the VPRS since the scheme began in 2014.
Progress on resettlement is reported in the quarterly immigration statistics. The statistics are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release
The Home Office is committed to publishing data in an orderly way as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme to meet the target of resettling 20,000 Syrians in need of protection during this Parliament.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Work continues with local authorities and international partners to deliver the Government’s commitment to resettle 20,000 refugees under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) by 2020 and we are on track to do this. In July 2017 we took the decision to extend the scope of the scheme to include refugees who have fled the conflict in Syria but do not have Syrian nationality.
The latest published statistics show that by the end of September 2018 13,961 people have been resettled under the VPRS since the scheme began in 2014.
Progress on resettlement is reported in the quarterly immigration statistics. The statistics are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release
The Home Office is committed to publishing data in an orderly way as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what his Department's policy is on preventing illegal migrants from entering the UK via sea routes.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The UK takes a wide range of measures to maintain the security of the border and prevent migrants from entering the country illegally. We carry out 100% checks on passengers arriving on scheduled services at the border to identify any criminal, security and immigration concerns. Where we believe someone poses a risk, Border Force officers can and do refuse them entry.
Border Force works closely with domestic and international partners on an intelligence led approach to detecting and preventing unlawful maritime activity including attempts to enter the UK clandestinely, and uses a combination of cutters, radar and aerial surveillance to detect and stop small craft
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many illegal migrants stranded at sea have rescued by UK officials in the last 12 months; and what the cost has been to the public purse of such operations.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Border Force does not routinely publish this level of data on clandestines.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of illegal migrants that (i) entered and (ii) attempted to enter the UK via sea routes were aged (A) 16-25, (B) 26-35, (C) 36-45, (D) 46-55 and (E) over 56 in each of the last five years.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Border Force does not routinely publish this level of data on clandestine entry or attempts to enter the UK.