Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to accelerate the decision-making process for asylum applications from people from Syria.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
All asylum claims are considered on a case by case basis and in line with published policy. Claims by Syrian nationals will be considered in the same way as claims from any other nationality.
We are taking immediate action to rapidly speed up processing times and eliminate the backlog of people waiting for initial asylum decisions by the end of 2023.
To accelerate decision making we are driving productivity improvements by simplifying and modernising our system. This includes: shorter, more focussed interviews; removing unnecessary interviews; making guidance simpler and more accessible; dealing with cases more swiftly where they can be certified as manifestly unfounded; recruiting extra decision makers; and allocating dedicated resources for different nationalities.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
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 allowing asylum seekers the right to work while they await a decision on their asylum application.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Asylum seekers are allowed to work in the UK if their claim has been outstanding for 12 months or more, through no fault of their own. Those permitted to work are restricted to jobs on the Shortage Occupation List.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps is she taking to support those fleeing domestic abuse in the context of the cost-of-living crisis.
Answered by Sarah Dines
Tackling domestic abuse is a priority for this Government. A central part of this is making sure victims and survivors get the support they need.
The Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan, which we published in March, invests over £230 million, including over £140 million specifically for supporting victims and survivors.
The commitments it made include doubling funding for the National Domestic Abuse Helpline. And with the Ministry of Justice, we committed to provide multi-year funding for support services. This will offer more stability and consistency for service users, as services will not be dependent on yearly grants. It will help to ensure delivery of high-quality support throughout any increases in the cost of living.
The Plan also committed to establish trials of a ‘flexible fund’, which charities could use to provide extra money to victims and survivors in light of cost of living pressures. This money could be used to help them flee an abuser.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the (a) financial and (b) personal impacts of delayed immigration decisions on people awaiting a decision.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
UKVI has faced extremely high pressures over the past two years. All visa routes have seen extremely high demand following the end of the pandemic and the easing of travel restrictions.
UKVI is working hard to reduce processing times and is now back within service standard across a number of our visa routes. UKVI is working hard to speed up decision making by rolling out more efficient technology, including digital interviewing, moving away from a paper-based system, and recruiting more decision-making staff. UKVI have updated guidance on expected waiting times so that customers have a realistic indication of how long their applications will take to be processed. We encourage customers to continue to refer to these updates as our processing times change on a regular basis. The link to this guidance for in country applications is: Visa decision waiting times: applications inside the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and out of country applications is: Visa decision waiting times: applications outside the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for immigration decisions.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
UKVI has faced extremely high pressures over the past two years. All visa routes have seen extremely high demand following the end of the pandemic and the easing of travel restrictions.
UKVI is working hard to reduce processing times and is now back within service standard across a number of our visa routes. UKVI is working hard to speed up decision making by rolling out more efficient technology, including digital interviewing, moving away from a paper-based system, and recruiting more decision-making staff. UKVI have updated guidance on expected waiting times so that customers have a realistic indication of how long their applications will take to be processed. We encourage customers to continue to refer to these updates as our processing times change on a regular basis. The link to this guidance for in country applications is: Visa decision waiting times: applications inside the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and out of country applications is: Visa decision waiting times: applications outside the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Animals in Science Regulation Unit annual reports 2019 to 2021, published on 26 October 2022, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) investigating that report's findings on animal welfare in laboratories and (b) taking steps to support scientists in the development of new approach methodologies to help reduce animal testing.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat
The Regulator has strengthened its regulatory oversight and published its process establishment audits at: www.gov.uk/guidance/animal-research-technical-advice#process-and-standards-for-establishment-full-system-audits. The audit process includes an animal welfare assessment.
Government policy is to actively support and fund the development and dissemination of techniques that Replace, Reduce and Refine the use of animals in research (the 3Rs). This is achieved through funding UK Research and Investment who fund the National Centre for the 3Rs and fund further research through Innovate UK, the Medical Research Council and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council into the development of alternatives.
The Regulator has a responsibility to assess all project licence applications for the full application of the principles of the 3Rs and all licence holders have a standard condition in their licences that requires them to deliver the 3Rs. In addition, all establishments have an Animal Welfare and Ethical Review body that has a responsibility to advise the Establishment Licence Holder and Project Licence Holders on the 3Rs.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to speed up the average processing time for applications to the (a) the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme and (b) the Ukraine Family Scheme.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Applications for Ukraine Schemes are processed as quickly as possible whilst ensuring that the appropriate checks and safeguarding measures are in place. Staff from other departments were brought in to assist and many remain in place to maintain caseworking capacity.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of asylum processing centres.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The processing centre at Manston provides suitable welfare provisions including hot food, fresh clothing, toilet facilities, sanitary packs and medical care. It provides for all the basic needs of people who will have arrived tired, cold, in wet clothing and who may not have eaten during their journey.
As the situation and needs at Manston have changed, the Home Office and its contractors have continued to innovate to meet those changing needs. Additional marquees have been erected, additional medical personnel have been contracted and improvements have been made to the catering provided. We will continue to innovate to provide for the basic needs of those in our care and to ensure the safety of everyone at Manston as a priority.