Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Stepney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average response time is for an immigration case which raises issues relating to the Human Rights Act 1998 in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
We do not publish data on average timescales to consider applications which raise issues relating to the Human Rights Act. However, data regarding UK Visas and Immigration’s temporary and permanent migration activities, processed within service standards, is published on the GOV.UK website. The latest edition is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/in-country-migration-data-february-2019
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Stepney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, following a successful appeal to the First-tier Tribunal, what the average timescale is for the Home Office to review and implement the tribunals’ decision in cases where his Department does not submit further challenges.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Where the appeal has been allowed in favour of the appellant, the Home Office undertakes careful consideration of the judge’s determination in order to conclude whether to submit an application for permission to appeal within the time limits set by the Tribunal Procedure Committee.
The information on the average length of time taken to implement allowed appeals that we do not challenge is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost through the examination of individual case files.
Statistics on appeals that have been determined by HM Courts and Tribunals Service are published quarterly. The most recent edition (Tribunals and gender recognitions certificates statistics quarterly: October to December 2018) is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognition-certificate-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2018
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Stepney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how his Department decides the frequency of reporting appointments at reporting centres, police stations or other locations for people who have do not have permission to stay in the UK.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The frequency of reporting is decided by the local reporting manager on a case-by-case basis, except for deportation cases, where the frequency is determined by the caseworker. Consideration is given to specific facts of an individual’s case, progress to removability, level of harm assessment, risk, and or if the person is vulnerable.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Stepney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what provisions will be available to dual EU-UK nationals to ensure that they are able to sponsor eligible family members through the EU Settlement Scheme.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
In line with the draft Withdrawal Agreement, an EU citizen who naturalises as a British citizen while also retaining their nationality of origin and having previously relied on their free movement rights in the UK will be able to sponsor eligible family members under the EU Settlement Scheme. The relevant provisions are set out in Appendix EU to the Immigration Rules.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Stepney)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment his Department has made of the equity of the treatment of children in refugee detention centres.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Home Office statistics on the number of children held in immigration detention since September 2018 have not yet been published. The next publication: Immigration Statistics, year ending December 2018 will be released on 29 February 2019 at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release
Information on children in detention broken down by quarter, is available in the detention tables in the latest release of ‘Immigration Statistics, year ending September 2018’, available from the Home Office website at:
The UK does not operate refugee detention centres and ended the routine detention of children in 2010 and, in line with the Immigration Act 2014, does not hold unaccompanied children in immigration removal centres. There remain limited circumstances where unaccompanied children may be detained for a short period, usually at ports of entry. This will be done for safeguarding reasons and will be for a very brief period, normally just a matter of hours, until alternative care arrangements are made. Families with children intercepted at the border may also be detained very briefly, but the Home Office does not publish data on children detained at the border.
Under the Family Returns Process, which was established in 2011 as an alternative to routine detention in immigration removal centres, a family with children with no lawful basis of stay in the UK who fails to comply with Home Office attempts to encourage and support voluntary return may, as a last resort, be detained at dedicated Pre Departure Accommodation (PDA), for a short period immediately prior to removal. The operation of the PDA is regulated by the published PDA Operating Standards. Treatment of children more generally is also governed by Detention Services Order 19/2012 “Safeguarding Children Policy.” These documents can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pre-departure-operating-standards
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/detention-and-escorting-safeguarding-children-policy