Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many British National Overseas passports have been issued in each year since 1997.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The table below shows the number of British National Overseas passports
printed by Her Majesty’s Passport Office between January 1997 and 30 September 2017.
British National Overseas Passports Printed | |
1997 | 12,090 |
1998 | 3,881 |
1999 | 6,250 |
2000 | 5,624 |
2001 | 139,159 |
2002 | 116,345 |
2003 | 81,690 |
2004 | 79,107 |
2005 | 46,801 |
2006 | 37,392 |
2007 | 17,347 |
2008 | 8,905 |
2009 | 8,737 |
2010 | 8,039 |
2011 | 7,654 |
2012 | 10,933 |
2013 | 15,338 |
2014 | 22,022 |
2015 | 26,027 |
2016 | 37,501 |
2017* | 15,458 |
*Data is up to September 2017
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many valid British National Overseas passports are currently in issue.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The number of valid British National Overseas passports in circulation as of 31 of December 2016 was 152,351.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure its provision of overseas assistance is in accordance with the Government's human rights obligations.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
For overseas security and justice projects funded by Her Majesty’s Government, the Home Office conducts Overseas Security and Justice Assessments (OSJAs). These assessments are carried out to identify risks to human rights, and mitigations for those risks, in accordance with guidance published by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/583304/OSJA_Guidance_2017.pdf.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Government's policy paper, Collaboration on Science and Innovation: A Future Partnership Paper, published on 6 September 2017, whether it is her policy to extend visa entitlement to the spouses and dependents of EU academics who can work in the UK after the UK has left the EU.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Government recognises the valuable contribution migrants make to our society and we welcome those with the skills and expertise to make our country better still. But we must manage the process properly so that our immigration system serves the national interest.
We have been clear that after the UK leaves the EU, free movement will end, but migration between the UK and the EU will continue and we are considering a number of options as to how this might work. We will be setting out initial proposals for our future immigration arrangements later in the year.
The Government recognises that it is important that we understand the impacts on the different sectors of the economy and the labour market and want to ensure that decisions on the long-term system are based on evidence. On July 2017, we commissioned the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to advise on the economic and social impacts of the UK’s exit from the European Union and also on how the UK’s immigration system should be aligned with a modern industrial strategy- and they will be presenting their report in September 2018. The MAC has also issued a public call for evidence- where sectoral bodies including those in the science, academic and research sectors can formally make representations. This is open until 27 October 2017. Details can be found on the gov.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/call-for-evidence-and-briefing-note-eea-workers-in-the-uk-labour-market
The Government will carefully consider any recommendations made to it by the MAC before finalising the details of the future immigration system for EU nationals.
The Government also regularly engages with sectoral bodies – including those in the scientific and academic sectors - to ensure our immigration routes work effectively to enable businesses to access the talent they need. Their views do, and will continue to, inform our decisions on any changes to the system.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Government's policy paper, Collaboration on Science and Innovation: Future Partnership Paper, published on 6 September 2017, what representations she has received from universities and national academies on the potential effect of changes to freedom of movement on the UK's ability to attract and retain high quality researchers.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Government recognises the valuable contribution migrants make to our society and we welcome those with the skills and expertise to make our country better still. But we must manage the process properly so that our immigration system serves the national interest.
We have been clear that after the UK leaves the EU, free movement will end, but migration between the UK and the EU will continue and we are considering a number of options as to how this might work. We will be setting out initial proposals for our future immigration arrangements later in the year.
The Government recognises that it is important that we understand the impacts on the different sectors of the economy and the labour market and want to ensure that decisions on the long-term system are based on evidence. On July 2017, we commissioned the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to advise on the economic and social impacts of the UK’s exit from the European Union and also on how the UK’s immigration system should be aligned with a modern industrial strategy- and they will be presenting their report in September 2018. The MAC has also issued a public call for evidence- where sectoral bodies including those in the science, academic and research sectors can formally make representations. This is open until 27 October 2017. Details can be found on the gov.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/call-for-evidence-and-briefing-note-eea-workers-in-the-uk-labour-market
The Government will carefully consider any recommendations made to it by the MAC before finalising the details of the future immigration system for EU nationals.
The Government also regularly engages with sectoral bodies – including those in the scientific and academic sectors - to ensure our immigration routes work effectively to enable businesses to access the talent they need. Their views do, and will continue to, inform our decisions on any changes to the system.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many British National Overseas passport holders are resident in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) other EU member states, (d) Hong Kong and (e) the People's Republic of China.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Her Majesty’s Passport Office does not hold statistical information on the current residency of UK passport holders, including British National Overseas passports.
An applicant’s address is known to us at the point of application, but there is no requirement for a UK passport holder to update us with a change of address.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of refugees and asylum seekers who have died as a result of suicide or who have attempted suicide while in the process of being deported from the UK in each of the last five years.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Individuals holding refugee status or those with a pending asylum claim are not subject to removal or deportation from the United Kingdom.
Where notified, information on the number of individuals subject to removal or deportation processes who have attempted suicide or who have died as a result of suicide, is held in individual records. The data requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Individuals detained prior to their removal or deportation and who may be at risk of self harm are monitored under the self harm reduction strategy for detention and escorting, Assessment Care in Detention and Teamwork. This guidance is published at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/assessing-care-in-detention-self-harm-reduction-strategy
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of its implementation of the Overseas Security and Justice Assistance framework.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
A variety of organisations under the Home Office umbrella, including core departments and arm’s length bodies, have undertaken human rights assessments over the last three years in line with the Overseas Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) guidance. The number and geographical spread of these assessments will be reflected in our annual return to Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
The Home Office is implementing the OSJA process in line with the FCO guidance. The relevant diplomatic mission maintains an in-country assessment which is used as the basis for OSJA assessments done by the Home Office. This ensures consistency across all Departments. We do not plan to publish bespoke guidance.
The Home Office has received representations on human rights issues, though not specifically on the department’s implementation of OSJA.
The Home Office has not assessed the effectiveness of its implementation of the OSJA process.