Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how regularly she is provided with updates on the labour needs of the UK ornamental horticulture sector.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs assess the labour needs of the whole of horticulture sector and works closely with the Home Office.
We have already expanded the Seasonal Workers Pilot from 10,000 to 30,000 places for 2021 to allow us to further test how it operates, whilst helping farmers and growers edible horticulture sector adjust to changes to the labour market.
More generally, the government wants employers to focus on training and investing in our domestic work force, especially those needing to find new employment as a result of the impact of the measures necessary to tackle Covid-19, rather than relying on labour from abroad. Employers should engage with the Department for Work and Pensions in the first instance, as they are best placed to help companies with recruitment issues.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when (a) she or (b) a Minister in her Department last met a representative from the ornamental horticulture sector to discuss the labour needs of the sector.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs assess the labour needs of the whole of horticulture sector and works closely with the Home Office.
We have already expanded the Seasonal Workers Pilot from 10,000 to 30,000 places for 2021 to allow us to further test how it operates, whilst helping farmers and growers edible horticulture sector adjust to changes to the labour market.
More generally, the government wants employers to focus on training and investing in our domestic work force, especially those needing to find new employment as a result of the impact of the measures necessary to tackle Covid-19, rather than relying on labour from abroad. Employers should engage with the Department for Work and Pensions in the first instance, as they are best placed to help companies with recruitment issues.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with the UK edible horticulture sector on the need for additional migrant workers in that sector.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs assess the labour needs of the whole of horticulture sector and works closely with the Home Office.
We have already expanded the Seasonal Workers Pilot from 10,000 to 30,000 places for 2021 to allow us to further test how it operates, whilst helping farmers and growers edible horticulture sector adjust to changes to the labour market.
More generally, the government wants employers to focus on training and investing in our domestic work force, especially those needing to find new employment as a result of the impact of the measures necessary to tackle Covid-19, rather than relying on labour from abroad. Employers should engage with the Department for Work and Pensions in the first instance, as they are best placed to help companies with recruitment issues.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with the UK ornamental horticulture sector on the need for additional migrant workers in that sector.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs assess the labour needs of the whole of horticulture sector and works closely with the Home Office.
We have already expanded the Seasonal Workers Pilot from 10,000 to 30,000 places for 2021 to allow us to further test how it operates, whilst helping farmers and growers edible horticulture sector adjust to changes to the labour market.
More generally, the government wants employers to focus on training and investing in our domestic work force, especially those needing to find new employment as a result of the impact of the measures necessary to tackle Covid-19, rather than relying on labour from abroad. Employers should engage with the Department for Work and Pensions in the first instance, as they are best placed to help companies with recruitment issues.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the extent of involvement of Hamas’s political wing in its military activities; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Government does not routinely comment on intelligence matters.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2020 to Question 120898 on Heathrow Airport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of resource and support provided to Border Force to ensure that it is able to effectively discharge its duties at Heathrow within agreed service level agreements (a) over the Christmas period and (b) at the end of the transition period.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Border Force is confident that resources to meet anticipated overall operational requirements are in place for the Christmas and transition period, with Border Force recruiting sufficient additional frontline staff and continuing to build staffing levels during 2020 across all critical ports. This will ensure full operational readiness at the UK border to meet the requirements from the end of transition.
Resource and staffing requirements at every port, including Heathrow, are continually reviewed by Border Force working with airport operators including Heathrow Airport Ltd, and resources are deployed flexibly as and when they are required.
Wait times in airports can be caused by a number of factors, not just related to resourcing. This includes the volume of immigration case working, additional support, checks in relation to Covid-19, and specific security activity. Our teams seek to balance this range of tasking each day. Whilst mindful of passenger wait times and experience, our primary objective is to ensure the security of the border.
New Border Force staff receive a comprehensive package of training prior to operational deployment. comprehensive guidance and training plans have been developed to upskill BF frontline officers in new policy, process and system changes for the end of the Transition Period. Initial training is further reinforced and supplemented by on the job mentoring once new staff have been deployed to UK ports.
Figures for the queue time for non-EEA passengers during the period from 5 November 2020 2 December 2020 are yet to be published.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the maximum queue time for non-EEA passengers at Heathrow Airport during the period of national restrictions in England from 5 November 2020 to 2 December 2020.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Border Force is confident that resources to meet anticipated overall operational requirements are in place for the Christmas and transition period, with Border Force recruiting sufficient additional frontline staff and continuing to build staffing levels during 2020 across all critical ports. This will ensure full operational readiness at the UK border to meet the requirements from the end of transition.
Resource and staffing requirements at every port, including Heathrow, are continually reviewed by Border Force working with airport operators including Heathrow Airport Ltd, and resources are deployed flexibly as and when they are required.
Wait times in airports can be caused by a number of factors, not just related to resourcing. This includes the volume of immigration case working, additional support, checks in relation to Covid-19, and specific security activity. Our teams seek to balance this range of tasking each day. Whilst mindful of passenger wait times and experience, our primary objective is to ensure the security of the border.
New Border Force staff receive a comprehensive package of training prior to operational deployment. comprehensive guidance and training plans have been developed to upskill BF frontline officers in new policy, process and system changes for the end of the Transition Period. Initial training is further reinforced and supplemented by on the job mentoring once new staff have been deployed to UK ports.
Figures for the queue time for non-EEA passengers during the period from 5 November 2020 2 December 2020 are yet to be published.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Home Office:
What progress her Department has made on introducing a points-based immigration system.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Mr Speaker the Government has made excellent progress on delivering one of the key promises made to the British people at the last election.
I am very pleased to say we have now launched a number of new routes under our firmer, fairer, skills-based points-based system, including the flagship Skilled Worker route.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the average passenger queue times at the UK border at Heathrow Airport over Summer 2020.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Operational pressures at Heathrow in July, August and September 2020 resulted in periods where wait time service level agreements (SLAs) have not been met. As you know, Border Force undertake 100% checks on everyone arriving in the UK and there will be occasions when large amounts of passengers arrive in an un-forecast short space of time, resulting in a longer wait. Like all public services operating throughout this unprecedented global pandemic, there have been additional pressures placed on Border Force, but the safety of the public and our staff remains our priority.
As well as being guided by social-distancing measures in relation to the number of officers that could be deployed on the Primary Control Point, a significant number of passengers had failed to complete the Passenger Locator Forms required as part of the health measures at the border processes. Ensuring that these forms are completed is an important part of the protection of the UK in respect to being able to complement the Government’s track and trace programme should anyone on a flight or entry route later discover to be infected with Coronavirus; and the ability for PHE and the police to follow up in-country if required.
If travellers refuse to provide their contact details, they could be fined. In addition to their routine checks, Border Force Officers conduct spot checks on passenger locator forms The failure of passengers to complete the passenger locator form and the ensuing increase to transaction times has been compounded by the commercial decision made by Heathrow Airport Limited to terminate their contract with Omniserv, who performed vital customer service roles in the arrival halls. This included directing passengers to the correct queue, directing passengers to Border Force Officers on the passport control, and hosting the e-Passport Gates. With no replacement for these roles, passenger flow and throughput has been detrimentally impacted
On top of this, airlines are adopting focussed marketing and pricing campaigns to stimulate the revival of the aviation sector. For the same reasons, Heathrow Airport Ltd has allocated several new airlines arrival slots at Heathrow. The cumulative effect of these measures has been to make travel to the United Kingdom more affordable and accessible to passengers changing their demographic. This means an increase in those passengers requiring further examination by a Border Force Officer in order to keep our country safe.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that there is no disruption to EU passengers at UK airports after the end of the transition period from 1 January 2021.
Answered by Kevin Foster
From 1 January 2021, EU, EEA and Swiss nationals and their family members will be subject to UK immigration control on the same basis as non-EEA nationals.
The Government has already set out its position that EU, EEA and Swiss nationals can continue to use e-passport gates, beyond the end of the transition period, on a similar basis to how nationals of the United States of America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore and South Korea currently use them.