Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Section 9 of the Public Order Act 2023, what is her expected timeline for implementing safe access zones.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Public Order Act 2023 received Royal Assent on 2 May. Implementation of the Public Order Act measures is staggered.
The Government respects the will of Parliament and is working to commence Safe Access Zones as soon as is practicably possible. We have been considering what needs to be done to ensure Safe Access Zones can be implemented as effectively as possible, with law enforcement agencies having a clear and consistent understanding around enforcement, and abortion service providers and protestors being clear as to what is expected under the new law.
The timescales for commencing the new Section 9 offence of interference with access to, or provision of, abortion services will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce retail crime in Birmingham.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
I would like to group this question with question 19. Following the recent police commitment to investigate all reasonable lines of enquiry I have made clear to forces I expect them to take a zero-tolerance approach to retail crime. The Home Office is supporting Pegasus which will provide a national picture of organised retail crime. I continue to work with the sector to tackle this important issue.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to contact visa applicants living in Sudan whose documents are in the Visa Application Centre in Khartoum.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
UK Visas and Immigration have contacted all customers where records show that their passports are in the Visa Application Centre (VAC) in Khartoum. They have offered them a letter confirming that their passport is securely stored and attaching a digital copy of their passport, that may help support their travel out of Sudan and into a third country.
For customers that have been able to exit Sudan, processes are in place to re-direct printing of their visa and endorsement on a Form for affixing a visa (FAV) to another VAC location of their choice for collection
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent progress her Department has made on processing applications to the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The UK has made one of the largest commitments of any country to support those impacted by events in Afghanistan.
The latest Immigration System Statistics, year ending December 2022, published on 23 February, show that since their first arrivals in 2021, the ACRS and the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) have resettled a total of 21,387 people. These statistics also show that we have now resettled more than 7,600 vulnerable Afghan nationals through the first phase of the ACRS.
The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) will see up to 20,000 people from Afghanistan and the region resettled to the UK over the coming years.
Under the second pathway, which opened in 2022, we have now begun to receive the first referrals from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) of vulnerable refugees who have fled Afghanistan for resettlement to the UK. We are pleased to have welcomed the first 22 people to the UK under Pathway 2.
Under Pathway 3 we have welcomed the first arrivals to the UK and look forward welcoming all remaining individuals under this Pathway as soon as is practically possible. There are currently no published statistics on Pathway 3 as arrivals under this pathway began after the start of the new reporting period. The next publication of statistics is due on 25 May 2023.
We will continue to honour our commitment to those who remain in Afghanistan and the region. Our priority is to ensure that future UK arrivals can go directly into appropriate accommodation rather than costly temporary hotel accommodation. Doing this, whilst making sure that these individuals are fully supported and are able to successfully integrate into life in the UK is the right thing to do.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that applications to the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme from applicants with credible links to the UK armed forces are processed in a timely way.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The latest Immigration System Statistics, year ending December 2022, published on 23 February, show that since their first arrivals in 2021, the ACRS and the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) have resettled a total of 21,387 people. These statistics also show that we have now relocated 11,212 individuals under ARAP scheme since it began in 2021.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) will first consider any applications under the ARAP. They will then refer eligible individuals to the Home Office for permission to enter the UK. This will be subject to the enrolment of biometrics and security checks.
The Home Office continues to work at pace to assess incoming ARAP visa applications against the Immigration Rules.
We will continue to honour our commitment to those who remain in Afghanistan and the region. Our priority is to ensure that future UK arrivals can go directly into appropriate accommodation rather than costly temporary hotel accommodation. Doing this, whilst making sure that these individuals are fully supported and are able to successfully integrate into life in the UK is the right thing to do.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason her Department decided not to award grants to Windrush community organisations as part of the community engagement fund in March 2023.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Due to internal delays in assessing bids, the Home Office decided to withdraw the Community Engagement Fund in February 2023. Continuing would have left organisations with very little time to complete projects before the end of the 22/23 financial year.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the correspondence sent by her Department to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak on 28 February 2023, reference MPAM/0522035/23, what the technical issue mentioned in that correspondence was; what steps her Department plans to take to rectify that technical issue; and how many other applications have been affected by that technical issue as of 8 March 2023.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The overwhelming majority of applications do not require any technical assistance. Where an application has encountered an IT issue, the Operational Caseworking teams are able to escalate immediately to the relevant IT Support team. Although there have previously been some delays to resolving issues, substantial progress has been made in strengthening processes and procedures in this area, not only to fix the immediate issue affecting an application case, but also to proactively address any root cause technical issues, and fix them as they are identified.
With regard to the case referred to in the correspondence sent under MPAM/0522035/23, work continues to resolve the IT issue affecting this case so it can be progressed and concluded.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the legal immigration status of a British citizen's non-adopted step child who is under 18 and not a British citizen is.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The entry to, and eventual settlement in, the United Kingdom of non-British family members of British citizens is governed by the family Immigration Rules. Individuals must apply in the appropriate capacity according to their circumstances and the reason they wish to come to or remain in the UK.
Appendix FM to the Immigration Rules provides routes for those wishing to apply to live with their spouse or partner, fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner, child, parent or relative who’ll provide long-term care for them. Part 8 of the Immigration Rules provides for a child to join a British or settled parent or relative in the UK where the child could not be adequately cared for by their other parent or relatives in their own country.
All information on immigration can be found under the Immigration Rules Appendix FM - Immigration Rules - Immigration Rules Appendix FM: family members - Guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of relaxing the salary requirements for visa applicants.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
A key principle of the immigration system is that sponsors of Skilled Workers must be offering pay at least at the going rate before seeking to sponsor workers from overseas. The salary requirements of the Skilled Worker immigration route have been devised so that migrant workers are not used to undercut resident workers and to ensure migrant workers are not abused.
Our immigration should not be seen as an alternative for employers to avoid improving pay and conditions for its workforce or investing in technology.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether people from Hong Kong on a British National (Overseas) visa are permitted to referee sport at an amateur level.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Holders of a Hong Kong British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) visa can work in virtually any capacity in the UK, with the exception of being employed as a professional sportsperson or sports coach.
This Government does not restrict anyone taking part in recreational sport as an amateur. ‘Amateur’ is defined in the Immigration Rules as “a person who engages in a sport or creative activity solely for personal enjoyment and who is not seeking to derive a living from the activity.”
However, if an individual meets any of the indicators listed in the definition of ‘Professional Sportsperson’ in the Immigration Rules, they are classified as such, and if the restriction on work as a professional sportsperson is present in their visa conditions, they would therefore be breaching the terms of their visa.