Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases there are before the courts involving people smuggling.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
18772:
2021 | Arrests | Convictions |
Jan | 10 | 17 |
Feb | 14 | 5 |
Mar | 15 | 9 |
Apr | 19 | 4 |
May | 28 | 7 |
Jun | 35 | 13 |
Jul | 17 | 1 |
Aug | 6 | 7 |
Sep | 20 | 11 |
Oct | 15 | 6 |
Nov | 16 | 8 |
Dec | 4 | 12 |
Grand Total | 199 | 100 |
2022 | Arrests | Convictions |
Jan | 3 | 5 |
Feb | 4 | 3 |
Mar | 18 | 5 |
Apr | 13 | 1 |
May | 10 | 2 |
Grand Total | 48 | 16 |
18773:
Criminal & Financial Investigation teams currently have 74 live people smuggling cases that are considered ‘Post Charge’. These are cases where charging of suspect(s) has been agreed by the CPS. These will be at various stages of the court process, ranging from being warned for court, to a trial being underway and to trial concluded, but awaiting sentencing.
18774:
Immigration Enforcement have 550 funded FTE for Criminal & Financial Investigation teams to tackle immigration crime.
18775:
Year | Convictions |
12th Dec 2019 Onwards | 3 |
2020 | 147 |
2021 | 100 |
2022 YTD | 16 |
Grand Total | 266 |
The 2022 total year to date only takes into account prosecutions until the end of May, which makes the number appear artificially low. There are still cases ongoing and the numbers of convictions is expected to increase.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people smugglers who aid migrants to illegally cross the English Channel have been (a) identified and (b) prosecuted by the Government in each month since January 2021.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
18772:
2021 | Arrests | Convictions |
Jan | 10 | 17 |
Feb | 14 | 5 |
Mar | 15 | 9 |
Apr | 19 | 4 |
May | 28 | 7 |
Jun | 35 | 13 |
Jul | 17 | 1 |
Aug | 6 | 7 |
Sep | 20 | 11 |
Oct | 15 | 6 |
Nov | 16 | 8 |
Dec | 4 | 12 |
Grand Total | 199 | 100 |
2022 | Arrests | Convictions |
Jan | 3 | 5 |
Feb | 4 | 3 |
Mar | 18 | 5 |
Apr | 13 | 1 |
May | 10 | 2 |
Grand Total | 48 | 16 |
18773:
Criminal & Financial Investigation teams currently have 74 live people smuggling cases that are considered ‘Post Charge’. These are cases where charging of suspect(s) has been agreed by the CPS. These will be at various stages of the court process, ranging from being warned for court, to a trial being underway and to trial concluded, but awaiting sentencing.
18774:
Immigration Enforcement have 550 funded FTE for Criminal & Financial Investigation teams to tackle immigration crime.
18775:
Year | Convictions |
12th Dec 2019 Onwards | 3 |
2020 | 147 |
2021 | 100 |
2022 YTD | 16 |
Grand Total | 266 |
The 2022 total year to date only takes into account prosecutions until the end of May, which makes the number appear artificially low. There are still cases ongoing and the numbers of convictions is expected to increase.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on the potential impact of visa application processes for EU workers on the rollout of superfast broadband.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Secretary has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues, including the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, about the Points-Based Immigration System, which applies globally not based on whether someone holds an EU passport or not.
The Skilled Worker route already provides an opportunity to recruit workers on a global basis into several roles in the telecommunications sector.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many of the proposed 91,000 jobs due to be cut from the civil service will be from her Department.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
All Departments, including the Home Office have been asked to develop plans to deliver against the target to return the Civil Service workforce to the level it was at in 2016.
The Home Office is currently conducting a Workforce Review in line with the direction set by the Prime Minister. This will consider the entire civil service workforce of the department and it’s arms length bodies.
Departments are required to provide their plans to the Cabinet Office by 30th June.
Specific reductions have not yet been agreed for any Government department.
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 average processing time is for naturalisation applicants using the UKVCAS Identity Verification (IDV) app.
Answered by Kevin Foster
13630 This is a known issue with the integration of the IDV app and existing systems, resulting in the automatic issue of a letter in error. Applicants who contact the department are being advised how to proceed. Such applications will not be withdrawn. A technical fix has now been implemented to stop the letters being issued in error.
13631 Data is not held in respect of the processing times of applications specifically involving use of the IDV app. Once an application reaches systems from which such data can be drawn, the method of ID verification is not recorded.
Overall performance against service standards is published quarterly. The most recent data set was published on 26 May 2022 here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visas-and-citizenship-data-q1-2022
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will issue guidance to people seeking to naturalise who have been informed that their application may be withdrawn despite being told that they should use the UKVCAS Identity Verification (IDV) app, rather than book a biometrics test.
Answered by Kevin Foster
13630 This is a known issue with the integration of the IDV app and existing systems, resulting in the automatic issue of a letter in error. Applicants who contact the department are being advised how to proceed. Such applications will not be withdrawn. A technical fix has now been implemented to stop the letters being issued in error.
13631 Data is not held in respect of the processing times of applications specifically involving use of the IDV app. Once an application reaches systems from which such data can be drawn, the method of ID verification is not recorded.
Overall performance against service standards is published quarterly. The most recent data set was published on 26 May 2022 here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visas-and-citizenship-data-q1-2022
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 has been made of the adequacy of the length of waiting time for Home Office case decisions.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Performance has been impacted by a significant increase in the volume of correspondence received, including an unprecedented amount of correspondence about the situation in Afghanistan and more recently in Ukraine. The Home Office continues to prioritise enquiries related to Ukraine and recognises it has not been able to meet service standard in other cases.
The Home Office has implemented an action plan to clear backlogs and drive-up performance. The Department continues to recruit additional resources and has recently been loaned staff from non-operational areas to assist in clearing the backlogs. A detailed recovery plan to support a return to an acceptable service standard is being prepared.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will consider increasing the number of caseworker staff the UKVI has redeployed to process Ukrainian visa applications.
Answered by Kevin Foster
We are committed to ensuring our operational teams have the resources they need to run an efficient and effective system, and we actively monitor workflows to ensure sufficient resources are in place to meet demand.
Over 500 staff are supporting our Ukrainian work. Improvements including a simplified application form and casework system enhancements have sped up decision-making and improved the system, while ensuring vital security checks are carried out.
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 plans to take through visa and immigration policy to help tackle staff vacancies in the care home sector.
Answered by Kevin Foster
We recognise the challenges the sector is currently experiencing in recruiting and retaining social care workers, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic and wider labour market dynamics yet Immigration should not be seen as the go to solution to these issues, rather than addressing wider issues in the sector. To support local authorities and care providers address workforce pressures, the Government announced in our recent People at the Heart of Care White Paper we would invest at least £500 million to develop and support the workforce over the next three years, which we believe will boost the sector’s ability to recruit and retain staff, as well as improve the recognition of our vital adult social care workforce.
The Government also put in place additional measures to support the sector last winter providing an additional £462.5m to boost recruitment and support existing care work through the winter until March 2022.
In addition, the introduction of the Health and Care visa in August 2020 made it quicker and cheaper for regulated health and care professionals to secure their visa to work in the Health and Care sector. A number of Health and Care occupations – such as care workers, senior care workers, nurses and auxiliary nurses and assistants – feature on the Shortage Occupation List (SOL).
On 27 April 2022 the independent Migration Advisory Committee published its report into the impacts of the ending of free movement on the adult social care sector. The MAC made a number of recommendations, spanning pay & conditions, workforce strategy and immigration policy. The Government thanks the MAC and is considering its position in relation to the issues raised.
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 she has made of the potential merits of expanding the Ukrainian caseworker hub based in Portcullis House for members’ staff.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The service provided by the Home Office at Portcullis House has received wide praise from Hon. Members who have made enquiries regarding Ukraine.
On 10 May 2022, the Home Office widened the service provided in Portcullis House, to include urgent enquiries about Her Majesty’s Passport Office. The department is currently considering how best to expand the service to cover wider Home Office enquires, given the positive feedback.