Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's announcement on 23 January of a cross-government ministerial task force on immigration enforcement, what resources she will dedicate to that task force; and how much the Government plans to spend on it each year.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The increase in enforcement comes as the Home Office establishes the UK’s first cross-government ministerial taskforce on immigration enforcement, which will ensure every available power across government is utilised to support law enforcement activity to identify and reduce illegal migrants in the UK, and ensure only those eligible can work, receive benefits or access public services.
The taskforce will go further and faster to prevent the abuse of our laws and borders and crack down on individuals exploiting the generosity of the UK taxpayer. Further information will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's announcement on 23 January of a cross-government ministerial task force on immigration enforcement, what steps she is taking to identify victims of labour exploitation during enforcement action; and what training is provided to staff on labour exploitation, human trafficking and exploitation that does not meet the modern slavery threshold.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The increase in enforcement comes as the Home Office establishes the UK’s first cross-government ministerial taskforce on immigration enforcement, which will ensure every available power across government is utilised to support law enforcement activity to identify and reduce illegal migrants in the UK, and ensure only those eligible can work, receive benefits or access public services.
The taskforce will go further and faster to prevent the abuse of our laws and borders and crack down on individuals exploiting the generosity of the UK taxpayer. Further information will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's announcement on 23 January of a cross-government ministerial task force on immigration enforcement, what the (a) nature, (b) composition and (c) remit of that task force is; and which agencies and teams across government are planned to collaborate with it.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The increase in enforcement comes as the Home Office establishes the UK’s first cross-government ministerial taskforce on immigration enforcement, which will ensure every available power across government is utilised to support law enforcement activity to identify and reduce illegal migrants in the UK, and ensure only those eligible can work, receive benefits or access public services.
The taskforce will go further and faster to prevent the abuse of our laws and borders and crack down on individuals exploiting the generosity of the UK taxpayer. Further information will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's announcement on 23 January of a cross-government ministerial task force on immigration enforcement, whether that task force will conduct joint investigations with labour market enforcement authorities.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The increase in enforcement comes as the Home Office establishes the UK’s first cross-government ministerial taskforce on immigration enforcement, which will ensure every available power across government is utilised to support law enforcement activity to identify and reduce illegal migrants in the UK, and ensure only those eligible can work, receive benefits or access public services.
The taskforce will go further and faster to prevent the abuse of our laws and borders and crack down on individuals exploiting the generosity of the UK taxpayer. Further information will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Seasonal Worker visa scheme rules require workers either (a) to be always be paid £10.10 per hour for each hour they work or (b) paid by piece rate; and whether her Department plans to provide guidance on the payment by piece rate.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
All workers on the Seasonal Worker immigration route must receive at least £10.10 per hour for each hour worked, regardless of the type of contract they hold, including where they are paid by piece rate. This is set out in the following guidance:
The piece rate payment method is already governed by relevant UK wage legislation, which is set by the relevant devolved region in which a worker is employed.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to prepare a report on the operation of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, in accordance with section 260 of that Act.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The Home Office carried out an internal review into the operation of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 last year to inform the Home Secretary’s Report as required by Section 260. This report will be published and laid in Parliament in due course. A final copy of the report will be shared with the Investigatory Powers Commissioner and Intelligence and Security Committee ahead of publication. This Report aims to assess, as far as possible, the extent to which the objectives of the Act continue to be met and whether any changes are required to ensure it remains fit for purpose.
To complement this process, and noting the value of the independent scrutiny that informed the passage of the 2016 Act, the Home Secretary has decided to appoint Lord Anderson KBE KC to conduct a separate review into aspects of the Act to inform any potential legislative change. Lord Anderson will carry out his own consultation with law enforcement, the intelligence agencies, and wider public authorities, as well as other external organisations and individuals with an interest in this work.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the report of the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration entitled An inspection of the immigration system as it relates to the agricultural sector, what steps she is taking to (a) monitor worker's conditions and (b) ensure that workers can seek redress for complaints on the seasonal workers scheme.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Seasonal worker providers must hold a licence issued by the Home Office and comply with the published duties pertinent to that licence.
A key objective of the seasonal worker scheme is to ensure migrant workers are protected against modern slavery and other labour abuses. The Home Office and Defra monitor the scheme closely to ensure operators adhere to the stringent requirements set for ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the seasonal workers, including routinely visiting farms to see conditions first hand. The scheme places numerous requirements on the operators to monitor and ensure welfare, such as facilitating moves to different participating growers should a worker wish to change employer.
If anyone has reason to believe that abusive practices may be taking place, they should report this through our formal channels so that the information is placed in the hands of the relevant authorities for assessment and potential investigation.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that workers on the seasonal workers scheme who cannot switch between scheme operators can transfer between jobs, in the context of an increase in the number of labour providers in the scheme.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The UK government is committed to supporting the agricultural industry as it continues to adapt to changes in the UK labour market.
The Government has taken the decision to increase the number of Scheme Operators for the Seasonal Worker route to reflect the announced increase in the scheme quota. Scheme operators are selected by DEFRA through a fair and open selection process according to their own criteria and recommended to the Home Office – who assess the operator’s suitability to become a licenced sponsor. Details of DEFRA’s selection process are publicly available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/seasonal-worker-visa-route-request-for-information-rfi.
The Scheme Operators are already required to have a clear employer transfer pathway in place as a condition of holding their sponsor licence, including transparent criteria for making a transfer request and a process for
considering such requests. The Scheme Operators must not normally refuse requests to change employers, and may only do so where there are significant reasons preventing a transfer, for example the imminent expiry of a workers visa. This is set out in published Home Office guidance, available at: Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors: sponsor a seasonal worker - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons her Department decided to increase the number of Seasonal Workers scheme operators; when she plans to appoint the new operators; and what are the criteria for operators being appointed.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The UK government is committed to supporting the agricultural industry as it continues to adapt to changes in the UK labour market.
The Government has taken the decision to increase the number of Scheme Operators for the Seasonal Worker route to reflect the announced increase in the scheme quota. Scheme operators are selected by DEFRA through a fair and open selection process according to their own criteria and recommended to the Home Office – who assess the operator’s suitability to become a licenced sponsor. Details of DEFRA’s selection process are publicly available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/seasonal-worker-visa-route-request-for-information-rfi.
The Scheme Operators are already required to have a clear employer transfer pathway in place as a condition of holding their sponsor licence, including transparent criteria for making a transfer request and a process for
considering such requests. The Scheme Operators must not normally refuse requests to change employers, and may only do so where there are significant reasons preventing a transfer, for example the imminent expiry of a workers visa. This is set out in published Home Office guidance, available at: Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors: sponsor a seasonal worker - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2022 to Question 98774, how many (a) full-time equivalent staff are employed in his Contract Assurance Team and (b) inspections that team made of (i) contingency and (ii) dispersal accommodation between 1 April 2022 and 30 September 2022.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Contract Assurance team currently has 22 full time equivalent staff. From April to September the team conducted 192 inspections of contingency accommodation and 442 inspections of dispersal accommodation, alongside other contract assurance activities.
Once initial checks and considerations are complete, and an individual site is identified as potentially suitable, providers are given approval to begin due diligence and engagement with hotel and the Home Office begins its engagement activity with local partners including notice to Chief Executive and MPs. Due diligence covers a range of issues including compliance with statutory requirements as well as general suitability and environment.
The ICIBI also conducted a thorough review of contingency accommodation. Their findings were published in May 2022 and the Home Office has accepted all of the recommendations made.