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 it is her Department's policy that asylum applicants granted of refugee status whilst in contingency asylum accommodation have a local connection to the local authority area where that contingency accommodation is situated.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
All asylum claims are considered on a case by case basis and in line with published policy so that individuals who need protection and are granted asylum can start to integrate and rebuild their lives.
We are committed to speeding up the decision making process, so that we can remove those with no right to be here and focus our finite resources on those in geniune need.
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 it is her Department's policy to give initial asylum decisions to applicants whilst they are housed in contingency hotels or barracks accommodation.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
All asylum claims are considered on a case by case basis and in line with published policy so that individuals who need protection and are granted asylum can start to integrate and rebuild their lives in the UK.
To further accelerate decision making we are simplifying and modernising our system. This includes measures like shortening interviews, removing unnecessary interviews, making guidance simpler and more accessible, dealing with cases more swiftly where they can be certified as manifestly unfounded and extra decision makers.
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 her Department is aware of any serious incidents of black mould affecting the health of residents in asylum accommodation; and what processes her Department has to ensure monitoring arrangements are in place to assess standards in accommodation.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The welfare and safety of all vulnerable asylum seekers in our care is of the utmost importance to the Home Office, and we expect the highest standards from our accommodation providers. Our accommodation providers are contractually obliged to provide adequate accommodation and to conduct regular quality assurance checks across the asylum estate. Accommodation providers complete due diligence checks and all accommodation must be statutorily and regulatory compliant before they are selected. Robust compliance and governance protocols exist to ensure daily engagement is undertaken with our service providers by Home Office officials to ensure and assure that the providers’ operational delivery and overall performance consistently meet the required standards. This is supplemented by weekly, monthly and quarterly governance meetings.
The Home Office also has a Contract Assurance team which conducts a range of activities to ensure accommodation providers deliver to the required standards. All contingency accommodation sites are inspected by the team. Dispersal accommodation is also inspected on an intelligence led basis. Properties are checked against the high standards set by the contract. Providers are required to take immediate action to address any issues that are found.
Asylum seekers can raise specific issues or concerns about their accommodation through the 24/7 Advice, Issue Reporting and Eligibility (AIRE) service operated via Migrant Help. Home Office officials review the issues and feedback received via Migrant Help to help understand the health of the service and address any problems, for example, by targeting inspections of properties about which issues have been raised
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 (a) recent steps she has taken and (b) steps she plans to take to help ensure that asylum accommodation does not have persistent black mould in it in the period since the death of Awaab Ishak in Rochdale; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The welfare and safety of all vulnerable asylum seekers in our care is of the utmost importance to the Home Office, and we expect the highest standards from our accommodation providers. Our accommodation providers are contractually obliged to provide adequate accommodation and to conduct regular quality assurance checks across the asylum estate. Accommodation providers complete due diligence checks and all accommodation must be statutorily and regulatory compliant before they are selected. Robust compliance and governance protocols exist to ensure daily engagement is undertaken with our service providers by Home Office officials to ensure and assure that the providers’ operational delivery and overall performance consistently meet the required standards. This is supplemented by weekly, monthly and quarterly governance meetings.
The Home Office also has a Contract Assurance team which conducts a range of activities to ensure accommodation providers deliver to the required standards. All contingency accommodation sites are inspected by the team. Dispersal accommodation is also inspected on an intelligence led basis. Properties are checked against the high standards set by the contract. Providers are required to take immediate action to address any issues that are found.
Asylum seekers can raise specific issues or concerns about their accommodation through the 24/7 Advice, Issue Reporting and Eligibility (AIRE) service operated via Migrant Help. Home Office officials review the issues and feedback received via Migrant Help to help understand the health of the service and address any problems, for example, by targeting inspections of properties about which issues have been raised
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 contracts her Department holds with asylum accommodation providers include (a) provisions and (b) key performance indicators concerning the (i) identification and (ii) effective treatment of black mould in that accommodation.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The welfare and safety of all vulnerable asylum seekers in our care is of the utmost importance to the Home Office, and we expect the highest standards from our accommodation providers. Our accommodation providers are contractually obliged to provide adequate accommodation and to conduct regular quality assurance checks across the asylum estate. Accommodation providers complete due diligence checks and all accommodation must be statutorily and regulatory compliant before they are selected. Robust compliance and governance protocols exist to ensure daily engagement is undertaken with our service providers by Home Office officials to ensure and assure that the providers’ operational delivery and overall performance consistently meet the required standards. This is supplemented by weekly, monthly and quarterly governance meetings.
The Home Office also has a Contract Assurance team which conducts a range of activities to ensure accommodation providers deliver to the required standards. All contingency accommodation sites are inspected by the team. Dispersal accommodation is also inspected on an intelligence led basis. Properties are checked against the high standards set by the contract. Providers are required to take immediate action to address any issues that are found.
Asylum seekers can raise specific issues or concerns about their accommodation through the 24/7 Advice, Issue Reporting and Eligibility (AIRE) service operated via Migrant Help. Home Office officials review the issues and feedback received via Migrant Help to help understand the health of the service and address any problems, for example, by targeting inspections of properties about which issues have been raised
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 she is taking steps to put checks are in place to ensure that workers who entered the UK on the agricultural Seasonal Worker visa are placed in work before further workers are brought to the UK; and what steps her Department is taking to (a) monitor the numbers of and (b) offer support to workers on the visa who are unable to find work.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Seasonal Worker is an ‘operator led’ immigration route, with four scheme operators selected to manage the placement of workers on UK farms and to ensure their welfare in the UK.
The Seasonal Worker scheme operators are responsible for managing all aspects of the recruitment and placement of workers on UK farms, and ensure workers have sufficient work as part of their sponsorship duties. The Home Office closely monitors the scheme operators to ensure they are complying with their sponsor duties. Non-compliance with the guidance could result in the revocation of their sponsor license.
The Home Office monitors the number of workers who enter the UK through this route and the number of workers that return to ensure that the route is operating effectively. We do not however routinely publish information about lengths of stay.
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 who travel to the UK on the agricultural Seasonal Worker visa are offered work for the duration of their visa; and what estimate she has made of the number of those workers who left the UK after (a) three, (b) four and (c) five months in (i) 2020, (ii) 2021 and (iii) the first half of 2022.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Seasonal Worker is an ‘operator led’ immigration route, with four scheme operators selected to manage the placement of workers on UK farms and to ensure their welfare in the UK.
The Seasonal Worker scheme operators are responsible for managing all aspects of the recruitment and placement of workers on UK farms, and ensure workers have sufficient work as part of their sponsorship duties. The Home Office closely monitors the scheme operators to ensure they are complying with their sponsor duties. Non-compliance with the guidance could result in the revocation of their sponsor license.
The Home Office monitors the number of workers who enter the UK through this route and the number of workers that return to ensure that the route is operating effectively. We do not however routinely publish information about lengths of stay.
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 oral statement of 31 October 2022, Official Report, column 642, on which dates use of each of the hotels was sanctioned; whether and to what extent they were sanctioned for use to house people transferred from Manston asylum processing centre; and how many persons have now been transferred from Manston to those hotels.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Asylum accommodation is sourced and provided to those who are eligible and is not limited to those individuals who are processed at Manston following arrival by small boat. We continue to work at pace to secure suitable alternative accommodation.
Since 6th September over 100 new hotels providing over 9,000 additional bed spaces have been brought into use.
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 oral statement of 31 October 2022, Official Report, column 641, on what dates she officially sanctioned each hotels' use for housing people processed at Manston asylum processing centre.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Asylum accommodation is sourced and provided to those who are eligible and is not limited to those individuals who are processed at Manston following arrival by small boat. We continue to work at pace to secure suitable alternative accommodation.
Since 6th September over 100 new hotels providing over 9,000 additional bed spaces have been brought into use.