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 response to the Inspection of the immigration system by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, published in December 2022, if she will publish (a) her proposed review of the Seasonal Worker route and (b) the communications and engagement roadmap for the agricultural sector.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Following the Inspection by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders, the Home Office signalled our intention to complete a review of the seasonal worker route. The Government will publish information pertaining to the operation of the Seasonal Worker route in due course.
We have also progressed our commitment to develop a communications and engagement plan. The Seasonal Work Engagement plan forms part of a wider strategy to refresh engagement with all sectors serviced by UK Visas and Immigration.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 July 2023 to Question 192337 on Labour Shortages in the Food Supply Chain Independent Review, what the criteria were for the appointment of the (a) chair and (b) expert panel; and whether she made an assessment of the potential merits of including people with lived experience of working as labourers in the food supply chain on the panel.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The chair and expert panel were directly appointed by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs based on a set of criteria, including for their knowledge and expertise covering farming, fisheries, processing and manufacturing aspects of the supply chain. Since it was an independent review, Defra is not responsible for commenting on the specific evidence used to shape the final report, but notes that the Review does contain a Methodology section with more information that may be of interest. However, Defra does undertake an annual survey of workers involved in the Seasonal Worker visa route and this information was made available to the review team.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with the (i) Scottish Government and (ii) the Scottish Legal Aid Board on potential implications for legal aid of the Illegal Migration Bill.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government has engaged with the Scottish Government regarding legal aid in connection with the Illegal Migration Bill. Officials in the Ministry of Justice have confirmed with Scottish Government officials that no legislative changes are required in Scotland to ensure equivalent provision of legal aid for individuals in receipt of a removal notice, in relation to that removal notice, will be available as will be in England and Wales. We will continue to engage with our Scottish counterparts as necessary.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will set out the selection process for the (a) Chair and (b) panel for the Independent review into labour shortages in the food supply chain.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The chair and expert panel were directly appointed by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs based on a set of criteria, including their expertise in the food and farming sector. This method of appointment is common practice for independent reviews commissioned by HM Government.
Now that the final report has been published, we will look closely at the findings and set out our response in the Autumn.
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 any ministerial directions have been issued on proposals in the Illegal Immigration Bill.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
No Ministerial Directions have been issued on proposals in the Illegal Migration Bill. All Ministerial Directions are published on https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministerial-directions.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been prosecuted and sentenced as adults under s24, s25 and s25A of the Immigration Act 1971 and have subsequently been accepted to be children in each of the last 24 months.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice publishes information on prosecutions and sentence outcomes for defendants of different ages in the Outcomes by Offence data tool: December 2022, including offences under section 24, 25 and 25A of the Immigration Act 1971 as set out in the Offence Group Classification. The tool includes filtering by specific offences.
However, whether a defendant was subsequently found to be a child is not held centrally in the Court Proceedings Database and cannot be obtained without incurring disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners were (a) in remand in prison under s24, s25 and s25A of the Immigration Act 1971 and (b) in remand under the Act and subject to an age dispute in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The number of prisoners on remand under s24, s25 and s25A of the Immigration Act 1971, for each of the last 12 months, is included in the attached table.
Data regarding the number of prisoners on remand under the Immigration Act 197 and subject to an age dispute is not held centrally and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
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, how many unaccompanied children from Ukraine (a) submitted an application, (b) were granted a visa and (c) were refused a visa to come to the UK in the first quarter of 2023; and how many (i) withdrew an application to come to the UK before it was decided and (ii) arrived in the UK in the same time period.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Information on the number of applications received and number of arrivals in the UK can be found here Ukraine Visa Schemes: visa data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Details of the age of those who have arrived is available here Statistics on Ukrainians in the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
All unaccompanied children’s applications are considered in line with the Immigration Rules and Guidance. However, data on the number of children who were considered to be unaccompanied is not published in the public domain.
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, how many of the children who arrived in the UK in 2022 under the Ukraine Schemes were neither travelling with nor joining a parent or guardian in the UK.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Information on the number of applications received and number of arrivals in the UK can be found here Ukraine Visa Schemes: visa data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Details of the age of those who have arrived is available here Statistics on Ukrainians in the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
All unaccompanied children’s applications are considered in line with the Immigration Rules and Guidance. However, data on the number of children who were considered to be unaccompanied is not published in the public domain.
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, how many grants of (a) settled and (b) pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme were made only after the applicant had had to provide further evidence of residence.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
That data can only be provided at disproportionate cost.