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Written Question
Visas: Families
Wednesday 20th March 2024

Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Oral Statement of 4 December 2023 on Legal Migration, Official Report, column 41, whether the joining family member of a person who (a) would have met the former threshold for family visas in force until 10 of April 2024 and (b) does not qualify under the new threshold will be placed on the 10-year route to settlement.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The Government engages regularly with interested stakeholders including through a number of its advisory groups, when developing its policies. We did not invite representations from stakeholders specifically on the MIR prior to the announcement of 4 December 2023.

The decision to raise the MIR was taken to ensure that migration policy is supportive of the wider ambition for the UK to be a high-wage, high-productivity, high-skill economy, and help to ensure that migrants make a net positive contribution to the public finances in addition to ensuring that families would not need to have recourse to welfare and had sufficient resources to participate in British life.

Previous advice and evidence provided by the Migration Advisory Committee regarding net-fiscal contributions and access to benefits was considered when making this decision. We did not seek further advice from the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) before making the decision to increase the Minimum Income Requirement (MIR) element of the family Immigration Rules.

A child who is applying for permission after 11 April 2024 to join their parent who, prior to 11 April met the lower threshold and was granted permission, will be subject to transitional arrangements and must meet the same threshold as their parent (£18,600 plus the child component, capped at £29,000). Where they meet the threshold alongside the other requirements of the 5-year route, they will be granted on the 5-year route to settlement.


Written Question
Visas: Married People
Wednesday 20th March 2024

Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 15 January 2024 to Question 8266 on Visas: Married People and to his oral contribution of 4 December 2023 on Legal Migration, Official Report, column 41, for what reason the Migration Advisory Committee was not consulted on those proposals.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The Government engages regularly with interested stakeholders including through a number of its advisory groups, when developing its policies. We did not invite representations from stakeholders specifically on the MIR prior to the announcement of 4 December 2023.

The decision to raise the MIR was taken to ensure that migration policy is supportive of the wider ambition for the UK to be a high-wage, high-productivity, high-skill economy, and help to ensure that migrants make a net positive contribution to the public finances in addition to ensuring that families would not need to have recourse to welfare and had sufficient resources to participate in British life.

Previous advice and evidence provided by the Migration Advisory Committee regarding net-fiscal contributions and access to benefits was considered when making this decision. We did not seek further advice from the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) before making the decision to increase the Minimum Income Requirement (MIR) element of the family Immigration Rules.

A child who is applying for permission after 11 April 2024 to join their parent who, prior to 11 April met the lower threshold and was granted permission, will be subject to transitional arrangements and must meet the same threshold as their parent (£18,600 plus the child component, capped at £29,000). Where they meet the threshold alongside the other requirements of the 5-year route, they will be granted on the 5-year route to settlement.


Written Question
Visas: Families
Wednesday 20th March 2024

Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Oral Statement of 4 December 2023 on Legal Migration, Official Report, column 41, whether his Department invited representations from stakeholders prior to announcing an increase to the Minimum Income Requirement for family visas.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The Government engages regularly with interested stakeholders including through a number of its advisory groups, when developing its policies. We did not invite representations from stakeholders specifically on the MIR prior to the announcement of 4 December 2023.

The decision to raise the MIR was taken to ensure that migration policy is supportive of the wider ambition for the UK to be a high-wage, high-productivity, high-skill economy, and help to ensure that migrants make a net positive contribution to the public finances in addition to ensuring that families would not need to have recourse to welfare and had sufficient resources to participate in British life.

Previous advice and evidence provided by the Migration Advisory Committee regarding net-fiscal contributions and access to benefits was considered when making this decision. We did not seek further advice from the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) before making the decision to increase the Minimum Income Requirement (MIR) element of the family Immigration Rules.

A child who is applying for permission after 11 April 2024 to join their parent who, prior to 11 April met the lower threshold and was granted permission, will be subject to transitional arrangements and must meet the same threshold as their parent (£18,600 plus the child component, capped at £29,000). Where they meet the threshold alongside the other requirements of the 5-year route, they will be granted on the 5-year route to settlement.


Written Question
Visas: Skilled Workers
Monday 4th March 2024

Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to this Oral Statement of 4 December 2023 on Legal Migration, Official Report, column 41, whether family members of individuals that met the previous skilled worker salary threshold will remain eligible for the route to settlement.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

Dependants of Skilled Workers can apply for settlement irrespective of the salary of the lead migrant, provided the lead migrant qualifies for settlement or has settled.

Further details on the changes and how they may affect migrants can be found through the following link: www.gov.uk/government/news/fact-sheet-on-net-migration-measures-further-detail.


Written Question
Asylum: Hotels
Friday 8th December 2023

Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many women seeking asylum are accommodated in hotels as of 30 November 2023.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation (including in contingency hotels and other contingency accommodation) is published in table Asy_D11 here: Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Data is published on a quarterly basis. The Home Office does not publish a breakdown of statistics which disaggregates the number of females in contingency accommodation by local authority.


Written Question
Asylum: Hotels
Friday 8th December 2023

Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has published guidance on the treatment of women seeking asylum who are accommodated in hotels.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The Home Office has published the Asylum Support Contracts Safeguarding Framework at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-support-contracts-safeguarding-framework.

This framework sets out a joint, overarching approach, as well as the key controls and reporting mechanisms in place, across the AASC contracts, for safeguarding arrangements.


Written Question
Asylum: Temporary Accommodation
Friday 8th December 2023

Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to take steps to provide women-only accommodation for women seeking asylum.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The Home Office has published the Asylum Support Contracts Safeguarding Framework at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-support-contracts-safeguarding-framework.

This framework sets out a joint, overarching approach, as well as the key controls and reporting mechanisms in place, across the AASC contracts, for safeguarding arrangements.


Written Question
Asylum: Advisory Services
Monday 4th December 2023

Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2023 to Question 1324 on Asylum: Advisory Services and with reference to paragraph 2.3 of the Terms and Conditions for the Advice, Issue Reporting and Eligibility contract, whether a decision has been taken to extend the contract beyond the initial four-year period.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

More information is available at: AIRE - Advice Issue Reporting and Elligibility - Contracts Finder


Written Question
Asylum: Advisory Services
Monday 20th November 2023

Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has taken steps to extend the Advice, Issue Reporting and Eligibility contract beyond August 2023.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

Information on this contract is available at:

AIRE - Advice Issue Reporting and Elligibility - Contracts Finder


Written Question
Asylum: Finance
Monday 23rd October 2023

Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's news story of 12 September 2023 entitled New Illegal Migration Act measures and age dispute assessment tests, whether the consultations with local authorities and organisations within the sector to look at the UK’s capacity to accommodate and support those arriving through safe and legal routes will seek views on proposed additional safe routes..

Answered by Robert Jenrick

With the passing of the Illegal Migration Act, on 20 July 2023, the government has committed to introducing a cap on the number of people brought to the UK through safe and legal routes each year.

The cap will be determined through consultation with local authorities to understand the UK’s capacity to accommodate and support individuals arriving through safe and legal routes.

The consultation seeks to determine a realistic picture of the capacity that the UK has, to enable the operation of safe and legal routes for protection and ensure these routes form part of a well-managed and sustainable migration system.

As the Prime Minister has stated, as we get a grip on illegal migration, we will be able to bring forward more safe and legal routes.