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 table Asy_09a of the Asylum and Resettlement Summary tables for the year ending March 2023, for what reasons there was an increase in the number of asylum applications admitted into the UK’s asylum process having previously been considered potentially inadmissible in the first quarter of 2023.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office does not routinely record reasons why each individual was admitted to the UK asylum process and this information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
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 (a) arrests and (b) prosecutions for antisocial behaviour in rural areas there have been in each year since 2020.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes data on arrests for notifiable offences in England and Wales, by financial year, available here: Police powers and procedures England and Wales statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
However, the data are collected by wider offence group, e.g. “theft offences”, therefore data on more specific offences such as antisocial behaviour and theft of agricultural machinery are not available.
Additionally, the data are collected by Police Force Area only with no further geographical breakdown, therefore the number of arrests that occurred in rural areas is not available.
The Ministry of Justice publishes information on prosecutions as part of the quarterly ‘Criminal Justice System’ statistical bulletin, available here: Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: December 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The outcomes by offence data tool provides a breakdown of prosecutions by offence type, including offences which would be considered ASB. A detailed breakdown of items stolen within theft offences is not available.
The Home Office does not hold data showing trend in these crimes (ASB or theft of agricultural machinery) over time.
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 (a) arrests and (b) prosecutions for theft of agricultural machinery there have been in each year since 2020.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes data on arrests for notifiable offences in England and Wales, by financial year, available here: Police powers and procedures England and Wales statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
However, the data are collected by wider offence group, e.g. “theft offences”, therefore data on more specific offences such as antisocial behaviour and theft of agricultural machinery are not available.
Additionally, the data are collected by Police Force Area only with no further geographical breakdown, therefore the number of arrests that occurred in rural areas is not available.
The Ministry of Justice publishes information on prosecutions as part of the quarterly ‘Criminal Justice System’ statistical bulletin, available here: Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: December 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The outcomes by offence data tool provides a breakdown of prosecutions by offence type, including offences which would be considered ASB. A detailed breakdown of items stolen within theft offences is not available.
The Home Office does not hold data showing trend in these crimes (ASB or theft of agricultural machinery) over time.
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 and what proportion of asylum applications were submitted by people who arrived in the UK (a) irregularly by (i) small boat and (ii) other means and (b) through a safe and legal route in 2022.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office publishes statistics on asylum claims from small boat arrivals in ‘4. Asylum claims from small boat arrivals’ of the ‘Irregular Migration to the UK statistics’ report.
Data on detected irregular arrivals by method of entry are published in table Irr_D01 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed dataset’ of the ‘Irregular Migration to the UK statistics’.
The Home Office does not publish how many irregular arrivals who do not arrive by small boats have claimed asylum. Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, as well as quality and availability of data.
The latest data relate to the year ending December 2022. Data for the year ending March 2023 will be published on 25 May 2023. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Please note, asylum applications are not a recognised 'safe and legal entry route' to the UK. The safe and legal entry routes are country-specific and global:
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what would happen to a person whose protection or human rights claim is deemed inadmissible under clause 4(2) of the Illegal Migration Bill but who cannot be removed from the UK.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Those who come to the UK illegally who cannot be returned home, will be relocated to a safe third country such as Rwanda, where they will be provided with the support to rebuild their lives.
If a person is considered unfit to travel, they will be exempt from removal until they are safely able to do so.
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 of the asylum claims identified for consideration on inadmissibility grounds since January 2021 and subsequently admitted into the UK asylum system had a period between the asylum claim being submitted and admitted into the asylum system of (a) less than six months, (b) six to nine months, (c) ten to twelve months and (d) over a year.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on inadmissibility can be found in table Asy_09a and Asy_09b of the ‘asylum and resettlement summary tables’. The latest data relate to the year ending September 2022. Data for the year ending December 2022 will be published in future editions of the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
The Home Office does not publish wait times between asylum applications being raised and the outcomes of cases considered under inadmissibility rules.
Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, as well as quality and availability of data.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) quickest and (b) slowest time was for communicating an asylum decision for an application made in the United Arab Emirates for an Afghan national who is a spouse of another Afghan national already granted asylum in the UK in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
There is no provision within our Immigration Rules for someone to be allowed to travel to the UK to claim asylum or temporary refuge or make a claim for asylum or protection from abroad. Therefore, the information requested does not exist.
The UK has made an ambitious and generous commitment to help relocate at-risk people in Afghanistan. To date, nearly 24,500 people have been brought to safety. This includes British Nationals and their families, Afghans who loyally served the UK and others identified as particularly at-risk, such as campaigners for women’s rights, human rights defenders, Chevening scholars, journalists, judges and members of the LGBT+ community. The UK continues to welcome eligible Afghans through the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS).
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what is the (a) earliest and (b) latest date for deciding the application for family reunion made in the United Arab Emirates on 1 September 2022, reference GWFO66746607.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Information regarding processing times for family reunion applications is not routinely published and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. We are working outside the 60 working day service standard with the majority of applications being considered at over double the service standard timescale.
We are committed to improving and speeding up processing times for family reunion applications and acknowledge the need to dedicate more resource to support this safe and legal route as well as reviewing processes to streamline decision making to provide a better service to our customers.
In the year ending September 2022, 4,786 family reunion visas were issued to partners and children of those granted asylum or humanitarian protection, around a third (36%) fewer than the number in 2019, the year prior to the pandemic. Of these, 2,575 (54%) were children (aged under 18).
We will prioritise applications where there is a particularly urgent or compelling reason to do so.
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 asylum applications are awaiting decision by her Department from Afghan nationals whose spouse has already been granted asylum in the UK; and if she will provide a breakdown of locations from which applications have been made.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum applications awaiting a decision by nationality can be found in table Asy_D03 of the ‘asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks. Please note the data show a snapshot as at the last day of each quarter, rather than the number of asylum applications awaiting a decision over the entire quarter. The latest data relates to as at 31 December 2022. Data as at 31 March 2023 will be published on 25 May 2023. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
This data is not available broken down by outcomes received by family members.
Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, as well as quality and availability of data.
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 substantive asylum interviews were conducted in 2022; and how many of these were conducted by video conference.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office is unable to provide this information as it is not held in a reportable format, and therefore could only be obtained at disproportionate costs.
Video technology has been successfully used to support remote interviewing for more than 3 years and has appropriate operating procedures that are designed to ensure participants are able to give the best account of their circumstances. We are also able to offer in person interviews for those seeking asylum if requested or required where additional needs are presented.
The Home Office carefully considers all asylum claims on a case-by-case basis against published immigration rules, policy guidance and country information.