Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had discussions with his Scottish counterpart on minimum unit pricing for alcohol.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government notes the recent outcome report from Public Health Scotland on minimum unit pricing for alcohol. The Government will continue to monitor emerging evidence relating to minimum unit pricing with interest.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of capping the number of graduate visas on the UK’s economy.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Graduate route provides an opportunity for international students who have been awarded their degree to stay in the UK and work, or look for work, at any skill level for 2 years, or 3 years for doctoral students.
An Impact Assessment was prepared to accompany the launch of the Graduate route. This can be found at the following link: Impact Assessment template (publishing.service.gov.uk)
The public rightly expects us to control immigration and ensure we have a system that works in the UK’s best interests. We keep our immigration policies under constant review to ensure they reflect our priorities.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the policy intention of the proscription of Hamas was to leave unrestricted the scope for public bodies to support UK-based civil society organisations to conduct (a) cultural, (b) educational, (c) commercial or (d) humanitarian work in Gaza.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Hamas’ proscription was extended to cover the organisation in its entirety in November 2021 because it was assessed that the distinction previously maintained between the military and political wings could no longer be maintained. Hamas is a single, complex organisation which commits and participates in acts of, prepares for, and promotes terrorism.
Hamas is designated in its entirety by a number of the UK’s international partners, including the EU, US, Canada and Australia.
The Terrorism Act (TACT) 2000 does not prevent organisations operating overseas in high-risk jurisdictions from carrying out legitimate activities. In October 2020, the Government published on GOV.UK an information note on operating within counter-terrorism legislation, sanctions and export controls. The note directs users to the guidance available to support the delivery of legitimate activities and addresses concerns about the risk of prosecution.
The note provides information on the defence provided by section 12(4) of TACT 2000, which is intended to permit the arrangement of genuinely benign meetings with a proscribed organisation; and information on section 21ZA of TACT 2000, which allows organisations to seek a defence to carry out a transaction that would otherwise be a terrorist financing offence by seeking prior consent from the National Crime Agency.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of people who are seeking asylum and in receipt of Section 95 support are estimated to be below the (a) 60 per cent of median income relative and (b) absolute poverty lines.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The package of support provided to asylum seekers and their dependants supported under section 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 because they would otherwise be destitute usually consists of free furnished accommodation with utility bills and council tax paid. Individuals are also able to access free NHS healthcare and free education for children. They are also provided with a cash allowance to cover their other “essential living needs” (the statutory test set out in the 1999 Act). The level of the cash allowance is currently set at £39.63 per week for each individual in the household, as this is the level assessed as necessary to meet the statutory test.
The income available to asylum seekers in receipt of section 95 support is lower than a figure based on 60% of the median income of UK households (approximately £17,000 per year) and lower than other measures of poverty levels. However, the level of cash allowance is regularly reviewed using a methodology endorsed by the Court of Appeal and Inner Court of Session.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will set support for asylum seekers at 70 per cent of universal credit entitlement in line with the representations made by the Safe Passage campaign.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Asylum seekers and their dependants who would otherwise be destitute are supported under section 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. The package of support provided usually consists of free furnished accommodation with utility bills and council tax paid. Individuals are able to access free NHS healthcare and free education for children. They are also provided with a cash allowance to cover other essential living needs.
The level of the allowance is currently set at £39.63 per week for each person in the household. There are no plans to adjust the amount so that it is set at 70% of the rate of Universal Credit or align it with other mainstream benefits.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people of Afghan nationality have claimed asylum in the UK in each year since 2001.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on asylum applications in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of asylum applications lodged in the UK are published in table Asy_D01 of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets, breakdowns by year and nationality are available. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest published statistics relate to data up to the end of June 2021.
Additionally, the Home Office publishes further data on asylum and resettlement in the asylum and resettlement summary tables. The ‘contents’ sheet contains an overview of all available data on asylum and resettlement.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average period of time is that asylum seekers have been on Section 95 support by the time of case resolution in each of the last three years.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of asylum seekers on Asylum Support. These statistics can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets#asylum-support.
The Home Office does not publish a breakdown of these statistics which shows the average period of time that asylum seekers have been on Section 95 support by the time of case resolution of the last three years. These figures are not available in a reportable format and to provide the information could only be done at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2020 to Question 126060, what oversight the Government will have of the actions and conduct of French reservists from the Gendarmerie and Police Nationale deployed to tackle migrant activity in the Channel; what systems have been established to investigate allegations of mistreatment or abuse of migrants by French police during their deployment; and what the role is of the Government in that process.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
We work closely with France to prevent Channel crossings by irregular migrants. In November the UK and France agreed a package of £28.1m to support a range of activity as part of ongoing efforts.
We jointly monitor, with France, the impact of that funding through daily operational contact and regular strategic reviews.
French personnel are responsible to the French Government and are therefore required to comply with French law, policies and processes. The UK Government would not be directly involved in any investigation into allegations made against French officers.
France is party to both the ECHR and the Refugee Convention and the UK Government is confident that France is fully in compliance with its obligations under both Conventions.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to reports of a shortage of free appointments for visa applicants to register their biometric data, what recent discussions she has had with Sopra Steria on the availability of those appointments.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Sopra Steria Ltd (SSL) are a commercial partner who run the UK Visa and Citizenship Application Service (UKVCAS) on behalf of UKVI. UKVI is working closely with SSL to ensure a sufficient level of appointments is available.
SSL monitor UKVCAS performance against set key performance indicators (KPIs) within the contract, with the Home Office maintaining oversight to ensure Sopra Steria Ltd adhere to contractual requirements.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the ability of Chilean state agents under investigation for torture or ill-treatment to enter the UK.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
All passengers arriving in the UK at passport control are checked against police, security and immigration watch lists on arrival at the border. The majority of these are checked against our systems before they even travel, through the collection of advanced passenger information (API). API helps protect the UK against terrorist attacks, serious cross-border crime and abuses of the immigration system.
We are doing everything in our power to prevent foreign criminals entering our country, Border Force officers can and do to refuse entry when they are known to the UK authorities.