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Written Question
Immigration: Applications
Monday 15th January 2024

Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) asylum applications and (b) other applications for leave to remain were awaiting a decision as of 1 January 2024.

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

The Home Office publishes data on immigration applications in the following releases:


Written Question
Undocumented Migrants: English Channel
Monday 15th January 2024

Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he last met his French counterpart to discuss the matter of illegal migration to the UK by boats crossing the English Channel.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)

The Home Secretary spoke to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin on 21 December and during this conversation they discussed the ongoing joint efforts by the UK and French governments to stop small boat crossings of the English Channel.

The Home Secretary and Minister Darmanin have agreed to meet in the coming weeks to continue this discussion. Officials from across the Home Office engage regularly with French counterparts to continue to monitor our progress in stopping small boats, and our close cooperation with France led to a 36% reduction in small boat arrivals last year.


Written Question
Offenders: Foreign Nationals
Wednesday 6th September 2023

Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)

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 the Human Rights Act 1998 on foreign nationals convicted of attempted murder.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

This Government puts the rights of the British public before those of criminals, and we are clear that foreign criminals should be deported from the UK wherever it is legal and practical to do so.

Under the UK Borders Act 2007, a deportation order must be made where a foreign national has been convicted of an offence and received a custodial sentence of 12 months or more. This is subject to several exceptions, including where to do so would be a breach of a person’s ECHR rights or the UK’s obligations under the Refugee Convention. Individuals are only returned to their country of origin when the Home Office and, where applicable, the Courts deem it is safe to do so. Each individual assessment is made against the background of any relevant caselaw and the latest available country information.


Written Question
Offenders: Deportation
Wednesday 6th September 2023

Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's policy is on the deportation of foreign nationals convicted of violent crime to their country of origin if it is unsafe.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

This Government puts the rights of the British public before those of criminals, and we are clear that foreign criminals should be deported from the UK wherever it is legal and practical to do so.

Under the UK Borders Act 2007, a deportation order must be made where a foreign national has been convicted of an offence and received a custodial sentence of 12 months or more. This is subject to several exceptions, including where to do so would be a breach of a person’s ECHR rights or the UK’s obligations under the Refugee Convention. Individuals are only returned to their country of origin when the Home Office and, where applicable, the Courts deem it is safe to do so. Each individual assessment is made against the background of any relevant caselaw and the latest available country information.


Written Question
Immigration: Standards
Monday 20th December 2021

Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the current backlog of cases for those seeking Leave to Remain in the UK as at 1 October 2021.

Answered by Kevin Foster

UKVI are currently facing extremely high pressure globally and this has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

To tackle this the Home Office is pursuing a programme of transformation and business improvement initiatives which will speed up decision making, reduce the time people spend in the system and reduce the numbers who are awaiting an interview or decision. This includes increasing the number of decision makers and providing improved training and career progression opportunities to aid retention of staff.

We are continuing to develop existing and new technology to help build on recent improvements such as digital interviewing and moving away from a paper-based system. We are streamlining and digitalising the case working process to enable more effective workflow, appointment booking and decision-making.


Written Question
Immigration: West Midlands
Tuesday 30th November 2021

Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the staffing level is of the West Midlands account manager office dealing with immigration cases.

Answered by Kevin Foster

The MP Account Management team (MPAM) is a national team that handle all enquiries received from MPs on both general immigration matters and case specific enquiries.

The MPAM team has 119 staff in several different locations across the UK, one of which is in Solihull. Resources are used flexibly in accordance with enquiry intake levels and staff from each of the regional hubs may respond to enquiries from any MP and not just those exclusive to their region.

There are currently 11 MPAM staff based in Solihull.


Written Question
Refugees: Afghanistan
Tuesday 30th November 2021

Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which local authorities in England have accepted Afghan refugees; and how many refugees each of those local authorities have accepted.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

We’ve seen over 300 local authorities come forward with commitments to take in displaced Afghans as part of our resettlement plans. We thank those local authorities who are taking their fair share and would encourage others who haven’t yet stepped forward to work with us.

Data on relocation will be published as part of our quarterly release which can be found at this link: Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).


Written Question
Immigration: Afghanistan
Tuesday 30th November 2021

Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Afghan citizens have been granted leave to remain since 1 September 2021.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

The Home Office publishes quarterly data on grants and refusals of leave to remain (visa extensions) in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’ on GOV.UK:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release

The latest published statistics show that 464 people with Afghan Nationality were granted leave to remain in the third quarter (July to September) 2021. Of this, 385 grants were via a Family route.


Written Question
Refugees: Afghanistan
Tuesday 30th November 2021

Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate she has made of the number of Afghan citizens in bridging hotels who are waiting to be allocated housing.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

We are working at pace with local authorities to source appropriate accommodation for Afghan families who were evacuated to the UK. Data on relocation will be published as part of our quarterly release which can be found at this link: Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Over 4000 individuals have either moved into a settled home, are in the process of doing so or are being matched.


Written Question
Vetting: Photographs
Wednesday 7th October 2020

Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether photographic identification is required for a Disclosure and Barring Service check.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

Photographic identification is not required for a Disclosure and Barring Service check. Non-photographic documents, for example UK birth certificates, can be used in conjunction with other documents; council tax or bank statements, so that identity can be confirmed without the need for photographic identification.