Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to increase the speed of processing asylum claims.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
To speed up the asylum process for legacy claims, those made before 28 June 2022, around 12,000 asylum seekers from high-grant nationalities within the legacy WIP are being asked to provide information in a new Home Office questionnaire to help determine their case.
The intention of these questionnaires is to enable claimants to provide any further information about their claims after their initial screening interview upon arrival.
All asylum claimants are subject to mandatory security checks to confirm their identity and to link it to their biometric details for the purpose of immigration, security and criminality checks. These checks are critical to the delivery of a safe and secure immigration system.
We are driving further productivity improvements by simplifying and modernising our system. This includes: shorter, more focused interviews, making guidance simpler and more accessible; dealing with cases more swiftly where they can be certified as clearly unfounded; and recruiting extra decision makers.
We have already doubled our decision makers over the last 2 years, and we are continuing to recruit more. This will take our expected number of decision makers to 1,800 by summer and 2,500 by September 2023.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is her Department's policy to ban the commercial breeding of animals for use in animal testing; whether she is taking steps to reduce the use of animals in animal testing; and what policies her Department has in place to help ensure the protection and welfare of animals that are commercially bred to be used in animal testing.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
This Government is committed to the protection and welfare of animals and ensuring that animals are only ever used in science where there are no alternatives.
The Government’s position on commercially breeding animals for use in scientific procedures to deliver benefits, protecting animals and promoting alternatives, were set out in the recent Westminster Hall Debate on Commercial Breeding for Laboratories, on 16 January 2023.
The Hansard record can be found here: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2023-01-16/debates/CE7E0DD2-CD4E-4C47-A58D-983D6E2BC128/CommercialBreedingForLaboratories.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to expediate the processing of passport applications.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Since April 2021, people have been advised to allow up to ten weeks to get their passport. Across March, April, and May 2022, 98.5% of applications from the UK were completed within this published processing time of up to ten weeks.
Her Majesty’s Passport Office has added 850 staff since April 2021. This has helped to ensure that more passport applications are being processed than ever before, with the processing of approximately three million applications being completed between March and May.
Processing capacity will increase further, with an additional 350 staff arriving within the summer.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to speed up the processing of passport renewals and applications; and what assessment she has made of the potential merits of setting a target for the time taken to process an application once it arrives at the Passport Office.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Due to COVID-19, over 5 million people delayed applying for a British passport throughout 2020 and 2021.
As unrestricted international travel has returned, HM Passport Office has prepared extensively to serve an unprecedented number of customers, with 9.5 million British passport applications forecasted throughout 2022. This is up from the pre-pandemic average of seven million. Alongside technical solutions, such as the latest application system which means more passport applications are securely processed with fewer manual interventions, staffing numbers have been increased by more than 500 since last April. Plans are also in place to increase staffing numbers by a further 700.
These preparations have ensured passport applications can be processed in higher numbers than ever before. This was demonstrated in March 2022 when HM Passport Office achieved a record monthly high by completing the processing of over one million applications.
In April 2021 guidance was changed to advise customers to allow up to ten weeks to get their passport. Latest figures show 98.6% of passports are processed in this timeframe.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of adding HGV drivers to the shortage occupation list.
Answered by Kevin Foster
As my previous answer from 26 November 2021 set out, Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) drivers are not an eligible occupation under the Skilled Worker route as they do not meet the required skill level and therefore cannot be placed on the Shortage Occupation List (SOL). Being on the SOL does not exempt an occupation from the requirements, such as the skills threshold, of the Skilled Worker route. The Government intends to commission the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to undertake another review of the SOL this year, during which time, the logistics sector will be able to provide evidence for consideration by the MAC.
The Department for Transport are leading measures to address shortages, including ramping up testing capacity, alongside encouraging employers to tackle longstanding issues in the sector through more investment in skills and training, along with better pay and working conditions (including facilities). These measures are a more effective solution to issues facing the sector, rather than immigration, especially given the current global shortage of drivers.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce bureaucracy for refugees fleeing from the war in the Ukraine.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office is continually making efforts to simplify the application process for Ukrainian refugees and keeps this under regular review
As part of the Home Office’s commitment to make it easier for applicants to apply to our schemes, since 15 March Ukrainians with valid passports no longer need to go to a Visa Application Centre (VAC) to give their biometrics before they come to the UK.
Ukrainians without valid passports are required to attend a VAC and provide their biometric information, this includes collecting their visa once their case is concluded.
If customers do not have a valid passport, UKVI staff will work with individuals and Border Force to facilitate their entry to the UK.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of (a) increasing safe routes to the UK for refugees and (b) removing differential treatment, offshore detention, and criminalisation of refugees; and what steps she is taking to ensure that the age assessment process for unaccompanied children seeking asylum retains safeguards and is based on best practice.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Government is delivering comprehensive reform of the asylum system through the New Plan for Immigration, an essential element of which is the Nationality and Borders Bill.
The plan gives the Government the flexibility to respond at pace to conflict and humanitarian crises around the world, by establishing safe and legal routes to the UK.
Most recently, this Government has made its support for Ukrainians fleeing in fear of their lives clear, introducing two new schemes: the Ukraine Family Scheme and the Homes for Ukraine Scheme.
Further details can be found at: Home Secretary statement on humanitarian support for Ukrainians - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
We must, at the same time, take steps to disincentivise people from using unsafe, unnecessary and illegal journeys to the UK. The ability to differentiate entitlements between those refugees who came directly to the UK, claimed asylum without delay and where applicable, showed good cause for their illegal entry or presence, and those who did not, is a key part of this deterrence. So too, is overseas asylum processing. To be clear, this is not offshore detention and we would not transfer anyone overseas for their claim to be processed where to do so would breach the UK’s obligations under the Refugee Convention or ECHR.
We must also tackle the criminal gangs who facilitate illegal migration and ensure we have a robust criminal justice response to those who break our laws. We are therefore strengthening the law, to introduce life sentences for people smugglers and stronger penalties for those who come here illegally. It should however be noted that prosecutors will always consider whether it is in the public interest to initiate a prosecution and that they may wait to see if someone is recognised as a refugee before making that decision.
The introduction of the National Age Assessment Board offers the potential for significant improvements to our processes for assessing age. It will create greater consistency in age assessment practices, improve quality and ensure that ages are correctly recorded for immigration purposes. It will help reduce the resource burden on local authorities. And it will help better protect against adults being treated as children – ensuring vulnerable children can swiftly access the support they need.