Asked by: Wayne David (Labour - Caerphilly)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent studies her Department has undertaken of the operation of the visa system in the US; and what assessment she has made of whether a visa system which distinguishes between the level of risk posed by applicants from different countries can operate in the UK.
Answered by Mike Penning
The Home Office keeps abreast of developments on visa policy in other countries, including the USA. The decision to maintain a visa regime on a givencountry is based on a number of factors, including the level of risk posed by
applicants from that country.
Asked by: Wayne David (Labour - Caerphilly)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2014, Official Report, column 200W, on passports, when she expects to publish a reliable estimate of the additional costs arising from staff temporarily working away from their normal workplace and from overtime to deal with delays at the Passport Office.
Answered by James Brokenshire
We will provide the actual costs incurred in redeploying staff to meet the exceptional levels of passport demand this year when that redeployment ends. Redeployed staff will continue to support Her Majesty's Passport Office frontline services until further notice.
Asked by: Wayne David (Labour - Caerphilly)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much the recently employed additional staff in passport offices are estimated to cost.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Her Majesty's Passport Office have been training and redeploying staff from
other duties within the Agency, from other parts of the wider Home Office, and
in the case of one individual another Government department, to meet the
exceptional levels of passport demand. There will be some additional costs
relating to staff where they will be temporarily working away from their normal
workplace and where overtime is worked by staff from other parts of the
Department. At this time it is not possible to put a reliable estimate on
these additional costs.
Asked by: Wayne David (Labour - Caerphilly)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department saved for the Exchequer by closing the Passport Office in Newport.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Her Majesty's Passport Office has not closed its office in Newport. There is
an office in Newport providing counter fast track and premium services,
interviews for first time adult applicants and the Customer Contact Centre.
During 2011-12 as part of a wider operations restructuring, postal passport
application processing ceased in Newport and the office was relocated. It is
estimated that this reduced operational costs by around £2.6 million per year.