Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Office, what steps she has taken to appoint an anti-corruption champion; and when an anti-corruption champion will be appointed.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer of 25 January 2023, Official Report, PQ 126744.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2022 to Questions 105495 and 105505 on Visas: Seasonal Workers and 105507 on Agriculture: Seasonal Workers, whether his Department has put accountability structures in place to respond to Scheme Operators who terminate workers' contracts early without offering alternative work placements.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The sponsor licence regime places a broad range of responsibilities on Scheme Operators to ensure that the rights of migrant workers are protected.
We keep these protections under close ongoing review and the route has seen improvements to its worker welfare protections throughout its lifetime. This includes the announcement on 16 December that the Government will introduce rules ensuring seasonal workers are guaranteed a minimum number of paid hours each week, alongside increased compliance capacity to monitor welfare.
The Home Office cannot compel a private organisation to continue sponsoring workers it does not wish to sponsor. We do however expect the Scheme Operators to maximise the work opportunities for participating seasonal workers and we will continue to monitor this situation closely.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish her Department's internal guidance on compassionate grounds to expedite a visa application.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Visa applications are assessed on their individual merits and caseworkers will consider any compassionate grounds raised as part of the application assessment. Published policy guidance for each visa route will factor this where relevant. Caseworker guidance for each visa types can be found here: Visas and immigration operational guidance: Immigration staff guidance - detailed information - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Those seeking to raise compassionate grounds to expedite their application should still apply and pay for their visa application online in the normal way. They should alert their request to their chosen Visa Application Centre or by contacting the UKVI Call Centre. There is no internal guidance on compassionate grounds to expedite a visa application, as where a case may contain individual factors which make it compelling or compassionate then the case will be expedited by UK Visas and Immigration staff and considered under its own merits.
The Department does not have internal customer service standards. Further information relating to Visa waiting times can be found on the .GOV website here: Visa decision waiting times: applications outside the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish her Department's internal customer service targets for processing each category of visa application.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Visa applications are assessed on their individual merits and caseworkers will consider any compassionate grounds raised as part of the application assessment. Published policy guidance for each visa route will factor this where relevant. Caseworker guidance for each visa types can be found here: Visas and immigration operational guidance: Immigration staff guidance - detailed information - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Those seeking to raise compassionate grounds to expedite their application should still apply and pay for their visa application online in the normal way. They should alert their request to their chosen Visa Application Centre or by contacting the UKVI Call Centre. There is no internal guidance on compassionate grounds to expedite a visa application, as where a case may contain individual factors which make it compelling or compassionate then the case will be expedited by UK Visas and Immigration staff and considered under its own merits.
The Department does not have internal customer service standards. Further information relating to Visa waiting times can be found on the .GOV website here: Visa decision waiting times: applications outside the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress her Department has made on the fire service reform consultation.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Fire Reform White Paper consultation closed on the 26th of July 2022.
The Home Office is analysing responses and the Government response to the consultation will be published as soon as possible. The response will detail the next steps for reform.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with (a) fire brigade staff and (b) the Fire Brigades Union.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Home Office officials and Ministers regularly meet with a range of fire professionals and leaders and with unions and other representative groups to understand the issues affecting fire and rescue services.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential benefits of allowing workers in the UK on the agricultural seasonal worker scheme to move between (a) scheme operators and (b) horticulture and poultry.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Seasonal Worker scheme is an ‘operator led’ immigration route, with four scheme operators selected to manage the placement of workers on UK farms and to ensure their welfare in the UK.
The Seasonal Worker scheme operators are responsible for managing all aspects of the recruitment and placement of workers on UK farms and ensuring their welfare in the UK. It is therefore important that they do not recruit more workers than they can effectively support.
Scheme operators are expected to maximise the employment of all workers in the UK on a Seasonal Work visa. Operators rotate their work placements and are required to move workers between farms where the worker requests this. Allowing workers to move between operators would not be appropriate as it removes key welfare safeguards in the scheme. The current approach also ensures that each sector can fully benefit from the numbers of workers specifically allocated to them.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies that operators recruiting workers under the Seasonal Workers Scheme are potentially terminating workers contracts early without putting in place alternative work placements.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Seasonal Worker scheme is an ‘operator led’ immigration route, with four scheme operators selected to manage the placement of workers on UK farms and to ensure their welfare in the UK.
The Seasonal Worker scheme operators are responsible for managing all aspects of the recruitment and placement of workers on UK farms and ensuring their welfare in the UK. It is therefore important that they do not recruit more workers than they can effectively support.
Scheme operators are expected to maximise the employment of all workers in the UK on a Seasonal Work visa. Operators rotate their work placements and are required to move workers between farms where the worker requests this. Allowing workers to move between operators would not be appropriate as it removes key welfare safeguards in the scheme. The current approach also ensures that each sector can fully benefit from the numbers of workers specifically allocated to them.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what requirements are placed on Sponsoring Agencies under the Seasonal Workers Scheme to ensure that work will be available for the duration of the visa.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Seasonal Worker scheme is an ‘operator led’ immigration route, with four scheme operators selected to manage the placement of workers on UK farms and to ensure their welfare in the UK.
The Seasonal Worker scheme operators are responsible for managing all aspects of the recruitment and placement of workers on UK farms and ensuring their welfare in the UK. It is therefore important that they do not recruit more workers than they can effectively support.
Scheme operators are expected to maximise the employment of all workers in the UK on a Seasonal Work visa. Operators rotate their work placements and are required to move workers between farms where the worker requests this. Allowing workers to move between operators would not be appropriate as it removes key welfare safeguards in the scheme. The current approach also ensures that each sector can fully benefit from the numbers of workers specifically allocated to them.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is required to provide accommodation to asylum seekers who have made an appointment at an asylum intake unit and are waiting for that appointment to take place.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office has a legal obligation to provide support to asylum-seekers who would otherwise be destitute.
Those wishing to claim asylum are expected to do so on arrival at the port of entry or, if already in the UK, and their circumstances change, as soon as possible at the Asylum Intake Unit (AIU) in Croydon. The AIU operates an appointment process for those who have accommodation, but a walk-in service is available for those who are destitute and need immediate accommodation.
Destitute asylum seekers can access initial support under section 98 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 which is offered as initial or contingency accommodation when they make an appointment to attend an asylum screening interview at the AIU and until the appointment time.