Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made on the length of time it will take for family members of people settled in the UK under the Afghan Ex Gratia scheme to be relocated to the UK.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The process of identifying family members suitable for relocation is a complicated one which requires employing departments of HM Government to identify family members, in addition to the verification of documents under challenging circumstances in Afghanistan.
The process of relocation has inevitably been impacted by COVID-19.Once a decision is made on whether family members qualify for relocation, those approved will be brought to the UK when suitable accommodation has been sourced and support arrangements for arrival are in place.
The Home Office does not publish data on the volume of applications it receives - and approves - under the scheme.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many of the 66 spousal applications and 58 child applications being processed for family members of people settled in the UK under the Afghan Ex Gratia scheme have had a decision made on their case.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The process of identifying family members suitable for relocation is a complicated one which requires employing departments of HM Government to identify family members, in addition to the verification of documents under challenging circumstances in Afghanistan.
The process of relocation has inevitably been impacted by COVID-19.Once a decision is made on whether family members qualify for relocation, those approved will be brought to the UK when suitable accommodation has been sourced and support arrangements for arrival are in place.
The Home Office does not publish data on the volume of applications it receives - and approves - under the scheme.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has for the future of Yarls Wood immigration removal centre and the detention of women under immigration powers there.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The immigration removal estate is kept under ongoing review to ensure that the Home Office has sufficient capacity, in the right places and that it provides value for money.
In August, the pre-existing Short-Term Holding Facility (STHF) at Yarl’s Wood, in which clandestine entrants may be held by UK Visas and Immigration for a short time to resolve their position before being dispersed through appropriate routes, was temporarily expanded to incorporate the whole site. At this time Yarl’s Wood was operated solely in accordance with the STHF Rules 2018.
In light of changing demands in the immigration removal estate and in line with business recovery, we have now transitioned part of the Yarl’s Wood site back to an immigration removal centre for women.
In order to meet operational needs and demands, we will continue to operate the immigration removal estate, including Yarl’s Wood, in a flexible manner and in line with the STHF Rules 2018 and the Detention Centre Rules 2001, as appropriate.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of granting the right to work to asylum seekers and their adult dependents after six months of having lodged an asylum claim without the constraints of the Shortage Occupation List.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Asylum seeker right to work is a complex issue. A review of the policy is ongoing, and we are considering the evidence put forward on the issue. The findings of the review will be announced once the work has been completed.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking during the covid-19 outbreak to improve the (a) provision and (b) accessibility of Government guidance and information on asylum to people seeking asylum.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
In March, we set up a dedicated engagement channel with key stakeholders to cover the impact of Covid-19 on asylum and resettlement, and to ensure that the necessary guidance and information was reaching asylum seekers across the UK. The British Red Cross were nominated by the sector as the single point of contact; officials speak to them on a regular basis and calls are often accompanied by written updates, which the British Red Cross share with the wider sector, and onto asylum seekers. We have also set up a similar engagement channel with the Strategic Migration Partnership, which also includes a weekly call and regular written updates.
Our liaison with British Red Cross as a single point of contact has successfully ensured that asylum seekers have the information they require in recent months. We are now in the process of drafting additional guidance, which will be published on GOV.UK, on asylum interviewing and decision-making during the period in which our operations are still affected by the Covid-19 outbreak in the UK. This will provide greater provision of information to asylum seekers.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been waiting more than six months for an asylum decision; and if she will grant those people the right to work and access education.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on asylum applications in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’ (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release). Data on the number of asylum applications awaiting an initial decision or further review are published in table Asy_D03 of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets). Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to the year ending September 2019. Additionally, the Home Office publishes a high-level overview of the data in the ‘summary tables’ (attached). 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’ (https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-statistics?content_store_document_type=upcoming_statistics&organisations%5B%5D=home-office&order=release-date-oldest).
Asylum seekers can work in the UK if their claim has been outstanding for 12 months, through no fault of their own. Those allowed to work are restricted to jobs on the Shortage Occupation List, which is published by the Home Office and based on expert advice from the Migration Advisory Committee.
Asylum seeker right to work is a complex issue. A review of the policy is ongoing, and we are considering the evidence put forward on the issue.
There is nothing in the Immigration Rules to prevent asylum seekers studying. However, asylum-seekers who wish to access higher education courses can expect to be charged the full cost of their course by the university concerned.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been waiting more than 12 months for an asylum decision; and if she will grant those people Discretionary Leave to Remain.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not publish data on the number of people waiting for more than 12 months for an asylum decision.
The latest Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release, on data to the year ending March 2020, can be accessed at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release
Table Asy D03 of the ‘asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’ contains information on the number of asylum applications awaiting an initial decision or further review and are published in. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook.
All asylum claims are carefully considered on their individual merits on the evidence available to the decision maker. We are committed to ensuring that asylum claims are considered without unnecessary delay, so that those who need protection are granted as soon as possible.
Discretionary Leave (DL) is granted outside the Immigration Rules in accordance with published Home Office policy. DL covers those few individuals who do not qualify for any leave under the Rules, but where there are exceptional or compassionate reasons for allowing them to remain in the UK; as such, it is intended to be used sparingly and decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. Delays in decision making occur for a number of reasons, some of which are outside of the Home Office’s control, and it would generally not be appropriate to grant DL under these circumstances.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what feedback mechanism her Department has put in place for asylum seekers to communicate how well the Department has met their needs throughout their application process; and what recent assessment her Department has made of the quality of the support it provides to asylum seekers.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
UKVI uses feedback from complaints, reports and audits, surveys and customer focus groups to make sure that we are continually improving the service we provide to those who seek asylum in the UK.
UKVI work closely with our key partners and stakeholders to seek and share this feedback to identify ways in which we can improve the quality of experience of people seeking asylum in the UK.
We have recently set up a Customer Experience Management Team, based across the UK, who will work closely on a local level with stakeholders, to identify key areas to improve the overall experience for people seeking asylum in the UK.
Asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute are provided with free accommodation and a weekly cash allowance to cover their other essential living needs. With effect from 15 June, the allowance was raised from £37.75 to £39.60, an increase of around 5%. The increase is significantly higher than general inflation, which Office of National Statistics data shows was only 0.8% in the 12 months period to April 2020. Food inflation over the same period was only 1.4%. Asylum seekers also receive free NHS healthcare and free education for their children.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what resources she has allocated to (a) researching and (b) tackling the causes of gun and knife-related crimes in (i) Coventry, (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) England.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government’s Serious Violence Strategy, published in April 2018, sets out our analysis of the trends and drivers behind rises in serious violence including gun and knife crime.
We are clear that the police must have the powers and resources they need to tackle gun and knife crime, wherever it occurs.? This is why we are recruiting 20,000 more police officers over the next three years and why the West Midlands police are receiving £620.4m in funding in 2020/21 – an increase of £49.1m on 2019/20.
In addition, the Home Office has committed over £176.5 million over two years to address
serious violence in the most affected 18 police force areas in England and Wales, which
includes £104.9 million to pay for a surge in police operational activity, of which £12,601,485 has been allocated to West Midlands police. The remaining £70 million is being invested in multi-agency Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) over two financial years, with £6,740,000 of this going directly to the West Midlands VRU. The VRU brings together police, local government, health and education professionals, community leaders and other key partners to identify the drivers of serious violence and agree a multi-agency response.
In relation to gun crime specifically, the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 has introduced a ban on certain rapid-firing rifles and we are introducing greater regulation of antique firearms to prevent their misuse by criminals. We have also consulted on statutory guidance on firearms licensing to improve standards and the consistency of police licensing decisions, and we have established a multi-agency national firearms threat assessment centre to improve our capability to disrupt the supply and use of illegal firearms by criminals and Organised Crime Groups.
The Offensive Weapons Act 2019 also gives the police more powers to tackle knife crime and will make it more difficult for young people to get hold of knives in the first place. The Act
introduces Knife Crime Prevention Orders which will help the police to steer those most at risk away from serious violence and knife crime, and we will be legislating to introduce new Serious Violence Reduction Orders to make it easier for the police to stop and search known knife
carriers.
The Serious Violence Strategy also puts an emphasis on prevention and early intervention. We are investing £200 million through the Youth Endowment Fund to invest in and evaluate early intervention projects and an additional £500 million over five years through the new Youth Investment Fund to build new youth centres, refurbish existing youth facilities, provide mobile facilities for harder to reach areas, and to invest in the youth work profession and frontline services.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much money has accrued to the public purse from (a) NHS trusts, (b) organisations that provide social care, (c) universities and other higher education institutions and (d) state-funded primary and secondary schools paying the Immigration Skills Charge on behalf of their employees in each year since 2015.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office does not collate or publish the information requested.
Immigration Skills Charge data is broken down between large and small and charitable employers but not by sector.
Income generated by Immigration Health Surcharge payments goes directly to NHS services, helping to protect and sustain our world-class healthcare system for everyone who uses it. Income collected from the Immigration Skills charge is used to address skills gaps in the UK workforce, which will be of benefit to businesses in the long term.