Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to offer asylum to civilians fleeing from Afghanistan following the Taliban's recent ascent to power in that country.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The UK has a proud record of providing protection for people who need it, in accordance with our obligations under the Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights. However, there is no provision within our Immigration Rules for someone to be allowed to travel to the UK to seek asylum or temporary refuge. Whilst we acknowledge the increasingly complex situation in Afghanistan, we are not bound to consider asylum claims from the very large numbers of people overseas who might like to come here. Those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach – that is the fastest route to safety.
While we do not allow asylum claims from abroad, all asylum claims that are lodged from within the UK, including those from Afghan nationals, will be carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations. Those who need protection will normally be granted five years’ limited leave, have full access to the labour market and mainstream benefits, and can apply for settlement after five years.
No one who is found to be at risk of persecution or serious harm in Afghanistan will be expected to return there, and enforced returns of those who have been refused asylum and have exhausted all rights of appeal are currently paused.
The UK’s new resettlement scheme will, however, offer a route welcoming Afghans most at risk who have been forced to flee the country, prioritising resettling women, girls and children to the UK. Further details on the Scheme will be published in due course.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce waiting times for claimants of the Windrush Compensation Scheme.
Answered by Priti Patel - Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
Since April 2019 the Scheme has offered or paid more than £34 million in compensation to members of the Windrush generation. On 21 July the Home Office (HO) published the latest set of data on the Scheme which covers the period to the end of June 2021. During the month of June, the HO paid out £2.4 million in compensation. More than £26 million in compensation has been paid across 776 claims.
In December we overhauled the Scheme and the changes have had an immediate effect on the speed and value of offers of compensation. Since the end of December, we have paid more than eight times the total amount paid previously.
However, the HO recognises that there is more still to do to speed up the time between submission and decision on claims. On 21 July the HO published a redesigned primary claim form which is easier for people to complete, and refreshed caseworker guidance which sets out clearly how caseworkers should apply the balance of probabilities and gather evidence to ensure claimants are only asked to provide the minimum information necessary. Together, these should reduce the time taken to process claims and improve peoples’ experiences of applying to the Scheme.
The HO is also recruiting more case workers. Since the end of April, casework FTE has been increased by seven caseworkers and a team of 14 experienced caseworkers onto the scheme from elsewhere in the HO. The HO is in the process of recruiting a further 15 caseworkers and plan to hold a large reserve list so vacancies created through attrition can be filled more quickly.
The HO is also directing resources to where it is needed most to maximise final decision output. In addition, we are improving the evidence-gathering process, including by revising the data-sharing agreements with other government departments.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help protect retail workers from abuse, threats and violence during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government conducted a call for evidence on violence and abuse toward shop staff to understand the extent of the issue and how we can work with retailers and police to improve the response to these crimes. The Government’s formal response was published 7 July 2020 and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/violence-and-abuse-toward-shop-staff-call-for-evidence
To address the actions raised in the call for evidence the Home Office has worked closely with retailers and trade organisations through the National Retail Crime Steering Group. We have developed resources to assist retailers to report crimes when they occur, resources for shop staff who are victims of violence and abuse, and the #Shopkind communications campaign. The downloadable resources are free to use and are available here: https://brc.org.uk/nrcsg-against-shop-worker-abuse-and-violence/
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will introduce a minimum unit price for alcohol in England.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government has no plans to introduce minimum unit pricing at this time.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her oral answer on 7 June 2021,Official Report, column 664, if she will publish (a) a list of the wide range of covid-compliant measures that were taken at Napier barracks and (b) the dates on which those measures were implemented.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The following covid-compliant measures have been implemented at Napier Barracks:
Due to the temporary and transient nature of Initial Accommodation, we publish stats which show how many asylum seekers are accommodated in each Local Authority, rather than by individual location:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-march-2021
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were accommodated at Napier Barracks (a) in total and (b) in each dormitory at the site on 8 June 2021.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The following covid-compliant measures have been implemented at Napier Barracks:
Due to the temporary and transient nature of Initial Accommodation, we publish stats which show how many asylum seekers are accommodated in each Local Authority, rather than by individual location:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-march-2021
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to establish a safe passage for child refugees arriving in the UK.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Government committed to review safe and legal routes to the UK, and has a statutory duty to conduct a public consultation on family reunion for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in the EU. We are meeting our statutory duty by completing a comprehensive consultation and engagement process as part of the wider consultation on the New Plan for Immigration, which closed on 6 May 2021. We will consider the consultation responses carefully.
The UK already provides a number of routes for children to reunite with family members in the UK under our Immigration Rules. We have also published guidance that signposts these existing routes at the link below:
Overview of family reunion options in the Immigration Rules - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)