Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police stations have been tested for reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The police are operationally independent and therefore it is the individual responsibility of each police force to manage their estate and ensure it is compliant with the relevant legislation. This includes duties to maintain a safe workplace, as set out in relevant health and safety legislation.
Last year the National Police Estates Group, working with Home Office officials, conducted a stocktake of all police forces in England and Wales regarding the presence of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) across their respective estates. This identified a small number of forces with instances of RAAC, most relating to single building locations. All have reported that remedial action has been taken to mitigate potential risk.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police stations has reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete been identified in.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The police are operationally independent and therefore it is the individual responsibility of each police force to manage their estate and ensure it is compliant with the relevant legislation. This includes duties to maintain a safe workplace, as set out in relevant health and safety legislation.
Last year the National Police Estates Group, working with Home Office officials, conducted a stocktake of all police forces in England and Wales regarding the presence of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) across their respective estates. This identified a small number of forces with instances of RAAC, most relating to single building locations. All have reported that remedial action has been taken to mitigate potential risk.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of including HGV drivers as (a) an eligible occupation for a skilled worker visa and (b) on the immigration salary list.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The occupation of HGV driver does not meet the requirements of the Skilled Worker visa route.
The Government intend to commission the Migration Advisory Committee to undertake a full review of the Immigration Salary List. The Government will carefully consider their recommendations once received, should they make one regarding HGV drivers.
The Government regularly monitors labour market data to review the labour needed in different sectors, however there are no plans to extend the scope of the Seasonal Worker route.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a seasonal visa scheme for qualified HGV drivers.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The occupation of HGV driver does not meet the requirements of the Skilled Worker visa route.
The Government intend to commission the Migration Advisory Committee to undertake a full review of the Immigration Salary List. The Government will carefully consider their recommendations once received, should they make one regarding HGV drivers.
The Government regularly monitors labour market data to review the labour needed in different sectors, however there are no plans to extend the scope of the Seasonal Worker route.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2024 to Written Question 14388 on Horticulture, Seasonal Workers, if he will publish the guidance that sets out the requirement for workers to receive a minimum of 32 hours pay for each week of their stay in the UK, regardless of whether work is available.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The requirement for Seasonal Workers to receive a minimum of 32 hours pay for each week of their stay in the UK is already set out in paragraph SAW4.1(g)(i) of Appendix Temporary Work of the Immigration Rules.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of people who have claimed asylum since 20 July 2023 will be subject to the duty to remove imposed by the Illegal Migration Act.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The Illegal Migration Act was introduced on 7th of March 2023 and received Royal Assent on 20 July 2023. Individuals who entered or arrived illegally from 20 July 2023 will be subject to the duty to remove (section 2 of the Illegal Migration Act) once commenced.
Once the act is commenced, official numbers will be available.
Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, as well as quality and availability of data. The Government’s published data on illegal migration (available here: Statistics relating to Illegal Migration - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)).
The Government’s priority is to deter individuals from making dangerous, illegal, and unnecessary journeys to the UK.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on how his Department can take steps to help tackle labour shortages in the fishing industry.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Skilled Worker route has a number of eligible occupations linked to the fishing sector, and the sector also benefits from a generous package of support provided by the Home Office when it comes to making visa applications.
Nevertheless, labour shortages cannot be solved through the immigration system alone and there is regular engagement between departments when developing policy. We will continue to strike the balance between reducing overall net migration and ensuring that businesses have the skills they need to support economic growth.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of his Department's policies on tackling labour shortages in the fishing industry.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Skilled Worker route has a number of eligible occupations linked to the fishing sector, and the sector also benefits from a generous package of support provided by the Home Office when it comes to making visa applications.
Nevertheless, labour shortages cannot be solved through the immigration system alone and there is regular engagement between departments when developing policy. We will continue to strike the balance between reducing overall net migration and ensuring that businesses have the skills they need to support economic growth.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with which airlines his Department has held discussions on the Rwanda scheme in the last six months.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The Department engages with commercial partners where required to deliver on its responsibilities. The details of any such discussions are commercially sensitive and therefore we will not be providing a running commentary on them.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the potential impact of the introduction of Electronic Travel Authorisation on transit passenger volumes.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Electronic Travel Authorisations deliver important security benefits. A blanket exemption to the ETA requirement for passengers transiting airside would fundamentally undermine the rationale of the scheme by creating a permission free route of travel into the UK which would be open to abuse.
The process for obtaining an ETA is quick and light touch, and the cost (£10 per application) is minimal compared to the overall cost of international travel. An ETA will be valid for two years, or until the expiry of the passport used to apply, and can be used for multiple trips during this period.
We will keep our position under review to monitor the impact on transit as the scheme is rolled out.