Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time taken was to process migrant visa applications in each of the last three years for which data is available.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Data relating the performance against visa service standards are produced as part of the Migration Transparency publication.
These can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data#uk-visas-and-immigration.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people were given entry clearance to the UK in the last recorded 12-month period on the basis of (1) family life as a partner or parent, or (2) exceptional circumstances in compliance with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The number of applications for entry clearance to the UK that are made on the basis of family life as a partner or parent and any exceptional circumstances in compliance with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights does not form part of any current transparency data or migration statistics and is not published.
The published online transparency data does, however, include a range of processing data.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to (1) address, and (2) mitigate, the potential implications of the recent High Court ruling in Northern Ireland which ordered the disapplication of some provisions of the Illegal Migration Act 2023.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is considering the judgment carefully before deciding on next steps.
The Government has consistently made clear that the provisions in the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement referred to in the Windsor Framework were developed specifically against the background of Northern Ireland's unique circumstances. They do not concern and should not be brought into the complex legal debate concerning illegal migration. The Government will take all steps to defend that position, including through appeal.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the percentage of people who moved to Universal Credit under the 'Move to UC' policy have been awarded 'transitional protection' (1) between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024, and (2) between 1 to 30 April 2024.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The latest published statistics show for households sent a migration notice between April 2023 and end of March 2024, and who went on to claim Universal Credit, 60% were awarded transitional protection.
The relevant information can be found in ‘table 9a’ published here: Move to Universal Credit statistics, July 2022 to March 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Data for April 2024 will be published as part of the next Move to Universal Credit statistics release.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the new arrangements and communications relating to the roll out of Digital Voice by BT; in particular, what assessment they have made of the clarity of communications to customers regarding opting in or out of the ability to retain their copper connection or move to fibre and how they should do this; whether any opt in or opt out is indefinite or for a limited period; and what are the costs to an individual customer of opting in or opting out.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The PSTN switch-off is a necessity, given that the network is past its serviceable life and is experiencing increasing failure rates year-on-year. Ultimately everyone will need to move off a copper connection for safety.
Currently, with the exception of a small number of customers who do not use or need a landline, BT has paused all non-voluntary migrations to Digital Voice. As agreed in the PSTN Charter for Communication Providers in December 2023, non-voluntary migrations will only be restarted once BT can guarantee that all possible steps have been taken to protect vulnerable users. Initially, only customers who are identified as not being vulnerable as a result of the PSTN switch-off, will be migrated. However, the migration of vulnerable customers will still happen at a later point with the appropriate support from BT.
The Department is currently working with BT, among other key stakeholders, to define any groups at a heightened risk during the migration, as per the PSTN charter. If a customer notifies BT of any additional needs, they will also be able to defer their migration.
Customers with vulnerabilities or additional needs who are choosing to move to Digital Voice will be provided with free support from BT, such as an engineer in-home installation, a battery backup unit and/or a hybrid landline-mobile handset.
Customers signing new contracts will be provided with a digital landline by default unless they are identified as a telecare user, in which case their migration will be deferred. Openreach engineers will not currently proceed with a migration during an in-home visit if a telecare device is found at a premises.
Customers should not expect to see any additional fees from migrating to VoIP or continuing to use their PSTN landlines.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the publication Move to Universal Credit statistics, July 2022 to March 2024, published on 14 May 2024, if he will make an assessment of the reasons why over 180,000 Tax Credits claimants that have been sent a migration notice did not make a Universal Credit claim within the required timeframe.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In February 2024, we published insight into tax credit claim rates, including reasons for not claiming, available here: Move to Universal Credit – insight on Tax Credit migrations and initial Discovery activity for wider benefit cohorts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the budget allocated to his Department's Illegal Migration Operations Command was for financial year (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
For security reasons, the Home Office does not provide data of staff working within the Illegal Migrations of Operation Command or on its resourcing plans.
The Home Office continues to ensure appropriate staffing levels are maintained. As with all government departments, we remain committed to accessing the best talent and skills into the Civil Service while adhering to headcount caps, maximising efficiency and delivering for the public whilst retaining maximum value for the taxpayer.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many full-time equivalent members of staff were working in Illegal Migration Operations Command on 1 April 2024.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
For security reasons, the Home Office does not provide data of staff working within the Illegal Migrations of Operation Command or on its resourcing plans.
The Home Office continues to ensure appropriate staffing levels are maintained. As with all government departments, we remain committed to accessing the best talent and skills into the Civil Service while adhering to headcount caps, maximising efficiency and delivering for the public whilst retaining maximum value for the taxpayer.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many positions within his Department's Illegal Migration Operations Command were vacant on 1 April 2024.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
For security reasons, the Home Office does not provide data of staff working within the Illegal Migrations of Operation Command or on its resourcing plans.
The Home Office continues to ensure appropriate staffing levels are maintained. As with all government departments, we remain committed to accessing the best talent and skills into the Civil Service while adhering to headcount caps, maximising efficiency and delivering for the public whilst retaining maximum value for the taxpayer.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) work and (b) family visas were issued to people aged (i) between (A) 18 and 24, (B) 25 and 34, (C) 35 and 44, (D) 45 and 54 and (E) 55 and 64 and (ii) 65 and over in each year since 2010.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The number of work or family applications for entry clearance to the UK that are broken down by age group does not form part of any current transparency data or migration statistics and is not published.
The transparency data does, however, include a range of processing data and the latest data can be found at:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data#uk-visas-and-immigration