Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the affordability of visa application and renewal fees under the family route.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Fees for immigration and nationality applications are kept under review; however, the Home Office provides for exceptions to the need to pay application fees in a number of specific circumstances. These include affordability-based waivers for entry clearance and leave to remain on family and human rights grounds.
Considerations regarding fees charged on the family route have also been addressed in published Equalities Impact Assessment, which can be found at the following link: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/363/pdfs/uksiod_20250363_en_001.pdf.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department carried out an economic impact assessment prior to suspending refugee family reunion.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Impacts on vulnerable individuals and equalities considerations are at the front and centre of our work. As required through the Public Sector Equality Duty, we consider equality impacts throughout the policy development process, refugee family reunion is no exception.
The Home Office has carried out and published an Economic Note on the changes to the Immigration Rules on 4 September 2025.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department carried out an equality impact assessment prior to suspending refugee family reunion.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Impacts on vulnerable individuals and equalities considerations are at the front and centre of our work. As required through the Public Sector Equality Duty, we consider equality impacts throughout the policy development process, refugee family reunion is no exception.
The Home Office has carried out and published an Economic Note on the changes to the Immigration Rules on 4 September 2025.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her department plans to publish statistics on the time taken by newly recognised refugees to submit family reunion applications.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
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, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the policy paper entitled Economic note: Appendix Family Reunion, suspension of new applications, published on 4 September 2025, if she will publish the equalities impact assessment for that note.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Impacts on vulnerable individuals and equalities considerations are at the front and centre of our work. As required through the Public Sector Equality Duty, we consider equality impacts throughout the policy development process, refugee family reunion is no exception. The Home Office will not be releasing the Equality Impact Assessment as the policy is still in development as part of wider reform.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the post-decision move on period on levels of homelessness in Canterbury.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
From 1 September 2025, the Home Office has taken the decision to pause the 56 day move on period pilot for single adults in receipt of a positive asylum decision, with the exception of individuals who are pregnant, over the age of 65 or have a known/evidence disability, as defined by the 2010 Equality Act. All families and single adults that fall within the exception criteria granted asylum will continue to be given the 56-day pilot move on period until the end of December. We are committed to providing all our partners with appropriate notice of any further changes to the Move On period through our regular engagement forums and in writing
We closely monitor the impact of all our policies, including the move on period, on the number and occupancy of asylum hotels, the overall costs of the asylum accommodation estate, the wider effect on local communities, and any pressures placed on local authorities and public amenities. We remain committed to working closely with our partners to identify improvements and make efficiencies in supporting newly recognised refugees move on from asylum accommodation. We are committed to keeping our partners informed through regular engagement.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has has made of the potential impact of the the suspension of refugee family reunion route on number of visa applications.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The suspension of the refugee family reunion route is temporary while the Government undertakes a full review and reform of the current family rules to ensure we have a fair and properly balanced system. In the meantime, those with protection status can use other family routes to sponsor a partner and child to come to the UK. Information relating to these changes are published on gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statement-of-changes-to-the-immigration-rules-hc-1298-4-september-2025.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to support access to education for children fleeing Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
On 21 July, the former Foreign Secretary announced £20 million of support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to carry out essential services for Palestinian refugees in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. This funding will provide emergency food, shelter and other support for over 2 million people, as well as support UNRWA's wider work across the region, enabling the Agency to restore some education services for hundreds of thousands of children and expand psychosocial support for traumatised families. The vital work of UNRWA in ensuring that Palestinians have access to education must also be protected in Gaza as well as the West Bank and East Jerusalem. We call on Israel to work urgently with international partners, including the UN, so there is no disruption to this vital work. UK support has meant that to date, at least 14,000 children have been given access to education materials and welfare support. We have provided £5.6 million to the Global Partnership for Education to support the educational needs of children and young people in Gaza and the West Bank. Our support to Education Cannot Wait is also supporting children's education via the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and other partners.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) Israel, (b) Lebanon, (c) Jordan and (d) Egypt on access to education for children fleeing Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
On 21 July, the former Foreign Secretary announced £20 million of support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to carry out essential services for Palestinian refugees in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. This funding will provide emergency food, shelter and other support for over 2 million people, as well as support UNRWA's wider work across the region, enabling the Agency to restore some education services for hundreds of thousands of children and expand psychosocial support for traumatised families. The vital work of UNRWA in ensuring that Palestinians have access to education must also be protected in Gaza as well as the West Bank and East Jerusalem. We call on Israel to work urgently with international partners, including the UN, so there is no disruption to this vital work. UK support has meant that to date, at least 14,000 children have been given access to education materials and welfare support. We have provided £5.6 million to the Global Partnership for Education to support the educational needs of children and young people in Gaza and the West Bank. Our support to Education Cannot Wait is also supporting children's education via the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and other partners.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the suspension of new applications for refugee family reunion on children seeking to reunite with family members.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The suspension of the refugee family reunion route is temporary while the Government undertakes a full review and reform of the current family rules to ensure we have a fair and properly balanced system. In the meantime, those with protection status can use other family routes to sponsor a partner and child to come to the UK. Information relating these changes are published on gov.uk at Statement of changes to the Immigration Rules: HC 1298, 4 September 2025 - GOV.UK.