Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Minister for Legal Migration and the Border's Oral Statement of 8 May 2024 on Passport e-Gates Network Outage, Official Report, column 592, if he will publish a report of the investigations into the failure of passport e-gates on 7 May 2024.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
It has never been Government practice, for reasons of law enforcement, to comment on operational issues relating to border security and immigration controls. This includes offering commentary on the performance of border systems and of ePassport Gates data specifically.
The Home Office has a number of contingency arrangements in the event of a system failure, including technical and business contingency measures.
In the UK, all arriving passengers need to establish their eligibility for admission. Every passenger is required to establish their nationality and identity. To maintain a safe and secure border, a passenger’s passport or national identity card is checked electronically. The eGates and face-to-face checks are two methods of conducting the same process.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the advice given to immigrants by care worker agencies on finding suitable accommodation in the UK.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Department of Health and Social Care have published guidance for people applying for health and social care jobs which can be found below: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/applying-for-health-and-social-care-jobs-in-the-uk-from-abroad.
The Legal Migration and Borders Minister has met regularly with his counterpart in DHSC to discuss care worker visas.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has plans to negotiate an agreement with the Republic of Ireland on the return of asylum seekers (a) from Ireland to the UK and (b) from the UK to Ireland.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
In 2020, we agreed with Ireland bilateral non-legally binding operational arrangements which allows for the return and readmission of asylum seekers when agreed by both participants.
We will only make agreements that are in the interests of the UK, and will not accept any future deals which might increase the significant burdens already placed on the UK by the level of illegal migration.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to be able to make a full value for money assessment of (1) the Illegal Migration Act 2023, and (2) the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act 2024; and when they expect to be able to assess with certainty the level of deterrent effect of this legislation.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Both the Illegal Migration Act 2023 and the Safety of Rwanda Act 2024 aim to put a stop to illegal migration into the UK by removing the incentive to make dangerous small boat crossings.
The Home Office has published its Economic Impact Assessment for the Illegal Migration Act https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/impact-assessments-covering-migration-policy and Safety of Rwanda Act Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill: impact assessments - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
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, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the UK's departure from the EU on the effectiveness of processes for working with French authorities to prosecute (a) small boat gangs and (b) other people traffickers.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
Since the UK left the EU in January 2020, we have strengthened our bilateral relationship with France on migration. This included establishing, in July 2020, the UK-France Joint Intelligence Cell (JIC) which is located in France and has co-located UK and French officers working together to support the prosecution of small boat gangs. Since it was established, the work of the JIC has led to the dismantling of 24 organised crime groups involved in small boat crossings, with 12 of these groups being dismantled in 2023 alone.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the longest waiting time is for a decision on a British citizenship application as of 13 May 2024.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office does not routinely comment on individual cases. Published data regarding naturalisation applications can be found in the migration statistics which are published quarterly: Visas and citizenship data: Q4 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to collect data on the reasons people do not claim Universal Credit when required to do so by the managed migration process.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
A survey commenced in April this year where we contacted people who have not claimed Universal Credit following receipt of the migration notice. Findings from this survey will be published in due course.
We published research on Tax Credit only claimants on 29 February 2024 Move to Universal Credit – insight on Tax Credit migrations and initial Discovery activity for wider benefit cohorts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2024 to Question 902040 on Universal Credit, when he will publish constituency level data setting out how many Universal Credit Migration Notice letters he plans to send.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department publishes regular Move to Universal Credit statistics, which can be found at: Move to Universal Credit statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The next release, on Tuesday 14 May 2024, will include statistics, including Migration Notices sent, by Parliamentary Constituency level. Forecasts at constituency level are not readily available.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has (a) made an assessment of the potential impact of Universal Credit migration on disabled people and (b) put support in place for disabled people affected by that migration.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The DWP continue to learn and iterate our approach as we progress our Move to Universal Credit activity. We remain committed to ensuring that the transition to Universal Credit works as smoothly as possible for all customers, including the most vulnerable in society. Our latest insight publication is available on GOV.UK - Move to Universal Credit – insight on Tax Credit migrations and initial Discovery activity for wider benefit cohorts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
We have developed an enhanced support journey for ESA and Income Support customers and remain confident that this provides effective support for our most vulnerable customers.
All customers can also use the independent Help to Claim service run by Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland which provides support across England, Scotland, and Wales as well as accessing face to face support at job centres.
Also, we continue to work with a broad range of external stakeholders to gather their insight and experience of working with our mutual customers, to learn and develop our approach for moving legacy benefit customers to Universal Credit.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many full-time equivalent established posts there were in the Civil Service dealing with immigration issues related to the Rwanda scheme at (1) 30 September 2023, (2) 31 December 2023, and (3) 31 March 2024; and how many of these posts were filled on these dates.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes its accounts each year which sets out the FTE working in each of its systems, including on matters relating to Migration and Borders.