Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people in Pakistan eligible for relocation under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme have been relocated to the UK since December 2023.
Answered by James Heappey
As of 30 January 2024, 1,273 Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) Eligible Principals and their family members have been relocated to the UK from Pakistan since December 2023.
Many factors govern the flow of relocation, but we are endeavouring to bring as many eligible Afghans as possible to the UK, as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Lord Sharpe of Epsom on 18 December 2023 (HL Deb col 2048), on what date they announced that housing in the UK need not be secured before a visa for relocation to the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy or Afghan citizens resettlement scheme can be issued.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
On 8 November 2023, the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs gave an oral statement to the House of Commons stating that those eligible under ACRS and ARAP no longer needed to be matched to suitable accommodation prior to their arrival.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether visas for relocation to the UK under (1) the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, and (2) the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme, include a date of issue.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Vignettes that are issued under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) include a date of issue.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what risk assessments are carried out when facilitating room-sharing on the Bibby Stockholm, and at what intervals this is repeated after the outset of an asylum seeker’s relocation to the vessel.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The welfare of asylum seekers is our utmost priority. The Home Office ensures that accommodation provided is adequate and regularly reevaluates to ensure it meets the regulatory standards.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the level of (a) damage and (b) loss posed to the contents of the herbarium at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew by a relocation.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
No final funding decision has been made in relation to the new herbarium.
Kew have advised that they have an active programme of safely and professionally shipping specimens all over the world; moving the specimens will be in line with the established and ongoing practice.
Asked by: Lord Hacking (Labour - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what monies they have thus far paid to the government of Rwanda; what further monies they are currently contracted to pay to that government; and what further costs they estimate will arise from the deportation of migrants under the Illegal Migration Act 2023.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Rwanda received an initial £120 million as part of the Economic and Transformation Fund, which has been used to expand Rwanda’s economic development and its capability of accommodating and welcoming new arrivals to benefit both migrants and host communities. In advance of flights, £20 million was paid to support initial set up costs for the relocation of individuals. Through the Economic Transformation and Integration Fund (ETIF) we have provided a further £100 million to Rwanda this financial year (23/24) and a further anticipated £50 million that may be payable in 2024. Information on funding will continue to be released as part of the Home Office Accounts publication each summer.
The Impact Assessment for the Illegal Migration Act can be found here: Impact Assessment (publishing.service.gov.uk).
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the prevalence of reasons other than retirement for maternity staff leaving NHS employment.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
NHS England collects information based on a broad ‘reason for leaving’ data field in the Electronic Staff Record (ESR), linked to staff recorded as leaving active service. ESR is the payroll system for the National Health Service; information from it is held by NHS Digital and is based upon the National Workforce Data Set, which allows for the capture of nationally consistent information about the healthcare workforce for the purposes of monitoring and workforce planning.
The following table shows midwife leavers from the NHS and Reason for Leaving in NHS trusts and other Core Organisations in England between 31 March 2022 and 2023:
Reasons for Leaving | Number of midwives |
Bank Staff not fulfilled minimum work requirement | 2 |
Death in Service | 14 |
Dismissal - Capability | 21 |
Dismissal - Conduct | 4 |
Dismissal - Some Other Substantial Reason | 10 |
Dismissal - Statutory Reason | 0 |
Employee Transfer | 3 |
End of Fixed Term Contract | 17 |
End of Fixed Term Contract - Completion of Training Scheme | 1 |
End of Fixed Term Contract - End of Work Requirement | 0 |
End of Fixed Term Contract - Other | 2 |
Flexi Retirement | 12 |
Has Not Worked | 0 |
Mutually Agreed Resignation - Local Scheme with Repayment | 0 |
Mutually Agreed Resignation - National Scheme with Repayment | 0 |
Pregnancy | 0 |
Redundancy - Compulsory | 0 |
Redundancy - Voluntary | 1 |
Retirement - Ill Health | 17 |
Retirement Age | 389 |
Voluntary Early Retirement - no Actuarial Reduction | 28 |
Voluntary Early Retirement - with Actuarial Reduction | 11 |
Voluntary Resignation - Adult Dependants | 7 |
Voluntary Resignation - Better Reward Package | 15 |
Voluntary Resignation - Child Dependants | 28 |
Voluntary Resignation - Health | 68 |
Voluntary Resignation - Incompatible Working Relationships | 11 |
Voluntary Resignation - Lack of Opportunities | 11 |
Voluntary Resignation - Other/Not Known | 213 |
Voluntary Resignation - Promotion | 62 |
Voluntary Resignation - Relocation | 205 |
Voluntary Resignation - To undertake further education or training | 32 |
Voluntary Resignation - Work Life Balance | 323 |
Unknown | 1,573 |
Midwife Total | 3,080 |
Source: NHS England
Note: Robust assessment of drivers in reasons for leaving is difficult from the data due to the high number of staff who have an unknown classification.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to remarks by Lord Sharpe of Epsom on 18 December 2023 (HL Deb cols 2046–2049), how they are assisting former Afghan soldiers who were trained by the UK and worked with British forces, particularly those now facing the risk of being sent back to Afghanistan from Pakistan; and what discussions they have had with their Pakistan counterparts to ensure their safe passage and sanctuary.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence continues to work alongside the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office in constructive talks with the Government of Pakistan to ensure UK-sponsored Afghans in Pakistan are protected from the threat of deportation. However, it is the case that we can only extend UK Government support to Afghans in Pakistan who are eligible for our Afghan resettlement schemes.
The ARAP scheme is more generous in its eligibility criteria than predecessor schemes. Nonetheless, it was designed to support those who worked for, with or alongside the UK's Armed Forces in support - critically - of the UK's mission or national security objectives in Afghanistan.
Each ARAP application is assessed on a case-by-case basis, with all applications, including those from former members of the Afghan security forces, scrutinised on their own merits in line with our published policy and eligibility criteria. All applicants, irrespective of job role, will only be eligible if they individually meet these criteria outlined in the published policy.
This means that some Afghans whose bravery and heroism are in no doubt whatsoever, will not be eligible for relocation under ARAP.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has issued on the formal process by which asylum seekers (a) are notified that they should leave hotels and (b) move to other Home Office-funded accommodation.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office has always been clear that use of hotels as temporary accommodation for asylum seekers was a short-term measure to ensure that we met our statutory obligation to accommodate asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute during a period of unprecedented numbers of small boat arrivals.
The closure of individual hotels and relocation of service users to alternative accommodation is being managed in accordance with established allocation of accommodation policy and processes.
Our accommodation providers will notify asylum seekers as early as possible of an upcoming hotel closure and will discuss the move with each individual and establish if there are any safeguarding, medical, or other personal circumstances which need to be considered.
Asylum accommodation is generally provided on a ‘no choice’ basis and individuals will be moved to suitable alternative accommodation, which may be in a different location from their current hotel. Those whose personal circumstances necessitate accommodation in a particular location, will have their requests considered in accordance with existing published policies.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Written Statement of 6 December 2023 on Signing of the Rwanda Treaty [HCWS101], what his timescale is for beginning relocation of asylum seekers to Rwanda; and what plans he has for accommodating asylum seekers who are not relocated to Rwanda in the next five years.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The process of relocating asylum seekers to Rwanda will begin after the Treaty and the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill comes into force after having progressed through Parliament. The Treaty has been laid before Parliament under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 and the procedures under that Act must be complied with before the Treaty can be ratified and come into force.
Individuals whose asylum claims are declared inadmissible may be able to obtain support under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 if they would otherwise be destitute. Certain individuals may also be able to obtain support under sections 98 and 95 of this Act. Such support may include accommodation.