Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of relocation of operations from Abercrombie House on retention of staff within his Department.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
All staff working in the FCDO will be supported through the change, with communications and engagement at the heart of our workplans. The FCDO already provides hybrid and flexible working policies to support staff to fully contribute to their work with the FCDO and wider Civil Service.
Asked by: Baroness Smith of Newnham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Afghans and their families have come to the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy in the last two months, and how many they expect to arrive before 31 December.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Over 1,500 ARAP Eligible Principals (EPs) and their family members have been relocated in the past two months. 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: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many flights his Department (a) has chartered and (b) plans to charter to transport Afghan refugees from Pakistan since October for (i) each month in 2023 and (ii) the first three months of 2024; what estimate he has made of the total number of flights that will be chartered in total; and whether the total number of flights will be calculated on the number of Afghan refugees currently receiving UK Government support in Pakistan.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Resettlement of eligible Afghans remains a top priority for this Government.
The latest published Immigration system statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) show that at the end of September 2023, around 24,600 vulnerable people affected by the events in Afghanistan have been brought to safety so far.
The UK Government and our partners will arrange and fund travel for those accepted under our Afghan schemes as part of the resettlement and relocation process. Depending on the individual circumstances, this may be via charter or commercial flights.
Flights for those being resettled under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) are organised by the International Organisation for Migration, in line with requests from the Home Office. As flights are operational you will appreciate that we cannot go into more detail about them.
We will continue to honour our commitment to bring eligible Afghans to the UK, with new arrivals going directly into settled accommodation where possible.
Asked by: Baroness Smith of Newnham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what advice they are giving to those eligible to come to the UK under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme and the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy who are currently in Pakistan and whose visas have expired or will shortly expire.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We have received verbal assurances from the Government of Pakistan that Afghans supported in Pakistan under UK resettlement schemes will remain safe while they await relocation to the UK. We have suggested that eligible families take sensible precautions including when outside of their accommodation. We have also made them aware of how to respond if approached by the police, including providing contact details for the International Organization for Migration (IOM)/British High Commission. We have distributed letters to every eligible family to help ensure the Government of Pakistan are aware those individuals are under our protection.
Asked by: Baroness Smith of Newnham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of Afghans eligible to come to the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy who are currently (1) still in Afghanistan, or (2) in Pakistan.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As of 30 November 2023, there are around 2,991 confirmed ARAP Eligible Principals (EPs) and their family members in Afghanistan, and 2,047 in Pakistan.
These figures fluctuate as we continue to identify eligible individuals. We are committed to support the relocation of eligible Afghans and their families out of Afghanistan and Pakistan as quickly as possible. To date we have brought approximately 13,600 to safety in the UK under the ARAP scheme.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many members of the Afghan Territorial Force 444 and Commando Force 333 have (1) qualified for relocation to the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, and (2) been told they are ineligible under that policy.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As of 28 November, we have relocated 13,300 ARAP Eligible Principals (EPs) and their family members to safety in the UK under the ARAP scheme and have approximately 6,000 eligible persons and family members remaining to relocate to the UK. It is not possible to provide a breakdown of these figures by job role or specific unit.
Not all former members of the Afghan Armed Forces, including specific units such as Afghan Territorial Force 444 and Commando Force 333, will automatically be eligible for ARAP. Each application is assessed on a case-by-case basis on its own merits and in line with published policy. We are prioritising finding remaining eligible applicants and relocating them as quickly as we can.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department has made representations to the Government of Pakistan on the safety of Afghan refugees in that country who are eligible for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Department, including the Foreign Secretary and the British High Commissioner to Islamabad, has made such representations, and will continue to do so. We have received assurances from the Government of Pakistan that Afghans being supported in Pakistan under the Afghans Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) will remain safe in Pakistan while they await relocation to the UK. An MOD-led operation has relocated over 1,500 ARAP-eligible Afghans to the UK since September.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the costs incurred to date of the asylum transfer scheme with Rwanda.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The UK has provided Rwanda with an initial investment of £120m into its economic development and growth as part of the Economic Transformation and Integration Fund (ETIF). Investment has been focused in areas such as education, healthcare, agriculture, infrastructure, and job creation. A separate payment of £20m in advance of flights was also paid last year to support initial set up costs for the relocation of individuals. Beyond this, spend will be reported as part of the annual Home Office Reports and Accounts in the usual way.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps to increase (a) the number of training positions for teachers and (b) incentives for specialist teachers to train in the UK.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not currently cap or restrict the number of teacher training positions offered by accredited Initial Teacher Training (ITT) providers. This enables them to recruit the highest number of candidates that they can whilst ensuring they are able to deliver high-quality training.
For the 2024/25 academic year recruitment cycle, the department has announced an ITT financial incentives package worth up to £196 million, which is a £15 million increase on the last cycle.
For trainees starting ITT in 2024/25, the department is offering a £28,000 tax-free bursary and £30,000 tax-free bursaries in mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing.
The department is also offering a £25,000 tax-free bursary for biology, design & technology, geography and languages (including ancient languages), and a £10,000 tax-free bursary for English, art and design, music and religious education.
The department reviews the bursaries on offer each year to take account of factors including historic recruitment, forecast economic conditions, and teacher supply need in each subject. This provides flexibility to respond to the need to attract new teachers, and means the department is spending money where it is needed most.
The department welcomes talented individuals from overseas to train to teach in England. For the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years, the department has extended bursary and scholarship eligibility to all non-UK national trainees in physics and languages. This means international physics and languages trainees are eligible for scholarships worth up to £30,000 and bursaries worth up to £28,000. The department is also piloting a new international relocation payment worth £10,000 to help teachers and trainees in languages and physics with the cost of visas and other expenses involved in moving to England.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that women in third countries who are (a) eligible for the (i) ACRS and (ii) ARAP schemes and (b) in the third trimester of pregnancy are flown to the UK before they are no longer fit to fly.
Answered by James Heappey
The Ministry of Defence oversees the relocation of Eligible Persons (EPs) to the United Kingdom under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme, working in close partnership with other Government departments.
As part of the relocation process, the Ministry of Defence makes every effort to ensure that all EPs are medically fit to travel before departure, through work undertaken by His Majesty's Government’s (HMG) contracted medical advisor. When HMG are aware of pregnancy, flights are arranged to allow travel as quickly and as safely as is possible. This is, however, dependent on EPs disclosing their pregnancy, which we cannot guarantee.
For the separate Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), flights and travel assistance are arranged by the Home Office and its partners, including the International Organization for Migration.