Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they have taken to establish the statutory inquiry into the Manston migrant processing centre.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Following a decision to launch a statutory inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005, the Home Office is taking steps to establish the Inquiry. In accordance with the Inquiries Act 2005, the Department will make a formal statement to Parliament, which will include details of the Chair and Terms of Reference, in due course.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of trends in the number of convictions for class (a) A and (b) B drug possession in the last five years.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
No specific assessment on trends in convictions for drug offences as a result of policy changes has been made, but the Government takes the matter of harmful drugs very seriously. Our approach to them remains clear - we must prevent drug misuse in our communities and support people through treatment and recovery.
The police have a range of powers at their disposal to deal with drug-related offences, such as illegal possession, and how police choose to pursue investigations is an operational decision for Chief Constables, but we are clear that we expect them to enforce the law. We expect police to take a zero tolerance approach to drug possession, and this can include sanctions other than prosecution. This includes referrals to treatment, as well as sanctions to make offenders understand the impact of their actions and opportunities for them to change their behaviour. However, we are clear prosecution remains an option to deal with repeat offenders.
We keep the classification of drugs under review. Ministers are subject to a statutory obligation to consider advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), an independent scientific advisory body, before making legislation on the classification of drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Legislative changes are accompanied by a robust impact assessment where we set out the potential impacts of such changes.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
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 merits of introducing time limits on asylum cases for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office takes our duty of care towards children and young people extremely seriously and we prioritise applications from children and young people.
The Home Office does not currently have a target time for processing applications for asylum, but is committed to ensuring claims are considered without unnecessary delay. We have already made progress in prioritising claims with acute vulnerability and those in receipt of the greatest level of support, including Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children.
Introducing a service standard for asylum claims is a complex consideration which needs to be balanced between the requirements of operational efficiency, the needs of service users and the integrity of asylum control measures, including the implementation of the Illegal Migration Act. A project to review these considerations, along with scope and potential implementation timescales, will be undertaken. Once the project is completed, a final decision will be taken on any potential asylum claim service standards.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is his policy to create a UK visa scheme for Palestinian (a) families displaced in Gaza and (b) orphans from Gaza.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office is not currently considering establishing a separate route for Palestinians to come to the UK. In any humanitarian situation, the UK must consider its response in the round. Palestinians who wish to join family members in the UK must do so via the existing range of routes available.
Immediate family members of British citizens, and those settled in the UK, who wish to come and live in the UK and do not have a current UK visa can apply under one of the existing family visa routes. UKVI is working closely with the FCDO in supporting family members of British nationals to exit from Gaza who require a visa, signposting the necessary steps and expediting appointments at the Visa Application Centre.
Any application for a UK visa will be assessed against the requirements of the Immigration Rules and our suitability requirements. Consideration will be given to compelling, compassionate and exceptional circumstances raised and may be taken into account where certain requirements are not met.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information his Department holds on the number of asylum seekers that have (a) entered the Republic of Ireland by crossing the land border from Northern Ireland and (b) been returned to the UK from the Republic of Ireland at the request of the Irish Government in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
In 2020, we agreed operational arrangements which allow for the return and readmission of asylum seekers where this is agreed by both participants. Ireland has not returned anyone to the UK under these arrangements.
The UK does not operate routine immigration controls on journeys from within the Common Travel Area, with no immigration checks being undertaken on the Northern Ireland-Ireland land border. We do not routinely collect data on asylum seekers entering Ireland.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what planning estimate they have made for the number of people who have arrived by irregular routes and need to be accommodated in the UK because they have not been sent to a safe third country or returned home, for the end of each month from April to December 2024.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office routinely publishes information on a quarterly basis, including on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, all irregular modes of entry into the UK, and the level of returns.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many individuals who are not British citizens have had their visitor or other visas rescinded as a result of criminal activities associated with public order offences since 7 October 2023.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office does not publish data on UK visa holders who have had visas rescinded as a result of criminal activities associated with public order offences at the current time.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle drug-related offences in (a) Cumbria and (b) England.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Reducing drug-related crime is a key priority of the Government’s 10-year Drugs Strategy. We are making good progress. Since April 2022, we have closed over 2,500 county lines nationally.
Through the County Lines Programme, our exporter force taskforces (Metropolitan Police Service, Merseyside, West Midlands and Greater Manchester Police) work in collaboration with importer forces, including Cumbria Police, to tackle the drug supply and exploitation associated with County Lines.
Through our County Lines Programme, we also fund the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre (NCLCC), to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response. We have also established a dedicated Surge Fund to help forces tackle county lines, from which Cumbria have received investment.
Through the Drugs Strategy, we are also investing £532m into high quality drug treatment which reduces crime and reoffending. There are now 24,500 more people in treatment across England, including Cumbria.
The Government has asked every area in England to form a Combating Drugs Partnership (CDP) to work together to reduce drug-related harm and crime. Cumbria is covered by the Cumbria CDP, which has a Police Force Area wide footprint. The Senior Responsible Owner is the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC) for Cumbria.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people received (a) less than £10,000, (b) £10,000-£20,000, (c) £20,000-£50,000, (d) £50,000-£100,000 and (e) more than £100,000 in each quarter since the Windrush Compensation scheme was launched.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Information on the breakdown of full and final offers and payments made to Windrush Compensation Scheme claimants is published as part of the monthly Windrush Schemes Factsheet. The latest set of data on the schemes, which covers the period to the end of March 2024, is available here: Windrush Compensation Schemes Factsheet.
The Windrush Compensation Scheme does not publish compensation award data in the payment or date range requested.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of (a) women and (b) men who have arrived in the UK by small boat in 2024 are receiving accommodation support.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation (including in contingency hotels and other contingency accommodation) is published in table Asy_D11 here: Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Data is published on a quarterly basis.
The Home Office does not publish a breakdown of statistics which disaggregates by method of arrival.