Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum applicants have been returned to the UK from the EU in the last 12 months.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
There have been no returns from the EU to the UK.
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 average waiting time is for a fee waiver application decision; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of those waiting times on people without leave to remain.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Please find published transparency data regarding consideration times for fee waivers in relation to permission to stay here: Immigration and protection data: Q4 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Where a fee waiver application is submitted in relation to a subsequent application for permission to stay, while the applicant still has valid permission, and that permission expires while the fee waiver application is outstanding, section 3C of the 1971 Immigration Act will automatically extend the person’s permission while the fee waiver and linked application are still pending.
In the case of applicants where there is evidence of significant vulnerability, for example homeless individuals, the department makes efforts to prioritise consideration of their fee waiver application to support resolution of status.
Asked by: Joanna Cherry (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Palestinians who were living in Gaza before 27 October 2023 have been granted the right to enter the UK.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The information requested is not available in the requested format.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Introduction to the Government Response to the Report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) on its visit to the United Kingdom from 27 March to 6 April 2023 (CPT/Inf (2024) 09), whether he has had recent discussion with Cabinet colleagues on the implications for their policies of the (a) conditions of detention and (b) treatment of persons held under immigration powers in the UK.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
Detention plays a key role in maintaining effective immigration control and securing the UK’s borders, particularly in connection with the removal of people who have no right to remain in the UK but who refuse to leave voluntarily.
The Home Office takes the welfare and safety of people in its care very seriously and we are committed to ensuring the proper protection and treatment of people in detention.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of introducing a new Safety of Women at Night Fund.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The independent evaluation of the Safety of Women at Night (SWaN) Fund, worth £5 million and delivered over the 2021/22 financial year, was published on 10 April.
Learnings from the SWaN Fund were incorporated into rounds Four and Five of the Safer Streets Fund, worth £50m and £35m respectively, which included a primary objective around combatting violence against women and girls in public spaces, and have funded a range of interventions including CCTV, streetlighting and educational initiatives with a focus on changing attitudes and behaviours. Round five is currently ongoing.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what arrangements are in place with the government of Ireland for illegal immigrants to be returned from that country to the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We have no plans for a specific returns agreement with Ireland on the return of asylum seekers.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people his Department has identified for deportation to Rwanda in (a) Stockport and (b) Greater Manchester.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The Home Office does not routinely publish information on detention activity at a regional level.
The first illegal migrants set to be removed to Rwanda have now been detained, following a series of nationwide operations. We will not be providing a running commentary on operational activity.
Asked by: Lord Godson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what policies, guidance and practices the Border Force has adopted in relation to the arrival of (1) Israeli nationals, and (2) individuals with joint UK–Israeli citizenship in the UK; and whether there has been any change in this policy and its operation since October 2023.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Border Force’s number one priority is to keep our borders safe and secure, and we will never compromise on this.
Border Force would not comment on individual policies that could jeopardise border security.
Border Force performs checks on 100% of passengers arriving at the UK border on scheduled services, enabling interventions against those known or suspected to pose a risk to the national interest.
There are many reasons why a Border Force Officer may feel it necessary to ask additional questions to satisfy themselves of eligibility to enter. Officers carry out checks that are deemed necessary in accordance with immigration procedures.
In the UK, the Immigration Rules require all arriving passengers, regardless of their nationality or country they arrived from, to establish their eligibility for admission. To maintain a safe and secure border, a passenger’s passport or national identity card is checked. There are also times when extra checks are conducted.
Asked by: Lord Godson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what policies, guidance and practices the Border Force has adopted in relation to the arrival in the UK of (1) Israeli nationals, and (2) individuals with joint UK–Israeli citizenship, who have served in the IDF.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Border Force’s number one priority is to keep our borders safe and secure, and we will never compromise on this.
Border Force would not comment on individual policies that could jeopardise border security.
Border Force performs checks on 100% of passengers arriving at the UK border on scheduled services, enabling interventions against those known or suspected to pose a risk to the national interest.
There are many reasons why a Border Force Officer may feel it necessary to ask additional questions to satisfy themselves of eligibility to enter. Officers carry out checks that are deemed necessary in accordance with immigration procedures.
In the UK, the Immigration Rules require all arriving passengers, regardless of their nationality or country they arrived from, to establish their eligibility for admission. To maintain a safe and secure border, a passenger’s passport or national identity card is checked. There are also times when extra checks are conducted.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve the personal and cyber security of high-profile individuals involved in politics, such as parliamentarians, ahead of the upcoming general election campaign.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The safety of our elected representatives is essential to the security of our country. Protecting our democratic values and processes is one of the most important duties of government. That is why the Government will take every possible step to safeguard the people, processes, and institutions upon which our democracy relies.
On 28th February the Prime Minister announced the Government was investing an additional £31 million in funding to protect the democratic process and our elected representatives. The funding is being used to strengthen protective security measures for MPs and locally elected representatives over the next year.
Through the funding we are enhancing police capabilities, increasing private sector security provision for those facing a higher risk, and expanding cyber security advice to elected representatives. The investment also enables the expansion of the Operation BRIDGER network, so that every elected representative and candidate is given a dedicated, named police contact to liaise with on security matters, where needed. Through this network all candidates will have access to security briefings in the run up to the General Election.
The funding is accompanied by a new Defending Democracy Policing Protocol, agreed with police to enhance the safety of elected representatives, and protect the UK’s democratic process from disruption. Further information about the Protocol is available on GOV.UK.
Furthermore, the Defending Democracy Taskforce has supported the Westminster Parliamentary authorities and the National Cyber Security Centre to develop and roll out an enhanced cyber security offer for Parliamentarians and their teams to better protect them against cyber-attacks and foreign interference. As part of the £31 million uplift, the Taskforce is now seeking to extend this offer to other elected officials including the Devolved Authorities and is working closely with staff from the Devolved Authorities to do so.