Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress she has made in reforming vetting procedures for police recruits since 3 March 2021.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The framework for police vetting, which applies to the existing workforce as well as new recruits, is currently set by the College of Policing via its statutory code of practice on vetting and authorised professional practice (APP) guidance on vetting.
The vetting APP, which is reviewed on an ongoing basis, was last updated in March 2021. The College plans to publish a revised version this year following a public consultation in January and having considered recommendations from part 1 of the Angiolini Inquiry.
The government has committed to strengthening police vetting and will be bringing forward statutory measures to do so in due course.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Manchester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to increase the minimum income threshold for applications for a (1) spousal, and (2) family, visa.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
To help ensure we reach the right balance and have a solid evidence base for any change, the Home Secretary has announced her intention to commission the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to review the financial requirements in the Family Immigration Rules. The government will consider their recommendations before making any changes.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average daily (a) upkeep and (b) accommodation cost is per irregular migrant; and what the total daily cost to the public purse incurred as a result of irregular migrants is as of 6 September 2024.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has a statutory obligation to support and accommodate asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute. It does not publish a breakdown of statistics which disaggregates asylum accommodation costs by type, or any broader cost information relating specifically to irregular migrants in the United Kingdom.
The total expenditure on asylum is published in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, available at HO annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly and fairly. This includes identifying a range of options to reduce the use of hotels over time and ensuring efficiency and value for money across all accommodation arrangements.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of robbery and shoplifting offences in Hertfordshire; and what steps they plan to take to tackle those crimes in that area.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Police recorded crime for England and Wales showed a 30% annual rise in shoplifting offences and 8% in robbery offences for year ending March 2024. Hertfordshire Police Force saw a 25% rise in shoplifting and a 35% rise in police recorded robbery offences in the same period.
In cases of shoplifting, more and more offenders are using violence and abuse against shopworkers. We will not stand for this. This Government will introduce a new offence for assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores. We will also end the effective immunity, introduced by the previous Government, granted to low-value shoplifting of goods under £200.
Tackling serious violence, including robbery, is a priority for this Government. One of the ways we are doing this is through close working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Personal Robbery Steering Group.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 12 August (HL502), whether they have set a date for the Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme roll out to EU nationals; and whether they have informed port operators about this timetable.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
No date has yet been set for the further rollout of the Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme, including to European nationals. We expect to make an announcement very shortly and will work with ports and carriers on coordinated communications to those affected.
Asked by: Lord Reid of Cardowan (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve the efficiency and fairness of the immigration system, particularly in terms of processing times and decision transparency.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Secretary has removed the retrospective application of the Illegal Migration Act. This allows decision-makers to decide asylum claims from individuals who have arrived in the UK since 7 March 2023, with claims to be considered against the existing legislative regime under the Nationality and Borders Act 2022.
Asylum interviews have commenced, and asylum claims are now being decided for individuals who arrived in the UK from 7 March 2023.
We are determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly, and fairly; and ensures the rules are properly enforced.
Data relating to the performance against visa service standards are produced as part of the Migration Transparency publication.
These can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data#uk-visas-and-immigration(opens in a new tab).
Asked by: Lord Reid of Cardowan (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in light of current labour shortages in various industries, how they are adjusting immigration policies to attract and retain skilled workers from abroad.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Net migration is too high and must be reduced. This means employers should look to the domestic labour market to nurture and develop the skills where they can.
This is why we are setting out a different approach – one that links migration policy and visa controls to skills and labour market policies – so immigration is not used as an alternative to training or tackling workforce problems here at home.
As a first step, we have commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to identify the reasons for the reliance on international recruitment in key sectors, including IT and engineering.
The MAC commission has been published on their website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/mac-commissioned-to-review-it-and-engineering-sectors
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to review the working of the UK–US extradition treaty.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
There is no current intention to review the UK-US Extradition Treaty. The UK-US Extradition Treaty continues to produce tangible results, bringing justice to victims in both the UK and US.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to increase deterrents for shoplifting.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Shoplifting continues to increase at an unacceptable level, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers to do this. We will not stand for this. Everybody has a right to feel safe on the job.
This Government will end the effective immunity, introduced by the previous Government, granted to low level shoplifting of goods under £200 and introduce a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that children with rights to British citizenship can secure their citizenship rights where hostile British or settled fathers are unwilling to support their child's registration or passport applications.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office regularly engages with local authorities to support them in ensuring that children in local authority care, who are not already British citizens, can make an appropriate application for registration for citizenship. Children in local authority care are not required to pay an application fee when applying for registration as a British citizen.
In most cases, local authorities have access to the information needed to establish the citizenship rights and apply for registration for children in their care. Where there are evidence gaps, the Home Office will assist any applicant by checking information held in its records to confirm a claim.
Following the implementation of the British Nationality Act 1981, a range of explanatory material was prepared to support those affected by changes made by the Act. This material has been maintained and now forms part of the content of the relevant GOV.UK pages. The Home Office maintains published customer guidance for every British citizenship and nationality route, and also provides a British nationality status confirmation service.