Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to respond to the Wendy William's report Windrush Lessons Learned Review: progress update, published on 31 March; and what mechanisms they plan to put in place to monitor future progress in implementing the findings of the Lessons Learned Review.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
In response to Recommendation 2 of the Windrush Lessons Learned Review, Wendy Williams returned to the Department in September 2021 to review our progress in implementing the recommendations of that Review and the commitments we made in the Comprehensive Improvement Plan. Her Progress Update was published in March this year.
Wendy concludes that there is no doubt the Department has risen to the challenge she set for us, and she acknowledges there are several areas where very good progress has been made. Wendy also rightly holds us to account where we have not made sufficient progress and we know there is more to do.
The progress update does not include new recommendations and we will continue to drive forward progress on Wendy’s original 30 recommendations. We have laid the foundations for radical change in the department and a total transformation of culture. We are committed to long-lasting meaningful improvement of how the Home Office delivers.
Turning to the review of the compliant environment – recommendation 7 of the Review - evaluation of these measures individually and cumulatively will be an ongoing process. The compliant environment is made up of a complex set of measures. The approach to evaluation is staged, delivering a range of outputs at different times as is standard practice in establishing an evaluation. I can offer an assurance that we will not wait to make changes where they are needed and policies will be kept under review.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to complete the Home Office review of the ‘compliant environment’.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
In response to Recommendation 2 of the Windrush Lessons Learned Review, Wendy Williams returned to the Department in September 2021 to review our progress in implementing the recommendations of that Review and the commitments we made in the Comprehensive Improvement Plan. Her Progress Update was published in March this year.
Wendy concludes that there is no doubt the Department has risen to the challenge she set for us, and she acknowledges there are several areas where very good progress has been made. Wendy also rightly holds us to account where we have not made sufficient progress and we know there is more to do.
The progress update does not include new recommendations and we will continue to drive forward progress on Wendy’s original 30 recommendations. We have laid the foundations for radical change in the department and a total transformation of culture. We are committed to long-lasting meaningful improvement of how the Home Office delivers.
Turning to the review of the compliant environment – recommendation 7 of the Review - evaluation of these measures individually and cumulatively will be an ongoing process. The compliant environment is made up of a complex set of measures. The approach to evaluation is staged, delivering a range of outputs at different times as is standard practice in establishing an evaluation. I can offer an assurance that we will not wait to make changes where they are needed and policies will be kept under review.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many refugees who had entered the UK through safe and legal routes were granted leave to remain (1) every year since 2015, and (2) broken down by route.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Information on safe and legal routes is available via the link below:
Nationality and Borders Bill: Factsheet Safe and Legal Routes - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Home Office publishes data on resettlement in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of refugees resettled by resettlement scheme are published in table Asy_D02 of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to Q1 2022.
The resettlement data in Asy_D02 does not cover data relating to the individuals relocated under the Afghanistan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) or Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP). The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) opened in January 2022, with the first eligible person relocated under the scheme on 6 January 2022.
The Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) launched on 1 April 2021, and provisional data show more than 7,000 people have been relocated under the scheme so far. Statistics on these schemes will be included in future editions of Immigration Statistics.
Further details on the ACRS and ARAP can be found in the FACTSHEET: ACRS and other routes and Operation Warm Welcome: progress update.
Data on the number of Family Reunion visas granted are published in table Fam_D01 of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to Q1 2022.
The Home Office publishes data on the number of applications and grants of leave on the British National Overseas (BN(O)) route in the “How many people come to the UK each year (including visitors)?” topic and underlying datasets of the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Information on the number of visas granted under the Ukraine Family Scheme and the Homes for Ukraine Scheme can be found in our published data on the GOV.UK webpage: Ukraine Family Scheme and Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine) visa data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to reports that children have been treated as adults and issued 'notices of intent' for removal to Rwanda, how many asylum seekers claiming to be children have been assessed to be adults by the Home Office on the basis that their physical appearance and demeanour very strongly suggested that they were significantly over 18 years of age since 1 January.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Immigration officers operating at the border perform a difficult but vital function in preventing abuse of the immigration system and protecting genuine children from the safeguarding risks associated with allowing adults to access safe spaces which are properly reserved for children.
The UK Supreme Court recently considered and fully endorsed the lawfulness of the ‘significantly over 18’ policy for initial age assessments conducted at the border by immigration officers in the case of BF Eritrea UKSC 2019/0147.
Furthermore, the initial age assessment process represents only the first stage of a broader age assessment procedure. It has been designed to allow those who wish to maintain their claim to be a child to seek assessment by a local authority. It is long established Home Office policy to give significant weight to a local authority age assessment.
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of age disputes and outcomes are published in table Asy_D05 of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data covers up to March 2022.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’
The published statistics for age disputes indicate there were 428 disputes raised on the basis of physical appearance and demeanour in the first quarter of 2022. Of the 255 disputes resolved in the same period, 126 cases were resolved with an outcome the person was an adult and 129 concluded the person was a child.
The statistics do not distinguish between those who have been assessed to be significantly over 18 and others who have been age disputed but referred directly to a local authority for further assessment. Detail of the volume of age dispute cases for the following quarter will be made available in future planned statistical publications.
Anyone who is the subject of an age dispute will be excluded from inadmissibility procedures as a matter of policy, where either the individual is undergoing assessment by a local authority, where there are ongoing legal proceedings on the subject of age or where the Home Office accepts a subsequent assessment by a local authority that the individual is a child.