Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
These initiatives were driven by Baroness Stroud, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
Baroness Stroud has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Baroness Stroud has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.
Dear Lady Stroud,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am replying to your Parliamentary Question regarding what estimate has been made of the number of deaths from (1) dehydration, (2) malnutrition, and (3) bed sores, in (a) care homes, and (b) hospitals, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (HL10551).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for publishing the number of deaths registered in England and Wales. The most recent set of final figures published are for deaths registered in 2019[1]. The final information on deaths registered in 2020 will be released in summer 2021.
As part of our provisional analysis for 2020 so far, we released an article, Analysis of death registrations not involving coronavirus (COVID-19), England and Wales: 28 December 2019 to 10 July 2020[2]. Table 1 shows the number of deaths in each week and the corresponding 5-year average for disorders of fluid electrolyte and acid-based balance (dehydration), malnutrition and nutritional anaemias. Information on bed sores, and breakdowns by care homes and hospitals, is not available.
Cause of death is defined using the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th edition (ICD-10).
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
Table 1: Weekly provisional figures on Non-COVID-19 deaths due to disorders of fluid electrolyte and acid-based balance (dehydration), malnutrition and nutritional anaemias. England and Wales, weeks 1 to 28 combined[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
| ICD-10 codes | Cause of death groups | Age group | Deaths |
2020 | E86–E87 | Disorders of fluid electrolyte and acid-based balance (dehydration) |
| 173 |
E86–E87 | Disorders of fluid electrolyte and acid-based balance (dehydration) | 65+ | 172 | |
5-year average | E86–E87 | Disorders of fluid electrolyte and acid-based balance (dehydration) |
| 103.4 |
E86–E87 | Disorders of fluid electrolyte and acid-based balance (dehydration) | 65+ | 128.8 | |
2020 | D50–D53, E40–E64 | Malnutrition and nutritional anaemias |
| 29 |
D50–D53, E40–E64 | Malnutrition and nutritional anaemias | 65+ | 75 | |
5-year average | D50–D53, E40–E64 | Malnutrition and nutritional anaemias |
| 20.8 |
D50–D53, E40–E64 | Malnutrition and nutritional anaemias | 65+ | 66 |
Source: ONS
[3] A non-COVID-19 death is a death where COVID-19 is not mentioned on the death certificate. The ICD 1 definitions for COVID-19 are UO7.1 and UO7.2.
[4] ‘Due to’ refers to when the condition was the underlying cause. An ‘underlying cause of death’ refers to the main cause of death.
[5] For deaths registered from 1 January 2020, cause of death is coded to the ICD-10 classification using MUSE 5.5 software. Previous years were coded to IRIS 4.2.3. Further information about the change in software is available on the ONS website: https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/causeofdeathcodinginmortalitystatisticssoftwarechangesjanuary2019
[6] These figures represent death registrations. There can be a delay between the date a death occurred and the date a death was registered. More information can be found in our ‘Impact of registration delays’ release: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/impactofregistrationdelaysonmortalitystatisticsinenglandandwales/2018
[7] All figures for 2020 are provisional.
[8] Figures include deaths of non-residents.
[9] Caution should be used when analysing conditions with low numbers of deaths as these can have high levels of year on year variation relative to the number of deaths.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are defined as businesses which employ less than 250 employees.
In 2019, there were 5.82 million small businesses (0 to 49 employees) and 35,600 medium-sized businesses (50-249 employees) in the UK. 4.46 million of these do not employ anyone. 1,155,385 had 1-9 employees, 211,295 had 10-49 employees, and 35,585 had 50-249 employees.
Source: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (2020). Business population estimates for the UK and regions: 2019 statistical release.
While there are currently no robust estimates of the total number of businesses that employ staff with disabilities, DWP research does provide evidence of the proportion of establishments who have recruited employees who are disabled or have a long-term health condition in the previous 12 months.
The 2015/2016 DWP Employer Experience Survey and the 2018 DWP Employer Engagement Survey collected data from 4,200 and 4,201 telephone interviews of GB employers respectively. The surveys only considered workplaces with at least two members of staff.
The fieldwork periods for the two surveys were October 2015 to February 2016 and February to June 2018.
The surveys asked those employers who said they had tried to recruit in the last 12 months whether they had recruited someone who is disabled or who has a long-term health condition:
Establishment size | % of establishments that had recruited in the last 12 months | Of those establishments that had recruited, whether they had recruited someone who is disabled/has a long-term health condition | ||||||
Yes | No | Don’t know | ||||||
2015/16 | 2018 | 2015/16 | 2018 | 2015/16 | 2018 | 2015/16 | 2018 | |
2-9 employees | 43% | 38% | 12% | 11% | 86% | 82% | 2% | 7% |
10-49 employees | 82% | 76% | 15% | 19% | 81% | 74% | 4% | 6% |
50-249 employees | 96% | 96% | 31% | 31% | 57% | 51% | 11% | 18% |
250+ employees (2015/16 only) | 97% |
| 55% |
| 22% |
| 23% |
|
250-499 employees (2018 only) |
| 99% |
| 44% |
| 35% |
| 21% |
500+ employees (2018 only) |
| 100% |
| 53% |
| 25% |
| 22% |
Sources: Department for Work and Pensions (2019). DWP Employer Engagement survey 2018. Research report 977.
Department for Work and Pensions (2017). DWP Employer Experience survey 2015/16. Research report 948.
The Government is committed to reducing the disability employment gap and seeing a million more disabled people in work between 2017 and 2027. We offer support to employers of all sizes and to disabled people who wish to get or keep employment, through a range of initiatives.
Disability Confident engages with employers ranging from large multinational corporations to local businesses. This scheme, which was developed by employers and disability organisations, encourages and supports employers to think differently about disability and to take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled employees.
Over 16,500 employers are currently signed up to Disability Confident, of whom over 80% are small and medium enterprises, and that number is growing all the time.
Access to Work supports people with a disability or health condition that affects the way they do their job to enter, sustain and progress in their employment. The scheme offers individually tailored support, advice, and if necessary a discretionary grant of up to £59,200 per year to cover costs above the level of employers’ statutory obligation to provide reasonable adjustments.
We will publish a National Strategy for Disabled People before the end of 2020. This will look at ways to improve the benefits system, opportunities and access for disabled people in terms of housing, education, transport and jobs.
The table shows the numbers of disabled people in or out of work, and the employment rate of disabled people by main physical health condition in the UK in April to June 2017. The most common physical conditions for disabled people in and out of work are musculoskeletal conditions.
| In work (000s) | Out of work (000s) | Total disabled people (000s) | Disabled employment rate (%) | |
Problems or disabilities (including arthritis or rheumatism) connected with arms or hands | 246 | 212 | 458 | 53.7 | |
Problems or disabilities (including arthritis or rheumatism) connected with back or neck | 585 | 452 | 1,036 | 56.4 | |
Problems or disabilities (including arthritis or rheumatism) connected with legs or feet | 432 | 333 | 765 | 56.5 | |
Difficulty in seeing | 47 | 38 | 85 | 54.9 | |
Difficulty in hearing | 40 | 24 | 65 | 62.3 | |
Severe disfigurements, skin conditions, allergies | 53 | 30 | 82 | 64.0 | |
Chest or breathing problems, asthma, bronchitis | 235 | 198 | 433 | 54.4 | |
Heart, blood pressure or blood circulation problems | 203 | 210 | 412 | 49.1 | |
Stomach, liver, kidney or digestive problems | 217 | 143 | 361 | 60.3 | |
Diabetes | 142 | 117 | 259 | 55.0 | |
Epilepsy | 26 | 66 | 92 | 28.0 | |
Progressive illness not included elsewhere (e.g. cancer, multiple sclerosis, symptomatic HIV, Parkinson’s disease, muscular dystrophy) | 157 | 259 | 416 | 37.7 | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total with a physical health condition | 2,381 | 2,082 | 4,463 | 53.4 |
Source: Characteristics of disabled people in employment, DWP/DHSC, Table 4, April to June 2017
Notes:
We are committed to reducing the disability employment gap, and will report on progress regularly. We will consider the case for a target as part of our work on the new National Disability Strategy which we have committed to publish by the end of 2020.
In 2017, the Government set out its commitment to see one million more disabled people in employment by 2027. In the first two years of the commitment (between Q1 2017 and Q1 2019), the number of disabled people in employment increased by 404,000 while the disability employment gap has reduced by 1.4 percentage points.
We help disabled people enter and stay in work through a range of programmes including the Work and Health Programme, the new Intensive Personalised Employment Support Programme, Access to Work and Disability Confident. We have invested in a programme of trials and tests to identify effective models of health and employment support to help people with health conditions or disabilities to stay in work or return to work. In the 2019 consultation, Health is Everyone’s Business, we set out proposals to support and encourage employers to be better at managing health issues in the workplace. A copy is attached.
The Government has also announced that the Department for Work and Pensions will be bringing forward a Green Paper in the coming months on health and disability support. This will explore how the welfare system can better meet the needs of claimants with disabilities and health conditions now and in the future, to build a system that people trust and enables them to live independently and move into work where possible.
We are committed to reducing the disability employment gap, and will report on progress regularly. We will consider the case for a target as part of our work on the new National Disability Strategy which we have committed to publish by the end of 2020.
In 2017, the Government set out its commitment to see one million more disabled people in employment by 2027. In the first two years of the commitment (between Q1 2017 and Q1 2019), the number of disabled people in employment increased by 404,000 while the disability employment gap has reduced by 1.4 percentage points.
We help disabled people enter and stay in work through a range of programmes including the Work and Health Programme, the new Intensive Personalised Employment Support Programme, Access to Work and Disability Confident. We have invested in a programme of trials and tests to identify effective models of health and employment support to help people with health conditions or disabilities to stay in work or return to work. In the 2019 consultation, Health is Everyone’s Business, we set out proposals to support and encourage employers to be better at managing health issues in the workplace. A copy is attached.
The Government has also announced that the Department for Work and Pensions will be bringing forward a Green Paper in the coming months on health and disability support. This will explore how the welfare system can better meet the needs of claimants with disabilities and health conditions now and in the future, to build a system that people trust and enables them to live independently and move into work where possible.
It is the role of clinical experts such as the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to set clinical practice and ensure that it includes appropriate guidance on identification of ectopic pregnancies.
No assessment has been made. The Department does not set clinical practice. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has issued clinical guidelines Coronavirus (COVID-19) infection and abortion care: Information for healthcare professionals. A copy is attached. The guidance sets out that taking a history and a symptom-based approach, with an ultrasound if indicated, is consistent with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidance on the diagnosis and management of ectopic pregnancy. The Royal College’s guidance includes a decision aid for clinicians to use to help determine if an ultra-sound scan is required.
It is not within the Human Tissue Authority’s remit to consider the ethics of the home use of abortion pills or to make any assessment of the impact on sewage and non-recyclable waste systems.
The National Health Service has repeatedly instructed staff that no patient who could benefit from treatment should be denied it. Clinicians are focused on assessing the individual needs of patients and providing the care that will benefit them best.
When issuing guidance on restoration of non-COVID-19 health services, NHS England instructed providers to make full use of available capacity whilst protecting the most vulnerable. Furthermore, throughout the pandemic, public health measures have protected our most vulnerable patients. For example, we have ensured care home residents and staff are protected, including testing all residents and staff, ring-fencing £1.1 billion for infection control and making a further £4.6 billion available to councils to address pressures caused by the pandemic.
Claims that frail and elderly patients were denied care in wave one of the coronavirus pandemic, in part because of a triage tool which was developed for use if the National Health Service was overwhelmed, are categorically untrue. Guidance to help clinicians make rational, evidence-based decisions in the event of intensive care units being overwhelmed was commissioned by NHS England’s National Medical Director and the four United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers but work was halted when it became clear the NHS would not be overwhelmed.
The Department is carefully monitoring the impact of and compliance with the temporary approval of home administration of both sets of abortion medication during the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials have regular meetings with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Care Quality Commission and abortion service providers. The Government has committed to undertake a public consultation on making permanent the COVID-19 measure allowing for home use of both pills for early medical abortion up to 10 weeks gestation for all eligible women. The current COVID-19 measure will be kept in place until the public consultation concludes and a decision has been made. Work to develop the consultation will begin soon and further details will be available in due course.
The Department is carefully monitoring the impact of and compliance with the temporary approval of home administration of both sets of abortion medication during the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials have regular meetings with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Care Quality Commission and abortion service providers to discuss the impact and any issues arising.
The Department’s Required Standard Operating Procedures for independent sector providers set out that ‘Women are not required to have compulsory counselling or compulsory time for reflection before the abortion. Clinicians caring for women requesting abortion should be able to identify those who require more support than can be provided in the routine abortion service setting, for example young women, those with a pre-existing mental health condition, those who are subject to sexual violence or poor social support, or where there is evidence of coercion. For the minority of women who require formal, therapeutic counselling, services should have referral pathways in place with access to trained counsellors with appropriate expertise.’
Abortion data is published annually and data for 2020 is not due to be published until 2021. The data requires full quality assurance prior to release. The Code of Practice outlined in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 prohibits the pre-release of official statistics before the due date of publication.
Public safety and continued access to key services is our priority during this difficult period. We are monitoring the impact of the temporary approval to approve women’s homes as a class of place where both sets of medication for early medical abortion can be taken. We are aware that a small number of incidents have been identified which the Department is looking into working alongside the Care Quality Commission and others.
The Department is carefully monitoring the impact of and compliance with the temporary approval of home administration of both sets of abortion medication during the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials have regular meetings with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Care Quality Commission and abortion service providers to discuss the impact and any issues arising. The Department is keeping under review when the temporary approval will be removed.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) has issued clinical guidelines for healthcare professionals on Coronavirus infection and abortion care. The guidance sets out the circumstances where women should be asked to attend a clinic for an ultra-sound scan, however it states that “most women can determine the gestational age of their pregnancy with reasonable accuracy by last menstrual period (LMP) alone”. The RCOG guidance has recently been updated and now includes a decision aid for clinicians to use to help determine if an ultra-sound scan is required.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends in their guidance Abortion Care that services should consider providing abortion assessments by phone or video call, as evidence shows that community services and telemedicine appointments improve access to abortion services. Abortion providers will discuss possible complications with the woman in the consultation, and women will be provided with information about possible symptoms, including those which would necessitate urgent review. Copies of these guidance are attached.
It is a legal requirement for two doctors to certify that there are grounds for an abortion before treatment can proceed unless an emergency situation has arisen.
The approval to allow women to take both sets of pills for early medical abortion at home is on a temporary basis only and is limited for two years, or until the COVID-19 pandemic is over. It is not permanent.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) has issued clinical guidelines for healthcare professionals on Coronavirus infection and abortion care. The guidance sets out the circumstances where women should be asked to attend a clinic for an ultra-sound scan, however it states that “most women can determine the gestational age of their pregnancy with reasonable accuracy by last menstrual period (LMP) alone”. The RCOG guidance has recently been updated and now includes a decision aid for clinicians to use to help determine if an ultra-sound scan is required.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends in their guidance Abortion Care that services should consider providing abortion assessments by phone or video call, as evidence shows that community services and telemedicine appointments improve access to abortion services. Abortion providers will discuss possible complications with the woman in the consultation, and women will be provided with information about possible symptoms, including those which would necessitate urgent review. Copies of these guidance are attached.
It is a legal requirement for two doctors to certify that there are grounds for an abortion before treatment can proceed unless an emergency situation has arisen.
The approval to allow women to take both sets of pills for early medical abortion at home is on a temporary basis only and is limited for two years, or until the COVID-19 pandemic is over. It is not permanent.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) has issued clinical guidelines for healthcare professionals on Coronavirus infection and abortion care. The guidance sets out the circumstances where women should be asked to attend a clinic for an ultra-sound scan, however it states that “most women can determine the gestational age of their pregnancy with reasonable accuracy by last menstrual period (LMP) alone”. The RCOG guidance has recently been updated and now includes a decision aid for clinicians to use to help determine if an ultra-sound scan is required.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends in their guidance Abortion Care that services should consider providing abortion assessments by phone or video call, as evidence shows that community services and telemedicine appointments improve access to abortion services. Abortion providers will discuss possible complications with the woman in the consultation, and women will be provided with information about possible symptoms, including those which would necessitate urgent review. Copies of these guidance are attached.
It is a legal requirement for two doctors to certify that there are grounds for an abortion before treatment can proceed unless an emergency situation has arisen.
The approval to allow women to take both sets of pills for early medical abortion at home is on a temporary basis only and is limited for two years, or until the COVID-19 pandemic is over. It is not permanent.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has issued clinical guidelines for healthcare professionals on Coronavirus infection and abortion care. The guidance sets out the circumstances where women should be asked to attend a clinic for an ultra-sound scan. However, it states that “most women can determine the gestational age of their pregnancy with reasonable accuracy by last menstrual period (LMP) alone”. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends in their guidance Abortion Care that services should consider providing abortion assessments by phone or video call, as evidence shows that community services and telemedicine appointments improve access to abortion services. A copy of this guidance is attached.
The Government has no plans to amend the legal requirement for two doctors to certify abortion procedures under the Abortion Act 1967. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have put in place two temporary measures in England; one of which is to ease the pressures of health professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic by allowing registered medical practitioners to prescribe both pills for the treatment of early medical abortion up to 10 weeks from their own homes.
On 30 March, Ministerial powers under the Abortion Act 1967 were used to temporarily approve women’s homes as a class of place where both abortion pills can be taken for early medical abortion up to 10 weeks gestation following a telephone or e-consultation with a clinician. Doctors’ homes have also been approved as a place from which abortion medication can be prescribed. Following the debate on 24 March the Department was presented with strong evidence from providers that the situation in relation to abortion provision was rapidly changing, services closing and large numbers of appointments for treatment were being cancelled. It was therefore considered that the balance of risk to allow a temporary modification of the arrangements for treatment for early medical abortion had shifted and the temporary modification should be allowed. In reaching this decision account was also taken of wider advice regarding the need for some groups to isolate, that access to abortion is an urgent matter: the procedure’s risk increases at later gestations and there are legal gestational limits for accessing services. This position is being kept under review and the temporary approvals will end once the risk from the COVID-19 pandemic recedes.
We have not made any representations to the Government of India about this.
The UK strongly opposes sex-selective abortion. The UK supports partner governments' efforts to prevent this discrimination through our programmes to promote gender equality, girls' and women's empowerment and rights. In India, the British High Commission in New Delhi and our network of Deputy High Commissions work closely with civil society and non-governmental organisations that are directly promoting women's awareness of their rights. We also continue to promote empowerment through events and campaigns such as "International Women's Day", the "International Day of the Girl Child" and the "Kick like a Girl" project which trained adolescent girls on leadership skills.
The UK strategy towards Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and early, child and forced marriage in Somalia is incredibly important. We continue our efforts towards ending FGM in all its forms and tackling early, child and forced marriage. The UK Government is lobbying the Government of Somalia to table a bill which is compatible with Somalia's obligations under international law and commitments on the protection of children and women. In 2019 we helped over 24,000 community members participate in conversations to end FGM and child marriage; engaged over 2,000 religious leaders in protecting and promoting human rights for women and girls; and supported the development of plans by over 40 communities to foster more dialogue and action on these issues.
In 2018 the Somali cabinet drafted a Sexual Offence Bill (SOB) which could be instrumental in securing basic sexual and reproductive rights for women. This SOB has not been tabled since its creation, partly due to resistance from clerics and several members of the parliament who find the SOB to not be sufficiently sharia compliant. On 8 August 2020, a modified and regressive version of the SOB, which would for example legalise child marriage, was tabled by parliament. The bill is contentious and civil society, and other development partners are working to stop it from being passed by parliament. BE Mogadishu raises the issue regularly with Parliamentarians at all levels, and supports civil society contacts to do the same.
The UK is equally committed to protecting British-Somali citizens who may be at risk of FGM or forced marriage. The UK Government has a dedicated Forced Marriage Unit leading efforts to combat forced marriage and FGM both at home and abroad and has already provided support to dozens of potential victims in Somalia last year. This support includes UK funded safe-houses in Somalia, including Somaliland, that provide British Nationals with temporary shelter and support, while the consular team establish a plan to repatriate them. Additional support is then available for victims who have returned to the UK.
The UK continues to lobby Somalia's parliament, through private conversations as well as public statements to dismiss the 'Sexual Intercourse' bill tabled by some MPs in favour of one that is compatible with Somalia's obligations under international law and commitments on the protection of children and women. The UK is also working to coordinate advocacy efforts with international partners to ensure all messaging is aligned. The UK is encouraged by Somalis lobbying their Parliament and the Somali '#killthebill' social media campaign and continues to support civil society representatives to ensure that Somali voices are heard on human rights issues.
We are concerned by intercommunal violence that occurs across multiple states in Nigeria and has a devastating impact on affected communities. We condemn all incidents of intercommunal violence and call for solutions that meet the needs of all affected communities. FCDO is increasing our engagement with state governments in affected areas, including Plateau, Kaduna and Benue.
We are working with stakeholders to respond to the drivers of violence, including the challenge of resource competition. We have provided technical support to the Nigerian Government for the development of the National Livestock Transformation Plan, which aims to promote cattle-rearing in one place to limit competition over land and resources. This is currently being implemented in eight Middle-Belt states. We also provide funding to support communities recently displaced due to violence in Kaduna State.
UK humanitarian assistance in Nigeria supports vulnerable people with the most acute lifesaving needs. Aligned with the UN Humanitarian Response Plan this is focused in North East Nigeria.
The Nigerian authorities have a responsibility to investigate and prosecute all war crimes, crimes against humanity and other human rights abuses committed on their territory.
An International Criminal Court (ICC) preliminary examination into the situation in Nigeria commenced in 2010, and focussed on alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity including by Boko Haram in the North East. The ICC Prosecutor acknowledged that steps have been taken by the Nigerian authorities to investigate these offences but requested further information and evidence demonstrating that relevant national proceedings are being conducted or are intended to be conducted.
The UK Government will continue to push for allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity and other human rights abuses to be investigated by the Nigerian authorities, and for those responsible to be held to account. Suspects should have access to justice and cases should be carried out in accordance with Nigerian law and international human rights standards.
The UK Government remains committed to supporting Nigeria and its neighbours in the fight against terrorist groups including Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not hold information on the migration status of individuals paying Income Tax as that detail is not required for the operation of Income Tax.
The Home Office has not made an assessment of the net contribution to the economy generated by those granted asylum in the UK over the financial year 2019–20.
The Home Office publishes information on asylum applications and resettlement in the Immigration statistics quarterly release. Data on the number of asylum applications that are currently awaiting an initial decision are published in table Asy_D03 of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets (which is attached), which includes whether cases have been waiting less or more than 6 months.
The number of people awaiting an initial decision is a subset of the total number of people in the asylum system (‘asylum work in progress’), which also includes those awaiting appeal outcomes and failed asylum seekers that are subject to removal from the UK. The total number of cases in the asylum system is published in the ‘Immigration and Protection’ data of the Migration Transparency Data collection.
Asylum seeker right to work is a complex issue, not least given the potential incentive it can provide to make dangerous journeys to the UK or to make ill-founded claims simply to be able to work whilst they are considered
A review of the policy is ongoing.
We are committed to ensuring victims of modern slavery are identified quickly and provided with the support they require to start to rebuild their lives.
In March 2021, the Government published a report on issues raised by people in immigration detention. This provides data on some of the concerns we are seeking to address through the New Plan for Immigration. This is available at: Issues raised by people facing return in immigration detention - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
There are concerns about the potential for a referral to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) to be used to frustrate Immigration Enforcement processes or to gain access to support inappropriately.
For example, there has been a growth in NRM referrals being made after a person enters immigration detention. In 2019, 16% of people detained within the UK following immigration offences were referred as potential victims of modern slavery. This is up from just 3% in 2017.
This raises legitimate concerns that some referrals are being made late in the process to frustrate immigration action and that legitimate referrals are not being made in a timely way. The New Plan for Immigration will address both concerns.
We have received and read the report with interest. The authors of the report provided evidence from their audit to the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission and it has informed the recommendations within the final report. The Government will be issuing their final response to the Commission’s report in due course.