Asked by: Baroness Harman (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of driving test appointments available in (a) the London Borough of Southwark and (b) London.
Answered by Richard Holden
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) recognises there is a high demand for learners who are wanting to take their car practical driving test.
The DVSA has a 24-week forward booking window and tests are not available to book beyond this. As the booking service is live, test appointments can also become available to book through other candidates cancelling, or rescheduling, their test.
As of 15 May 2023, there were 6,402 car practical driving tests booked, and 297 car practical driving tests available within the next 24-weeks at the three centres that serve the London Borough of Southwark.
Within London, as of 15 May 2023, there were 79,109 car practical driving tests booked, and 4,390 car practical driving tests available within the next 24-weeks.
As a result of the measures already taken by the DVSA, overall, since April 2021, an estimated 813,000 additional car test slots have been created. On average, the DVSA is creating approximately 35,300 extra car test slots each month.
Actions already being taken to make this possible include asking all those qualified to conduct tests but who do not do so as part of their current day job to return to conducting tests, conducting out of hours testing, such as on public holidays and weekends, asking recently retired driving examiners to return, and recruiting more than 300 driving examiners across Great Britain.
Asked by: Baroness Harman (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of right to work applications made by asylum seekers were accepted in 2021-22.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Baroness Harman (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how her department calculates the weekly allowance received by asylum seekers on aspen cards.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The level of the allowance given to those supported under section 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (“the 1999 Act”) is generally reviewed each year to ensure it meets an asylum seeker’s essential living needs. Reports on the reviews are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-on-review-of-cash-allowance-paid-to-asylum-seekers.
Asked by: Baroness Harman (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many of the delegates in the official UK Government delegation to the UN Commission on the Status of Women 67 were (a) women and (b) men.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UN Commission on the Status of Women 67 (CSW67) was held in New York between 6 and 17 March. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad as Minister of State for the UN, led the UK delegation, supported by Ambassador Barbara Woodward, the UK Permanent Representative to the UN.
The official level joint FCDO-Government Equalities Office delegation of 12 people included 9 women. MPs and peers formed the UK parliamentary delegations, with 18 delegates in total. Of this, there were 17 women, including Baroness Northover, Dame Maria Miller MP, Baroness Hodgson of Abinger CBE, Caroline Nokes MP and 1 man, Elliot Colburn MP.
Asked by: Baroness Harman (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to support local councils to find appropriate accommodation in cases where Ukrainian families or individuals previously hosted under the Homes for Ukraine scheme are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 169421 on 28 March 2023.
Asked by: Baroness Harman (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 May 2023 to Question 182767 on Musicians: EU Countries, what recent discussions she has had with representatives of the creative sectors to understand whether and how the visitor system can be simplified for touring bands.
Answered by John Whittingdale - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
Government ministers and officials regularly engage with industry representatives to inform policy development. In April, the Secretary of State hosted a music industry roundtable with broad representation from across the sector to understand the key challenges and opportunities facing the music sector, including how to address barriers to inbound and outbound touring. In May, the Secretary of State and Minister Julia Lopez met with music industry leaders, including executives from UK Music, LIVE (Live music Industry Venues & Entertainment) and the Musicians' Union, to further discuss issues and solutions to support growth across the music sector and wider creative industries.
Asked by: Baroness Harman (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the number of music groups from EU countries that have been scheduled to tour the UK in the last year but that have been refused entry due to immigration rules.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Border Force, responsible for securing the UK border by carrying out immigration and customs controls for people and goods entering the UK, do not hold statistics on music groups specifically.
This Government is committed to supporting the UK’s creative industries, including musicians, to adapt to new arrangements with the EU. Our immigration system continues to support the thriving cultural life of the UK. We have been working, and will continue to work, with the creative sectors to understand whether and how the visitor system can be further simplified.
The UK’s rules for touring creative professionals are comparatively more generous than in many EU Member States. The UK’s domestic rules allow musicians, entertainers and artists (and their technical staff) from non-visa national countries, such as EU Member States and the US, to perform in the UK without requiring a visa, and the UK does not have work permits.
Border Force Officers undertake training on an ongoing basis to ensure the Immigration Rules are upheld and applied consistently.
Sector specific guidance on creative professionals from non-visa national countries, including the EU and the US, visiting the UK for performance and work has been published by DCMS on GOV.UK can be found in the ‘Visiting the UK as a creative professional from a non-visa national country guidance’ on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Baroness Harman (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time is from submitting an asylum application for a person to be called for their substantive interview.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office does not currently report on the average time that is taken between the date of an asylum claim to the date of a substantive asylum interview taking place or the date of a decision outcome as this information is not published or held in a reportable format.
However, the Home Office does publish data on the number asylum applications awaiting an initial decision by duration, for main applicants only. This data can be found at Asy_04 of the published Immigration Statistics:
List of tables - GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-december-2022/list-of-tables#asylum-and-resettlement).
Asked by: Baroness Harman (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time is between a person submitting an asylum application and receiving an outcome.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office does not currently report on the average time that is taken between the date of an asylum claim to the date of a substantive asylum interview taking place or the date of a decision outcome as this information is not published or held in a reportable format.
However, the Home Office does publish data on the number asylum applications awaiting an initial decision by duration, for main applicants only. This data can be found at Asy_04 of the published Immigration Statistics:
List of tables - GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-december-2022/list-of-tables#asylum-and-resettlement).
Asked by: Baroness Harman (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to allocate additional (a) financial resources and (b) other support to local authorities to support asylum seekers who have had their claims rejected under streamlined asylum processing.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office has a legal obligation, as set out in the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (“the 1999 Act”), to support asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute.
If an asylum seeker has their asylum claim refused, they usually cease to be eligible to receive support provided under section 95 of the 1999 act 21 days after they are given notice that their asylum claim has been refused, or where there is an appeal, 21 days after their appeal is finally rejected. Asylum claims considered under the Streamlined Asylum Process will not be refused on the basis of the questionnaire alone. Where there is insufficient information in the questionnaire to grant protection status, the claimant will be invited to an interview in order to inform the decision.
Failed asylum seekers may be supported under section 4(2) of the 1999 Act if they meet certain eligibility criteria.