Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sharpe of Epsom on 31 January (HL1679), whether they plan to review the algorithms used in the automatic verification of passport photographs to ensure that they account for ethnic diversity, notwithstanding any direct human intervention.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The initial check to determine if a photo meets the internationally agreed standards for passports utilises an algorithm provided by a leading technology provider and, through extensive testing, this has been optimised to help best meet the needs of His Majesty’s Passport Office and its customers. HM Passport Office is committed to making applying for a passport as simple as possible and will continue to evolve its photo checker as algorithmic technology improves.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the automatic algorithmic verification of passport photographs uploaded for online passport applications, to ensure that ethnic diversity does not lead to the rejection of photographs which comply with requirements, for example on the ground that eyes are closed when the photograph clearly shows that the eyes are open.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
When applying for a passport online, the photo submitted is subject to an initial check to determine if automated passport office systems would assess that the photo meets the internationally agreed standards for passports.
Where a photo is assessed as not meeting the required standards, it does not routinely mean it is rejected. Customers may override the outcome of this check and submit the photo as part of their application. On receipt of the application, the image will then be assessed by a human to determine whether it is suitable for passport purposes.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they are making to the European Commission on co-operation about the introduction to the UK of (1) the Entry/Exit System, and (2) the European Travel Information and Authorisation System, to ensure that travellers with disabilities are not disadvantaged, in particular, in respect of facial recognition, where those with sight impairment may have significant difficulties in complying.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is engaging both the European Commission and French Government through officials holding routine technical meetings to understand and influence the implementation plans of the new systems. This includes working with port owners and operators to understand and support their plans to mitigate EES and ETIAS impacts at the border. Our understanding is that support will be available through agents with tablets who can register anyone who cannot use a kiosk.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what facility they provide for sibling family reunion in the UK for long-term residents of Ukraine who do not have Ukrainian citizenship, and who are therefore not entitled to nomination by the UNHCR under present arrangements for refugees from that country, in circumstances where the individual has fled to a third country.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
Non-Ukrainian nationals who were resident in Ukraine prior to the invasion are eligible for the Ukraine Family Scheme or Homes for Ukraine Scheme if they are the immediate family members of Ukrainians who are also benefiting from those schemes.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum-seekers, except for those from Albania, who failed to establish the right to remain in the UK were removed to either (1) their country of origin, or (2) a third safe country, in the year to 31 December 2022.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Home Office publishes data on asylum-related returns in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’ on gov.uk.
Data on asylum-related returns for the top ten nationalities are published in table Ret_05 of the ‘Returns summary datasets’. Data on returns by nationality and return destination group are provided in Ret_D01 of the ‘Returns detailed datasets’, though these are for all returns cases and not just asylum-related.
The latest data relates to September 2022. Data up to December 2022 will be available in the May 2023 release. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 9 November (HL2956), at what speed the process of identifying country of origin for individuals who have reached the UK by boat from France is being completed.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Home Office have previously answered a very similar question in UIN HL2956 on 9 November 2022.
Data on small boat arrivals up to the end of September 2022 will be published on 24th November at Gov.UK in the ‘Irregular migration to the UK statistics’ quarterly report.
Further information on small boat crossings, with a focus on Albanian nationals, is available in a recently published one-off factsheet at Gov.UK, titled ‘Small boat crossings since July 2022.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 9 November (HL2956), whether they will now provide up-to-date figures on the total number of migrants calculated to have reached the UK by boat from France for each of the last three months, broken down by (1) the estimated number of those of Albanian origin, and (2) the number of those of Albanian origin who are single men.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Home Office have previously answered a very similar question in UIN HL2956 on 9 November 2022.
Data on small boat arrivals up to the end of September 2022 will be published on 24th November at Gov.UK in the ‘Irregular migration to the UK statistics’ quarterly report.
Further information on small boat crossings, with a focus on Albanian nationals, is available in a recently published one-off factsheet at Gov.UK, titled ‘Small boat crossings since July 2022.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what methodology they used to calculate the number of migrants reaching the UK by boat from France in the last three months; and what was the total number of migrants calculated to have reached the UK by boat from France in the last three months, including a breakdown of (1) the estimated number of those of Albanian origin, and (2) the number of those of Albanian origin who are single men; and the speed at which the process of identifying country of origin is now being completed.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Home Office publishes data on detected small boat arrivals to the UK on gov.uk in the quarterly Irregular Migration to the UK release – the latest data are published includes information on nationality, age and gender and goes up to the end June 2022.
Information about the calculation methodology is given in the ‘About the statistics’ section of the release.
With respect to the speed of identifying country of origin, in most cases, an individual arriving by small boat has this information recorded within 24 hours. Where this is not the case, it is likely due to a false claim being made, or the subject refusing to answer the question.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of the 20,000 individuals who crossed the channel in small boats in order to seek asylum from the beginning of 2022 have been identified as being Albanian citizens.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes quarterly statistics on irregular migration, including the nationalities of those arriving by small boat on gov.uk.
12,747 people crossed the Channel by small boat in the first six months of this year, and 17% of those were declared as Albanian nationals.
Figures on irregular migration to the UK up to the end of September 2022 will be published on 24 November 2022. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’ on gov.uk.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Penn on 21 February (HL6024 and HL6025), what impact analysis was undertaken by the Home Office on likely labour shortages arising from policies designed to treat EU citizens on the same basis as migrants from other parts of the world.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office published “Impact Assessment for Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill 2020” which is attached (1) and “Impact Assessment for changes to the Immigration Rules for Skilled Workers” which is also attached (2), respectively.