Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that one in 12 residents of London are “hidden and transient”, which includes people living at secondary addresses, visitors and tourists and irregular migrants.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Noble Lord will wish to be aware that those media outlets who published those reports have subsequently published corrections accepting that they were not accurate. Estimates of the illegal population are inherently uncertain, and no current accurate assessment is available.

Robust procedures are in place to ensure that individuals with no right to be in the UK are removed, either voluntarily or through enforcement action.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what financial allowances their contractors are permitted to provide to asylum seekers per month for (1) food, (2) clothing, (3) mobile phones, (4) education, (5) leisure activities, (6) accommodation, and (7) transport.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office has a legal obligation to meet the essential living needs of asylum seekers or dependents who appear to be destitute or are likely to become destitute within a prescribed period, while their asylum claim is being considered.

Details of what is considered essential can be found in the annual asylum support rate review reports, published on gov.uk.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many contractors they have engaged to assist with the management of asylum seekers, and what fees those contractors have been paid in (1) the last financial year, and (2) the current financial year to date.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The requested data is not centrally held in an easily accessible form, and could only be collated and verified for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the availability of adequate insurance capacity to enable them to achieve their target of building 1.5 million houses during this Parliament.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The UK’s insurance market is competitive, with many providers offering a wide variety of insurance products. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the independent regulator of financial services, has a primary objective to ensure relevant markets are functioning well.

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Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that work visas will be issued to those with dog grooming skills.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Points Based Immigration System uses the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code system, owned by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), to classify job roles. These codes can be broad, covering a multitude of job roles, many of which visas are unlikely to be granted for.

There is more to obtaining a Skilled Worker visa than just having a role on the list of eligible occupations. Jobs must also meet the required salary thresholds, as well as applicants having to be sponsored by a licensed employer, and meet English language requirements.

Found: relevant interests to declare Lord Dodds of Duncairn • No relevant interests to declare Lord Empey

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