Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to change the current system for French school groups visiting the UK, for which they are permitted to produce other forms of identity in place of a passport.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
We permit the use of national identity cards for French schoolchildren (aged 18 and under) travelling on organised trips and waive UK visa requirements for their classmates who are visa nationals. Their responsible adults must be in possession of a fully completed and authenticated form listing the participants in the trip. French schools can access the form online from gov.uk. More information and a link to the form can be found at: Visit the UK as part of a French school trip - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
In advance of the ETA scheme opening to applications from European nationals next year, the Government has considered the implications of the scheme on French school groups visiting the UK, and has agreed that children aged 18 and under travelling as part of a French school group will be temporarily exempted from the ETA requirement until a group solution is developed. This will allow EU, EEA and Swiss children to continue to use their identity cards on organised French school trips to the UK.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the implications of the Electronic Travel Authorisation Scheme on school groups visiting the UK from France.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
We permit the use of national identity cards for French schoolchildren (aged 18 and under) travelling on organised trips and waive UK visa requirements for their classmates who are visa nationals. Their responsible adults must be in possession of a fully completed and authenticated form listing the participants in the trip. French schools can access the form online from gov.uk. More information and a link to the form can be found at: Visit the UK as part of a French school trip - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
In advance of the ETA scheme opening to applications from European nationals next year, the Government has considered the implications of the scheme on French school groups visiting the UK, and has agreed that children aged 18 and under travelling as part of a French school group will be temporarily exempted from the ETA requirement until a group solution is developed. This will allow EU, EEA and Swiss children to continue to use their identity cards on organised French school trips to the UK.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what repairs and maintenance they intend to carry out, and over what timeframe, at HMP Winchester following the recent inspection report of the prison.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
HM Prison & Probation Service will provide HM Inspectorate of Prisons with its initial response to the Urgent Notification about HMP Winchester, and its immediate action plan, by no later than 21 November. This will be followed by a full response to the inspection report, and a detailed action plan specifying all remedial works and the timeframes for their completion.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to place HMP Winchester into special measures.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons invoked an Urgent Notification (UN) at HMP Winchester on 24 October after a concerning inspection. While there is no specific “special measures” process for prisons, once a site is subject to UN it is placed under enhanced supervision from senior officials within His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) until such time as we are confident that sufficient progress has been made.
The Lord Chancellor and I are determined to drive improvement at HMP Winchester and, as a first step in response to the UN, we will publish our initial action plan setting out the actions we will be taking by no later than 21 November 2024.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Home Office staff work at the Wethersfield accommodation site.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
ClearSprings Ready Homes (CRH) operates the Wethersfield site on behalf of the Home Office and is responsible for the safeguarding of those accommodated there.
The site and CRH are overseen by a Home Office assurance team which includes a dedicated safeguarding lead and an on-site senior responsible officer.
CRH delivers asylum accommodation and support services across the South and Wales regions. There are a number of requirements in the Asylum Accommodation and Support contract regarding safeguarding and identifying and responding to specific needs of residents. CRH operates in line with both the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract Safeguarding Framework and Safeguarding Reporting Protocol.
Along with our accommodation providers, we have robust processes in place to ensure that where someone is at risk, they are referred to the appropriate statutory agencies for the appropriate safeguarding interventions.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether there is a requirement for employees at the Wethersfield accommodation site to be trained in detecting signs of trauma and torture, as well as mental health awareness.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
ClearSprings Ready Homes (CRH) operates the Wethersfield site on behalf of the Home Office and is responsible for the safeguarding of those accommodated there.
The site and CRH are overseen by a Home Office assurance team which includes a dedicated safeguarding lead and an on-site senior responsible officer.
CRH delivers asylum accommodation and support services across the South and Wales regions. There are a number of requirements in the Asylum Accommodation and Support contract regarding safeguarding and identifying and responding to specific needs of residents. CRH operates in line with both the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract Safeguarding Framework and Safeguarding Reporting Protocol.
Along with our accommodation providers, we have robust processes in place to ensure that where someone is at risk, they are referred to the appropriate statutory agencies for the appropriate safeguarding interventions.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many residents at Wethersfield accommodation site have had their asylum case substantive interview since 1 September; and how many of these cases had a legal representative.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes statistics on the number of people in asylum accommodation (including Wethersfield) in table Asy_D09 of the quarterly Immigration System Statistics, and on the number of interviews conducted in table Asy_05(M) of the Migration Transparency Data ‘Immigration and protection’ collection. However, there is no data published on whether individuals in a particular location have had an interview, or whether they had a legal representative.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether immigration legal aid providers can be reached by public transport from the Wethersfield accommodation site.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
There are public transport routes within the vicinity of Wethersfield Accommodation Site from which it would be possible for residents to travel to legal aid providers who undertake immigration and asylum work. The site itself also runs a shuttle service three times a day into Colchester where residents can access legal aid services.
The legal aid contracts in place permit solicitors to travel to Wethersfield to provide advice and assistance where face to face advice is required and the client is unable to travel to the solicitor. In these cases, the solicitor will be paid for their reasonable travel time and costs.
Additionally, the Legal Aid Agency has introduced greater contractual flexibility under the 2024 Standard Civil Contract regarding the provision of remote advice. The Contract permits that up to 75% of immigration and asylum advice can be delivered remotely, compared against 50% in other civil categories. Remote provision can be an effective method of providing legal advice in the majority of cases. As such clients residing at Wethersfield are able to access remote advice from wider pool of legal aid providers reducing the need to travel out of area for advice.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what type of onsite mental health support is available at Wethersfield asylum accommodation site.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Individuals identified for the site are subject to a suitability assessment.
Each individual’s welfare is regularly checked to identify any concerns which may affect their suitability and to facilitate appropriate referrals and sign posting for support as needed.
The site has on-site primary healthcare delivered by a local healthcare provider Monday to Friday. This is run by healthcare professionals, a doctor and nurses, who offer health assessments and are able to prescribe medication.
There is also a welfare facility with welfare officers available 24/7.
All asylum seekers can contact Migrant Help 24 hours a day, 365 days a year if they need help, advice, or guidance, that includes raising issues relating to safeguarding. From 16 June 2024, Migrant Help have been offering face-to-face appointments to asylum seekers on site across 3 days allowing them to raise any questions that they may have on any matter.
Subject to any individual assessments, the maximum length of stay for individual asylum seekers accommodated on site is 9 months, except where the Secretary of State is unable to find suitable onward dispersed accommodation despite reasonable efforts to do so.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average stay of individuals at Wethersfield asylum accommodation site.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Individuals identified for the site are subject to a suitability assessment.
Each individual’s welfare is regularly checked to identify any concerns which may affect their suitability and to facilitate appropriate referrals and sign posting for support as needed.
The site has on-site primary healthcare delivered by a local healthcare provider Monday to Friday. This is run by healthcare professionals, a doctor and nurses, who offer health assessments and are able to prescribe medication.
There is also a welfare facility with welfare officers available 24/7.
All asylum seekers can contact Migrant Help 24 hours a day, 365 days a year if they need help, advice, or guidance, that includes raising issues relating to safeguarding. From 16 June 2024, Migrant Help have been offering face-to-face appointments to asylum seekers on site across 3 days allowing them to raise any questions that they may have on any matter.
Subject to any individual assessments, the maximum length of stay for individual asylum seekers accommodated on site is 9 months, except where the Secretary of State is unable to find suitable onward dispersed accommodation despite reasonable efforts to do so.