Asked by: Lord Green of Deddington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Stedman-Scott on 11 February (HL5761), what is (1) the underlying data issue affecting the calculation of the scale of National Insurance numbers issued to adult overseas arrivals from June 2021 onwards, (2) the scale of the uncertainty about the numbers involved, (3) the degree and manner in which this has affected and is likely to affect the future development of the Administrative-Based Migration Estimates, and (4) the period over which net migration estimates are likely to be affected.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
The decision was made to delay the November 2021 release of the National Statistics publication of National Insurance numbers allocated to adult overseas nationals following an investigation involving HMRC where a technical issue was identified which work is now underway to rectify. Once the work is complete and the data has been validated, we will notify users of our plans to publish the statistical back series in line with the UK Statistics Authority Code of Practice for Statistics.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for migration estimates and they announced in November 2021 their plan to include data from the DWP Registration And Population Interactions Dataset (RAPID) in their Administrative-Based Migration Estimates. The current RAPID data is not affected by this issue as it only covers the period to end March 2021.
Asked by: Lord Green of Deddington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why the statistics on National Insurance numbers issued to overseas nationals were delayed two days before the due publication date of 25 November 2021; why they have now been suspended; and when they expect them to be published.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
All statistics produced by the Department for Work and Pensions are subject to routine quality assurance procedures before publication. During one of these procedures an underlying data issue was discovered in the quarterly National Statistics for ‘National Insurance number allocations to adult overseas nationals entering the UK’, which was due to be published on 25 November 2021. An assessment was made to understand the cause and identify if a solution could be swiftly implemented before the publication date. However, as it was not possible to do this, a decision was made to notify users both of the delay to the November release and that an update would be provided in January 2022.
The investigation is taking longer than first anticipated and will therefore impact the production of the next quarterly release of the statistics, so the update provided on 26 January 2022 informed users of the decision to suspend the release of the statistics. The statistical series will be reinstated as soon as possible after a solution is implemented, in line with the UK Statistics Authority Code of Practice for Statistics and a further progress update will be provided in early April 2022.
Asked by: Lord Green of Deddington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 24 January (HL5259), what immigration controls will be put in place under the proposed ETA system at (1) sea crossings between the Republic of Ireland and the UK and (2) sea crossings between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The Common Travel Area (CTA) supports the long-standing principle of movement for British and Irish citizens between the UK, Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man and Ireland.
As now, the UK will not operate routine immigration controls on journeys from within the CTA. There are no border controls for travel within the UK including from Northern Ireland to Great Britain.
Asked by: Lord Green of Deddington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many EU citizens have been granted settled status since the introduction of the EU Settlement Scheme; how many who have been granted pre-settled status will qualify to apply for settled status in each calendar year from 2022 to 2026; and what proportion of applications for settled status from pre-settled status have been granted in the last 12 months.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The Home Office publishes data on the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) in the 'EU Settlement Scheme Statistics', which can be found on gov.uk.
The latest published information on EUSS applications concluded to 30 September 2021, can be found in tables EUSS_03_UK: (EU Settlement Scheme: concluded applications by outcome type and nationality - UK total) and EUSS_MON, Table 5: (EU Settlement Scheme – Repeat applicants moving from Pre-settled to Settled status), in the Annex.
A person granted pre-settled status under the EUSS can apply for settled status as soon as they qualify for this. Applicants who have completed five years’ continuous residence, or where other criteria for settled status without that length of continuous residence are met, are eligible for settled status.
The Home Office cannot assess a person’s eligibility for settled status until they make an application to the EUSS, and therefore cannot state how many of those granted pre-settled status or who are yet to apply to the scheme will be eligible for settled status in the period sought.
Asked by: Lord Green of Deddington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether BN(O) citizens who have arrived from Hong Kong are required to become British citizens before they can register to vote in a UK general election.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
British Nationals Overseas (BN(O)s) who have arrived from Hong Kong are not required to become British Citizens in order to register to vote in UK general elections.
Although BN(O)s are not classed as British citizens, the British Nationality Act 1981 determines that they have the status of Commonwealth citizens. This means that Hong Kong BN(O)s, with leave to enter or remain in the UK, are entitled to register to vote as an elector in UK parliamentary elections, providing they fulfil the age and residence requirements for such registration and are not subject to any other legal incapacity.
Asked by: Lord Green of Deddington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many migrants who initially entered the UK on a student visa were granted the right to settle in each of the past 10 years.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Data is published as part of the Migrant Journey report in dataset MJ_D02, which contains grants of settlement by initial leave category.
Details for the last 10 years for study are below:
Sum of Total | Column Labels |
Row Labels | Study |
2011 | 27,375 |
2012 | 23,364 |
2013 | 32,126 |
2014 | 25,694 |
2015 | 26,668 |
2016 | 17,663 |
2017 | 18,176 |
2018 | 26,622 |
2019 | 27,625 |
2020 | 16,764 |
Grand Total | 242,077 |
Asked by: Lord Green of Deddington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many mobile phones have been issued (1) to individuals in immigration removal centres, and (2) to asylum seekers arriving in the UK after crossing the English Channel by boat, between 1 January 2018 and 30 June 2021.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The published Detention Services Order 08/2012 sets out the Home Office’s policy on detained individuals’ possession of mobile phones in immigration removal centres.
To enable contact with friends, family and legal representatives, where individuals do not have a suitable mobile phone, Home Office suppliers can provide temporary access to basic model mobile phones for individuals in detention, or those awaiting initial processing. These mobile phones are returned when individuals leave the respective centre.
No mobile phones are provided in Initial Asylum Accommodation, however; individuals can request a data sim card which enables internet access, for use during their stay.
Asked by: Lord Green of Deddington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which countries' passport holders are able to use e-gates at UK borders when coming to the UK for short stays; what arrangements they have made to ensure that such people (1) are not taking paid employment whilst in the UK, and (2) do not stay longer than their permitted six months; and what assessment they have made of whether the system has been abused so far.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The use of e-Gates is a secure and efficient way of crossing the border.
In addition to British and Irish citizens aged 12 and over, who can use e-Gates to enter the UK for any purpose, citizens aged 12 and over of the countries named in the Schedule to the Immigration (Leave to Enter and Remain) Order 2000, as amended, are eligible to seek entry to the UK using an e-Gate for the purpose of short visits. The list of countries can be found online under the ‘Amendment of the Immigration (Leave to Enter and Remain) Order 2000’ on the legislation.gov.uk website.
We also operate the Registered Traveller service, where regular, compliant visitors to the UK and those with long term entry clearance can apply for membership which allows them to seek entry using an e-Gate once they have passed initial checks and been examined by a Border Force officer (BFO) on their next entry to the UK. The list of countries whose citizens are currently eligible to apply for membership of the RTS can be viewed on gov.uk
In terms of preventing illegal working and overstaying those who enter using an e-Gate and go on to work illegally or overstay will be identified in the same way as those who are granted leave to enter by an entry clearance officer or BFO.
We continue to monitor reports and trends of immigration abuse across the immigration system, including of illegal working and overstaying to ensure the immigration system continues to operate in the national interest.
Asked by: Lord Green of Deddington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Migration Advisory Committee Impact of International Students in the UK, published in September 2018, and in particular the conclusion that "it is likely that those who would benefit from a longer period to find a graduate level job are not the most highly skilled".
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The Government strongly wishes to attract international students to study in the UK. They enhance our educational institutions both financially and culturally; they enrich the experience of domestic students; and they can become important ambassadors for the United Kingdom in later life. The Graduate route significantly enhances our offer to international students and the attractiveness of the UK as a world-leading destination for higher education.
The Government at the time, set out its response to the recommendation of the Migration Advisory Committee. However, following the UK’s exit from the EU and the launch of our new points-based system, the introduction of the Graduate route demonstrates our global outlook and support for the UK’s education sector. The route will also help us realise our ambition, as set out in the International Education Strategy, to increase UK education exports to £35 billion and the number of international higher education students to 600,000 by 2030.
This Government has set out its assessment of the impact of the route. This can be found on the gov.uk website or through the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statement-of-changes-to-the-immigration-rules-hc-1248-4-march-2021
Asked by: Lord Green of Deddington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people who originally came to the UK on a study visa were later granted limited leave to remain in each of the past five years.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Such data is not currently held in a reportable way and to gather it could only be achieved at a disproportionate cost.