Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of people potentially or actually affected by the decision to amend Appendix EU to the Immigration Rules to include the provision that where a person has been granted limited leave to enter or remain the Secretary of State may extend that limited leave regardless of whether the person has made a valid application for such an extension.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The EU Settlement Scheme, contained in Appendix EU to the Immigration Rules, has provided 5.7 million people with the immigration status they need to continue living in the UK. This includes 1.8 million people who have obtained a grant of pre-settled status (five years’ limited leave to enter or remain).
Since September 2023, we have been extending the pre-settled status of those approaching its expiry date if they have not yet obtained settled status (indefinite leave to enter or remain). This ensures that no pre-settled status holder loses their rights in the UK for failing to make a second application to the scheme.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Ireland about potential returns from that country of irregular migrants to the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Following our departure from the EU, the UK agreed to a reciprocal operational arrangement with Ireland which allows for the return and readmission of asylum seekers.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 21 October (HL1232), why the number of foreign national offenders removed from the UK who have served a custodial sentence of at least 12 months is not separately available in Government statistics.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Since moving to a new caseworking system in October 2022, we are continually reviewing the quality and usefulness of HO management information data sourced from this new system, for use in Home Office internal policy-making and also for possible public release. Data relating to returns of foreign national offenders is of great public interest, and we are reviewing ways we can better meet the public need for information on this topic in future.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many foreign-national offenders, having completed at least 12 months of a custodial sentence, have been removed from the United Kingdom, in each quarterly period since January 2020.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
As has been the case for many years, the information requested is not available from published statistics.
The Home Office does publish quarterly statistics on the returns of foreign national offenders (FNOs) by nationality and year. These returns are published in the Returns Detailed Datasets, Year Ending June 2024, which are available at: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The published statistics refer to enforced returns which include deportations, as well as cases where a person has breached UK immigration laws, and those removed under other administrative and illegal entry powers that have declined to leave voluntarily.
The number of FNOs removed from the UK who have served a custodial sentence of at least 12 months is not separately available.
We are committed to delivering justice for victims and safer streets for our communities. Foreign nationals who commit crime should be in no doubt that the law will be enforced and, where appropriate, we will pursue their deportation, and they will be swiftly removed from the country.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many non-crime hate incidents have been recorded since the publication of statutory guidance by the Home Office in June 2023, broken down by relevant police force or police authority.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not centrally collate information on the number of non-crime hate incidents recorded by individual police forces – this data is held by individual forces.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of the United States on the future of United States-United Kingdom extradition treaty arrangements and any risks of miscarriages of justice arising from their operation.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The UK-US Extradition Treaty continues to enable extradition of individuals, bringing justice to victims in both the UK and US. Individual requests for extradition from the UK are subject to the Extradition Act 2003, which requires a judge to decide whether the requested person's extradition would be appropriate based on the safeguards and protections included in the Act. Extradition continues to be a vital tool in our fight against transnational crime.
The Home Office has not had any recent discussions with the US on the future of the UK-US Extradition Treaty or risks of miscarriages of justice arising from their operation.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had with the police, the Local Government Association and other stakeholders on the impact of their plans for fast-tracking, and granting, multiple asylum applications, in respect of (1) public safety, (2) national security, (3) community cohesion, (4) the probation service, and (5) local government finance.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
On 23 July 2024, the Home Secretary laid a Statutory Instrument in Parliament which removed the retrospective application of the Illegal Migration Act 2023. This has enabled decision-makers to resume their work in processing asylum claims from those who arrived in the UK from 7 March 2023 onwards. This is an important step to restore order to the asylum system and ease the burden on the taxpayer.
Each asylum claim will be considered on its individual merits and all claimants are subject to mandatory security checks. Those who qualify are normally granted five years’ limited leave and have access to the labour market. Those found not to need protection are refused.
The Home Office does and will continue to engage with other Government Departments and a number of external stakeholders regarding the impact that the asylum system has on other areas.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the policing of safe access zones around abortion clinics will be consistent with the College of Policing’s wider guidance on managing protests.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The College of Policing has published an authorised professional practice (APP) to ensure police forces in England and Wales take a consistent and effective approach to planning and policing public order and public safety, including the management of protests. Any guidance on how the wider legislative framework should be applied specifically in the context of abortion safe access zones would be a matter for the College.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they next plan to review the operation and effect of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Regulation 12 in the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 requires the Secretary of State to carry out a review of the operation and effect of the regulations at intervals of no more than five years. The exact timing of the first review has yet to be determined, but we will allow sufficient time for the regulations to become fully established before doing so.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost to the public purse of the judicial review sought by the Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens' Rights Agreements on the implementation of the EU Settlement Scheme with regard to the upgrade from pre-settled to settled status.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The judgment of the judicial review sought by the Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens' Rights Agreements on the implementation of the EU Settlement Scheme found that the pre-permanent right to reside under the Withdrawal Agreement does not expire for failure to make a second application to the EUSS; and a Withdrawal Agreement permanent right to reside is acquired automatically by a pre-settled status holder as soon as they meet the relevant conditions, even if they have not applied for settled status under the EUSS.
Information on the cost to the public purse is not held in a reportable format and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.