Asked by: Lord Mann (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many properties were purchased by Serco in the first six months of 2024 to house asylum seekers; and what criteria is used to determine how, when and where to purchase such property.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office cannot comment on commercial arrangements that are confidential. Data on the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated is published at Gov.UK.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they last made an assessment of the situation in Eritrea in determining whether individuals from that country meet the eligibility criteria for asylum in the UK; and what discussions they have had with European counterparts in the past three years concerning these criteria.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office’s most recent country policy and information note (CPIN) on Eritrea, which sets out our general assessment of asylum claims based on a fear of avoiding national service and leaving the country illegally, was published in September 2021. The CPIN is publicly available on GOV.UK.
We maintain a regular dialogue with European counterparts on a wide range of asylum issues.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what decision, if any, was made by the Migration Advisory Committee on item 7 of their agenda as referenced in the minutes of their meeting of 14 July 2023; and, if so, when.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
In response to the request from the Home Secretary for all agencies and public bodies that are sponsored by the Home Office, including the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), to adopt and publish a statement adopting the IHRA’s definition of antisemitism, the MAC included a wider policy statement on discrimination in its 2023 Annual Governance Report: Migration Advisory Committee: annual report, 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Lord Mann (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many immigrants arrived in the UK (1) legally, and (2) illegally, in each calendar year since 2015.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes the following data on gov.uk:
Data on visas granted are published in table Vis_D02 of the ‘Immigration System Statistics release’. These statistics refer to the number of visas granted, and do not necessarily reflect the number of arrivals from long-term immigrants.
Data on asylum seekers and refugees resettled in the UK can be found in tables Asy_D01 and Asy_D02 of the ‘Immigration System Statistics release’. Data on detected irregular arrivals to the UK is published in table Irr_01 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK summary tables’. These statistics should not be used to infer the size of the irregular population in the UK, nor the total number of people entering the UK irregularly.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many seasonal agricultural workers there have been in 2023 so far through the seasonal agricultural workers scheme; and from which countries those workers originated.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on Seasonal Worker visas by nationality in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the outcomes of Seasonal Worker visas are published in table ‘Vis_D02’ of the detailed entry clearance visas dataset. Selecting ‘Seasonal Worker (previously Tier 5)’ from the visa type subgroup filter will output data on Seasonal Worker visas. Nationality and time frames can also be filtered. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates up to the end of March 2023.
| 2021 Q2 | 2021 Q3 | 2021 Q4 | 2022 Q1 | 2022 Q2 | 2022 Q3 | 2022 Q4 | 2023 Q1 |
Work | 55,928 | 72,842 | 70,154 | 77,562 | 110,675 | 123,068 | 111,708 | 142,320 |
Investor, business development and talent | 1,421 | 1,959 | 1,499 | 1,564 | 1,153 | 2,284 | 2,323 | 2,583 |
Other work visas and exemptions | 8,216 | 8,465 | 6,367 | 5,011 | 10,340 | 7,428 | 6,188 | 5,510 |
Temporary Worker | 18,024 | 15,258 | 13,051 | 13,837 | 30,380 | 17,893 | 10,548 | 17,559 |
Worker | 28,267 | 47,160 | 49,237 | 57,150 | 68,802 | 95,463 | 92,649 | 116,668 |
It is important to note that the Seasonal Worker visa includes mostly horticultural workers, but also includes a small number of poultry workers.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what system they use to process advanced DBS checks for professionals newly arrived in the UK from Hong Kong and applying for jobs; and what risk assessment they have made of the consequences of seeking information from the Hong Kong Police Force when carrying out such checks.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The system for processing DBS checks for professionals newly arrived from Hong Kong is the same as the system used for all applicants regardless of where an individual is from. The DBS takes its information from what is held on the Police National Computer (PNC) and does not seek information from the Hong Kong Police Force when carrying out such checks.
Information about overseas criminal records is entered on the Police National Computer (PNC) only when the British police are advised by a police force from overseas, or an agency such as Interpol.
If an employer is recruiting people from overseas and wishes to check for any foreign criminal record, a DBS check can only access criminal records from the PNC and cannot access criminal records systems in other territories.
Where overseas criminal records are held on the PNC, these would be revealed as part of a DBS check, as appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assistance they provide to migrants settling in the UK to obtain UK passports for UK-born babies.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth - Shadow Minister (Home Office)
Where a foreign national settling in the UK wishes to obtain a passport for a UK-born child for whom they have parental responsibility, they may apply for a child passport through the normal range of available HMPO application processes.
His Majesty’s Passport Office will assess whether the child is a British citizen in accordance with the British Nationality Act 1981, which requires the parent to be settled in the United Kingdom when the child is born, and also provides an alternative mechanism for UK-born children to acquire British citizenship through registration. HMPO provides an enquiry service to assist customers making passport applications.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many new migrants legally settled in the UK in the period January–April.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The Home Office publishes data on the number of grants of Settlement in the “How many people continue their stay in the UK or apply to stay permanently?” topic and underlying datasets of the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’.
The latest data relates to the year ending March 2022 and can be found in table se_D02, which is attached.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many migrants from Hong Kong have settled in the UK since June 2020.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The Home Office publishes data on the number of applications and grants of leave of people from Hong Kong on the British National Overseas (BN(O)) route in the “How many people come to the UK each year (including visitors)?” topic and underlying datasets of the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’.
The latest data for the BN(O) route relates to the year ending March 2022. These statistics include data on main applicants and dependants.
The Home Office publishes data on the number of grants of settlement, broken down by nationality in table Se_D01 in the Settlement datasets, which is attached. The latest data relates to the year 2020.
Asked by: Lord Mann (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their initiative on tackling the online abuse of footballers, what assessment they have made of the extent to which football clubs have taken up the opportunity of briefings from the police on systems for reporting and dealing with online abuse.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
We are aware that some clubs have responded to the offer made by the police of briefings on systems for reporting and dealing with online abuse. This is an operational matter for football clubs and their players to decide on. Police remain ready and willing to offer their support in tackling online abuse directed at footballers.