Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to curb the illegal use of e-scooters.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Enforcement of road traffic law, including in relation to the illegal use of e-scooters, is an operational matter for Chief Officers who will decide how to deploy available resources, taking into account any specific local problems and demands.
The Government will continue to support the police to ensure they have the tools needed to enforce road traffic legislation, including those relating to offences involving e-scooters.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made in the negotiations between the Department of Health and Social Care and the Home Office regarding the approximately 1,000 foreign GPs working for the NHS who are threatened with deportation because they do not meet the requirements of the skilled worker scheme.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Deportation relates to the removal from the UK of Foreign Nationals who are serious or persistent criminal offenders. It is wrong to suggest 1,000 foreign national GPs fall within this category or to imply they have been threatened with this by the Home Office. We therefore would not be having any negotiations with the Department for Health and Social Care on this basis.
General Practitioner (GP) is a role which qualifies for the Skilled Worker Visa, in particular the Health and Care visa which makes it easier, cheaper, and quicker for health workers – including GPs - to come to the UK to work compared to other immigration routes. This route also exempts them from the need to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge.
The Home Office works with employers in the sector to ensure they can recruit under the Skilled Worker route by becoming a licensed sponsor, with tens of thousands of employers having done so, including many small and medium size businesses. Those who are licensed sponsors can recruit for any role which qualifies for the Skilled Worker Visa.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why the post of director general of Border Force and Immigration Enforcement continues to be vacant.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
We are in the process of recruitment for a new joint Borders and Enforcement Director General.
In the interim we have appointed two temporary Director Generals for Border Force and Immigration Enforcement.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of Home Office staff based in central London were working from their office desks on 2 September.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office is only able to provide this information for 2 Marsham St where it is recorded.
On 2 September 2020, 173 members of Home Office staff were working in 2 Marsham Street office, which is 30 % of Covid compliant occupancy.
*Note: available desks is currently 577 due to social distancing. Desk numbers for Home Office staff in 2 Marsham Street total 2072 but due to social distancing this has been reduced to 577.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Sri Lankan nationals sought asylum in the UK in (1) 2018, and (2) 2019, and how many were successful.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office publishes data on asylum applications in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’ (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release). Data on the number of asylum applications from Sri Lankan nationals and the initial decision on such applications are published in the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets).
Table Asy_D01 contains information on the number of asylum applications. Table Asy_D02 contains information on initial decisions on such applications. In addition to those granted at initial decision, some will be granted following appeal. Data on the number of appeals lodged can be found in Asy_D06, and data on the outcome of such appeals in Asy_D07.
Additionally, the Home Office publishes a high-level overview of the data in the ‘summary tables’ (attached). The ‘contents’ sheet contains an overview of all available data on asylum and resettlement. The latest data relates to the year ending March 2020.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’ (https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-statistics?keywords=immigration&content_store_document_type=upcoming_statistics&organisations%5B%5D=home-office&order=relevance)
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Sri Lankans (1) applied for asylum, and (2) had applications approved in each year since 2008, broken down by ethnicity.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office publishes data on the number of applications and initial decisions, broken down by nationality, in table as_01_q (volume 1 of the asylum tables) in the quarterly Immigration Statistics publication. The latest figures, up until June 2018, are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-june-2018
Data on ethnicity are not available.
Table 1: Asylum applications, initial decision, and grants on asylum applications from Sri Lankan nationals, 2008 to June 2018
Year | Total applications | Total initial decisions | Total grants |
2008 | 1,473 | 874 | 206 |
2009 | 1,115 | 1,251 | 190 |
2010 | 1,357 | 1,612 | 228 |
2011 | 1,756 | 1,604 | 323 |
2012 | 1,744 | 1,384 | 333 |
2013 | 1,811 | 1,287 | 262 |
2014 | 1,292 | 1,217 | 157 |
2015 | 961 | 1,537 | 179 |
2016 | 845 | 731 | 44 |
2017 | 690 | 645 | 49 |
2018 (Jan-Jun) | 261 | 302 | 22 |
1. Grants include grants of asylum, discretionary leave, humanitarian protection, and grants under family and private life rules.
2. Decisions made in a given year does not necessarily relate to the number of applications in the same year. Applications are based on the date of application and decisions are based on the date of initial decision.
3. Data include main applicants only.
4. Data for 2018 include 6 months of data only (Jan-Jun). This is the latest period that is publically available.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many immigration applications from Sri Lankan nationals were granted in each year from 2008, broken down by ethnicity.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Unfortunately, the Department does not record this information in such a way as to allow us to report on the estimated number of immigration applications from Sri Lankan nationals in each year from 2008, broken down by ethnicity and this data could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in relation to the new passport contract, whether the estimated figures supplied by Lord Naseby to the Prime Minister's Office, demonstrating a net loss of approximately £36 million rather than a saving of £120 million, were considered or evaluated.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
We do not agree with any suggestion that the new passport contract will generate a net loss.
The new passport contract is worth approximately £260 million. This is considerably lower than the current contract that was valued at £400 million when it was awarded in 2009.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in relation to the new passport contract, when the original statement of the £120 million saving was made; and whether that figure included the anticipated adverse impact arising from the loss of UK taxes and increased costs from probable unemployment.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
There is no requirement for large scale procurements to assess tax revenue impacts, other than to ensure bidders are tax compliant.
The new contract for design, manufacture and personalisation of the UK passport is worth approximately £260 million. This will deliver significant savings to passport customers and the UK tax payer when compared to the £400 million contract that was awarded in 2009.
The incumbent will continue to provide these passport services for at least another 18 months, and have publicly stated that they will bid for other work to help protect jobs after the current passport contract ends. Gemalto has also stated it expects to create up to 70 jobs in the UK across two locations.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 12 April (HL6775) stating that "all opportunities to supply passports or their components for EU governments must comply with the EU Procurement Directives", whether (1) France, (2) Germany, (3) Italy, and (4) Spain, are exempt from those directives.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
All EU member states are bound by EU Procurement Directives, and companies within the member states would have the opportunity to bid for the work as and when the government puts it out to tender.
If the service is available from a state owned company, then an exemption to running a tender with private companies applies. There is no state owned UK passport company, and therefore this exemption does not apply. It is not for the UK Government to comment on whether France, Germany, Italy or Spain has opted to apply for such an exemption.