Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Home Office Immigration decisions were overturned on appeal in (1) 2000, (2) 2020, and (3) 2022.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’ (available on gov.uk). Data on asylum appeals determined can be found in table Asy_D07 of the ‘Asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’. The latest data relate to the year ending March 2023 and covers the period 2010 to Q1 2023.
Historical asylum appeals determined data can be found in table as_14. The data covers the period 2007 to 2018.
Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks.
Additionally, statistics on appeals relating to all Immigration decisions are published by the Ministry of Justice in their 'Tribunal statistics' collection (available on gov.uk).
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the nature of the contract the Home Office has agreed for the barges that will be used to house asylum seekers; what period of time this will be for; and at what cost.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
Vessels will be managed by an experienced accommodation provider under contractual terms agreed with the Home Office. The same supplier has safely and successfully managed two vessels for Ukrainian refugees for the Scottish Government over the past year.
The Bibby Stockholm vessel will be managed by our supplier, under contractual terms agreed with the Home Office.
The Bibby Stockholm barge and berth have been contracted for 18 months.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 22 June (HL8363), which stated "There are various safe and legal routes for those seeking to work in the UK under the Points Based System", what are those legal routes.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
There is a wide variety of legal routes available to migrants seeking to work in the UK. We granted over 300,000 work visas to main applicants in year ending March 2023.
The full list of available routes, as well as guidance on each one, can be found on the government web site – https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many staff will be needed to service the barges that will be used to house asylum seekers; and how those staff will be (1) recruited, (2) trained, and (3) accommodated.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
Vessels will be managed by an experienced accommodation provider under contractual terms agreed with the Home Office. The same supplier has safely and successfully managed two vessels for Ukrainian refugees for the Scottish Government over the past year.
The provider is responsible for managing the services on the barge, including staff recruitment, training and accommodation.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the barges that will be used to house asylum seekers will be seaborne; and if so, what arrangements they will put in place to enable those accommodated to visit (1) shops, (2) banks, and (3) other facilities.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
Vessels accommodating asylum seekers will be docked. Vessels are non-detained and transport will be provided.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will bring the barges that will be used to house asylum seekers into service.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Bibby Stockholm will arrive in Portland shortly.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government where the barges that will be used to house asylum seekers will be located.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Home Office has leased a vessel to accommodate in Portland Port, Dorset.
The locations where further vessels will be berthed will be released in due course.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to allow asylum seekers the right to work while waiting for their asylum claims to be resolved.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
Asylum seekers are allowed to work in the UK if their claim has been outstanding for 12 months or more, through no fault of their own. Those permitted to work are restricted to jobs on the Shortage Occupation List.
It is important that our policy approach distinguishes between those who need protection and those seeking to work here who can apply for a work visa under the Immigration Rules. Asylum seekers do not need to make perilous journeys in order to seek employment in the United Kingdom. There are various safe and legal routes for those seeking to work in the UK under the Points Based System.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure the accessibility of printed passport renewal forms, with particular regard to the impact of the choice of colour on those with impaired vision.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
His Majesty’s Passport Office provides additional facilities for customers who are blind or have visual impairment to ensure that there are no obstacles to submitting a passport application.
The guidance booklet to help with completing the passport application is available in different formats, including braille, audio tape, and large-print format.
Applying online is the cheapest way to get a passport, and HM Passport Office provides an accessible service which should provide customers with a range of functional support such as the ability to change colours, text size, and use screen readers.
Due to significant technical impacts, it is not currently feasible to change the colour of the paper passport application form. However, blind or visually impaired customers who wish to apply using the paper form and who require additional support can contact the Passport Adviceline. The call agent will complete the form using the information provided by the customer.
Further information about the support available for people who are blind or partially sighted can be found on GOV.UK, at: https://www.gov.uk/passport-services-disabled
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the budget for education purposes provided to each prison during the last year for which figures are available.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The attached table shows the annual education budget for each public sector prison in England and Wales in 2022-23. The total includes core education provider funding, library provision, the Dynamic Purchasing System budget (which the Governor can use flexibly to fund provision to meet particular local needs), and the information advice and guidance budget. The figures do not include other sources of funding that can be separately bid for, such as the Employment Innovation Fund.
Education budget totals for the following privately-managed prisons are also included in the table: HMP Doncaster, HMP Northumberland, HMP Oakwood, and HMP Thameside. The education budgets for these establishments form part of the Authority Education Framework Contract and can therefore be disaggregated from the overall funding total. It is not possible to disaggregate education provision for the remaining privately-managed prisons.