Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 4 January (HL4305), what assessment they have made of the differing fees for differing citizenship applications despite the same unit cost; where the additional income is allocated; and what the additional income is used for.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Explanatory Memorandum to the Immigration and Nationality Fees Regulations 2014 sets out the rationale for the differential between fees for naturalisation and adult and child registration. Different fees are applied to registration and naturalisation fee because a concession is applied to registration provisions as they cater for people closely connected with the UK with sufficiently strong or established links to be able to register as a British Citizen. The fee for a child registering as a British Citizen is lower than the fee charged to an adult, as the entitlements conferred on a successful applicant are fewer.
Fees for immigration and nationality applications are set in line with the charging principles set out in the Immigration Act 2014, which include the cost of processing the application, the wider costs of running the Migration and Borders system and the benefits enjoyed by a successful application.
All income generated above the estimated unit cost is used to fund the wider Migration and Borders system.
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 1 August 2022 (HL1923), whether they have now produced a forecast for 2023 of numbers of small boats crossing the English Channel; and if so, (1) how such a forecast was produced, and (2) when that forecasting started.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Home Office considers a range of potential arrival volumes for the coming year as part of its planning for these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary crossings. However, these are planning scenarios, not forecasts or predictions, and there are no plans to publish them. In 2022, over 45,000 people arrived in the UK as a result of these crossings.
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 19 December 2022 (HL4037), whether there is a cap on the number of asylum seekers per 100,000 resident population in the Full Dispersal Model.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
Currently there is no cap on the number of asylum seekers per 100,000 of the resident population. However, to support full dispersal plans have been developed in partnership with local government across the 9 England regions and Scotland and Wales, to agree a more equitable spread of dispersed accommodation across the UK. These plans ensure that no individual area is asked to support more than 0.5 per cent of its resident population.
Northern Ireland is not excluded from dispersal; they accommodate asylum seekers who arrive and claim asylum in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is not listed under the Full Dispersal Model as we don’t routinely transport people across the Irish Sea. However, they do have an active role in helping us meet our statutory obligations.
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 19 December 2022 (HL4037), why the Full Dispersal Model only applies in England, Wales and Scotland.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
Currently there is no cap on the number of asylum seekers per 100,000 of the resident population. However, to support full dispersal plans have been developed in partnership with local government across the 9 England regions and Scotland and Wales, to agree a more equitable spread of dispersed accommodation across the UK. These plans ensure that no individual area is asked to support more than 0.5 per cent of its resident population.
Northern Ireland is not excluded from dispersal; they accommodate asylum seekers who arrive and claim asylum in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is not listed under the Full Dispersal Model as we don’t routinely transport people across the Irish Sea. However, they do have an active role in helping us meet our statutory obligations.
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 3 January (HL4343), on how many days on average it takes for an immigration decision relating to issuing a Biometric Residence Permit to be (1) taken, and (2) received; and how many Biometric Residence Permits took more than 48 hours after an immigration decision to be received in (a) 2021, and (b) 2022.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The waiting times for BRPs are dictated by the BRP production and delivery processes.
We aim to deliver a BRP within 7 working days of the immigration decision. BRPs are produced within 48 hours of the production request being made and are collected by our secure delivery partner the same day who attempt to deliver the BRPs within 48 hours of receipt. This equates to a minimum of 5 working days from date of production request being made to delivery of the BRP.
BRP production data does not form part of the Transparency Data and is not publicly available.
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 21 December 2022 (HL4067), what estimate they have made, if any, of (1) the expected costs of deportations of Albanian nationals who have travelled to the UK via small boats, and (2) the expected numbers of Albanian citizens who will be deported in 2023.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
Costs for individual flights will vary based on a number of different factors and are regularly reviewed to ensure that best value for money is balanced against the need to remove those individuals with no right to remain in the UK.
We do not routinely disclose commercial or operational information relating to individual charter flights. Nor do we provide pre-emptive figures for the number of individuals who are expected to be removed from the UK.
The Home Office publishes statistics on all types of removals from the UK.
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 3 January (HL4341), whether data will be (1) collected, and (2) published, on the number of unsuccessful asylum seekers who are removed from the UK under the UK–France Joint Statement of 14 November 2022.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The deal agreed by the Home Secretary and Minister Darmanin on 14 November set out joint strategic objectives and a joint operational plan to drive forward co-operation to tackle illegal migration. The agreement encompasses a range of operational activity including the deployment of surveillance technology, French patrols and intelligence sharing. Details can be found in the November 2022 Joint Statement.
Broader data on collection and publication of asylum related returns can be found in the Migration Statistics releases on gov.uk.
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what contractual obligations hotels must meet to provide contingency accommodation for asylum seekers; and whether those obligations include a requirement to ensure unaccompanied asylum-seeking children do not go missing.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Home Office has no power to hold children or adults in contingency hotels if they wish to leave. To minimise the risk of a child going missing, records of minors leaving and returning to the hotel are kept and monitored. Support workers accompany children off site on activities and social excursions, or where specific vulnerabilities are identified.
All asylum seekers, including under 18s, have an interview on arrival in the UK which includes a series of questions specifically designed to understand whether there are any potential indicators of trafficking. A referral is made to the National Referral Mechanism if indicators are noted. In the case of children, a safety plan is put in place by social services, whilst adults identified as potential victims of modern slavery are entitled to care and support provided by the Salvation Army. The Home Office and its accommodation providers have robust processes in place to ensure that where someone is at risk, they are referred to the appropriate statutory agencies of the police, NHS and social services, to promote appropriate safeguarding interventions. All contingency sites have security staff and providers liaise closely with local police to ensure the welfare and safety of vulnerable residents.
The safety and wellbeing of asylum seekers in our care is of paramount importance to the Home Office. We expect high standards from all of our providers, and we have a robust governance framework in place to manage service delivery of the Asylum Accommodation Support Contracts (AASC). Details of the AASC can be found at: New asylum accommodation contracts awarded - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab).
Asked by: Lord Rosser (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to provide powers, or (2) to take other measures, to prevent unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in hotels or any temporary accommodation from going missing.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Home Office has no power to hold children or adults in contingency hotels if they wish to leave. To minimise the risk of a child going missing, records of minors leaving and returning to the hotel are kept and monitored. Support workers accompany children off site on activities and social excursions, or where specific vulnerabilities are identified.
All asylum seekers, including under 18s, have an interview on arrival in the UK which includes a series of questions specifically designed to understand whether there are any potential indicators of trafficking. A referral is made to the National Referral Mechanism if indicators are noted. In the case of children, a safety plan is put in place by social services, whilst adults identified as potential victims of modern slavery are entitled to care and support provided by the Salvation Army. The Home Office and its accommodation providers have robust processes in place to ensure that where someone is at risk, they are referred to the appropriate statutory agencies of the police, NHS and social services, to promote appropriate safeguarding interventions. All contingency sites have security staff and providers liaise closely with local police to ensure the welfare and safety of vulnerable residents.
The safety and wellbeing of asylum seekers in our care is of paramount importance to the Home Office. We expect high standards from all of our providers, and we have a robust governance framework in place to manage service delivery of the Asylum Accommodation Support Contracts (AASC). Details of the AASC can be found at: New asylum accommodation contracts awarded - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab).