Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they issue guidance to universities on the appropriate level of spoken and written English for overseas students undertaking a degree course.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Guidance on the appropriate level of spoken and written English overseas students are required to meet when applying for a visa to undertake a degree course is provided by the Home Office to universities. This is contained within the guidance ‘Tier 4 of the Points Based System: Guidance for Sponsors Document 2: Sponsorship Duties’ from paragraph 5.6 – 5.19 located on GOV.UK https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sponsor-a-tier-4-student-guidance-for-educators.
Students studying a course at degree level or above must be able to demonstrate they are competent at level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR) in all four components (reading, writing, speaking and listening). Higher Education Institutions (HEI) may set the level of English language ability to a higher level than that set out in Home Office guidance, however the minimum level must be met.
If the student is applying to study at an HEI, the institution can assess whether the student meets the required level of English language ability. If the student is not studying at an HEI, they will need to demonstrate their English language ability by being successful in a secure English language test (SELT) from one of our approved test providers.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been (1) reported to the police, and (2) convicted, under section 96 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 for conducting independent education institutions.
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 does not hold the information requested. Police forces in England and Wales are not required to notify the Home Office of offences recorded under section 96 of the Education and Skills Act 2008.
Prosecution information is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to roll out the Prevent initiative to raise awareness of far-right extremism in schools.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Since July 2015, specified authorities, including schools, childcare providers, colleges and universities are required under the Prevent duty to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism. The Prevent duty guidance makes clear that the duty is intended to address all forms of extremism and terrorism, including Far Right.
The Government provides a range of support to schools to implement the duty. For example, the Prevent e-learning package includes examples of Far Right extremism, and our Educate Against Hate website for teachers includes lesson plans to support discussion about far right extremism in the classroom.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the contribution made to Britain by the former Hong Kong Armed Forces from 1857 until 1997, whether, and if so when, they will grant UK passports to the remaining soldiers of the Hong Kong Military Service Corps and the Hong Kong Naval service who did not receive a UK passport following the handover of Hong Kong to China.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
We have agreed to undertake a thorough assessment of this matter and are currently considering representations.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure that regular updates of the list of Tier 4 visa sponsors are published when sponsors are found not to be compliant with government requirements.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The register of licensed Tier 4 sponsors is published daily and will continue to be. Sponsors that lose their licence as a result of non-compliance are removed from the published list of sponsors.
No information is routinely published regarding sponsors found not to be compliant. In January 2015 data was published showing Tier 4 sponsors whose status appeared as revoked from 2010 to 2014. This information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tier-4-sponsors-whose-status-appeared-as-revoked-from-2010-to-2014
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 14 July (HL1030), how often priority dispersal internal checks occur, and what standard is required to pass those checks.
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 monitors the length of time all applicants spend in initial accommodation and works closely with Migrant Help, a charity that provides independent advice and support to asylum claimants, to ensure that families with children are identified and receive priority assistance to apply for housing and support in order to progress their application through the system quickly.
Daily internal checks are in place to triage and identify applications for prioritising. The Home Office target for processing asylum support applications is 80% of applicants leaving Initial Accommodation in 19 days.
UKVI officials work closely with the service providers to ensure that family applications are prioritised in recognition of the family’s needs and in accordance with our duty under section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act of 2009.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what avenue of complaint members of the public have if they believe that government information, such as that provided in the document <i>Tier 4 sponsors whose status appeared as revoked from 2010 to 2014</i>, is not adequately clear, precise, or accessible.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Information about UK Visas and Immigration’s complaint process, including both electronic and postal contact routes and guidance is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-visas-and-immigration/about/complaints-procedure.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many instances of radicalised behaviour have been reported by teachers as a result of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 coming into force.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Information from the police is that between 1st July 2015 and 30th March 2016, around 1080 referrals were made from schools which related to concerns about vulnerable people potentially being drawn into terrorism. It is not possible to determine how many of these were as a result of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, which places no legal obligation on teachers to make such referrals. Many referrals need no further action after careful assessment, and others receive support for concerns unrelated to terrorism. Individuals assessed as being at risk may be offered support through Channel, the voluntary and confidential support programme for those who are vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what policies are in place to ensure that newly arrived asylum seekers placed in Home Office initial accommodation have immediate access to the education system.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The issue of education provision for children seeking asylum is an important one and the Home Office makes every effort to ensure that families with children who claim asylum support have access to education at the earliest opportunity.
To enable access to education, internal checks are in place to triage applications involving children of school age for priority dispersal from initial accommodation facilities into permanent accommodation.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 13 June (HL433), when they expect the quality assurance of the Home Office’s Case Information Database data relating to sexuality-based asylum claims to be completed, and whether they plan routinely to record asylum claims based on, or relating to, gender identity issues in a way that can be easily aggregated.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The process of quality assuring the data held on the Home Office's Case Information Database relating to sexuality based asylum claims continues to be undertaken by the Home Office. We are currently looking at ways to expedite this process. There are no current plans to record information where the detail of the asylum claim basis relates to gender identity issues on Home Office databases.