Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking in the case of the Palestinian academic Bassem Abudagga, currently studying for his PhD at York St John University, to expedite the visa application process so that his wife and two young children can come from Gaza to the UK.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We strive to conclude cases within the published guidance and information on study processing times and service standards can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/visa-decision-waiting-times-applications-outside-the-uk#faster.
Unfortunately, UKVI cannot comment on individual cases or provide information regarding UK visa applications via this channel.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many suspicious, unnatural, untimely or unexplained deaths have been investigated by the Metropolitan Police since 2010 in which they ultimately determined the cause of death to be suicide, rather than a criminal act.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold the requested information. The Home Office will only receive information on a death if a criminal offence has been recorded by the police.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to (1) improve the mental and physical health of asylum seekers on the Bibby Stockholm barge, following the death of Leonard Farruku on 12 December 2023; and (2) ensure that the process of assessing living conditions on the Bibby Stockholm is sufficiently transparent.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This tragic incident is subject to an ongoing investigation by the police and Coroner and therefore we cannot comment upon this or other individual cases. It is right that the facts surrounding this are established in the appropriate legal manner.
The welfare of asylum seekers is always a priority. The Home Office ensures that accommodation provided is adequate and meets the regulatory standards. We assess individuals' suitability to reside at Portland before moving them on board, and each person's suitability is assessed at regular intervals. If anyone is no longer suitable for any reason, they will be moved to alternative accommodation.
Accommodation providers ensure that guidance and training provided to staff regarding the identification and management of vulnerable asylum seekers with specific needs, or at-risk asylum seekers, is kept up to date and aligns with best practice and safeguarding processes.
The medical facility on the barge is staffed 5 days a week to provide an onsite primary healthcare service. The medical team has previous experience of working with asylum seekers, and refer anyone they are concerned about to the relevant specialist health providers, and discuss (in line with GDPR requirements), their advice with staff.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the percentage of UK citizens who earn above £38,700; and whether it is an intended consequence of the plan to "cut migration levels and to curb abuse of the immigration system", as announced by the Home Secretary on 4 December, to allow only UK citizens who earn above the £38,700 threshold to marry a non-British spouse and to sponsor them to live in the UK from April 2024.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
At the current Minimum Income Requirement (MIR) level of £18,600, 75% of the UK working population (based on ASHE earnings data) meet the MIR level. At the higher MIR of £38,700 – the median salary level for those on the skilled worker route, and all else being constant, around 30% of the UK working population could meet the threshold based on earnings alone. The MIR will be increased in incremental stages to give predictability. In Spring 2024, we will raise the threshold to £29,000, that is the 25th percentile of earnings for jobs which are eligible for Skilled Worker visas, moving to the 40th percentile (currently £34,500) and finally the 50th percentile (currently £38,700 and the level at which the general skilled worker threshold is set) in the final stage of implementation.
Family life must not be established here at the taxpayer’s expense and family migrants must be able to integrate if they are to play a full part in British life. The MIR has not been increased for over a decade and no longer reflects the level of income required by a family to ensure they are self-sufficient and do not need to rely on public funds. It is intended that this change will contribute to reducing net migration when it is introduced in spring 2024.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many UK citizens have a foreign spouse whom they have sponsored to live in the UK under the current family visa system; what is the number of foreign spouses living in the UK on family visas expressed as a percentage of net migration in the most recent annual figures available; and what is the estimated cost to the public of foreign spouses of UK citizens living in the UK on family visas.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The number of UK citizens that have a foreign spouse whom they have sponsored to live in the UK under the current family visa system, the number of foreign spouses living in the UK on family visas expressed as a percentage of net migration in the most recent annual figures available and the estimated cost to the public of foreign spouses of UK citizens living in the UK on family visas does not form part of any current transparency data or migration statistics and is not published.
Transparency data is published quarterly on Gov.uk and includes data on the number of visas issued on family routes, although this does not necessarily equate to foreign spouses living in the UK.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they are taking to ensure that asylum seekers who are granted refugee status in the UK are not at increased risk of homelessness and destitution as a result of recent policy changes to the ‘move-on’ process, which requires newly-recognised refugees to quit Home Office accommodation on seven days’ notice instead of 28 days; and what measures they are taking to ensure that this policy change does not place unnecessary pressures on local authority homelessness services and the voluntary sector.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
An individual remains eligible for asylum support for a prescribed period from the day they are notified of the decision on their asylum claim. Where someone is given notice that their asylum claim has been granted, their appeal has been allowed or their asylum claim has been refused but they have been given leave to enter or remain, the prescribed period in legislation is 28 days. There has been no change to the prescribed period.
Individuals should make plans to move on from asylum support as quickly as possible. We offer support through Migrant Help or their partner organisation in doing this. This includes providing advice on accessing the labour market, on applying for Universal Credit and signposting to local authorities for assistance with housing. Newly recognised refugees are entitled to housing assistance from their local authority and are treated as a priority need if they have children or are considered vulnerable. Individuals do not need to wait for their BRP to make a claim for benefits and are encouraged to do so as early as possible if they require them.
We are ensuring our cross government partners, such as the (DWP) and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) are sighted on data to enable them to consider the impacts of increased decision making and effectively plan. We are also working with DLUHC to ensure the right asylum decision data is being shared with local authorities to enable effective planning and to lessen the impact on existing homelessness and rough sleeping pressures. Our accommodation providers are directly working with local authorities to notify them when an individual is due to have their asylum support ended.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what High Court and Court of Appeal cases have been lost by the Home Office in 2022–23; and what the total cost to the taxpayer of such cases has been.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office does not keep a central record of all judgments handed down where it was a party to legal proceedings before the High Court or Court of Appeal of England and Wales. Accordingly, it does not have a central record of all the cases that the Home Office won or lost during 2022-23. This also means that it does not have a central record of the costs which have arisen in each of those cases. This would require a review of each case to collate the information sought. Accordingly, the Department considers the disproportionate cost threshold applies for the collection of this information.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to response to the report of the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration ‘An inspection of the Home Office’s operations to effect the removal of Foreign National Offenders’, published on 29 June, which described the Home Office’s data management system for criminal casework as “unacceptable”; what action they are taking to create an overarching strategy within the Home Office for the management of its casework system; and how they are working to build public trust in their overall management of illegal immigration into the UK in the light of the problems identified in the report.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The report acknowledges that many of the issues raised at the time of the inspection were already being addressed by the Home Office.
Work has already commenced to address concerns raised in the report. Since January 2023, casework resource has increased, with a dedicated Custodial Decision Team established to focus on ensuring decisions are made early in the process to drive up removals directly from prison. Ringfenced resource has been put in place to improve collaboration with Asylum and with the Immigration Enforcement Competent Authority, who consider Modern Slavery claims.
There is a wider strategy for improvement in Management Information being delivered as part of the transition to a new immigration caseworking system, including new workflow tools and modern data analysis capabilities.
Last year, under the Nationality and Borders Act (NABA) 2022, we expanded the early removal scheme for FNOs to allow them to be removed directly from prison from a maximum of 9 months to 12 months before the end of their custodial sentence. The Act also allows any FNO who receives a custodial sentence of 12 months or more to be disqualified from the recovery and reflection period available to victims of modern slavery.
We are going further to ensure that FNOs cannot frustrate their removal process. Our Illegal Migration Bill, which is currently passing through the House of Lords, proposes that the disqualification from protection for modern slavery victims applies to all FNOs who receive a custodial sentence of any length.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have reviewed the case of five Ukrainian members of the Khmelnitsky Orchestra whose visa applications to perform in the UK were initially refused and then delayed, preventing them from performing in The Magical Music of Harry Potter tour on 1 April which was included on the gov.uk website as an example of the strong UK–Ukraine friendship; and what steps they are taking to ensure that this does not happen again.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
For the purposes of clarification, all of the Khmelnitsky Orchestra were issued their visas.
Officials across the government endeavoured to ensure the Orchestra could enter the UK as soon as possible, once they had submitted their applications, provided their biometrics and information required in support of their application.
Applications are considered on their individual merits in accordance with the immigration rules with the responsibility on applicants to demonstrate they meet these rules to help avoid delays in processing.
Musicians and performers are a valued and important part of UK culture, and we are pleased that the Ukrainian musicians are now in the UK and the orchestra is able to perform in full.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the malicious use of Apple AirTags and similar devices to stalk victims without their knowledge; what estimate they have made of the prevalence of this behaviour; and what discussions they have had, or plan to have, with the manufacturers of such devices in order to prevent such stalking.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Stalking is a terrible crime which causes significant harm to victims. The Government is committed to protecting and supporting victims of stalking and is determined to do everything it can to stop perpetrators at the earliest opportunity.
I am aware of the reports of Apple AirTags being used by perpetrators to stalk their victims. Home Office officials have previously engaged with Apple on this issue and discussed Apple’s responses to the concerns raised and the measures it has taken with a view to ensuring safeguarding. We do not have data on the prevalence of stalking related to such devices.
In order to improve our understanding of those who perpetrate abuse and identify what works to tackle their behaviour, the Home Office has invested over £2 million for various research projects since 2020, including research that specifically considered the way perpetrators may use technology to facilitate their abuse.