Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that citizens of (a) Belarus and (b) other countries where people who oppose political regimes are at risk of human rights abuses will be offered the opportunity to renew their UK visas or UK immigration status without having to return to their home country to make the necessary application to her Department.
Answered by Kevin Foster
As part of the introduction of the points-based system, we have enabled applicants to switch between immigration routes without having to leave the UK. This applies to all nationals.
Information on those immigration routes, which must be renewed from the home country of the applicant, is available on our website at:
Application to extend stay in the UK: FLR(IR) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
There is also the option to make an asylum claim in person, whilst in the UK, at an application centre. Further information on the asylum process, as well as locations at which an asylum claim can be made, is available here:
Claim asylum in the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her target number is for refugees to be resettled in the UK under the global UK Resettlement Scheme.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Through the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) we continue to welcome vulnerable refugees in need of protection to the UK as well as through other safe and legal routes such as Refugee Family Reunion. Since 2015 we have resettled over 25,000 refugees through our resettlement schemes, in addition to granting over 29,000 Refugee Family Reunion visas in the last 5 years. The number of refugees we resettle every year depends on a variety of factors including local authorities’ capacity for supporting refugees and the extent to which Community Sponsorship continues to thrive. This year the recovery from the pandemic will clearly be a significant factor affecting capacity. We have been working closely with our partners to assess the capacity for resettlement in the months ahead and will continue to welcome those in need in the years to come.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of licencing of pill presses.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office has not yet made a formal assessment of the potential benefits of regulating or licensing pill presses. We are engaging with the Scottish Government at ministerial and official level on this issue and with the National Crime Agency as well international partners.
We continue to review the evidence on the scale of the threat posed by organised crime gangs using pill press machinery in the UK and the options for addressing that threat.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to ensure the safety of hauliers at the (a) UK's borders and (b) ferry port and tunnel freight terminal at Coquelles.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The safety of hauliers within Border Force controls is a priority. Guidance can be found on the.gov.uk on securing your vehicle when entering the UK at
.gov.uk guidance Securing your vehicle when entering the UK
The Department for Transport is responsible for maintaining high standards of safety and security in transport and supporting the maritime sector by producing the overall strategy and planning policy for ports in England and Wales.
The safety of hauliers on French soil is a matter for the French authorities. The UK has though provided significant investment to improve physical security at the ports and approach roads in northern France.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which Minister is responsible for (a) overseeing the Hong Kong BN(O) Visa and (b) ensuring the welcome and integration of BN(O) passport holders to the UK.
Answered by Kevin Foster
On 31 January the new Hong Kong BN(O) route launched. The route will enable BN(O) status holders and their eligible family members to come to the UK to live, work and study. This new route reflects the UK’s historic and moral commitment to those people of Hong Kong who chose to retain their ties to the UK by taking up BN(O) status at the point of Hong Kong’s handover to China in 1997.
The Home Secretary continues to oversee the implementation of the immigration route.
Due to the cross-cutting nature of this policy, departments across the UK Government are working together, along with the devolved administrations given their responsibilities, to identify how support and guidance can be provided to ensure BN(O) status holders have every opportunity to thrive.
Further details will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the efficacy of Unexplained Wealth Orders in tackling financial crime in the UK.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs) were introduced as part of the Criminal Finances Act 2017 and came into force from 1 January 2018. Whilst still relatively new legislation, the Home Office assesses that UWOs (and associated Interim Freezing Orders) are an important addition to existing powers which can result in the provision of critical information which could not be obtained in any other way. UWOs have been used in four cases so far, in relation to property worth an estimated £143.2m. The Home Office keeps the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and the Criminal Finances Act 2017 under review to ensure that all powers remain effective.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to bring forward legislative proposals to amend the Official Secrets Acts 1911 to 1989.
Answered by James Brokenshire
As set out in the Queen’s Speech in December 2019, the Government is developing legislation to tackle hostile activity conducted by foreign states.
As part of this we will carefully consider the Law Commission’s recommendations for reform of the OSAs, within their report on the Protection of Official Data which was published on 1 September 2020.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugees below the age of 16 have been resettled in the UK in each of the last three months.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office is committed to publishing data in an orderly way as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. These can be found at www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-statistic
The next set of figures will be in the quarterly release on 21 May 2020. These figures will include the number of people resettled in the period January to March 2020 and will also include a breakdown of minors arriving under each scheme. We do not publish a breakdown of resettlement family reunifications.
The arrival of refugees under our schemes is currently impacted by travel restrictions globally. As a result, our current planned arrivals will not happen as originally scheduled. We are closely monitoring the situation and expect resettlements to resume when conditions allow.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugees have been resettled in the UK in each of the last three months.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office is committed to publishing data in an orderly way as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. These can be found at www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-statistic
The next set of figures will be in the quarterly release on 21 May 2020. These figures will include the number of people resettled in the period January to March 2020 and will also include a breakdown of minors arriving under each scheme. We do not publish a breakdown of resettlement family reunifications.
The arrival of refugees under our schemes is currently impacted by travel restrictions globally. As a result, our current planned arrivals will not happen as originally scheduled. We are closely monitoring the situation and expect resettlements to resume when conditions allow.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugees whose applications for resettlement in the UK have been granted by her Department have been reunited with their family in each of the last three months.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office is committed to publishing data in an orderly way as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. These can be found at www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-statistic
The next set of figures will be in the quarterly release on 21 May 2020. These figures will include the number of people resettled in the period January to March 2020 and will also include a breakdown of minors arriving under each scheme. We do not publish a breakdown of resettlement family reunifications.
The arrival of refugees under our schemes is currently impacted by travel restrictions globally. As a result, our current planned arrivals will not happen as originally scheduled. We are closely monitoring the situation and expect resettlements to resume when conditions allow.