Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2017 to Question 107878, on the international skills charge, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health about the financial effect on mental health trusts of the introduction of the international skills charge for psychiatrists who do not have a PhD and who are on tier 2 visas.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Migration Advisory Committee in their review of Tier 2 in December 2015 strongly supported the introduction of the Immigration Skills Charge and was clear that it should apply to the public sector, including the NHS.
The rate and scope of the charge, including exemptions from the charge, were agreed in discussion with other government departments, including the Department of Health.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, who is responsible for paying the international skills charge for NHS psychiatrists who do not have a PhD and are on a tier 2 visa.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer that I gave on the 25 July 2017, UIN 5991.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether NHS psychiatrists who do not have a PhD and are on a Tier 2 visa will be affected by the International Skills Charge.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Immigration Skills Charge (ISC), introduced on 6 April, is a charge paid by employers, rather than by migrant workers themselves. It applies to the recruitment of non-EEA nationals being sponsored under the Tier 2 (General) and (Intra Company Transfer) categories.
The charge is applied based on the level of the job, not on the qualifications held by the migrant. Psychiatrists are not considered to be a PhD-level occupation, so employers will normally need to pay the charge.
Employers will not need to pay the charge, however, if they are sponsoring a psychiatrist who is switching from Tier 4, the student route, or who was originally sponsored in Tier 2 before 6 April 2017.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police raids on care homes in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland resulted in potential victims of human trafficking being taken by the police to reception centres in each of the last three years; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The National Crime Agency holds the data collected on victims of modern slavery through the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). The NRM is the process that identifies and supports victims of modern slavery. Modern slavery includes but is not limited to human trafficking, domestic servitude and labour exploitation.
In 2016, UK police forces identified and referred 914 potential victims of modern slavery into the NRM. The NRM statistics published break down the referrals made by their local constabulary. Data on the context in which the police identify the potential victim of modern slavery is not published. The NRM statistics for 2012-2016 can be viewed on the National Crime Agency website: http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/national-referral-mechanism-statistics