Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of how many people evacuated from Afghanistan under Operation Pitting in August 2021 were separated from (1) their partner, and (2) children under the age of 18.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The recent update to the published 'Afghan Resettlement: Operational Data', shows that, at 4th November 2022:
Whilst Home Office are currently not able to provide a breakdown of this data for family members, work is underway to assure information relating to all the individuals relocated under the ARAP and ACRS on case working systems. Once this work concludes, further statistics on both schemes - including the number of people resettled under each - will be included in the published Immigration Statistics.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the comments by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 20 December 2022 (HL Deb cols 1072 and 1076), and by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 21 July 2022 (HL Deb col 2122), whether there are any circumstances in which unaccompanied asylum-seeking children could be removed to Rwanda; and if so, what they are.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children will not be considered for relocation to Rwanda under the MEDP, in line with our inadmissibility guidance.
No one undergoing an age assessment, or legally challenging the outcome of an assessment, will be relocated until that process is fully concluded.
Everyone considered for relocation will be screened and have access to legal advice. Decisions will be taken on a case-by-case basis, and nobody will be relocated if it is unsafe or inappropriate for them.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (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 30 December 2022 (HL4257), whether they will now answer the question put, namely, what factors they will consider in deciding whether to publish the report of the Independent Age Estimation Advisory Committee.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The report from the Age Estimation Science Advisory Committee was published on 10 January 2023. The Home Office will now consider the recommendations and will set out further details in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 6 December (HL Deb cols 85 and 88), what factors they will consider in deciding whether to publish the report of the Independent Age Estimation Advisory Committee.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
In December 2021, the Home Office Chief Scientific Adviser set up the independent Age Estimation Science Advisory Committee to provide her with independent scientific and associated ethical advice, recommendations for best practice, and advice relating to issues raised by key stakeholders on the implementation of scientific methods of age assessment.
We are continuing to work with the committee regarding their report and considering their advice alongside other sources.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer of Lord Murray of Blidworth on 21 November (HL3244), whether they plan to publish the report of the independent Age Estimation Science Advisory Committee.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
In December 2021, the Chief Scientific Adviser at the Home Office set up an independent Age Estimation Science Advisory Committee to provide her with independent scientific and associated ethical advice, recommendations for best practice and advice relating to issues raised by key stakeholders on the implementation of scientific methods of age assessment.
We have always been clear that any decision to implement scientific methods of age assessment would be subject to independent scientific advice. No official decisions have been made about if and how to implement scientific methods.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to receive the report on age assessment of asylum-seeking children from the expert panel they established; and whether this report will be published.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
In December 2021, the Chief Scientific Adviser at the Home Office set up an independent Age Estimation Science Advisory Committee to provide her with independent scientific and associated ethical advice, recommendations for best practice and advice relating to issues raised by key stakeholders on the implementation of scientific methods of age assessment.
We are continuing to work with the committee to finalise their report and considering their advice alongside other sources.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many young people deemed to be adults and issued with a Notice of Intent for removal under the Rwanda scheme have subsequently been found to be children.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’, which can be found on gov.uk.
Data on age disputes raised can be found in table Asy_D05 of the ‘asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’, which is attached (annex A). Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to the year ending June 2022.
The Home Office does not publish a breakdown on the number of age assessments related to inadmissibility.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 6 July (HL Deb cols 1067–1071), how many applications for the discretionary fee waiver on grounds of non-affordability have been received; how many of those applications (1) were successful, and (2) were rejected; and what other options were considered with reference to the fee itself in advance of the final stage impact assessment.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Following introduction of the discretionary fee waiver for child citizenship registration applications on 16 June 2022, the Home Office will be carrying out regular review of the number of applications received, as well as the proportion of applications that have been successful or rejected. Information to support this review is currently in the process of being collated, reviewed and assured, and we are therefore not in a position to share figures at this time. We are however considering the best mechanism for updating Parliament with this information and will do so at the earliest appropriate opportunity.
A range of options were considered in relation to the child citizenship registration fee prior to the final stage impact assessment, including a fee reduction. As the then Minister for Safe and Legal Migration outlined in his Written Ministerial Statement of 26 May, the department’s view, having considered the different options, is that the introduction of a fee waiver based on affordability represents the most effective means of better facilitating children’s access to citizenship, while protecting the sustainable funding of the borders and migration system. This funding supports delivery of the department’s key functions, while reducing reliance on the UK taxpayer.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 6 July (HL Deb cols 1067–71), what discussions they have had with the Project for the Registration of Children regarding the criticisms made of the (1) guidance, and (2) application process, for the discretionary waiver; and what further consideration they have given to (a) the deletion from the guidance of reference to the impact on the funding of the immigration system, and (b) how to report to Parliament on the ongoing monitoring of the application of the waiver.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Whilst no discussions have taken place with the Project for the Registration of Children as British Citizens on the guidance and application process for the discretionary fee waiver for child registration applications to date, the department is open to feedback on where improvements could be made. It is actively undertaking its own evaluation of this new service to identify opportunities for continuous improvement.
Regarding the reference in the guidance to the impact on the funding of the immigration system, as noted in Baroness Williams’ remarks of 6 July, nationality fees are part of a system of fees and funding that was established through the Immigration Act 2014 and the Immigration and Nationality (Fees) Order 2016, that underpins the overall policy of minimising the reliance on the UK taxpayer. The department maintains the view that the reference in the guidance is a relevant consideration in the overall affordability assessment undertaken by caseworkers.
The Home Office is monitoring the numbers of applications received, approved or rejected. It is considering the best mechanism for updating Parliament with this information at the earliest appropriate opportunity.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to respond to the Wendy William's report Windrush Lessons Learned Review: progress update, published on 31 March; and what mechanisms they plan to put in place to monitor future progress in implementing the findings of the Lessons Learned Review.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
In response to Recommendation 2 of the Windrush Lessons Learned Review, Wendy Williams returned to the Department in September 2021 to review our progress in implementing the recommendations of that Review and the commitments we made in the Comprehensive Improvement Plan. Her Progress Update was published in March this year.
Wendy concludes that there is no doubt the Department has risen to the challenge she set for us, and she acknowledges there are several areas where very good progress has been made. Wendy also rightly holds us to account where we have not made sufficient progress and we know there is more to do.
The progress update does not include new recommendations and we will continue to drive forward progress on Wendy’s original 30 recommendations. We have laid the foundations for radical change in the department and a total transformation of culture. We are committed to long-lasting meaningful improvement of how the Home Office delivers.
Turning to the review of the compliant environment – recommendation 7 of the Review - evaluation of these measures individually and cumulatively will be an ongoing process. The compliant environment is made up of a complex set of measures. The approach to evaluation is staged, delivering a range of outputs at different times as is standard practice in establishing an evaluation. I can offer an assurance that we will not wait to make changes where they are needed and policies will be kept under review.