Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Brandon Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 28th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Alex Chalk]

I am delighted that the settlement scheme is progressing at pace, with 2 million or so people signing up. However, some individuals in my constituency really benefit from face-to-face contact, so what steps are being taken, through pop-up shops or whatever, to ensure that they can get the vital hands-on support they need?

[Mr Speaker]

Stone followed by Chalk seems apposite.

[Brandon Lewis]

The Home Office is undertaking a programme of work through voluntary organisations, and the £3.75 million scheme includes working with people at pop-up events. I visited one in Great Yarmouth that is doing excellent work with communities so that people can see how simple the system is and are able to apply, and we encourage more people to do so. We have now reached 2.2 million applications, and I look forward to that number growing quickly.

[Mr Speaker]

From Stone to Chalk to Cherry—I call Joanna Cherry.

Points of Order

Debate between Brandon Lewis and John Bercow

Thursday 14th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her point of order and her characteristic courtesy in giving me advance notice of her intention to raise it. The right hon. Gentleman is in his place and approached me to acknowledge the likelihood of this matter being raised and to indicate a readiness to respond. Let us hear from the Minister.

[The Minister without Portfolio (Brandon Lewis)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. I will not keep the House long. I only want to say that the Government have not asked anyone to start contingency planning for the European Parliament elections. That is our position in public and in private.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Brandon Lewis and John Bercow

Wednesday 13th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)]

This morning, right hon. and hon. Members and I were serving on a statutory instrument Committee. Along the Committee corridor, there are SI Committees almost every day, preparing not only for a deal-Brexit but for a no-deal Brexit. Can I tell my right hon. Friend that we are prepared, in my view?

[Mr Speaker]

Aren’t we? I think that is where the question mark comes.

[Brandon Lewis]

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. As the Government have said consistently over the past couple of years, we are working so that we are prepared, whatever the outcome. The legislative default for this Parliament is to leave without a deal, if we do not agree a deal.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Brandon Lewis and John Bercow

Wednesday 19th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Sir Oliver Heald (North East Hertfordshire) (Con)]

In the field of justice, we have been lucky to enjoy very good civil, mutual judicial co-operation across Europe. In the event of a no-deal Brexit, are there plans in place, and are there the civil servants, for example, to rejoin The Hague conventions in place of the regulations in Europe and so on, to ensure that we have a smooth legal transition?

[Mr Speaker]

There is something wrong with the microphone. The right hon. and learned Gentleman cannot be fully heard, and that is unsatisfactory, but I am sure it will be put right.

[Brandon Lewis]

My right hon. and learned Friend asks an important question. We are now focusing on making sure that we get the deal we want negotiated with the EU—that is our top priority—but it is right that we prepare for every eventuality. My right hon. Friend the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice is working with partners around Europe to ensure that, but the best thing we can do in this Parliament to ensure that we have a smooth and orderly Brexit, including for the justice system and security, is to support the Prime Minister’s deal when we vote on it in January.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Brandon Lewis and John Bercow

Wednesday 16th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Brandon Lewis]

As I have said in the House in the past, we should all be prepared to have good, strong and robust debate, but it should and must be done with respect.

[Mr Speaker]

In a single sentence, David Evennett.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Brandon Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 20th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Brandon Lewis]

Detention is an important part of our process and of enabling returns, but we must be clear: to be lawful in this country, detention never lasts longer than is reasonably necessary to achieve the purpose for which it was authorised, which is to return somebody. That is the policy that we run.

[Mr Speaker]

After the dress rehearsal, we can have the real performance. I call Mr Christopher Chope.

[Mr Christopher Chope (Christchurch) (Con)]

Does the Minister agree that there are too many people in detention centres who should have already been deported? They should have been deported before the expiry of their prison sentences. Why is that not happening?

--- Later in debate ---

[Brandon Lewis]

My hon. Friend has just highlighted what many of us are very clear about, which is that students play a hugely important part in our national economy. They are huge contributors and have a great contribution to make when they leave university, when that is done in the appropriate format. We would encourage more people to come and study in this country at the excellent institutions we have right across the country.

[Mr Speaker]

I call Christine Jardine.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Brandon Lewis and John Bercow

Monday 16th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Brandon Lewis]

I am absolutely astonished that the hon. Lady has asked that question, bearing in mind that, over the weekend, it became clear that the Labour party is prepared to take a bad deal, or any deal, as opposed to a good deal. As the Prime Minister has outlined, it is absolutely right that we are optimistic and trying to achieve a deal that works for both the United Kingdom and our partners in Europe, but, at the same time, we must also do the job that we have been brought here to do, which is to prepare for all eventualities.

[Mr Speaker]

I am rather surprised that the hon. Lady remembers Fun Boy Three, as they came into great prominence long before her time.

--- Later in debate ---

[Afzal Khan (Manchester, Gorton) (Lab)]

Applications for international students and other immigration applications cost hundreds of pounds, and errors are common. When the Home Office makes such errors, it puts constituents and citizens in unnecessary distress, but there are no consequences for the Department getting critical decisions wrong time and again. Will the Minister explain where the profits from visa and other visa-related applications are going and how much of the fees received pay for these services? What will he do to improve such a terrible service?

[Mr Speaker]

That was an extremely scholarly academic inquiry to which an extremely pithy response is required—not beyond the competence of a graduate of the University of Buckingham in my constituency, I feel sure.

[Brandon Lewis]

I will do my best to rise to the challenge, Mr Speaker. As I said earlier, the immigration system’s visas and charges are as per the Immigration Act 2014. I would challenge the hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton (Afzal Khan) a little bit because no one has come to me about mistakes in how we deal with student visas. We are encouraging students from all over the world to come here.

Immigration Act 2016: Section 67

Debate between Brandon Lewis and John Bercow

Wednesday 19th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Brandon Lewis]

I fully agree that there is some really good work in Glasgow. I had that conversation with the Scottish Minister last week. A number of local authorities around the country are doing such work. It comes back to the point I have been making: it is very important that we work with local authorities to ensure that they have the capacity, resources, ability and properties to give people who come over the right start in life and the protection, security and safety they deserve.

[Mr Speaker]

As the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron) prepares to step down from the leadership of his party, I thank him not only for his question today, but for his unfailing courtesy and his personal support for the Chair over a very long period, for which I have reason to be very grateful.