Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to develop new country information for Syria; and when she plans to begin processing (a) asylum claims and (b) settlement cases.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
Following the fall of the Assad regime, the Home Office has withdrawn the Country Policy Information Notes and Guidance relating to Syria and has temporarily paused all asylum interviews and decisions. However, we continue to register new claims from Syrians in the UK who wish to claim asylum.
The Country Policy and Information Team (CPIT) are continuing to monitor and review the situation in Syria. CPIT are gathering evidence from a wide range of reliable sources, including reputable media outlets; local, national and international organisations, including human rights organisations; and information from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
The pause is being kept under constant review and when there is a clear basis upon which to make decisions, we will resume the processing of them.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish an impact assessment of the updates to her Department's guidance entitled Good character: caseworker guidance, updated on 10 February 2025.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave on 25 February to Question 31371.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2025 to Question 902576 on Employment: Asylum, what the gender balance of dependents of asylum seekers is; what assessment she has made of the impact of the rules that do not allow those dependants to work on the Government’s (a) aim to deliver an asylum process that is gender sensitive and (b) wider strategy to tackle violence against women and girls.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
We are committed to delivering an asylum process that is gender sensitive, building on the Government’s wider strategy to tackle violence against women and girls. All decision-makers receive mandatory training on considering asylum claims and must follow published Home Office policy guidance, including guidance on gender issues, which covers specific forms of gender-based persecution.
The Home Office also continues to invest in a programme of transformation to speed up decision making and therefore reduce the time people spend in the asylum system. This approach will ensure that genuine asylum seekers can be accepted quickly and gain access to the labour market, and those who are not can be removed to their home country.
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum claims by applicant type and sex is published in table Asy_D01 of the ‘Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to the year ending September 2024.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many referrals have been accepted by the National Age Assessment Board; and what proportion of these referrals were from (a) local authorities and (b) her Department.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The requested data is not part of published statistics, and could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of cases taken by the National Age Assessment Board were assessed as (a) under 18 years of age and (b) 18 years or older.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The requested data is not part of published statistics, and could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government’s independent adviser on political violence and disruption has had meetings with representatives of (a) Leonardo, (b) Glencore, (c) Enwell Energy, (d) BP and (e) Centrica since being appointed to that role.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The work of the Independent Adviser on Political Violence and Disruption, including any engagement undertaken, is conducted independently from the Home Office.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish details of meetings (a) held by the Government’s independent adviser on political violence and disruption since he was appointed to that role and (b) that he plans to hold in the next 12 months.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has no current plans to publish details of meetings held by the independent adviser on political violence and disruption.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will launch a public consultation when undertaking post-legislative scrutiny of the (a) Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and (b) Public Order Act 2023.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 will be subject to post-legislative parliamentary scrutiny between 3 and 5 years after Royal Assent, i.e., between April 2025 and April 2027. The Government has also reaffirmed the commitment made by the previous administration to undertake expedited post-legislative scrutiny on all aspects of the Public Order Act 2023 next year.
The Government will carefully consider the best approach to undertaking this post-legislative scrutiny to ensure all measures are appropriately assessed.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2024 to Question 3626 on Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, when she plans to publish the report on the operation of public order measures in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Sections 73, 74 and 79 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (PCSC Act 2022) are currently being reviewed by the Government in line with commitments made in Parliament when the Act was passed. The final report on these sections will be published before the end of the year.
In addition, the Act itself will be subject to post-legislative parliamentary scrutiny between 3 and 5 years after Royal Assent, i.e., between April 2025 and April 2027.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to (a) create a Lebanese family scheme visa to enable immediate family members of British nationals to come to the UK and (b) waive (i) family visa income thresholds, (ii) English Language requirements and (iii) fees for such applications.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
We are monitoring the situation in Lebanon closely and keeping all existing visa pathways under review.
Lebanese nationals who wish to come to the UK should do so via the existing range of routes available.
Any application for a UK visa will be assessed against the requirements of the Immigration Rules.
Those who cannot meet all the eligibility requirements may still be granted permission where there are exceptional circumstances which mean refusal would result in unjustifiably harsh consequences for the applicant or their family.
More information on all routes available for a person to apply to work, study or settle/join family in the UK can be found here: Visas and immigration - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)