Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the salary exemption for nurses working in the UK under Tier 2 visas will continue after the UK has left the EU; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
In their report, EEA migration in the UK, the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) recommended maintaining the existing system of salary thresholds.
The Government has been clear that we will undertake an extensive programme of engagement with a wide range of stakeholders across the UK, including with the private, public and voluntary sector and local government, as well as industry representatives and individual businesses before taking a final decision on the level of salary thresholds.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many of the investigations into high-end money laundering opened by the National Crime Agency have resulted in charging decisions since 2014.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The number of investigations into high end money laundering opened by the National Crime Agency which have resulted in charging decisions since 2014 are as follows:
• 2014/15 – 34
• 2015/16 – 17
• 2016/17 – 8
• 2018/19 – 10
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many investigations into high-end money laundering have been opened by the National Crime Agency in each year since 2014.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The number of new investigations launched by the National Crime Agency into high end money laundering by financial year since 2014 are as follows:
• 2014/15 – 2 new
• 2015/16 – 5 new
• 2016/17 – 8 new
• 2017/18 – 20 ne
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the 2018-19 budget is for the National Crime Agency's international corruption unit.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The annual budget for the National Crime Agency's International Corruption Unit for 2018-19 is £4.32 million.
In addition to Department for International Development funding, the NCA significantly enhances the International Corruption Unit's capability by the use of NCA funded resources across all areas of business both in the UK and overseas. It is not possible to quantify this additional funding from across the NCA.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people employed by his Department work in the UK Financial Intelligence Unit.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The UK Financial Intelligence Unit (UKFIU) is a department within the National Crime Agency (NCA). At the start of 2017/18, the UKFIU had the equivalent of 81 full-time staff. Since then, the NCA has increased its staff numbers to 109, with further appropriate increases to take place in the following years.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total annual budget for the UK Financial Intelligence Unit is for the financial year 2018-19.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The NCA does not currently have a budget figure available for 2018/19.
The budgetary figures for previous years (released under a prior PQ) are as follows:
2015/16 £3.36m
2016/17 £3.37m
2017/18 £3.49m
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the annual budget for the National Crime Agency's International Corruption Unit has been in each of the last three years.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The annual budget for the National Crime Agency’s International Corrup-tion Unit was £3.09 million in 2015/16, £4.72 million in the 2016/17 and £5.36 million in 2017/18.
In addition to Department for International Development funding, the NCA significantly enhances the International Corruption Unit’s capability by the use of NCA funded resources across all areas of business both in the UK and overseas. It is not possible to quantify this additional funding from across the NCA.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the annual budget for the National Crime Agency's Financial Intelligence Unit has been in each of the last three years.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The annual budget for the National Crime Agency's Financial Intelligence Unit over the last three years are as follows:
15/16 - £3.36m
16/17 - £3.37m
17/18 - £3.49m
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effect of the changes to the licenses of Houses of Multiple Occupation that took effect on 1 October 2018 on the practice of enforced room sharing as permitted under the contract for asylum accommodation.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Government expects the highest standards from our contractors and Providers are monitored closely to ensure they continue to meet these standards. There are strict criteria set out in the current asylum accommodation contracts around when room sharing can take place and who can share a room.
Providers must also comply with national and local housing regulations including, obtaining an appropriate licence if the relevant property is a House of Multiple Occupation. Advice from social services and primary and secondary care bodies is also taken into consideration on whether room sharing is inappropriate for individual cases and discussions about equality impacts form part of regular engagement with stakeholder groups.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the likelihood of delays to the mobilization period for the new asylum accommodation and support services contracts in (a) the North East, (b) the Yorkshire and Humber and (c) Northern Ireland where compliant bids were not received in round one of the tendering process; and what arrangements have been put in place for housing asylum seekers in the transition period.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The procurement exercise for asylum accommodation and support for the North East, Yorkshire and Humber and Northern Ireland regions is underway and is based on the same set of requirements as the initial procurement. We have taken steps to mitigate the time delay that this second procurement activity will take and have condensed our procurement activity to ensure that the transition period is protected. We remain confident of delivering a fully operational accommodation contract before the expiry of the current arrangements, with sufficient time to properly transition the services.
The Home Office has designed the project to replace the current asylum accommodation and support services so as to ensure a smooth transition of services from one Provider to another. The timetable allows eight months for mobilisation and transition activities. The transition planning activity has been underway for some time, allowing the Home Office to engage with Providers as soon as the contracts are let, this is a key lesson from the previous transition. The transition plans have also built on a number of other lessons, including the creation of a team with suitable experience, expertise and understanding of the new contracts and the early engagement with enabling functions from across the Home Office to plan out the demands that will be placed on them.