Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to ensure that standards for preventing overcrowding in houses of multiple occupation under the asylum accommodation contract will be upheld above the legal minimum set by local authorities.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Accommodation providers are required to provide safe, habitable, fit for purpose and correctly equipped accommodation that complies with the Decent Homes Standard in addition to standards outlined in relevant national or local housing legislation.
The use of Houses of Multiple Occupancy is commonplace across a range of sectors, including for supported asylum seekers. The contracts will require Providers to obtain the relevant licences from local authorities and remain compliant with the licensing rules and regulations.
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 his Department has made of the reasons for the proportion of his Department's appeals against immigration rulings which are refused; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Home Office carefully considers all allowed appeals and only challenges these in the Upper Tribunal where we believe there has been a material error of law.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2018 to Question 133797 on Asylum: Housing, what criteria (a) his Department and (b) accommodation providers use to assess the particular circumstances and vulnerability of those in dispersed asylum accommodation.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
All asylum Accommodation Providers are contractually required to take account of any particular circumstances and vulnerability of those that they accommodate, including those who have health care issues. In addition Providers must comply with national and local housing regulations including those regarding room sharing. There are strict criteria set out in the contract around when room sharing can take place and who can share a room. Providers must also comply with local regulations including advice from social services and primary and secondary care bodies on whether room sharing is inappropriate for individual cases.
In accordance with our published policy, the Home Office will carefully consider all requests on a case by case basis from asylum seekers who may have particular vulnerabilities, care needs or health problems that necessitate a need for a specific location or specialist accommodation requirements. Further details regarding this policy can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-accommodation-requests-policy
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2018 to Question 133797 on Asylum: Housing, what information his Department holds on the number of incidences of forced room sharing of asylum seekers in dispersed accommodation in each (a) local authority and (b) region.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The use of individual properties across provider’s portfolios changes daily subject to demand. Information on the current number of bedrooms shared between unrelated individuals in local authorities could only be provided at disproportionate cost by examination of individual provider property records.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2018 to Question 133797 on Asylum: Housing, which regions have not secured compliant bids under the tendering process for the new asylum accommodation contracts.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Home Office did not receive compliant bids for the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts (AASC) for the following two regions:
We are now in the process of re-competing these two regions under a linked but separate procurement and this is currently out to market. We remain confident of having fully operational contracts before the expiry of the current COMPASS contracts, with sufficient time to properly transition the services.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2018 to Question 133797 on Asylum: Housing, how many asylum seekers have been placed into forced bedroom sharing in dispersed asylum accommodation in each of the last three years.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The use of individual properties across provider’s portfolios changes daily subject to demand. Information on the current number of bedrooms shared between unrelated individuals in local authorities could only be provided at disproportionate cost by examination of individual provider property records.
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 information his Department holds on the number of members of the Windrush generation who are (a) sleeping rough and (b) staying in temporary accommodation while waiting for a decision on their legal right to remain in the UK.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Information about members of the Windrush generation who are sleeping rough or staying in temporary accommodation is not automatically reported to the Home Office.
Where any member of the Windrush generation does not have the documents they need to show their status the Government continues to urge them to come forward to the Taskforce so that we can help them. If people are homeless the Home Office can work with Local Authorities to secure temporary accommodation.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of the review of the Tier 2 visa cap on healthcare in the North East.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
On Friday 15 June, the Government announced changes to the allocation of places within the Tier 2 (General) cap of 20,700. The change – which will be implemented through amended Immigration Rules coming into effect on 6 July – will ensure that all doctors and all nurses needed in the UK will be able to be recruited to work here without being counted against the cap. This is intended to be a temporary change which recognises the importance of alleviating pressure on the NHS and which creates extra space within the cap for other sectors of the economy.
As part of this announcement, we will be asking the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to review the full composition of the Shortage Occupation List.
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 UK's requirement for international doctors specialising in mental health after the UK leaves the EU; and whether that requirement will form part of his Department’s review of the Tier 2 visa cap.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Government is considering a range of options for the future immigration system and will set out initial plans in due course. We will build a comprehensive picture of the needs and interests of all parts of the UK and look to develop a system which works for all.
We will ensure that decisions on the long-term arrangements are based on evidence. The commission that we asked the MAC to undertake is very much part of this. The MAC are due to report back by September 2018.
The Government has separately commissioned the MAC to undertake a review of the composition of the Shortage Occupation List.
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Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of adding child and adolescent psychiatrists, including higher trainees, to the Shortage Occupation List.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
On Friday 15 June, the Government announced changes to the allocation of places within the Tier 2 (General) cap of 20,700. The change – which will be implemented through amended Immigration Rules coming into effect on 6 July – will ensure that all doctors and all nurses needed in the UK will be able to be recruited to work here without being counted against the cap. This is intended to be a temporary change which recognises the importance of alleviating pressure on the NHS and which creates extra space within the cap for other sectors of the economy.
As part of this announcement, we will be asking the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to review the full composition of the Shortage Occupation List.