Asked by: Chris Murray (Labour - Edinburgh East and Musselburgh)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Written Statement of 16 July 2025 on Call for Evidence – Identification of Victims of Modern Slavery, HCWS826, whether the call for evidence will consider the impact of the revised evidential requirements for reasonable grounds decisions on different groups and categories of potential modern slavery victims.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Identification of Victims of Modern Slavery Call for Evidence launched on 16 July 2025. It invites views on an effective system where victims are recognised early and accurately so they can be protected and receive appropriate assistance and support towards their recovery from exploitation.
The Call for Evidence is structured around three themes:
1) Definitions of victims of modern slavery;
2) Initial identification of victims of modern slavery; and
3) Formal identification of victims of modern slavery.
The full list of questions in the Call for Evidence is available at Identification of victims of modern slavery - GOV.UK. The Call for Evidence includes questions on the National Referral Mechanism decision-making process, including Reasonable Grounds and Conclusive Grounds decisions.
The Call for Evidence will be open for a 12-week period, meaning submissions can be provided up until Wednesday 8 October 2025.
Insights gathered through the Call for Evidence and wider stakeholder engagement will inform longer-term policy development.
Asked by: Chris Murray (Labour - Edinburgh East and Musselburgh)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on improving childcare provision in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Fleur Anderson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Northern Ireland Office)
This Labour government’s mission is to break down the barriers to opportunity for every child, at every stage across the UK.
Earlier this month, the Minister for Early Education and I met with NI Education Minister Givan in Belfast to discuss childcare and areas of shared learning between the two governments.
The NI Education Minister recently announced £55m for measures which will include an extension of the Childcare Subsidy Scheme to cover school-age children in Northern Ireland, which I welcome.
Asked by: Chris Murray (Labour - Edinburgh East and Musselburgh)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proposed increase in defence spending on the economy in Wales.
Answered by Nia Griffith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
At the Spring Statement, the Chancellor increased the defence budget by £2.2 billion in 2025-26. This will boost the Welsh economy and our thriving defence sector, where the Ministry of Defence is already supporting 7,700 jobs across the length and breadth of the country.
Earlier this month, I visited Qioptic and Wagtail in North Wales, just two of the wide range of companies in Wales who play a vital role in defending the UK.
Asked by: Chris Murray (Labour - Edinburgh East and Musselburgh)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent progress he has made with Cabinet colleagues on the green energy transition in Scotland.
Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland
I have been working closely with my cabinet colleagues to achieve our clean energy Mission.
Scotland has a huge role to play, not least through GB Energy - headquartered in Aberdeen and backed with £8.3bn. It will work to deliver clean energy, lower bills, and bring the jobs of the future to all parts of Scotland.
This is on top of the largest ever Contracts for Difference round and the National Wealth Fund, which will mobilise billions into our world-leading clean energy industries.
Asked by: Chris Murray (Labour - Edinburgh East and Musselburgh)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many family visas were issued where the sponsoring (a) spouse or partner, (b) fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner, (c) child, (d) parent and (c) relative providing long-term care was resident in Scotland in 2023.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Home Office publishes data on Family, Work, and Study visas granted in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. However, this information is not broken down by place of residence or UK region.
The published statistics can be found in the entry clearance visa data tables.
Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of each workbook. The latest data relates to 2024 Q2.
Asked by: Chris Murray (Labour - Edinburgh East and Musselburgh)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many work visas were issued for jobs in Scottish workplaces in Scotland in 2022.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Home Office publishes data on Family, Work, and Study visas granted in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. However, this information is not broken down by place of residence or UK region.
The published statistics can be found in the entry clearance visa data tables.
Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of each workbook. The latest data relates to 2024 Q2.
Asked by: Chris Murray (Labour - Edinburgh East and Musselburgh)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many work visas were issued for jobs in Scottish workplaces in 2021.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Home Office publishes data on Family, Work, and Study visas granted in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. However, this information is not broken down by place of residence or UK region.
The published statistics can be found in the entry clearance visa data tables.
Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of each workbook. The latest data relates to 2024 Q2.
Asked by: Chris Murray (Labour - Edinburgh East and Musselburgh)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many family visas were issued where the sponsoring (a) spouse or partner, (b) fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner, (c) child, (d) parent and (c) relative providing long-term care was resident in Scotland in 2021.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Home Office publishes data on Family, Work, and Study visas granted in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. However, this information is not broken down by place of residence or UK region.
The published statistics can be found in the entry clearance visa data tables.
Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of each workbook. The latest data relates to 2024 Q2.
Asked by: Chris Murray (Labour - Edinburgh East and Musselburgh)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many family visas were issued where the sponsoring (a) spouse or partner, (b) fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner, (c) child, (d) parent and (c) relative providing long-term care was resident in Scotland in 2022.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Home Office publishes data on Family, Work, and Study visas granted in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. However, this information is not broken down by place of residence or UK region.
The published statistics can be found in the entry clearance visa data tables.
Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of each workbook. The latest data relates to 2024 Q2.
Asked by: Chris Murray (Labour - Edinburgh East and Musselburgh)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many grants of refugee status were made to asylum seekers whose place of residence was Scotland in 2021; and in what type of accommodation they were housed at the time of grant.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on grants at initial decision is published in table Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement detailed datasets’. Data on grants of refugee status by location or accommodation type is not published.
Data on those in receipt of asylum support by UK region and accommodation type is available in table Asy_D09 of the ‘Asylum seekers in receipt of support detailed dataset’. Location data for those who are not in receipt of support is not published.