Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had recent discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on the potential merits of implementing a bespoke visa for for the horticulture sector in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
There have been no discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on the potential merits of implementing a bespoke visa for the horticulture sector in Northern Ireland. The UK operates a national immigration system, covering all areas of the country. This includes the Seasonal Worker route, which specifically enables the UK horticulture sector, including those in Northern Ireland, to recruit seasonal workers.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress her Department has made on the review of the impact of the Electronic Travel Authorisation policy in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Government keeps the operation of the ETA scheme under constant review, including its impact within Northern Ireland, and my changes to the scheme will be announced in the normal way.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's guidance entitled Offshore well boat workers: Immigration Rules concession 2022, updated on 24 January 2024, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending that concession to other business sectors.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Concessionary arrangements outside of the immigration rules are put in place where exceptional circumstances are demonstrated. They are always time limited and reviewed regularly. There are no plans to extend the existing concession beyond its original parameters.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with contractors on the provision of appropriate accommodation for asylum seeker families in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
Home Office officials meet regularly with our accommodation provider for Northern Ireland, Mears, who are obliged under the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contract (AASC) to ensure that asylum accommodation meets all statutory requirements.
The AASC Statement of Requirements below gives a detailed breakdown of all of the services to be undertaken by our accommodation providers and the standards we expect: http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2018-1112/AASC_-_Schedule_2_-_Statement_of_Requirements.pdf(opens in a new tab).
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to (a) reverse changes made to the eligibility criteria for the Skilled Worker visa announced on 4 December 2023 and (b) bring forward revised eligibility criteria for the minimum salary for that visa.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
I refer the honourable member to the Written Ministerial Statement made by the Home Secretary on 30 July [Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament].
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to grant full British citizenship to Hong Kong (a) British National (Overseas) and (b) British Dependent Territories Citizen passport holders who move to the UK.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
British National (Overseas) (BN(O) passport holders may apply for a BN(O) visa which entitles them, and their dependent family members, to reside in the UK. After 5 years’ qualifying residence, and being free from immigration time restrictions for a further year, they may apply for British citizenship.
People from Hong Kong who were British Dependent Territories Citizens (BDTCs), and did not register as a BN(O), lost their BDTC status when Hong Kong returned to the People’s Republic of China on 1 July 1997. If a person from Hong Kong did not register as a BN(O) and would have become stateless, they became a British Overseas Citizen (BOC).
British nationals, including BN(O)s and BOCs, can apply for registration as a British citizen if they meet the requirements in section 4(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981, based on a period of residence in the UK. Those who do not hold a form of British nationality can apply for naturalisation if they live in the UK.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department plans to take to review the impact of the Electronic Travel Authorisation on (a) movement and (b) the tourism industry on the island of Ireland.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Government is in the process of reviewing a number of Home Office policies including this one.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what routes are available for Syrians in Lebanon seeking asylum in the UK.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The UK has a proud history of providing protection for those who need it through a number of safe and legal routes. However, there is no provision within our Immigration Rules for someone to be allowed to travel to the UK to seek asylum or temporary refuge. Whilst we sympathise with people in many difficult situations around the world, including people from Syria, we are not bound to consider asylum claims from the very large numbers of people overseas who might like to come here. Those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach – that is the fastest route to safety.
The UK continues to welcome refugees and people in need through our existing global resettlement schemes which include the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), Community Sponsorship and the Mandate Resettlement Scheme.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his asylum policies of the treatment of Syrians in Lebanon by the Lebanese government.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Our assessment of the situation for Syrian nationals is set out in the relevant country policy and information notes which focus on conditions within Syria and are available on the Gov.uk website.
There are no plans to produce a country policy and information note on Syrian nationals in Lebanon at this time.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many hotels are being used to house asylum seekers in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Home Office has been clear that the use of hotels is a temporary and short-term measure to ensure we meet our statutory obligation to accommodate destitute asylum seekers. We have already made significant progress by ending the use of 100 hotels by 31 March 2024, including 6 in Northern Ireland.
Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation (including in contingency hotels and other contingency accommodation) is published in table Asy_D11 here: Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Data is published on a quarterly basis. The Home Office does not publish a breakdown of statistics which disaggregates the number of hotels used to house asylum seekers by region.