Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
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 2952 on Asylum: Temporary Accommodation, what alternative accommodation her Department plans to use to enable a reduction in the use of hotels; and how much funding she plans to provide for this purpose in each of the next three financial years.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office is determined to return to using dispersed asylum accommodation and is working with local authorities and partners to find solutions to provide accommodation for asylum seekers across the entire country which work for everyone. We have a comprehensive funding package for local authorities who help to support asylum seekers in their area.
We are taking immediate action to clear the asylum backlog which will help reduce the use of asylum accommodation and ensure better use of public money.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to fund accommodation for asylum seekers once the use of hotels is stopped.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly and fairly, and is reviewing the current arrangements for accommodation to ensure efficiency and value for money, including reducing the use of hotels.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate he has made of when the report of the independent review of political violence and disruption will be published.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Department is considering Lord Walney’s report carefully, and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people whose application for an award under the Windrush Compensation Scheme has been denied have appealed in each quarter since that scheme was launched.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Information on the number of Windrush Compensation Scheme claimants, who have requested a review of their full and final decision, is included in the Windrush Compensation Scheme Transparency Data, which is published regularly. However, the publication does not distinguish between reviews requested on the basis of the claim being awarded a zero entitlement decision (denied), or where the claimant is not satisfied with the value offer received.
The latest published data, covering the period up to December 2023, is available here: Windrush Compensation Scheme data: December 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The relevant page is WCS_09, which contains details of the cumulative number of reviews requested at Tier 1 and Tier 2. Tier 2 reviews are completed by an Independent Adjudicator outside of the Home Office.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has sought legal advice on exiting the European Convention on Human Rights.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
Any legal advice received by the Home Office is subject to legal professional privilege and, as such, we do not comment on legal advice that may or may not have been sought or received.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy on re-writing modern slavery rules.
Answered by Sarah Dines
Conversations have taken place at official level between the Home Office and the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) colleagues about the proposed commitment to strengthen Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, which relates to mandatory reporting on Modern Slavery in supply chains by businesses with an annual turnover of £36m or more.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has sought legal advice on the compatibility of making it illegal for people who claim asylum in Britain after arrival by a small boat, with the UK being party to the 1951 Convention on Refugees.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
As my Rt Hon friend the Prime Minister set out in his oral statement on 13 December 2023 (Official Report, column 885-888), the Government will bring forward legislation to make it unambiguously clear that, if you enter the UK illegally, you should not be able to remain here. Instead, you will be detained and promptly returned either to your home country or to a safe country where your asylum claim will be considered.
In the normal way, in preparing the legislation we are seeking legal advice on a variety of issues.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that police officers are not discriminated against within the new Police Pension Scheme.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The government is committed to ensuring good public service pension provision, but this has to be affordable and sustainable in the long term.
The main public sector pension schemes – including the police pension scheme – were reformed following the recommendations of the Independent Public Service Pensions Commission, resulting in the introduction of the 2015 schemes.
The government is taking steps to remove discrimination on the grounds associated with the transitional protection arrangements, identified by the courts during the McCloud and Sargeant litigation. Eligible members will be offered a choice of scheme benefits for the remedy period for those in scope of the remedy and, from 1 April 2022, when the remedy period ends, all those in service in main unfunded schemes will be members of the reformed pension schemes, ensuring equal treatment from that point on. The government believes this is the most appropriate and proportionate way of ending the age discrimination identified.
The 2015 police pension scheme and the other reformed schemes are some of the most valuable available in the UK: backed by the taxpayer; index-linked; and offering guaranteed benefits on retirement; comparing very favourably to the typical private sector scheme.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Home Office:
o ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a firewall between labour inspection teams and immigration enforcement.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Government is committed to tackling modern slavery, including labour exploitation and ensuring that victims are identified early and provided with the support they need to rebuild their lives.
The safety of victims is paramount and is fully considered before any enforcement action is taken by Immigration Enforcement. All law enforcement officers, including immigration officers, receive training as part of their induction on spotting the signs of labour exploitation and modern slavery. Law enforcement bodies also work together to tackle the unscrupulous employers behind these cruel crimes. Immigration Enforcement is a key partner in taking action against employers who do not play by the rules.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps are taken when a worker employed under the Seasonal Worker Pilot scheme requests a transfer to a different employer.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Seasonal Worker pilot scheme is managed by four operators which are not engaged on a contractual basis but are chosen by requests for information managed by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). Those organisations selected through the DEFRA process are licensed by the Home Office under its sponsorship regime. The Government does not allocate a budget to their overseas agents.
Each operator manages changes of employment for the workers they sponsor. We monitor this information closely, but it is not directly held on Home Office systems.
The Seasonal Worker pilot scheme is subject to ongoing review activity and we will make an assessment of it prior to a decision whether to extend its provisions into future years. We will publish the 2019 evaluation shortly.