Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
What discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on preventing illegal practices in the rental sector.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office operates the Right to Rent Scheme in England, which ensures only those with the correct immigration status can access the private rented sector, whilst tackling unscrupulous landlords who exploit vulnerable migrants.
My officials work closely with their colleagues in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and enforcement bodies to ensure the effectiveness of powers to tackle criminal landlords, including civil penalties and banning orders.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to clear the backlog of asylum applications, and if she will reinstate the six-month service standard for assessing asylum applications.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office is committed to ensuring asylum claims are considered without unnecessary delay.
We have already made significant progress in prioritising claims with acute vulnerability and those in receipt of the greatest level of support, including Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children. Additionally, we are prioritising older claims and those where an individual has already received a decision, but a reconsideration is required.
The Home Office are pursuing a programme of transformation and business improvement initiatives which will speed up decision making, reduce the time people spend in the system and reduce the numbers who are awaiting an interview or decision. This includes almost doubling decision makers number to c.1,000 by March 2022 and providing improved training and career progression opportunities to aid retention of staff. We are continuing to develop existing and new technology to help build on recent improvements such as digital interviewing and move away from a paper-based system.
We have three key areas of focus in the short to medium term to reduce the number of outstanding asylum cases by improving efficiency and productivity, reducing the number of outstanding claims and building high performing teams. We are streamlining and digitalising the case working process to enable more effective workflow, appointment booking and decision-making.
Asylum Operations are working to reintroduce a service standard and will be looking towards aligning potentially with changes being brought about by the New Plan for Immigration.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of including key food workers on the shortage occupation list to help tackle labour shortages in the meat industry.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Secretary wrote to the Chair of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) on 23 October 2020 setting out the Governments response to their review of the Shortage Occupation List (SOL).
A copy of the full letter can be found at:
The UK labour market is changing as a result of the global pandemic, hence general queries about the availability of labour in the UK Labour Market and recruitment issues for businesses should be directed to the Department for Work and Pensions in the first instance.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of ending the visa concession allowing international students to undertake distance or blended learning on recruitment for 2021-22.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Throughout the pandemic, the Government have introduced several concessions to support international students and their sponsors.
These concessions are kept under regular review and we are engaging with the education sector as to the ongoing impact of the global pandemic on their operations.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police staff in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough have received a covid-19 vaccine.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office does not hold the number of police officers and staff who have received a Covid-19 vaccine, including in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
For Phase 1 of the vaccine roll-out, the Government has rightly prioritised the elderly, given the disproportionate impact of the virus by age range. The clinically vulnerable, and front-line Health and Social Care staff who care for them, are also being prioritised. Phase 1 also includes police officers and staff who fall into these categories.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advice for Phase 2 of the vaccination programme sets out that the most effective way to minimise hospitalisations and deaths is to continue to prioritise people by age. This is because age is assessed to be the strongest factor linked to mortality, morbidity and hospitalisations, and because the speed of delivery is crucial, prioritising people by age enables us to operationally vaccinate more people, providing them with protection from Covid-19.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether new British National Overseas citizens on the new British National Overseas visa require a Superintendent Registrar Certificate to get married in the UK.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Hong Kong British National (Overseas) (BN(O) route opens for applications from 31 January 2021.
BN(O) citizens and their partners with permission on the Hong Kong BN(O) route may give notice of their intention to get married or form a civil partnership, but a referral to Home Office immigration for investigation may take place.
Further information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/marriages-civil-partnerships
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers from Cambridgeshire and Peterborough have been identified to assist other forces when the transition period ends.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We have been working closely with the police to ensure they have sufficiently appropriate and robust plans in place for the end of Transition. Decisions on mutual aid, however, are an operational matter for Chief Constables.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which police forces have annual leave embargos in place to cover the end of the transition period.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We have been working closely with the police to ensure they have sufficiently appropriate and robust plans in place for the end of Transition. Decisions on leave, however, are an operational matter for Chief Constables.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the restrictions on marriage services may have on those individuals who required a spousal visa during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office has put in place a range of measures to support those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic; this includes those who are currently in the UK as a fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner.
A person with six months’ leave as a fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner whose wedding or civil ceremony has been delayed due to coronavirus may request additional time to stay, also known as exceptional assurance, and extend their leave until their wedding or civil partnership takes place.
Otherwise, applicants can apply to extend their stay for a further six months to allow their ceremony to take place. The current family Immigration Rules allow a fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner to apply for an extension of leave if there is good reason for their wedding or civil partnership not taking place during the initial six-month period of leave to enter. Cancellation of a wedding due to COVID-19 will be considered a good reason under this policy. Further information is set out for customers on GOV.UK and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-uk-visa-applicants-and-temporary-uk-residents#if-youre-applying-to-enter-the-uk-or-remain-on-the-basis-of-family-or-private-life
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of non-urgent inquiries by MPs on immigration matters were dealt with within 20 working days in the period August-October 2020.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
UK Visas and Immigration work to a target of responding to 95% of Ministerial correspondence within 20 working days.
Performance has been impacted by an increase in the volume of correspondence received, alongside the need for Ministers and officials to instigate a remote process for drafting and signing correspondence during the period of COVID-19 restrictions. An action plan is currently in place to clear backlogs and drive up performance.
The latest published data on UKVI performance against the service standard is held at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/customer-service-operations-data-august-2020 and this includes data up to and including the end of quarter 2-2020/21. We are proposing the release of data for quarter 3, in due course.