Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make it his policy to reinstate the offshore wind workers concession.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The government is fully supportive of businesses involved in delivering the UK’s net zero ambitions. The wind farm sector has many roles which meet the requirements of the UK’s main economic migration route, the Skilled Worker route.
The offshore wind farm worker immigration rules concession ended on 30 April. There are no plans to reinstate the concession given the industry has a visa route available to them to use if they are unable fill vacancies from the domestic workforce.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to use biometric data collection when processing asylum applications from Afghan nationals.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
We use biometrics to fix and confirm the identities of foreign nationals who apply to come or extend their stay in the UK.
We check them against security and criminality databases which are available to the UK, to ensure multiple applications are not made using multiple identities, and to identify those who pose a threat to public safety, our national security, or are likely to breach our laws.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will provide a list split by gender of the number and proportion of biometric data exemptions that have been issued to Afghan asylum seekers since 2021.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
No exemptions exist to asylum seekers with regards to the registration of biometrics.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what contractual obligations will apply to people who have made a successful application under the Ukraine Extension Scheme and who were previously in the UK on the seasonal worker visa in relation to any contract previously negotiated by a labour provider.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Customers granted leave under the Ukraine Extension Scheme are normally granted for a period of 36 months and are able to access work, study and public funds. They are not restricted in the work they can undertake from an immigration point of view.
Employment contracts between an employee and employer are not something the Home Office would be involved in under the Ukraine Extension Scheme.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to facilitate access to foreign seasonal labour for the hospitality sector.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Issues with recruitment in the Hospitality sector are not unique to the UK, with reports of similar issues in the USA, the Republic of Ireland and Spain. This indicates factors other than immigration policy need to be considered to resolve these issues.
Several roles in the hospitality sector (including chefs and managerial roles) are eligible for the Skilled Worker route in the Points Based System. Modelling by the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) suggest the new, lower salary and expanded skills thresholds, strike a reasonable balance between controlling immigration and business access to labour.
Other roles will need to be filled from the resident workforce and those with full work rights, including the 6.5 million applicants under our EU Settlement Scheme, dependants of work visa holders, and those coming to the UK under our new Ukraine Schemes, the British National (Overseas) route, the Graduate route and Youth Mobility Schemes.
Further advice from the MAC has been against the creation of sector specific visa routes.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of foreign seasonal labour in the hospitality sector in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Issues with recruitment in the Hospitality sector are not unique to the UK, with reports of similar issues in the USA, the Republic of Ireland and Spain. This indicates factors other than immigration policy need to be considered to resolve these issues.
Several roles in the hospitality sector (including chefs and managerial roles) are eligible for the Skilled Worker route in the Points Based System. Modelling by the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) suggest the new, lower salary and expanded skills thresholds, strike a reasonable balance between controlling immigration and business access to labour.
Other roles will need to be filled from the resident workforce and those with full work rights, including the 6.5 million applicants under our EU Settlement Scheme, dependants of work visa holders, and those coming to the UK under our new Ukraine Schemes, the British National (Overseas) route, the Graduate route and Youth Mobility Schemes.
Further advice from the MAC has been against the creation of sector specific visa routes.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which air charter company is being used for deportation flights to Rwanda.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Our priority will always be to keep our communities safe, and we make no apology for seeking to remove those with no right to remain in the UK.
For commercial reasons, we are unable to disclose the name of our contractor for this operation. Charter flight operations are an important means to remove individuals with no right to remain in the UK where there are limited scheduled routes. We manage the charter programme flexibly, balancing it with use of scheduled flights to best respond to operational needs. Costs for individual flights will vary based on a number of different factors and are regularly reviewed to ensure that best value for money is balanced against the need to remove those individuals with no right to remain in the UK.
The endless merry go round of late legal claims – which are often unfounded or without merit – can result in people being removed from flights at the last minute. However, our New Plan for Immigration will stop the abuse of the system and expedite the removal of those who have no right to be here.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential economic impact of mandating increased wages for seasonal workers on (a) fruit farmers and (b) consumer fruit costs.
Answered by Kevin Foster
As part of extending the Seasonal Worker visa route until the end of 2024, we have followed through on the recommendation made by the Migration Advisory Committee in their report of September 2018, which stated:
‘If a seasonal agriculture worker scheme was introduced we recommend that employers pay a higher minimum wage in return for the privileged access to labour this scheme would give the sector in order to encourage increases in productivity.’
The Government has introduced a minimum hourly rate of pay for the Seasonal Worker route as part of a wider package of work being jointly delivered with the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, seeking to ensure the welfare of participating migrant workers, and in particular to reduce the risks of debt bondage.
The Government published a review of the seasonal worker route on 24 December 2021, that clearly set out the types of migrant welfare issues we have identified within this route. The Director of Labour Market Enforcement has also flagged the agriculture sector, and specifically seasonal workers, as presenting a high risk for labour marker exploitation.
It is not the purpose of the UK immigration system to provide UK growers with a guaranteed source of cheap labour, or to perpetuate conditions which would not be acceptable to resident workers. The increase in the wage required from National Minimum Wage to £10.10 per hour is reasonable and necessary in order to ensure these vulnerable workers are receiving fair remuneration for their work.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason a rate of pay in excess of the national living wage has been mandated for seasonal workers by her Department.
Answered by Kevin Foster
As part of extending the Seasonal Worker visa route until the end of 2024, we have followed through on the recommendation made by the Migration Advisory Committee in their report of September 2018, which stated:
‘If a seasonal agriculture worker scheme was introduced we recommend that employers pay a higher minimum wage in return for the privileged access to labour this scheme would give the sector in order to encourage increases in productivity.’
The Government has introduced a minimum hourly rate of pay for the Seasonal Worker route as part of a wider package of work being jointly delivered with the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, seeking to ensure the welfare of participating migrant workers, and in particular to reduce the risks of debt bondage.
The Government published a review of the seasonal worker route on 24 December 2021, that clearly set out the types of migrant welfare issues we have identified within this route. The Director of Labour Market Enforcement has also flagged the agriculture sector, and specifically seasonal workers, as presenting a high risk for labour marker exploitation.
It is not the purpose of the UK immigration system to provide UK growers with a guaranteed source of cheap labour, or to perpetuate conditions which would not be acceptable to resident workers. The increase in the wage required from National Minimum Wage to £10.10 per hour is reasonable and necessary in order to ensure these vulnerable workers are receiving fair remuneration for their work.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications to the Homes for Ukraine scheme by unaccompanied 15 to 18-year-olds have been successful; and how many applicants have been directly informed by her Department that their application has been unsuccessful.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Unaccompanied minors are only eligible under the Homes for Ukraine scheme if they are reuniting with a parent or legal guardian in the UK – this is outlined in the Immigration Rules.
Data on the number of people issued under Homes for Ukraine can be found on the GOV.UK webpage: Ukraine Family Scheme and Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine) visa data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)