Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to paragraph 4.20 of the Autumn Budget 2024, HC 295, published on 30 October 2024, how much funding will be provided to police forces to help increase the number of neighbourhood officers and Police Community Support Officers; and in which financial years will this funding be made available.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Autumn Budget confirmed that the core government grant for police forces will increase. Further details and force level allocations will be set out at the provisional settlement in December.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cessation of international protection decisions were made by the UK in 2022 by nationality of applicant and by applicant's protection status.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
Information regarding the number of cessations or withdrawals of international protection decisions made by the UK in 2022, and the nationality, and protection status of each applicant subject to those decisions, is not held centrally and to obtain it would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average duration of the asylum procedure at first instance is in the UK.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The number of decisions made within 6 months of application in table ASY_01 of the Migration Transparency data. The average duration of the asylum procedure at first instance is not published.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many withdrawal of international protection decisions were made by the UK in 2022 broken down by nationality of applicant and by applicant's protection status.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
Information regarding the number of cessations or withdrawals of international protection decisions made by the UK in 2022, and the nationality, and protection status of each applicant subject to those decisions, is not held centrally and to obtain it would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on how many LGBT+ Afghans have been admitted to the UK since the end of Operation Pitting.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
People who apply for Entry Clearance to come to the UK are normally required to attend a Visa Application Centre (VAC) to enrol their biometric information. We published guidance on Gov.UK in November 2022 which explains who can be excused or deferred from having to enrol their biometric information.
Non urgent requests for applications to be predetermined, or for individuals to be excused the requirement to attend a VAC to enrol their biometric information are being placed on hold. This is pending the publication of new guidance about how the department handles claims from individuals that it is unsafe for them to travel to a VAC.
We do not currently collate or publish information on how many applications are predetermined or the number of people who are excused from having to attend a VAC to enrol their biometrics.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers deported from the UK can be accommodated in Rwanda.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The number of individuals who can be relocated to Rwanda under the Migration and Economic Development Partnership is uncapped. Rwanda has made initial provision to receive 200 people and has plans to scale up capacity once flights begin.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the cost of the flight to Rwanda that is scheduled to depart on 14 June 2022 would need to paid for in full in the event that no asylum seekers are on the flight.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
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.
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: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total cost to the public purse is of the flight to Rwanda scheduled to take off on 14 June 2022.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
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.
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: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support her Department is providing to victims of domestic violence who have no recourse to public funds.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Tackling domestic abuse is a priority for this Government and we are committed to supporting all victims of domestic abuse, regardless of immigration status. On 30 March, we published the Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan which will seek to transform the whole of society’s response to prevent offending, support victims and pursue perpetrators, as well as to strengthen the systems in place to deliver these goals.
Support is provided to migrant victims of domestic abuse in the UK through our Destitute Domestic Violence Concession (DDVC), which enables individuals to access public funds for three months, which can be used to fund safe accommodation. Migrant victims can also apply for settlement (Indefinite Leave to Remain) under the Domestic Violence Indefinite Leave to Remain Rules. The intention is to safeguard victims of domestic abuse by offering them an immigration status and financial support, independent of the abusive partner.
Following the Government’s review of support to migrant victims in 2020, last year we launched the Support for Migrant Victims Scheme to provide for victims who are not eligible to apply under the DDVC. The 12-month pilot, run by Southall Black Sisters and their delivery partners, and supported with £1.5 million of Government funding, provides support services for migrant victims of domestic abuse. The funding also provides wrap-around support which includes accommodation, subsistence and counselling.
The pilot and independent evaluation by Behavioural Insights Ltd, aims to develop an evidence base, which in turn should allow us to understand requirements for policy development. The evaluation will be producing a final report in Summer 2022.
In the interim, we will provide £1.4 million in 2022-23 to continue to fund support for migrant victims and survivors whilst we take on board vital lessons learned from the pilot to inform future policy decisions.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the annual saving to the public purse of the no recourse to public funds policy.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The NRPF condition applies to most temporary migrants in the UK who are here lawfully, such as those on work and study visas, and to migrants in the UK unlawfully. The Home Office does not hold data on the total population present in the UK who are subject to NRPF and the Home Office’s Chief Statistician wrote to the Office for Statistics Regulation last July to explain the reasons for this in more detail. His letter can be found at:
It is not feasible for the Home Office to collect data on whether a migrant with the NRPF condition would have applied for public funds should the condition not have been applied to them; it is therefore not possible to reliably estimate the annual saving to the public purse of the policy as a whole. Savings to the public purse are broadly achieved by only facilitating access to public funds for those with indefinite leave to remain (i.e. settled or permanent residence), refugees and protected persons, and those granted discretionary leave.