Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will discussions with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on the (a) adequacy and (b) efficiency of consular support with processing (i) identity and (ii) travel documents for undocumented migrants who are homeless in the UK.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office provides consular assistance to British nationals abroad.
The Home Office provides the Homelessness Escalation Service for organisations supporting non-UK nationals experiencing homelessness. Local Authorities, homelessness charities and immigration legal advisors can use the service to obtain current status information and to escalate outstanding immigration applications highlighting an individual’s vulnerability connected to their experience of homelessness.
If an undocumented migrant does not have permission to remain in the UK, and wishes to return home voluntarily, they can get help to return to their home country from the Voluntary Returns Service.
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking with (a) the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government and (b) relevant organisations to increase the quality of data available to her Department on the number of (i) migrants with no recourse to public funds and (ii) other migrants who become homeless.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office is committed to understanding how the NRPF policy impacts different migrant groups through engagement with public and private sector organisations on a regular basis, including at the quarterly NRPF Stakeholder Forum. The Government is looking at homelessness levels carefully and will develop a new cross-government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to bring an end to homelessness.
The Home Office is in the process of migrating its casework operations to the new ATLAS system. Once fully migrated, it will be possible to explore what further information on NRPF can be produced using the new system.
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will have discussions with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the potential impact of the no recourse to public funds condition on levels of homelessness; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the operation of the condition.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office is committed to understanding how the NRPF policy impacts different migrant groups through engagement with public and private sector organisations on a regular basis, including at the quarterly NRPF Stakeholder Forum. The Government is looking at homelessness levels carefully and will develop a new cross-government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to bring an end to homelessness.
The Home Office is in the process of migrating its casework operations to the new ATLAS system. Once fully migrated, it will be possible to explore what further information on NRPF can be produced using the new system.
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of migration to eVisas on people with indefinite leave to remain.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
An Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) was completed on the first phase of the roll out of eVisas to EEA nationals on 9 November 2020, which built on the Policy Equality Statement (PES) for the EUSS which was produced in 2017 and published on the gov.uk website on 18 November 2020:
Policy equality statement: EU Settlement Scheme (accessible version) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
A separate EIA considering equalities issues in relation to the use of digital only right to work and rent checks was published on gov.uk in June 2022:
We are also in the process of reviewing our eVisas EIA, setting out further analysis of the equalities issues in relation to the proposed prioritisation plan for roll out of eVisas, including people with indefinite leave to remain, and ceasing to issue physical documents. We plan to publish an up-to-date version of this EIA on gov.uk in a due course. We will work to ensure all those with Indefinite leave to remain are supported through the transition to eVisas.
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the impact of immigration-based restrictions to public funds on homelessness among non-UK nationals.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Those seeking to establish their life in the UK are generally expected to maintain and support themselves and their families without depending on the UK’s welfare system.
The Home Office Homelessness Escalations Service (HES) provides immigration status information and an escalation service designed to help non-UK national rough sleepers, (or those at risk of such) to access services and support to which they are entitled (where they are granted Permission to Stay in the UK), or otherwise to allow those supporting them to decide what actions to take in the full knowledge of their immigration status.
Safeguards exist for those in need. Those who hold permission under the Family or Private Life, Human Rights or the Hong Kong BN(O) routes can apply, for free, to have their No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) condition lifted by making a ‘change of conditions’ application, if they are destitute or at risk of imminent destitution, if there are reasons relating to the welfare of a relevant child, or where they are facing exceptional circumstances affecting their income or expenditure. For all other immigration routes discretion can be applied to lift a NRPF condition, where particularly compelling circumstances may justify access to public funds.
Local authorities may also provide basic safety net support, regardless of immigration status, if it is established either that there is a risk to the wellbeing of a child or there is a genuine care need that does not arise solely from destitution, for example, where a person has community care needs or serious health problems.
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to prevent people becoming homeless after leaving asylum accommodation.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
Individuals granted asylum are able to work and access mainstream services that support their integration. We are working across Government to ensure smooth transition into work and to ensure these services meet the needs of all newly granted refugees. Those refused asylum and whose appeal rights are exhausted are expected to leave the United Kingdom.
All asylum seekers have access to a 24/7 AIRE (Advice, Issue Reporting and Eligibility) service provided for the Home Office by Migrant Help. Migrant Help or their partner organisation support all individuals when they receive a decision on their asylum claim. This support includes providing advice on employment and signposting to local authorities for assistance.
We continue to work with colleagues at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to understand rough sleeping and homelessness pressures within local authorities. We share enhanced data sets (the Place Based Visibility tool - PBVT) with local authorities and statutory partners which we are continuing to develop further. The PBVT is complimented by the Discontinuation Prediction Tool (DPT) which is shared weekly; this data provides a real time view of discontinuation notices likely to be served in the next following 4-6 weeks.
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her planned timeline is for returning police patrols to town centres.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is committed to strengthening neighbourhood policing as part of its Safer Streets Mission, which is a vital part of restoring confidence in policing. That is why we are introducing a Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, providing a more visible police presence in town centres, recruiting thousands of extra additional police officers, PCSOs and Special Constables, and giving every community a named local officer. We will set out our plans for the Guarantee as soon as is practicable.
The Government is also providing £66.3m funding this financial year (2024/25) to police forces in England and Wales for hotspot policing to tackle anti-social behaviour and serious violence, which is already helping to ensure the public feel safe in town centres.
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department plans to take to tackle persistent (a) antisocial behaviour and (b) drug dealing in residential areas.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this Government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission to take back our streets.
We will put thousands of neighbourhood police and community support officers into local communities so that residents have a named officer they can turn to when things go wrong.
We will crack down on those causing havoc on our high streets by introducing tougher powers via a Crime and Policing Bill, including a new Respect Order to tackle repeat offending.The Home Office is providing £66.3m funding this financial year (2024/25) to police forces in England and Wales for hotspot policing to tackle anti-social behaviour and serious violence. The Metropolitan Police have been allocated £8,139,508 of this funding.
We know that drugs drive crime and cause harm to individuals and society. We will take action as part of our Safer Streets Mission to drive down crime and anti-social behaviour across the country, drawing on evidence for what works in identifying drug users and intervening effectively to change patterns of behaviour including, where appropriate, treatment and recovery services for those dependent on drugs. For instance, we will consider learning from Project ADDER (Addiction, Diversion, Disruption, Enforcement, Recovery), a programme that is testing a whole-system response to combatting drug-related harms in 13 areas across England and Wales, including through increased police activity to tackle visible street-level dealing and trialling new approaches to address persistent offending.
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her planned timetable is for the introduction of new respect orders.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this Government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission to take back our streets.
We will put thousands of neighbourhood police and community support officers into local communities so that residents have a named officer they can turn to when things go wrong.
We will crack down on those causing havoc on our high streets by introducing tougher powers via a Crime and Policing Bill, including a new Respect Order to tackle repeat offending.The Home Office is providing £66.3m funding this financial year (2024/25) to police forces in England and Wales for hotspot policing to tackle anti-social behaviour and serious violence. The Metropolitan Police have been allocated £8,139,508 of this funding.
We know that drugs drive crime and cause harm to individuals and society. We will take action as part of our Safer Streets Mission to drive down crime and anti-social behaviour across the country, drawing on evidence for what works in identifying drug users and intervening effectively to change patterns of behaviour including, where appropriate, treatment and recovery services for those dependent on drugs. For instance, we will consider learning from Project ADDER (Addiction, Diversion, Disruption, Enforcement, Recovery), a programme that is testing a whole-system response to combatting drug-related harms in 13 areas across England and Wales, including through increased police activity to tackle visible street-level dealing and trialling new approaches to address persistent offending.