Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Home Office:
What recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of antisocial behaviour.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government is committed to tackling and preventing ASB. We know it can have a serious impact on both individuals and the wider community.
Police recorded incidents show a fall in ASB since 2013/2014 from around 2.1m to 1.8m incidents in the year to June 2020/2021.
We have ensured that local agencies have flexible tools and powers to tackle ASB through the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the number of staff in her Department processing 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 and providing improved training and career progression opportunities to aid retention of staff. This investment in our people will speed up processing times and increase the throughput of asylum decisions.
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. We have recently appointed a new lead who is responsible for creating a new enhanced and enlarged workflow function for Asylum Operations. This will allow Asylum Operations a greater degree of management and control over the flow of cases to our decision-making units.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that decisions are taken on asylum applications that were made over 12 months ago.
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 and providing improved training and career progression opportunities to aid retention of staff. This investment in our people will speed up processing times and increase the throughput of asylum decisions.
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. We have recently appointed a new lead who is responsible for creating a new enhanced and enlarged workflow function for Asylum Operations. This will allow Asylum Operations a greater degree of management and control over the flow of cases to our decision-making units.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that decisions on asylum claims are made within 12 months of the date of the application.
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 and providing improved training and career progression opportunities to aid retention of staff. This investment in our people will speed up processing times and increase the throughput of asylum decisions.
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. We have recently appointed a new lead who is responsible for creating a new enhanced and enlarged workflow function for Asylum Operations. This will allow Asylum Operations a greater degree of management and control over the flow of cases to our decision-making units.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to process the backlog of 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 and providing improved training and career progression opportunities to aid retention of staff. This investment in our people will speed up processing times and increase the throughput of asylum decisions.
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. We have recently appointed a new lead who is responsible for creating a new enhanced and enlarged workflow function for Asylum Operations. This will allow Asylum Operations a greater degree of management and control over the flow of cases to our decision-making units.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to notify asylum seekers in (a) Scotland and (b) Northern Ireland of the decisions on their applications.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The UK has a proud history of providing protection to those who need it, in accordance with our international obligations. All asylum claims are considered on a case by case basis and in line with published policy, which applies across the UK.
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 and providing improved training and career progression opportunities to aid retention of staff. This investment in our people will speed up processing times and increase the throughput of asylum decisions.
One a decision has been reached on an asylum application, the Home Office will endeavour to serve the decision as soon as possible, either in person where there is a need to safeguard, via the legal representatives or to the applicant themselves.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has plans to review the cost of a visa application for children.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Fees are set taking account of the charging powers provided by Section 68(9) of the Immigration Act 2014, which include the ability to set fees based on: the cost of processing the application, the benefits and entitlements provided by a successful application and the wider cost of the migration and borders system. Full details of which can be reviewed via the following link - http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/22/section/68
The Home Office keeps fees for immigration and nationality applications under review and ensures they are within the parameters agreed with HM Treasury and Parliament.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a seasonal visa scheme for heavy goods vehicle drivers in the UK.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Government has no plans to introduce a seasonal visa scheme for heavy goods vehicle drivers in the UK.
Our new points-based immigration system makes clear employers should focus on investing in and offering rewarding packages to our domestic workforce, especially those needing to find new employment because of the economic impact of the pandemic, rather than relying on labour from abroad.
The Government is therefore working with the haulage sector to promote jobs, training, and a range of other initiatives to get more people into HGV driving.
The Home Office has amended the Immigration Rules for the visitor route to enable drivers who come to the UK on an international journey to transport goods or people on journeys within the UK and undertake cabotage operations in line with Department for Transport rules.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce scam phone calls.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office and DCMS are in regular discussion with the telecommunication industry on ways to tackle fraud and protect the public.
The Government has taken a range of actions to reduce the number of these calls. For example, we have supported the National Trading Standards Scams Team to roll out call blocking devices to vulnerable people. DCMS have provided over £1 million in the last 3 years to National Trading Standards for distribution of call blocking devices to vulnerable people. This funding has helped to protect some of the most vulnerable in society from nuisance calls and scams.
In addition, the City of London Police, the lead force for Economic Crime, has partnered with Law Enforcement and Industry to combat call centre fraud from overseas jurisdictions.
However, the best way to tackle this problem is to try and identify the sources of these calls and stop them. We are encouraging the public to forward suspicious text messages to 7726 (which is free of charge) and continue to encourage anyone who has been a targeted by a scam to report it. Action Fraud is the central police reporting point for all victims of fraud and can be contacted by phone on 0300 123 2040 or through their website: http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report_fraud.
If you have received a scam call, rather than text message, you can also log an information report on the site. Using the information collected from these reporting platforms, law enforcement partners are able to spot patterns of calls/compromised numbers. Using this information, City of London Police (the National Lead Force for fraud, who manage the Action Fraud system), the National Cyber Security Centre and the National Crime Agency are able to facilitate numbers being used for scam calls/texts being blocked or removed.
However, the Government recognises there is more to do and is working closely with communications providers, law enforcement, regulators and consumer groups to consider further legislative and non-legislative solutions.