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 her Department has made of the potential merits of exempting frontier workers from the ten day quarantine covid-19 rule when travelling to and from a country at least once every two weeks.
Answered by Kevin Foster
To protect the public and the NHS, the exemptions for frontier workers from the self-isolation requirements have been tightened to limit such activity to only what is really necessary.
People working in the UK who live abroad can only continue to enter the UK for work without self-isolating if their work is covered by one of the sectoral exemptions. They may of still travel to the UK for work if it cannot be done remotely but will need to self-isolate for the first 10 days if their work is not covered by one of the sectoral exemptions for critical workers.
We have also tightened our requirements for people who live in the UK but work abroad. In order to remain exempt from the requirement to self-isolate on their return from working abroad, such people must be able to show they travel to work in another country at least once a week, their work cannot be done remotely and their work is deemed critical in the country.
These enhanced requirements also protect the exemptions against being abused by those whose work related reason for travel is not absolutely essential.
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 levels of knife crime.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government is determined to crack down on the scourge of violence devastating our communities, and tackling knife crime is a priority. Across England and Wales, we are recruiting 20,000 additional police officers and increasing the amount of funding available to the policing system for 2021/22 by up to £636 million, totalling £15.8 billion.
Over the last two years we have invested a total of £176.5 million through the serious violence fund to address the causes of serious violence and to bolster the police response in police force areas most effected by serious violence across England and Wales. We have set up Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) in the 18 worst-affected local areas. VRUs bring together police, local government, health and education professionals, community leaders and other key partners to identify the drivers of serious violence, to help them to implement a long term, multi-agency approach, to stop violence from happening in the first place.
We have committed a further £130.5m to tackle serious violence and homicide in 21/22, including funding for targeted policing and interventions to protect young people from involvement in violence.
We have also invested £200 million through the 10-Year Youth Endowment Fund to ensure those most at risk are given the opportunity to turn away from violence and lead positive lives.
We also continue to strengthen the law on knife crime and serious violence. The Offensive Weapons Act 2019 introduced Knife Crime Prevention Orders (KCPO). These preventative orders enable the courts to place positive intervention requirements as well as other measures including prohibition to carry a knife on individuals to help the police steer those most at risk away from serious violence and to set them on a more positive path.
Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs) have been introduced in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Bill and will give the police powers to make it easier to stop and search those already convicted of knife and offensive weapon offences.
We have also introduced legislation which will place new duties on a range of specified agencies across different sectors, such as local government, youth offending, and health and probation, to work collaboratively, share data and information, and put in place plans to prevent and reduce serious violence.
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 effect on wheelchair users of the requirement from 1 April 2021 that applicants for a door supervisor or security guard licence will be expected to successfully complete a first aid qualification before taking their licence-linked training.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Security Industry Authority (SIA) regulates the private security industry in the United Kingdom. As part of its broader reforms relating to qualifications for SIA licences in order to improve public safety and to raise standards in the private security industry, it has introduced the requirement for first aid training.
Policy development in this area included an Equalities Impact Assessment. The policy included consideration of how wheelchair users and others may fulfil the First Aid requirement. The SIA have produced advice on reasonable adjustments for this requirement. This allows learners to take a ‘knowledge only’ course where they can present evidence that they are unable to undertake practical First Aid. The equality impact of these reforms will be kept under review as they are implemented.
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 effect on improving the attractiveness of the UK as a destination for higher education studies of (a) allowing years of study to count towards those years required for settled status and (b) enhancing ease of transfer to a work visa upon completion of qualification.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The launch of the Graduate route on 1 July 2021, significantly enhances our offer to international students by providing students who successfully complete an eligible qualification at a Higher Education Provider with a track record of compliance, the opportunity to work or look for work for two years (three years for PhD students) after completing their course.
Those on the Graduate Route will be able to work in any role, except as a professional sportsperson. They will also be able to switch into the Skilled Worker route at any point during their Graduate permission, if they find a job which meets the criteria for it.
The launch of the Skilled Worker route on 1 December 2021, with its broader skills threshold of RQF level 3 and the salary threshold of £25,600, also allows more flexibility for the types of profession which students can pursue in the UK after they graduate. In addition, the new entrant provision, enabling certain applicants to qualify with a reduced salary threshold has also been extended to include applicants who are under 26 on the date of application. These changes in combination benefit all students who wish to switch into the Skilled Worker route and make it easier to meet the requirements for the route.
Time spent studying under the Student route is not counted towards settlement. The route is a temporary route for the purpose of undertaking a course of study within the UK, rather than to settle. Students are able to switch into routes which count towards settlement such as the Skilled Worker route.
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 adequacy of support provided to international students who want to pursue a career in the UK after successful completion of their course with respect to (a) finances and (b) visas.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The launch of the Graduate route on 1 July 2021, significantly enhances our offer to international students by providing students who successfully complete an eligible qualification at a Higher Education Provider with a track record of compliance, the opportunity to work or look for work for two years (three years for PhD students) after completing their course.
Those on the Graduate Route will be able to work in any role, except as a professional sportsperson. They will also be able to switch into the Skilled Worker route at any point during their Graduate permission, if they find a job which meets the criteria for it.
The launch of the Skilled Worker route on 1 December 2021, with its broader skills threshold of RQF level 3 and the salary threshold of £25,600, also allows more flexibility for the types of profession which students can pursue in the UK after they graduate. In addition, the new entrant provision, enabling certain applicants to qualify with a reduced salary threshold has also been extended to include applicants who are under 26 on the date of application. These changes in combination benefit all students who wish to switch into the Skilled Worker route and make it easier to meet the requirements for the route.
Time spent studying under the Student route is not counted towards settlement. The route is a temporary route for the purpose of undertaking a course of study within the UK, rather than to settle. Students are able to switch into routes which count towards settlement such as the Skilled Worker route.
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 plans to amend the 6 April date by which international students must be in the UK to be eligible for the new graduate route as a result of the ongoing covid-19-related travel restrictions.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Government keeps these concessions under review and will not hesitate to act where further support is needed as we recognise Covid-19 has caused significant disruption for international students.
We will update Parliament in due course.
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 effect of the increased (a) costs, (b) course length and (c) written examination content in the proposed new Security Industry qualifications on (i) access for the unemployed and (ii) take-up by training providers.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Security Industry Authority (SIA) is making some changes to the training applicants need to undertake before they can obtain a front-line SIA licence. These changes will happen in April and October 2021.
These proportionate and reasoned changes are being made to ensure people working in the private security sector can: keep the public safe; follow new working practices; understand recent changes to the law; and make the best use of new technology. In addition, from 1 April 2021 applicants for a door supervisor or security guard licence will be expected to complete a first aid qualification before taking their licence-linked training.
Applicants will have choices that will affect how much they will pay. They have choices about which training provider to use, and what method of learning to use (for example, the proportion of self-study, remote and in-person learning), which affects the length of time required to complete it.
The private security industry, awarding organisations and training providers played a fundamental role in developing the new qualifications. The SIA conducted robust research within the industry on skills, ensured that front line industry experts drafted the specifications, and carried out two rounds of public consultation on all of the draft qualification specifications. These resulted in over 6,000 responses which were mostly from licence holders.
The SIA as the regulator of the private security industry, does not deliver training. It is for the different training providers to determine the costs for the courses they offer.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Home Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a longer term study visa to make the UK more attractive to international students.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Government has already announced the launch of the Graduate route in Summer 2021 which will enhance our offer to international students.
Students undertaking a degree at undergraduate level or above at a Higher Education Provider with a track record of compliance will be able to stay and work or look for work for two years (three years for PhD students) after successfully completing their course.
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 students who arrive in the UK to complete their studies by 6 April 2021 will be eligible for the Graduate Immigration Route.
Answered by Kevin Foster
It is a core principle of the Graduate route that someone must have spent some time studying in the UK.
As we have stated for some time, in light of the impact Covid-19 has had on international students those who began studying overseas in Autumn 2020 and who enter the UK before 6 April 2021 to complete their course will be eligible for the Graduate route if they meet the requirements.
On 24 December we published further guidance confirming those who begin study overseas in January 2021 will also be eligible for the route if they enter the UK to complete their course before 27 September 2021 and meet the requirements.
Any period of distance learning in the current academic year will not count against eligible students who graduate after 2021, providing they complete their course in the UK under the Student route. Those who do not complete their studies in the UK will be ineligible.