Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of financial support available for people in the asylum system during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
We have been reviewing the level of the cash allowances provided to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute, as we do each year to ensure that they remain capable of meeting their essential living needs.
As a result of this work, the standard allowance has been raised to £39.60 per week from £37.75 per week, an increase of around 5%.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the methodology is for (a) calculating changes to asylum support rates and (b) ensuring those rates are sufficient to allow asylum seekers to avoid destitution; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
A report published in March 2018 sets out the methodology for calculating the asylum support rates and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-on-review-of-cash-allowance-paid-to-asylum-seekers.
We are currently reviewing the level of the support rate, as we do each year, to ensure that they remain capable of meeting the essential living needs of asylum seekers.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has plans to provide additional funding to local authorities to support people at increased risk of becoming victims of domestic violence as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
£1.6 billion of the £5 billion COVID-19 fund announced in the Budget will go to local authorities to help them respond to pressures across all the services they deliver.
The Chancellor has further announced a funding package of some £750m to support charities including those providing domestic abuse services. In addition, the Home Office has announced £2 million in funding to support technological capability such as specialist helplines and websites.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff are employed in the processing asylum applications in the UK Visa and Immigration team.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The number of staff who are employed by UK Visas and Immigration in the processing of asylum applications, is not held in a way that can be easily aggregated. To obtain this information would require detailed reporting against multiple cost centres and could only be obtained at disproportionate costs.
Decisions on asylum claims are made by decision makers in Asylum Operations. There are recruitment strategies in place to maintain staffing at the required levels to allow us to manage asylum intake and reduce the overall time to make initial asylum decisions.
All asylum claim lodged in the UK are carefully considered on their individual merits against a background of relevant case law and up to date country information.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he made of Zimbabwe's human rights record prior to sharing sensitive personal information with the Government of Zimbabwe on potential deportees to that country.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The UK has a long and proud history of granting asylum to those who need our protection. But when a decision has been made that a person does not require international protection, the Home Office will take steps to remove that person. Removal is only enforced when the Home Office and the courts conclude that it is safe to do so, with a safe route of return.
Re-documentation interviews with officials from receiving countries are a standard part of the Home Office returns process.
Once an individual no longer has the right to remain in the UK and a travel document is required to facilitate return, interviews are conducted by officials from diplomatic missions to establish nationality and identity to enable a travel document to be produced. Basic personal information and supporting evidence such as a copy of a passport or birth certificate (if available), are provided to officials to support this process.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress has been made in tackling money laundering between the UK and Pakistan.
Answered by Ben Wallace
As we set out in the National Risk Assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing 2017, there are large remittance and business links be-tween Pakistan and the UK, and there is a risk of criminal groups exploiting these links to facilitate money laundering, particularly the laundering of the proceeds of corruption, fraud and drug trafficking.
Cooperation with Paki-stan on these issues is a priority for the government and law enforcement agencies. In March 2017, the UK signed new agreements with Pakistan to enhance cooperation on a number of security and home affairs priorities, including on criminal finances. There has since been positive engagement between the UK and Pakistan on these issues at senior and Ministerial level.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of people that have had an application for asylum rejected who have no recourse to public funds in each of the last five years.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Asylum Seekers whose claims and, if appropriate, appeals have been refused are no longer eligible for asylum support and are expected to return home. We offer assistance to those who choose to do so by actively promoting the Home Office Voluntary Return Service. The Home Office continues to provide accommodation and support to those who are temporarily unable to leave the UK because of a practical or legal obstacle through the Section 4 provisions, and to families with children under the age of 18.
Information about asylum decisions, broken down by Country of Origin, is available in the published statistics here:
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of rejected Iranian asylum seekers in the UK who have no recourse to public funds.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Asylum Seekers whose claims and, if appropriate, appeals have been refused are no longer eligible for asylum support and are expected to return home. We offer assistance to those who choose to do so by actively promoting the Home Office Voluntary Return Service. The Home Office continues to provide accommodation and support to those who are temporarily unable to leave the UK because of a practical or legal obstacle through the Section 4 provisions, and to families with children under the age of 18.
Information about asylum decisions, broken down by Country of Origin, is available in the published statistics here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-june-2018/how-many-people-do-we-grant-asylum-or-protection-to#asylum-applications-and-initial-decisions
No Recourse to Public Funds is the default condition for grants of leave to remain in most categories, and is a separate issue to that of asylum seekers who are no longer eligible for support. Leave to remain in the UK is normally granted with a condition that prevents the person and their dependants from receiving welfare assistance from public funds. However, where the person qualifies for leave to remain on grounds related to their family or private life the condition is lifted if they or they or their dependent children would otherwise be destitute.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of priority visa applications processed in the last 12 months have been processed within the six-week time frame set by his Department.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Priority Visa Service for settlement applications aims to process straightforward cases within 30 working days.
Those applications made under the priority service will be placed to the front of the processing queue and expedited. However, it should be noted that timescales for decisions are not guaranteed.
Data on PV settlement visa processing times is not currently published. Published data on settlement visa processing times can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-operations-transparency-data-august-2018
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many priority visa applications have been processed in the last 12 months within the six-week time frame set by his Department.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Priority Visa Service for settlement applications aims to process straightforward cases within 30 working days.
Those applications made under the priority service will be placed to the front of the processing queue and expedited. However, it should be noted that timescales for decisions are not guaranteed.
Data on PV settlement visa processing times is not currently published. Published data on settlement visa processing times can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-operations-transparency-data-august-2018