Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 28 of her Department's document entitled, Nationality policy: Naturalisation as a British citizen by discretion, published on 14 May 2020, if she will provide a definition of what constitutes compelling grounds to exercise discretion.
Answered by Kevin Foster
To meet the statutory requirements for naturalisation, a person of any nationality must have been in the UK lawfully during the residential qualifying period.
EEA Regulations set out the requirements which EEA nationals needed to follow if they wished to reside here lawfully on the basis of free movement. In the case of students or the self-sufficient, but not those who were working here, the possession of comprehensive sickness insurance has always been a requirement under them.
The British Nationality Act allows us to exercise discretion over this requirement in the special circumstances of any particular case. We cannot therefore prescribe when discretion will or will not be exercised. UKVI will consider cases sensitively, taking into account the nature and reasons for any period of unlawful residence alongside other information relevant to the individual.
There are no plans to amend legislation in this respect.
We do not have figures for the number of EU, EEA Swiss nationals in the UK who do not hold comprehensive sickness Insurance. It is only required where a person is either self-sufficient or a student. As EEA and Swiss nationals did not previously need to hold a document confirming their status, we cannot say how many failed to comply with this requirement.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of (a) EU, (b) EEA and (c) Swiss nationals in the UK who do not hold comprehensive sickness Insurance.
Answered by Kevin Foster
To meet the statutory requirements for naturalisation, a person of any nationality must have been in the UK lawfully during the residential qualifying period.
EEA Regulations set out the requirements which EEA nationals needed to follow if they wished to reside here lawfully on the basis of free movement. In the case of students or the self-sufficient, but not those who were working here, the possession of comprehensive sickness insurance has always been a requirement under them.
The British Nationality Act allows us to exercise discretion over this requirement in the special circumstances of any particular case. We cannot therefore prescribe when discretion will or will not be exercised. UKVI will consider cases sensitively, taking into account the nature and reasons for any period of unlawful residence alongside other information relevant to the individual.
There are no plans to amend legislation in this respect.
We do not have figures for the number of EU, EEA Swiss nationals in the UK who do not hold comprehensive sickness Insurance. It is only required where a person is either self-sufficient or a student. As EEA and Swiss nationals did not previously need to hold a document confirming their status, we cannot say how many failed to comply with this requirement.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will automatically extend all visas due to expire during the covid-19 outbreak, including those of people unable to return to the UK due to travel restrictions.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office has put in place a range of measures to support those affected by the covid-19 outbreak. The latest information in respect of advice for visa holders can be found on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-uk-visa-applicants-and-temporary-uk-residents.
This advice is kept under regular review as we recognise further adjustments are likely to be required to cater for all scenarios. We are working through these to ensure people are not unduly affected by circumstances beyond their control.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the potential risk of smuggling through Welsh ports after the end of the transition period; and what steps the Government it taking to mitigate that risk.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The UK has now left the EU, providing a once in a generation opportunity to take back control and strengthen the security of the UK border as a whole.
In December, the Government announced a plan to strengthen our border security. This included introducing the collection of pre-arrival goods data to stop smuggling and enable us to more effectively target illicit commodities travelling from the EU to the UK, the power to stop EU criminals at the border once we have ended free movement, the phasing out the use of European ID cards that are regularly used fraudulently given their insecurity compared to passports as well as introducing Electronic Travel Authorisation to provide an enhanced ability to screen arrivals and block threats from entering the UK.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding the Government has allocated to tackling female genital mutilation in each financial year since 2015; and how that funding was allocated.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
FGM is a crime and it is child abuse. The Government will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong physical and psychological suffering to women and girls. We significantly strengthened the law in 2015 in order to improve protection for victims and those at risk, and to break down the barriers to prosecution.
The table below comprises funding allocated by UK Government departments to tackle FGM since April 2015.? It excludes:
staffing and other administrative costs;
grants which were made to organisations to tackle both FGM and other issues, where it is not possible to break down the money spent on FGM and on those other issues; and
components of broader funding provided to statutory agencies and office holders (namely the NHS and Police and Crime Commissioners) which those agencies and office holders chose to spend on FGM.
All figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Financial years run from 1 April to 31 March.
Financial Year | Total Domestic Government Spend |
2015/2016 | £2,718,000 |
2016/2017 | £1,664,000 |
2017/2018 | £1,918,000 |
2018/2019 | £1,814,000 |
2019/2020 | £432,000 |
This funding comprised:
Home Office expenditure on grants to four organisations for projects dealing solely with FGM as part of the Building a Stronger Britain Together Fund (2017/18-2019/20); and on a communications campaign to raise awareness of the risks of FGM (2017/18-2019/20).
Department for Education expenditure on grants to the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) (2015/16); to Barnardo’s/National FGM Centre (2015/16-2019/20); and to two other voluntary sector organisations (2016/17-2017/18).
Department of Health and Social Care expenditure on the FGM Prevention Programme (2015/16-2017/18), as well as additional funding in 2018/19 to embed the improvements delivered by that programme across NHS services.
Funds allocated by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government to 37 local authority areas to fund locally-driven outreach, engagement and communications on the practice of FGM (2018/19).
The Home Office also awarded £476,000 in grants to two projects dealing solely with FGM as part of the Violence Against Women and Girls Service Transformation fund. As these grants were awarded as a block encompassing three financial years, the figures cannot be broken down into financial years.
Information on the amount of funding provided by the Department for International Development (DfID) since 2015 is not available by financial year. DfID's spending by calendar year is outlined here: https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2020-03-02/23440/
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when Priority Service and Super Priority Service for visa and indefinite leave to remain applications will resume.
Answered by Kevin Foster
International students travelling to the UK to commence courses in the Autumn semester are not considered under the indefinite leave to remain route.
We continually review our global visa operation to improve performance and ensure value for money while maintaining excellent customer service.
We have not yet re-introduced Super Priority and Priority visa services, but are keeping the position under constant review as more of our visa application centres reopen. The decision to reopen visa application centres is taken in conjunction with our commercial partners and is subject to the easing of restrictions in locations by host Governments. As centres reopen details of these will be published on our commercial partner websites.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to indefinite leave to remain decisions, what assessment she has made of the effect of the suspension of the priority and super priority services on the ability of international students to start university courses in September 2020.
Answered by Kevin Foster
International students travelling to the UK to commence courses in the Autumn semester are not considered under the indefinite leave to remain route.
We continually review our global visa operation to improve performance and ensure value for money while maintaining excellent customer service.
We have not yet re-introduced Super Priority and Priority visa services, but are keeping the position under constant review as more of our visa application centres reopen. The decision to reopen visa application centres is taken in conjunction with our commercial partners and is subject to the easing of restrictions in locations by host Governments. As centres reopen details of these will be published on our commercial partner websites.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to Questions 7123 and 7124 on Immigration: EU Nationals, tabled on 23 January 2020 by the hon. Member for Arfon.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The responses for UIN 7123 and 7124 were given on 24th June 2020.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will increase the number of scanning centres in Wales to improve access for EU27 citizens applying for settled status through the EU Settlement Scheme.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The latest published information shows more than 3.6 million EU Settlement Scheme applications had been received up to 31 May 2020. Of these, 59,400 applications had been received in Wales. The latest figures can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/eu-settlement-scheme-statistics.
In order to ensure resident EEA and Swiss nationals, and their family members, understand how and by when to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme, the Home Office has put in place a comprehensive communications and engagement plan, using all available channels to reach our audiences – such as marketing, presentations, email updates, toolkits and webinars.
The Home Office has delivered a £4 million marketing campaign to encourage resident EEA and Swiss nationals to apply. During the first burst of campaign activity billboards were placed in 186 locations in Wales with 50% of these posters in Welsh and 50% in English.
No-one will be left behind, which is why we are working in partnership with representatives of vulnerable groups and other expert organisations to make sure the right level of support is available. This includes £9 million of funding awarded last year to 57 voluntary and community sector organisations across the UK to assist vulnerable and at-risk EEA and Swiss citizens and their family members. Five organisations are providing support for EEA and Swiss citizens in Wales: Newport Mind Association, Tros Gynnal Plant, International Organisation for Migration, Royal Association for Deaf People, and Rights of Women.
There are multiple ways applicants can have their identity documents checked as part of the application process, including using the EU Exit: ID Document Check smartphone app or by posting identity documents to the Home Office.
The identity document scanner locations are currently closed due to the COVID pandemic, following the latest public health guidance to protect staff. However, the Home Office and its delivery partners are keeping this situation under constant review and will endeavour to reinstate identity document scanner locations to their original capacity in line with public health guidance.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to increase the proportion of EU27 citizens in Wales who apply for settled status.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The latest published information shows more than 3.6 million EU Settlement Scheme applications had been received up to 31 May 2020. Of these, 59,400 applications had been received in Wales. The latest figures can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/eu-settlement-scheme-statistics.
In order to ensure resident EEA and Swiss nationals, and their family members, understand how and by when to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme, the Home Office has put in place a comprehensive communications and engagement plan, using all available channels to reach our audiences – such as marketing, presentations, email updates, toolkits and webinars.
The Home Office has delivered a £4 million marketing campaign to encourage resident EEA and Swiss nationals to apply. During the first burst of campaign activity billboards were placed in 186 locations in Wales with 50% of these posters in Welsh and 50% in English.
No-one will be left behind, which is why we are working in partnership with representatives of vulnerable groups and other expert organisations to make sure the right level of support is available. This includes £9 million of funding awarded last year to 57 voluntary and community sector organisations across the UK to assist vulnerable and at-risk EEA and Swiss citizens and their family members. Five organisations are providing support for EEA and Swiss citizens in Wales: Newport Mind Association, Tros Gynnal Plant, International Organisation for Migration, Royal Association for Deaf People, and Rights of Women.
There are multiple ways applicants can have their identity documents checked as part of the application process, including using the EU Exit: ID Document Check smartphone app or by posting identity documents to the Home Office.
The identity document scanner locations are currently closed due to the COVID pandemic, following the latest public health guidance to protect staff. However, the Home Office and its delivery partners are keeping this situation under constant review and will endeavour to reinstate identity document scanner locations to their original capacity in line with public health guidance.