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 provide wi-fi for asylum seekers accommodated in Arfon constituency.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Welsh Government have funded and worked in partnership with accommodation providers to provide Mi-Fi, a Wi-Fi device, across all dispersal accommodation sites in Wales enabling internet coverage for supported asylum seekers. As of March 31st 2023, there are no supported asylum seekers being accommodated in Arfon Wales.
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 has taken to provide independent inspections of the (a) accommodation and (b) support for asylum seekers in Wales.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The government has a statutory obligation to provide destitute asylum seekers with accommodation and other support whilst their application for asylum is being considered as set out in the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. The Act also sets out the need to meet essential living needs. The support package provided consists of accommodation and a weekly cash allowance to meet other essential living needs such as food, toiletries, travel and clothing. The support rate for those in contingency accommodation is intended to cover essential living items that are not met by the accommodation provider such as clothing, non-prescription medicine and travel.
All asylum properties are also inspected by our accommodation providers at least monthly. Additionally, our contract assurance team carries out targeted inspections, for example, targeting for inspection properties about which issues have been raised via Migrant Help. Our inspectors have procedures and tools to focus inspections on all relevant aspects of contract compliance.
If accommodation providers have been found to have fallen short of the required standards then we can take action, including but not limited to the application of financial remedies.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is taking steps to provide lessons in (a) English and (b) Welsh to asylum seekers in Wales.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office does not provide English or Welsh Language lessons as part of the provision of Asylum Support. Accommodation providers do signpost asylum seekers they accommodate to local statutory and non-statutory bodies who may provide these services. Local authorities have a duty to provide suitable full-time education for all children of compulsory school age resident in their area. The education must be appropriate to the child’s age, ability, and any special educational needs they may have, regardless of their immigration status. Local authorities must offer free school places in accordance with their published admissions arrangements, and they must ensure that there is no unreasonable delay in securing school admission for any child.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made a comparative assessment of the potential merits of housing asylum seekers in (a) dispersal and (b) contingency accommodation; and if she make will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Contingency Accommodation is accommodation that the Home Office has to use in order to continue to meet our statutory obligations. It is not a long-term solution to housing destitute asylum seekers and the Home Office is committed to moving away from contingency accommodation to more suitable forms of accommodation, including Dispersed Accommodation.
From 13 April 2022, all local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales are considered a dispersal area and will need to take part in asylum dispersal. This is to ensure a fair and equitable accommodation spread of asylum seekers across the UK. We have agreed targets for every local authority and region in the UK to deliver by the end of 2023.
Currently Arfon does not have any dispersal accommodation. If you would like to put forward specific proposals, please do contact the Home Office at: rasiengagementhubregionalconsultation@homeoffice.gov.uk and officials will happily discuss this in greater detail with you.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance is issued by her Department on the weight expected to be given to (a) family ties, (b) culture and (c) language when deciding where asylum seekers should be accommodated.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Under the Immigration & Asylum Act 1999, the Government is required to provide accommodation to asylum seekers that would otherwise be destitute.
It is Home Office policy to offer accommodation on a no choice basis except in exceptional circumstances:
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has placed any contractual requirements on private organisations to liaise with (a) local authorities, (b) health boards, (c) local voluntary sector and (d) Senedd Cymru when planning to accommodate asylum seekers in Wales.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office requires that all of our accommodation providers engage and consult with local authorities and other partners on the procurement and placement of supported asylum seekers. Full details of our requirements can be found online at:
AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract Wales - Contracts Finder
The Home Office is committed to working with statutory partners in planning for the dispersal and accommodation of asylum seekers and funds Strategic Migration Partnerships to facilitate and enable that engagement, including in Wales. In addition, the Home Office has, in April this year, established monthly regional governance forums to plan for the dispersal of asylum seekers and consider the impact on statutory and other services.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has entered into contracts with any private sector organisations to (a) provide and (b) arrange specialist mental health support for asylum seekers accommodated by her Department in Wales.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Government is under a legal obligation to provide support to all asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute.
Asylum seekers have access to free NHS care, which includes mental health services. In addition, asylum seekers can access Migrant Help, who the Home Office contract to provide advice and guidance to asylum seekers, should they have an issue and for signposting to health and welfare services.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the contractual requirements with private sector organisations are on the (a) length and (b) nature of support provided to asylum seekers accommodated by the Home Office in Wales.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office has a statutory obligation to house and financially support destitute asylum seekers whilst we consider their claim for protection and any support provided will last until their asylum claim is full determined. Support provided by our accommodation providers therefore lasts until we inform them that a claim is fully determined and that the Home Office ceases support.
We expect the highest standards from our contractors and providers which are monitored closely to ensure they continue to meet these standards. The standards of accommodation and service are set within Asylum Accommodation & Support Contracts (AASC) and represent a higher standard of quality than the preceding COMPASS contracts. The details of our contract with the private sector provider of asylum support in Wales can be found online at:
AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract Wales - Contracts Finder
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to ensure that households that have been informed by commercial providers that they are not part of their fibre broadband rollout schemes will be connected to fibre broadband.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Almost 97% of premises in the Arfon constituency are able to access a superfast connection (>= 30Mbps), more than enough for the vast majority of requirements such as high-definition streaming and video calling on multiple devices. Currently, 49% of premises in the Arfon constituency are able to access a full-fibre connection. Households can request a full-fibre connection from suppliers, but we do not hold the data regarding the number of premises that have requested full-fibre connections.
In March 2021, the government launched Project Gigabit, its £5 billion mission to deliver gigabit-capable (>1000Mbps) broadband to UK premises that are not included in suppliers' commercial plans.
We conduct extensive market reviews to identify the premises that do not currently have gigabit-capable infrastructure, or are not included in suppliers’ commercial plans. This enables us to identify the premises that are eligible for public subsidy and design the areas for Project Gigabit interventions.
We are on track to launch our first procurement covering large parts of Wales this summer, and this is likely to include some premises in the Arfon constituency.
On top of our Project Gigabit procurements, the Welsh Government’s Superfast Cymru programme is expected to complete this month, and in total the programme has provided over 100,000 premises in Wales with access to gigabit-capable infrastructure.
For the small number of very hard to reach premises which are unlikely to be connected to gigabit-capable infrastructure through Project Gigabit or suppliers’ commercial plans, the government is exploring all possible options for providing improved broadband connectivity.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what her Department's expected timescales are for the rollout of fibre broadband to all premises in Arfon.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Almost 97% of premises in the Arfon constituency are able to access a superfast connection (>= 30Mbps), more than enough for the vast majority of requirements such as high-definition streaming and video calling on multiple devices. Currently, 49% of premises in the Arfon constituency are able to access a full-fibre connection. Households can request a full-fibre connection from suppliers, but we do not hold the data regarding the number of premises that have requested full-fibre connections.
In March 2021, the government launched Project Gigabit, its £5 billion mission to deliver gigabit-capable (>1000Mbps) broadband to UK premises that are not included in suppliers' commercial plans.
We conduct extensive market reviews to identify the premises that do not currently have gigabit-capable infrastructure, or are not included in suppliers’ commercial plans. This enables us to identify the premises that are eligible for public subsidy and design the areas for Project Gigabit interventions.
We are on track to launch our first procurement covering large parts of Wales this summer, and this is likely to include some premises in the Arfon constituency.
On top of our Project Gigabit procurements, the Welsh Government’s Superfast Cymru programme is expected to complete this month, and in total the programme has provided over 100,000 premises in Wales with access to gigabit-capable infrastructure.
For the small number of very hard to reach premises which are unlikely to be connected to gigabit-capable infrastructure through Project Gigabit or suppliers’ commercial plans, the government is exploring all possible options for providing improved broadband connectivity.