Asked by: Iain McKenzie (Labour - Inverclyde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she last met the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to discuss the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the UK; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by James Brokenshire
With millions of people in need in Syria and the region, the Government believes that humanitarian aid and actively seeking to end the conflict are the most effective ways for the UK to help the largest number of displaced people, rather than resettlement. We have now pledged £800 million in response to the crisis, and UK funding is helping hundreds of thousands of people across the region. However, we recognise that there are some very vulnerable displaced Syrians who cannot be supported effectively in the region. We therefore launched the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme to complement our aid by providing protection in the UK to some of those at greatest risk. Groups of Syrians are arriving in the UK on a regular basis under the scheme, including people in severe need of medical care, survivors of torture and violence and women and children at risk.
We have made our position on Syrian resettlement clear in relevant discussions with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The Minister for Immigration and Security and the recently-appointed UNHCR Representative to the UK met on 21 January to discuss Syria and other issues. We have also explained our approach to resettlement in relevant international discussions, including the UNHCR Global Resettlement Pledging Conference in Geneva on 9 December 2014. The Government regularly liaises with the UNHCR regarding the operation of the VPR scheme. We continue to work closely with the UNHCR to identify some of the most vulnerable people displaced by the conflict and bring them to the UK.
Asked by: Iain McKenzie (Labour - Inverclyde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to reimburse people who have had to pay to upgrade to the premium one-day service to secure a (a) new or (b) renewed passport; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by James Brokenshire
There are no plans to reimburse customers who choose to use the four hour
premium service.
On 12 June, the Home Secretary announced in the House of Commons that where
people have an urgent need to travel, and their application has been with Her
Majesty's Passport Office for longer than the standard processing time of three weeks
through no fault of their own, they will be able to upgrade their application
without charge. After their application has been through the proper checks, the
processing, printing and delivery of the new passport will be fast-tracked for
free. To qualify, customers must be booked to travel within the next 7 days.
Customers will be asked to provide details – such as flight numbers and the
name of the travel company – to confirm their travel plans.
This policy came into effect immediately after being announced and will be
available until further notice. This policy will not be applied
retrospectively.
Asked by: Iain McKenzie (Labour - Inverclyde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she has made an assessment of the UK Border Force's ability to process passengers at Glasgow Airport for the forthcoming Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Border Force planning for the Commonwealth Games has been underway since
December 2012. Border Force is currently working with Glasgow Airport to
refurbish the arrivals control, providing an increased number of arrivals desks
and utilising the latest technology in the form of electronic passport gates.
This will enhance the arrivals experience at Glasgow and the increased capacity
will ensure that passengers pass through the arrivals area as quickly as
possible while, at the same time, maintaining border security.
Asked by: Iain McKenzie (Labour - Inverclyde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the timetable is for the Emergency Services Mobile Communication programme; and what steps she is taking to ensure that commercial operators offer a service at least equivalent to the existing service.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The current Airwave Solutions Ltd contracts were let under a 20 year Private Finance Initiative arrangement, with a series of 15 year contracts, which expire over the period from September 2016 to December 2020.
The Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme aims to introduce a replacement for Airwave, as current contracts expire from September 2016. The requirements have been developed in partnership with the emergency services and we are running an open and fair competition in accordance with government guidelines.
The aim is to provide a replacement solution which is at least equivalent to the existing service, but not necessarily delivered in the same way.