Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who are eligible under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy are residing in hotels in the UK as of 30 January 2024.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The UK has made an ambitious and generous commitment to resettle.
Afghans fleeing persecution and those who served the UK. The latest published Immigration system statistics - (www.gov.uk) show that (up to the end of September 2023) we have brought around 24,600 people to safety from Afghanistan and the region.
These statistics also show that:
ACRS and ARAP arrivals correct as of around December 2023, and accommodation data will be reflected in the next release of the Immigration Statistics, which is due around 22 February 2024.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people that have relocated to the UK under the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme are residing in hotels.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The UK has made an ambitious and generous commitment to resettle.
Afghans fleeing persecution and those who served the UK. The latest published Immigration system statistics - (www.gov.uk) show that (up to the end of September 2023) we have brought around 24,600 people to safety from Afghanistan and the region.
These statistics also show that:
ACRS and ARAP arrivals correct as of around December 2023, and accommodation data will be reflected in the next release of the Immigration Statistics, which is due around 22 February 2024.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will publish a list of the military sites being used to house (a) Afghan and (b) other refugees and asylum seekers; and what the cost to the public purse is of using these sites for that purpose.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
Home Office does not hold the information requested as the costs are held by the Ministry of Defence.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Oral Statement from the Minister for Veteran Affairs of 13 December 2023 on Afghan Resettlement Update, Official Report, column 911, what estimate he has made of the potential cost of extending contracts for temporary hotel accommodation beyond 31 December 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government remains committed to ending the systemic use of hotels, and we do not plan to open new hotels to meet this increased demand.
The information requested on hotel contracts is not publicly available, however, a small number of hotels with existing contracts will be extended for a limited time period to help accommodate ACRS arrivals who have yet to be matched to settled housing solutions in the United Kingdom.
The latest published statistics on Afghan resettlement, up until the end of September, may be viewed at: Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The next publication of Afghan resettlement data sets is due to be published around 22 February 2024.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Oral Statement from the Minister for Veteran Affairs of 13 December 2023 on Afghan Resettlement Update, Official Report, column 911, how many and what proportion of hotels will the Government extend contracts with to house Afghans beyond 31 December 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government remains committed to ending the systemic use of hotels, and we do not plan to open new hotels to meet this increased demand.
The information requested on hotel contracts is not publicly available, however, a small number of hotels with existing contracts will be extended for a limited time period to help accommodate ACRS arrivals who have yet to be matched to settled housing solutions in the United Kingdom.
The latest published statistics on Afghan resettlement, up until the end of September, may be viewed at: Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The next publication of Afghan resettlement data sets is due to be published around 22 February 2024.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of (a) principals and (b) dependents have been relocated under Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme pathway (i) one and (ii) two each month since July 2022.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The UK has made an ambitious and generous commitment to help at-risk people in Afghanistan and, so far, we have brought around 24,600 people to safety, including thousands of people eligible for our Afghan schemes. We continue to honour our commitments to bring eligible Afghans to the UK.
The data published within the immigration system statistics release (month ending September 2023, published 23 November 2023) provides a breakdown of arrivals by quarter. The number of individuals resettled under the schemes is as follows: 9,699 individuals under ACRS Pathway 1, 70 individuals under ACRS Pathway 2 and 70 individuals under ACRS Pathway 3.
Afghan operational data is viewable at: Afghan Resettlement Programme: operational data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab).
Afghan operational data is released quarterly with the next publication due around the 22 February 2024.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 19 October 2023 to Question 202637, whether her Department has collected data on the number of Afghans housed in hotel accommodation in March 2023 who were given at least one offer of permanent accommodation before 31 August 2023.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The one offer accommodation matching process was introduced on 02 May 2023.
The one offer accommodation matching process has seen 74 households refuse offers of accommodation. This is in addition to the 317 accommodation offers refused under the previous process.
This is the best available operational data as of 31 August 2023. A further Operational data release is due on 23 November 2023.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2023 to Question 199700 Refugees: Afghanistan, if she will publish the data on arrival dates collected for internal and operational use; and what guidance her Department issues on the status of such data under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Exact arrival dates are not contained within the quarterly Immigration system statistics, however arrivals by quarter can be found within the immigration statistics for year ending June 2023 - GOV.UK
The data that is published for arrivals under Afghan Resettlement Schemes is viewable at: Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Freedom of Information requests for Afghan resettlement data are dealt with in accordance with the relevant FOIA guidance.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral statement of 19 September 2023 by the Minister for Veterans Affairs, Official Report columns 1253 to 1255, how many Afghan families housed in bridging hotels before March 2023 moved into private accommodation without assistance from the Government.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
There is no published breakdown of the number of individuals who moved into private accommodation during the requested period.
Transparency data has recently been released (published on 19 September 2023), following the end of bridging accommodation use. This provides a helpful overview of the best available operational data as of 31 August 2023, and can be viewed at: Afghan bridging hotel exit operational data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the contribution of the Minister for Veterans Affairs in the debate on Resettlement of Afghans on 19 September 2023, Official Report, column 1253, how many and what proportion of the Afghans housed in hotel accommodation in March 2023 were given at least one offer of permanent accommodation before 31 August 2023.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
There is no published breakdown of the number of individuals who received a property offer during the stated period.
We gave Afghans living in hotels and serviced apartments three months’ notice in which they would need to leave their bridging accommodation - and stepped up our support to help them find settled accommodation. This was backed by £285m of new funding for councils which included a flexible housing fund worth £7,100 per person which many LAs used as rent top ups to enable this cohort to access private rented sector properties. The UK Government has granted all Afghans relocated through safe and legal routes with Indefinite Leave to Remain, including the immediate right to work, alongside access to the benefits system and vital health, education, and employment support.
Transparency data has recently been released (published on 19 September 2023), following the end of bridging accommodation use. This provides a helpful overview of the best available operational data as of 31 August 2023, and can be viewed at: Afghan bridging hotel exit operational data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). This publication confirms that there were over 8,000 Afghans living in bridging accommodation on 28 March, when the plan to end Bridging accommodation was announced. It also shows that overall, 10,404 people have been housed by a local authorities since June 2021.