Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made an assessment of the impact of weekly payments to asylum seekers in catered accommodation being under £10 on their ability to access cash.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office has a legal obligation to meet the essential living needs of destitute asylum seekers. Support is usually provided in the form of accommodation and a weekly allowance loaded onto a payment card called an Aspen card, which can be used to make purchases from retail outlets.
Individuals living in catered accommodation are issued a reduced weekly payment to cover essential living items that are not met by their accommodation provider, such as clothing and travel.
The level of allowance is reviewed each year to ensure it covers an individual's essential living needs. Following the 2023 review, allowances have increased for many supported individuals including pregnant women and young children.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing reduced fee tiers of visa payments for individuals with contributory ties with the UK.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
There are currently no plans to introduce fee tiers. It is the Home Office’s policy that fees should generally be charged consistently across customer groups in order to support the overall funding of the migration and borders system.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle the use of barber shops as fronts for (a) organised crime and (b) illegal immigration.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is committed to tackling the threat from Serious and Organised Crime (SOC) and immigration related criminality. It has recently published a new SOC strategy that commits to reducing SOC in the UK by disrupting and dismantling organised crime groups and networks operating in and against the UK.
The National Crime Agency (NCA), Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) network, Border Force and law enforcement partners have specialised intelligence and investigative teams that are deployed across the full range of SOC threats, including illicit finance, fraud, money laundering, and immigration crime, to bring offenders to justice.
National, regional and local operational activity is always prioritised by law enforcement according to the threat, risk and harm posed.
This Government has increased NCA funding by more than 40% since 2019 to support the development of essential capabilities needed to tackle the full range of SOC threats.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an estimate of the number of women on spousal visas that have been a victim of (a) domestic abuse and (b) modern slavery.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The number of women on spousal visas that have been a victim of domestic abuse and modern slavery does not form part of any current transparency data or migration statistics and is not published.
The transparency data does, however, include a range of processing data and the latest data can be found at: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the prevalence of arranged marriages in the UK.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Government has not made a recent assessment on the prevalence of arranged marriages in the UK.
In an arranged marriage the families take a leading role in choosing the marriage partner, but the marriage is entered into freely by both parties.
This is in contrast to a forced marriage, where one or both people do not or cannot consent to the marriage and pressure or abuse is used to force them into the marriage.
It is also a forced marriage when anything is done to make someone marry before they turn 18, even if there is no pressure or abuse.
More information on forced marriage can be found here - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/forced-marriage
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made (a) a comparative assessment of the speed of processing asylum claims for (i) her Department's existing method and (ii) alternative methods and (b) an assessment of the efficiency of alternative methods taken by other nations.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
We have taken immediate action to speed up asylum processing whilst maintaining the integrity of the system. This includes simplifying guidance and streamlining processes. We have also introduced shorter, focussed interviews, making the interview process more efficient.
The asylum backlog of legacy cases had fallen by over 35,000 cases, between the end of November 2022 and the end of August 2023, and has continued to fall since the last publication of statistics.
Information on the legacy backlog is published online in the IMB_02 Tab of the data table regarding Statistics relating to the Illegal Migration Act - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk(opens in a new tab)). This data is provisional and has not been cleansed to remove duplicates.
In the year ending June 2023, there were 23,702 initial decisions made on asylum applications, 61% more than in the previous year. This is in part due to an increase in the number of asylum decision makers employed by the Home Office.
We are confident that with increased capacity and improved efficiency this will help deliver further significant output over the coming months.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department provides basic toiletries as standard to refugees in her Department's care.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Basic toiletries are considered an essential need for asylum seekers in receipt of asylum support. These are either provided directly by our accommodation providers under the AASC contract, or individuals can purchase the items with their weekly subsistence rate, which is currently £45 for those in self-catered or dispersal accommodation. Part of this allowance is intended for toiletries.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the impact of the Misuse of Drug Act 1971 on the criminal justice system.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
No recent assessment has been made. Assessments are made on a case by case basis as individual drugs or drug harms are identified.
Drug Legislation forms part of our wider approach to preventing drug misuse alongside prevention and education, supporting treatment and recovery, and tackling the supply of illicit drugs.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending eligibility for the global talent visa to include (a) designers, (b) fashion photographers, (c) stylists, (d) fashion journalists and (e) other professionals in the fashion industry.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Global Talent visa route utilises the expertise of six endorsing bodies to set criteria for applicants looking to apply as a leading talent or someone with the potential to be a leading talent in their respective fields.
On behalf of Arts Council England, the endorsing body for arts and culture, the British Fashion Council consider applications from individuals looking to be endorsed within the field of fashion design. Any expansion of the criteria to cover a wider range of roles within the fashion industry would be requested via our endorsing bodies – as the experts in their field – to consider and escalate to the Home Office if appropriate.
We continue to work closely with the endorsing bodies to ensure that the route is working for their sectors and that the UK is attracting and retaining highly talented individuals in science, research, digital technology and arts and culture.
There are a range of other visa routes open to applicants, that cater for professions within the fashion design industry.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to expedite British surrogacy babies' passports who are born overseas in the context of enabling them to be vaccinated and cared for by their family in a timely way.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
His Majesty’s Passport Office provides significant support to the commissioning parents of surrogate babies. In all applications, especially where there are safety concerns, HM Passport Office works in conjunction with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to prioritise the processing of applications, and to issue Emergency Travel Documents for travel to a safe location once checks have been satisfactorily completed.