Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the vulnerability of Border Force personnel to viral infection from direct contact with large numbers of asylum seekers rescued in the English Channel; what steps she plans to take in conjunction with the Department for Health and Social Care to help ensure that such Border Force personnel are able to be fully vaccinated as a matter of urgency; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
All Home Office employees are working to a COVID safe system of work when conducting frontline duties during the pandemic. This includes robust control measures when working with passengers, migrants or encountering symptomatic persons around the country or at sea. Migrants arriving via the English Channel are predominantly taken to Tug Haven where they are provided with facemasks and tested. France is not a red-list country and therefore the risk posed to officers is similar to that of larger ports around the country.
All frontline staff are working to the controls within the risk assessment and safe systems of work such as social distancing wherever possible, mandatory use of type 2R PPE masks and gloves.
Home Office employees are not prioritised for vaccinations and as of Wednesday 15th December, all over 18’s will be eligible to receive the booster jab which we strongly encourage staff to get.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the (a) extent to which UK borders are sovereign and (b) the effect of the European Convention on Human Rights on the Government's ability to return illegal migrants to safe counties from which they came to the UK; and what policy options other than withdrawal from the ECHR his Department has assessed in order to facilitate that ability.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government is taking back control of its borders. The New Plan for Immigration, and the Nationality and Borders Bill currently in Parliament, will ensure that if somebody claims asylum in the UK having previously made, or having had the opportunity to make, a claim for asylum in a safe third country, we will consider treating their asylum claim as inadmissible, and removing them to a safe country. Any such removal must be compliant with our ECHR obligations.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will institute a review of security in Parliament Square, with particular reference to the (a) unlicensed use of amplified noise for prolonged unscheduled periods, (b) effect of such persistent noise on the (i) concentration and (ii) mental welfare of (A) personnel guarding the entrance to Parliament, (B) citizens working in other buildings in Parliament Square and (C) other users of the Parliament Square World Heritage Site; and for what reason political demonstrators are permitted to approach closely vehicles leaving Parliament whilst they are unprotected and stationary waiting to enter the traffic flow.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We are introducing new measures in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill to protect the rights of the public from the effects of disruptive protests.
These include new police powers to manage unjustifiably noisy protests that may result in serious disruption to the activities of an organisation, and noise that may result in a significant detrimental impact on persons in the vicinity of a protest.
We are also granting the police the power to direct individuals to cease obstructing vehicular access to Parliament to ensure the continued flow of traffic into and out of the Parliamentary Estate.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether scholars from Afghanistan who have been (a) validated by the Council for At-Risk Academics and (b) awarded funded research posts at UK universities will be required to pay in advance (i) visa fees and (ii) health surcharges if they are in hiding without access to funds in (A) Afghanistan and (B) hostile countries adjacent to Afghanistan whilst awaiting safe passage to the UK; and whether the dependants of such scholars will be required to provide in advance evidence of ability to support themselves for a specified period.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government has issued a policy statement which gives further information on the eligibility, prioritisation and referral of people for the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS). The policy statement can be found on the GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/afghanistan-resettlement-and-immigration-policy-statement
Those who were not called forward as part of Op PITTING, or who are not offered resettlement under the ACRS, will need to apply to come to the UK under the existing economic or family migration rules. They will be expected to meet the eligibility requirements of their chosen route, which includes paying relevant fees and charges, and providing biometrics.
Dependants are able to apply as a dependent on their partner or parents application. However, they must provide information to show they meet the specific requirements of the Immigration Rules.
The ACRS is not yet open and is being developed at pace. Further details will be released in due course.
Eligible people will be prioritised and referred for resettlement to the UK as set out in the policy statement.
More details, as soon as they are available, will be published on the GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/afghan-citizens-resettlement-scheme
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 16 September to Question 46919 on Afghanistan: Refugees, for what reason the Afghan Citizens’ Resettlement Scheme has not yet commenced; when that scheme will commence; whether her Department or the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will be responsible for determining the priority given to applicants for that scheme; if the Government will give priority under that scheme to Afghans who followed UK ministerial advice to cross borders to countries adjacent to Afghanistan, even if they were undocumented, and who are consequently at risk of detention and deportation back to Afghanistan; and if she will make an assessment of whether a scholar in Pakistan who is (a) female, (b) politically prominent, (c) a Hazara, (d) validated by the Council for At-Risk Academics, (e) capable of being extracted without difficulty from her current location and (f) in danger of deportation back to Afghanistan would fit the criteria for prioritisation for that scheme as set out in that Answer.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
As set out in the answer to Question 46919 on 16 September, the Government has issued a policy statement which gives further information on the eligibility, prioritisation and referral of people for the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS).
Eligible people will be prioritised and referred for resettlement to the UK as set out in the policy statement.
The ACRS is being developed at pace and further details will be released in due course.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the scale of the threat posed to farmers by illegal hare coursing on their land, in respect of (a) personal intimidation, (b) damage to gates when forcing access and (c) risk of retaliation against vulnerable farm property, in response to intruders being challenged; what estimate she has made of the scale of the illegal betting rings involved in that criminality; and what discussions her officials have held with the Ministry of Justice on (i) raising substantially the maximum fine from its present level of £1,000 and (ii) imposing custodial sentences on serious offenders.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
This government remains committed to driving down crime in communities, including those which particularly affect rural areas such as hare coursing. Although the scale of harm associated with hare coursing is not captured centrally, this government recognises its impact, which is why we are investing in the financial and operational capabilities of the police, as well as working closely with DEFRA to develop its legislative proposals contained in its Action Plan for Animal Welfare, which will be introduced as soon as parliamentary time allows.
All decisions on sentencing is a matter for our independent courts, which upon making a decision take into account the circumstances of the offence and any aggravating and mitigating factors. Any changes to the sentencing guidelines will be a decision for the Independent Sentencing Council.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether places on the Afghan citizens’ resettlement scheme will be prioritised according to the degree of risk faced by applicants; for what reason at-risk applicants accepted for inclusion in the scheme will not all be brought to the UK during its first year; and by what means at-risk applicants for the scheme who are still in Afghanistan will be expected to keep themselves safe while awaiting the second and third years of the scheme.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
On Monday 13 September the Government published a policy statement which set out further details on the policy and operation of the ACRS, and the package of integration support that will be offered to those arriving through the scheme.
This policy statement confirms that the following groups of people will be prioritised through the ACRS:
To help identify those most at risk, the Government is working closely with the UN’s Refugee Agency, UNHCR, to identify and resettle refugees who have fled Afghanistan based on their protection and humanitarian needs. The Government is also working with international partners and NGOs in the region to implement a referral process for people inside Afghanistan, where safe passage can be arranged, and for those that have recently fled to other countries in the region.
Further details on eligibility and selection can be found on gov.uk.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what comparative assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of (a) turning back illegal immigrants at sea in the English Channel and (b) picking up illegal migrants and returning them France; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Managing the illegal crossings by migrants using small boats and disrupting the criminal enterprises that facilitate this deadly trade is a top priority for my officials. They have explored the different options open to the UK and their effectiveness in the context of both domestic and international law. Turning back migrant vessels at sea is one of a range of potential possibilities, and the new Borders Bill includes additional powers enabling Border Force to act in international waters and potentially return boats to their country of embarkation, where there are agreements in place to do so.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it a condition of awarding government contracts to commercial providers of accommodation for refugees from Afghanistan that full compensation be paid to festival organisers whose events are cancelled at short notice by those accommodation providers which sign alternative contracts with her Department.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Home Office is unable to provide comment on the contractual arrangements in place between providers of accommodation and other parties. It is understood that in many cases compensation payments are offered to those affected but this has to be an agreement between the accommodation provider and the affected parties
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason the wives of some Afghan former (a) interpreters and (b) other locally employed civilians who assisted British armed forces and have been granted permission to settle in the UK, are not being allowed to accompany their husbands; and if she will urgently make representations to resolve this issue.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The UK owes a huge debt of gratitude to all locally employed staff (LES) who have supported our troops and embassy in Afghanistan, and we are significantly accelerating the pace of their relocation, with their family members, to the UK ahead of our military withdrawal.
There is a small number of family members who applied to relocate under the ex gratia scheme, but who do not meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules because they were not married or living together in a relationship akin to a marriage or civil partnership for at least two years prior to the date on which the LES relocated to the UK.
We have recently published updated guidance to enable us to consider such cases outside the Rules and will review these cases in line with this guidance.