Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how employers will establish whether an EU national starting work between 1 January 2021 and 30 June 2021 should have obtained permission to work under the points-based system or is eligible for status under the EU Settlement Scheme.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Employers will not be required to distinguish between those EU citizens who are eligible for the EU Settlement Scheme and new arrivals between 1 January 2021 and 30 June 2021. We have made it clear that all EU citizens can continue to use their passport or national identity card to evidence their right to work until 30 June 2021. This ensures those who are eligible for the EU Settlement Scheme but have not yet obtained status can continue to evidence their right to work.
More information is available on Gov.uk and we have a comprehensive programme of engagement with businesses of all sizes, across the UK, to ensure they fully understand their obligations as employers of EU citizens.
Further guidance on right to work checks after 30 June 2021 will be issued in due course.
Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it will be possible to sponsor a migrant if they are paid less than £20,480 (a) under the New Entrant rate, (b) in a Shortage Occupation role or (c) in any other circumstances.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Government published “The UK’s Points-Based System: Policy Statement” on 19 February.
Following advice from the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), the Government will reduce the general salary threshold for skilled workers from £30,000 to £25,600. There will be a reduced rate for new entrants as well as for those with relevant PhDs and those coming to undertake occupations that are in shortage.
In line with MAC advice, the precise thresholds for any occupation will generally be based on data from the Annual Survey of Hours and Employment which will be updated between now and the points-based system coming into operation in January 2021.
Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to minimise the risk of covid-19 spreading to vulnerable groups in immigration removal centres.
Answered by Kevin Foster
All immigration removal centres have communicable disease contingency plans, based on guidance published by Public Health England. These plans are tested on a regular basis.
Measures such as protective isolation will be considered to minimise the risk of Covid-19 spreading to vulnerable groups in the immigration detention estate.
Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of people in the UK on a six month domestic work visa and who entered the National Referral Mechanism received a reasonable grounds decision after their visa expired in the last two years.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Home Office publishes quarterly statistics regarding the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-referral-mechanism-statistics-quarter-3-2019-july-to-september and the UK Annual Report on Modern Slavery which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2019-uk-annual-report-on-modern-slavery. In addition Home Office statistics on domestic work visas can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-statistics
Visa information and NRM information are held on separate databases. Cross matching data between the two databases is not straightforward as the two datasets do not contain a common unique identifier.
Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to Answer of 22 May 2019 to Question 254747 on Asylum: Religion, when she plans to update the house on the progress of the review into the way asylum claims based on religious grounds and LGBT+ grounds are assessed.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The review into the way asylum claims on the basis of religious and LGBT+ grounds are assessed has been completed.
An action plan has been formed and we will ensure that this is acted upon appropriately. We do not have any plans to publish the findings of this internal review.
We continue to work to improve the quality and accuracy of decision-making to ensure that we get decisions right first time. This includes assuring that we properly consider all evidence provided by applicants in order to reduce the proportion of allowed appeals, analysing the reasons for allowed appeals and using this to inform and further improve guidance and training for decision making staff.
Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) victims of trafficking, (b) victims of torture and (c) people with other special reception needs were detained in the UK, by need, in 2019.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Migrants, including asylum claimants, may be detained for immigration purposes only in accordance with Home Office detention policy, as set out in Detention general guidance and adults at risk in immigration detention. The detention decision must always be made on the basis of the individual’s particular circumstances and eligibility for detention.
If at any time it is concluded that a particular detainee’s ongoing detention would not be appropriate, the individual must be released, with bail conditions appropriate to their particular circumstances.
Most people detained under immigration powers spend only short periods in detention. At any one time, 95% of those liable to be detained, are instead managed in the community.
We do not currently hold the data in the format you have requested, however published data on the number individuals held in immigration detention can be found at:
The Home Office records the number of all individuals referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) and this information is published quarterly and can be found at:
This information does not distinguish between those detained under immigration powers and those living in the community nor does it make the distinction between those accepted/not accepted as being victims of torture within the Rule 35 process under the Detention Centre Rules 2001.
The use of immigration detention in all cases is subject to regular reviews and consequently, a change in circumstance may result in a different consideration. It is quite possible that an immigration detainee is referred to the National Referral Mechanism during a detention period and is released into the community at any point during that process.
The Home Office do however, centrally record the number of Rule 35 reports raised by Doctors under the Detention Centre Rules 2001 and the number of those who were released as a result. This information is published quarterly in Immigration Enforcement Transparency data found at
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-enforcement-data-november-2018
The Home Office do hold records of the number of Adults at Risk identified but could not break this down further to identify persons with specific requirements.
Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average length of detention was for detained migrants in 2019.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office publishes data on length of detention in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. The median length of detention of people in the immigration detention estate as at 31 September 2019 was between 15 and 28 days, and of people leaving the detention estate in year ending September 2019 was between 8 and 14 days. Banded length of detention figures are published in Det_D02 and Det_D03 of the Detailed Detention datasets .
Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to the year ending September 2019. Additionally, the Home Office publishes a high-level overview of the data in the 'summary tables'. The ‘contents’ sheet contains an overview of all available data on detention.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’. Q4 2019 figures will be released on 27th February 2020.
Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average length of detention was for detained asylum seekers in 2019.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Migrants, including asylum claimants, may be detained for immigration purposes only in accordance with Home Office detention policy, as set out in Detention general guidance and adults at risk in immigration detention. The detention decision must always be made on the basis of the individual’s particular circumstances and eligibility for detention.
If at any time it is concluded that a particular detainee’s ongoing detention would not be appropriate, the individual must be released, with bail conditions appropriate to their particular circumstances.
Most people detained under immigration powers spend only short periods in detention. At any one time, 95% of those liable to be detained, are instead managed in the community.
We do not currently hold the data in the format you have requested, however published data on the number individuals held in immigration detention can be found at:
The Home Office records the number of all individuals referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) and this information is published quarterly and can be found at:
This information does not distinguish between those detained under immigration powers and those living in the community nor does it make the distinction between those accepted/not accepted as being victims of torture within the Rule 35 process under the Detention Centre Rules 2001.
The use of immigration detention in all cases is subject to regular reviews and consequently, a change in circumstance may result in a different consideration. It is quite possible that an immigration detainee is referred to the National Referral Mechanism during a detention period and is released into the community at any point during that process.
The Home Office do however, centrally record the number of Rule 35 reports raised by Doctors under the Detention Centre Rules 2001 and the number of those who were released as a result. This information is published quarterly in Immigration Enforcement Transparency data found at
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-enforcement-data-november-2018
The Home Office do hold records of the number of Adults at Risk identified but could not break this down further to identify persons with specific requirements.
Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum applicants were detained in the UK in 2019 under each criterion for detention.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Migrants, including asylum claimants, may be detained for immigration purposes only in accordance with Home Office detention policy, as set out in Detention general guidance and adults at risk in immigration detention. The detention decision must always be made on the basis of the individual’s particular circumstances and eligibility for detention.
If at any time it is concluded that a particular detainee’s ongoing detention would not be appropriate, the individual must be released, with bail conditions appropriate to their particular circumstances.
Most people detained under immigration powers spend only short periods in detention. At any one time, 95% of those liable to be detained, are instead managed in the community.
We do not currently hold the data in the format you have requested, however published data on the number individuals held in immigration detention can be found at:
The Home Office records the number of all individuals referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) and this information is published quarterly and can be found at:
This information does not distinguish between those detained under immigration powers and those living in the community nor does it make the distinction between those accepted/not accepted as being victims of torture within the Rule 35 process under the Detention Centre Rules 2001.
The use of immigration detention in all cases is subject to regular reviews and consequently, a change in circumstance may result in a different consideration. It is quite possible that an immigration detainee is referred to the National Referral Mechanism during a detention period and is released into the community at any point during that process.
The Home Office do however, centrally record the number of Rule 35 reports raised by Doctors under the Detention Centre Rules 2001 and the number of those who were released as a result. This information is published quarterly in Immigration Enforcement Transparency data found at
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-enforcement-data-november-2018
The Home Office do hold records of the number of Adults at Risk identified but could not break this down further to identify persons with specific requirements.
Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's White Paper of December 2018, The UK’s future skills-based immigration system, Cm 9722, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the length of the low-skilled visa from 12 months to 24 months.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Government commissioned the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to advise on salary thresholds and how points could be awarded to prospective migrants under a new points-based immigration system. The MAC published its report on 28 January and the Government will consider carefully their findings and recommendations before setting out further detail in due course.