Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many serving police officers in each force took their own lives in each of the last eight quarters.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not collect information centrally on how many serving police officers have taken their own lives.
This information is held by individual Police Forces.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Afghan citizens have been referred to Pathway Two of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme as on 2 September 2022; and how many and what proportion of these have been admitted to the UK.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Operation PITTING took place in August 2021 – it was the largest UK military evacuation since the Second World War, during which we evacuated around 15,000 individuals to the UK. In the year since the evacuation, around 5,000 more individuals have arrived in the UK via neighbouring countries.
The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) launched in January, and this will provide up to 20,000 women, children, and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle and re-build their lives in the UK over the coming years.
The ACRS is not application-based. Instead, eligible individuals will be prioritised and referred for resettlement to the UK through one of three referral pathways.
Through ACRS Pathway 1, some of those already evacuated to the UK under Op PITTING are being granted a place on the scheme. Those eligible who were called forward during the evacuation, but were not able to board flights, will also be resettled through pathway 1 if they subsequently come to the UK.
Under ACRS Pathway 2, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will refer refugees - who have already fled Afghanistan - for resettlement to the UK. Those referred will be assessed for resettlement by the UNHCR, using their established processes.
We have now begun to receive the first referrals for resettlement under pathway 2 of the ACRS – which opened in June – from the UNHCR. It is anticipated we will receive referrals for up to 2,000 refugees during the first year of this pathway, although this number will be kept under review – and we look forward to welcoming the first new arrivals under this pathway in due course.
Further information on UNHCR referrals is available at:
UNHCR UK Information and Links on Afghanistan Situation - UNHCR United Kingdom
Under ACRS Pathway 3 eligible British Council and GardaWorld contractors as well as Chevening alumni will be considered for resettlement during the first year of this pathway.
The ACRS is in addition to individuals relocated through the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP). We have relocated around 10,000 eligible Afghan citizens and their family members under the ARAP scheme since it opened it April 2021 – and the scheme remains open.
Work is underway to assure information relating to all the individuals relocated under the ARAP and ACRS on case working systems. Once this work concludes, statistics on both schemes - including the number of people resettled under each - will be included in the published Immigration Statistics.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Afghan citizen refugees have entered the UK since August 2021; and through which schemes or pathways they have been admitted.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Operation PITTING took place in August 2021 – it was the largest UK military evacuation since the Second World War, during which we evacuated around 15,000 individuals to the UK. In the year since the evacuation, around 5,000 more individuals have arrived in the UK via neighbouring countries.
The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) launched in January, and this will provide up to 20,000 women, children, and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle and re-build their lives in the UK over the coming years.
The ACRS is not application-based. Instead, eligible individuals will be prioritised and referred for resettlement to the UK through one of three referral pathways.
Through ACRS Pathway 1, some of those already evacuated to the UK under Op PITTING are being granted a place on the scheme. Those eligible who were called forward during the evacuation, but were not able to board flights, will also be resettled through pathway 1 if they subsequently come to the UK.
Under ACRS Pathway 2, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will refer refugees - who have already fled Afghanistan - for resettlement to the UK. Those referred will be assessed for resettlement by the UNHCR, using their established processes.
We have now begun to receive the first referrals for resettlement under pathway 2 of the ACRS – which opened in June – from the UNHCR. It is anticipated we will receive referrals for up to 2,000 refugees during the first year of this pathway, although this number will be kept under review – and we look forward to welcoming the first new arrivals under this pathway in due course.
Further information on UNHCR referrals is available at:
UNHCR UK Information and Links on Afghanistan Situation - UNHCR United Kingdom
Under ACRS Pathway 3 eligible British Council and GardaWorld contractors as well as Chevening alumni will be considered for resettlement during the first year of this pathway.
The ACRS is in addition to individuals relocated through the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP). We have relocated around 10,000 eligible Afghan citizens and their family members under the ARAP scheme since it opened it April 2021 – and the scheme remains open.
Work is underway to assure information relating to all the individuals relocated under the ARAP and ACRS on case working systems. Once this work concludes, statistics on both schemes - including the number of people resettled under each - will be included in the published Immigration Statistics.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the earliest arrival date of Afghan citizens to the UK under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme commenced on 6th January, providing up to 20,000 women, children and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK
There are around 6,500 people in the UK who have been brought to safety during and after the evacuation and who are eligible for the ACRS. They include women’s rights activists, journalists, and prosecutors, as well as Afghan families of British Nationals. The first Afghan families have already been granted Indefinite Leave to Remain under the scheme.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plan her Department has for the delivery of the Afghan citizens' resettlement scheme.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Through the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), the UK will relocate up to 20,000 people at risk, including women and girls and minority groups, so they can rebuild their lives in safety.
The scheme is not yet open. However, we are working urgently to open the scheme, amid the complex and changing picture.
The Home Office will continue to work closely with other Government departments, non-governmental organisations, charities, local authorities and other partners and relevant organisations in the development and implementation of the ACRS.
Further information on the eligibility, prioritisation and referral of people for the ACRS is set out in the policy statement published on gov.uk on 13 September, available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/afghanistan-resettlement-and-immigration-policy-statement.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how long on average her Department took to respond to casework from hon. Members in each month of (a) 2020 and (b) 2019; and when her Department plans to respond to CTS Reference: B4144/11.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Department works to a target of responding to 95% of MPs written correspondence within 20 working days. Performance has been impacted by a very significant increase in the volume of correspondence received, alongside the need for Ministers and officials to instigate a remote process for drafting and signing correspondence during the period of COVID-19 restrictions.
The latest published data on UKVI performance against the service standard which includes data up to and including the end of quarter 3-2020/21 is held at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/customer-service-operations-data-november-2020
A response to CTS Reference B4144/11 was sent on 23 February 2021.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many immigration cases that have been successfully appealed remain unresolved in (a) England and (b) Blackburn.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Where an appeal has been allowed in favour of the appellant, we take all reasonable steps to implement the allowed appeal accordingly.
The requested information cannot be accurately extracted from our internal systems. To provide this information a manual reconciliation of outstanding appeals implementations work would be required. A manual reconciliation of individual cases would incur a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to investigate the immigration case of Adeleke Olanrewaju Okunade who successfully appealed in May 2020 against the refusal of his settlement visa application and who has not yet received that visa.
Answered by Kevin Foster
It is not appropriate to comment on individual cases.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason the Government's settled status app is only available on Android platforms; and whether he plans to make that app available for other platforms.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
EU citizens make a huge contribution to our economy and society, and we want them to stay. The EU Settlement Scheme enables them to do so. The application process is short and user-friendly, and it will be accessible on any smartphone, tablet or computer using internet browsers.
The ‘EU Exit: Identity Document Check’ app – which allows applicants to prove their identity remotely, without sending in their passport or national identity card – is currently available only on Android devices. Applicants can, if they wish, use a family member or friend’s Android device to access the app, and complete the rest of the process on their own device.
Additionally, we currently have 13 locations where applicants can have their ID document scanned, if they choose to do so. Once the scheme is fully open, by 30 March 2019, there will be over 50 locations across the UK where applicants can have their identity document scanned. Applicants will also be able to post identity documents to the Home Office to be checked and re-turned quickly.
The Home Office and Apple continue to engage to see if we can provide the equivalent service for those with Apple devices.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to provide assistance to victims of the Windrush scandal who report difficulty with the compensation process.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Government consultation on the Windrush Compensation Scheme was extended to 16 November. We are committed to establishing the scheme as quickly and carefully as possible, taking into account the outcome of that consultation. Further details on compensation will be made available when the scheme is established, including who is eligible to apply for compensation and how they can access the scheme.
Ahead of the scheme coming into operation, the Home Office has already put measures in place to help those who are affected. This includes a dedicated team for vulnerable people within the Windrush taskforce, providing assistance where an urgent need for support or advice has been identified.