Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will take steps to help support Edinburgh Airport to provide pre-clearance for travellers to the US.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government is supportive of the principle of US pre-clearance and there have been initial discussions between the UK and US governments, however, pre-clearance requires a commercial agreement between the airport operator and US authorities for these to be advanced.
It is important to note pre-clearance is not something which could be quickly implemented at UK airports. Careful negotiation across the UK Government and with the US would be required before pre-clearance could become a reality at UK airports.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2023 to Question 5138 on Wind Power: Fire Prevention, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of preparations for a fire caused by an onshore wind installation.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Offshore windfarms do not fall within the jurisdiction of Fire and Rescue Authorities who are responsible only up to the low water mark.
In relation to onshore installations, every Fire and Rescue Authority must assess foreseeable fire and rescue related risks that could affect their communities and put in place arrangements to prevent and mitigate those risks.66
Research being commissioned on carcinogens.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to Answer of 12 December 2023 to Question 5137 on Fire and Rescue Services: Carcinogens, whether the review will consider the practical difficulties associated with (a) carcinogens being carried on uniforms and (b) sanitisation of fire stations.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The review will involve a comprehensive review of published literature on the risk contaminants pose to firefighters along with related decontamination protocols.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2023 to Question 5139 on Wind Power: Fire Prevention, whether offshore wind farms are within the jurisdiction of the fire service.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Offshore windfarms do not fall within the jurisdiction of Fire and Rescue Authorities who are responsible only up to the low water mark.
In relation to onshore installations, every Fire and Rescue Authority must assess foreseeable fire and rescue related risks that could affect their communities and put in place arrangements to prevent and mitigate those risks.66
Research being commissioned on carcinogens.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help protect firefighters from carcinogens.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The health and safety of firefighters is of paramount importance.
Fire and Rescue Authorities are responsible for the health and safety of firefighters and they should be mindful of emerging research.
I have commissioned a literature review of published studies to understand their conclusions and determine next steps and I am engaging with the Department for Health and Social Care to explore these issues.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has provided recent guidance to (a) UK citizens and (b) dual-nationals who volunteer as (i) reservists and (ii) active personnel in the Israeli Defence Force.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The FCDO has advised against all but essential travel to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and against all travel to some locations in the region.
By definition, a British dual national is a citizen of the UK and any other nation for which they hold citizenship. Dual citizenship (also known as dual nationality) is allowed in the UK and dual nationals may be liable for military service in the country of their other nationality. The UK recognises the right of British dual nationals to serve in the legitimately recognised armed forces of the country of their other nationality.
Anyone who travels to conflict zones to engage in unlawful activity, should expect to be investigated upon their return to the UK. Decisions on prosecutions are taken independently by the police and Crown Prosecution Service on a case-by-case basis.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data his Department holds on the number of migrant workers within the domestic fishing sector.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office does publish data on sponsored work visas by occupation and industry in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’.
Data on the grants of sponsored work visas are published in table ‘Occ_D02’ of the sponsored work visas by occupation and industry dataset.
Selecting ‘9119 - Fishing and other elementary agriculture occupations n.e.c’ from the occupation filter will output data on visas granted to professionals coming to work in the domestic fishing sector. Time frames can be filtered.
It is important to note that these figures may include non-fishing occupations and are for people operating within UK territorial waters under a skilled worker visa.
People operating outside UK territorial waters require only a transit visa and these figures are a subset of the data on transit visas found in ‘Vis_D02’ of the detailed entry clearance visas dataset.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei was temporarily detained at the UK border on 29 September 2023.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office would not routinely comment on individual cases.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of adding (a) HGV and (b) PSV drivers to the shortage occupation list for visas.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Government has no plans to increase the number of visas available for (a) HGV and (b) public service vehicle drivers, as these occupations are not eligible under the Points Based System. The Government’s position is that employers should invest in recruitment from the resident workforce, which includes UK workers and migrants with general work rights, for jobs with relatively short training requirements.
The independent Migratory Advisory Committee (MAC) is currently reviewing the Shortage Occupation List (SOL), which involves extensive consultation with industry. The MAC will report its recommendations in the Autumn, after which the Government will consider its position. As per the Government’s commissioning letter to the MAC last year, inclusion on the SOL for jobs which do not meet the skills threshold should only be considered in exceptional circumstances, such as when we added care workers last year.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of increasing the number of visas available for (a) HGV and (b) public service vehicle drivers.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Government has no plans to increase the number of visas available for (a) HGV and (b) public service vehicle drivers, as these occupations are not eligible under the Points Based System. The Government’s position is that employers should invest in recruitment from the resident workforce, which includes UK workers and migrants with general work rights, for jobs with relatively short training requirements.
The independent Migratory Advisory Committee (MAC) is currently reviewing the Shortage Occupation List (SOL), which involves extensive consultation with industry. The MAC will report its recommendations in the Autumn, after which the Government will consider its position. As per the Government’s commissioning letter to the MAC last year, inclusion on the SOL for jobs which do not meet the skills threshold should only be considered in exceptional circumstances, such as when we added care workers last year.