Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential long-term impact of the work ban for people seeking asylum on (a) mental health, (b) barriers to future employment and (c) integration into their new communities.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
While the wellbeing of those in the asylum system is important, it is also vital to continue cracking down on illegal working, and protect those employers and employees who will play by the rules from being undercut.
However, the Government provides specific support to migrant victims of VAWG through the Migrant Victims Domestic Abuse Concession (MVDAC) and works with sector leads on this group to ensure they are part of the broader strategy on VAWG.
Asylum seekers who have had their claim outstanding for 12 months or more, through no fault of their own, can currently apply for permission to work in jobs on the Immigration Salary List (ISL). The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration and asylum system under regular review, and recently published a White Paper setting out the Government’s plans for reform in relation to the exploitation and abuse of migrant workers, and a wide range of other areas.
The Home Office also continues to invest in a programme of transformation to speed up asylum decision making and therefore reduce the time people spend in the asylum system. This approach will ensure that genuine asylum seekers can be accepted quickly and gain access to the labour market, and those who are not can be removed to their home country.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of a ban on employment for women seeking asylum on levels of vulnerability of those women to gender-based (a) violence and (b) exploitation; and what steps she is taking to tackle gender-based (i) violence and (ii) exploitation among these groups.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
While the wellbeing of those in the asylum system is important, it is also vital to continue cracking down on illegal working, and protect those employers and employees who will play by the rules from being undercut.
However, the Government provides specific support to migrant victims of VAWG through the Migrant Victims Domestic Abuse Concession (MVDAC) and works with sector leads on this group to ensure they are part of the broader strategy on VAWG.
Asylum seekers who have had their claim outstanding for 12 months or more, through no fault of their own, can currently apply for permission to work in jobs on the Immigration Salary List (ISL). The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration and asylum system under regular review, and recently published a White Paper setting out the Government’s plans for reform in relation to the exploitation and abuse of migrant workers, and a wide range of other areas.
The Home Office also continues to invest in a programme of transformation to speed up asylum decision making and therefore reduce the time people spend in the asylum system. This approach will ensure that genuine asylum seekers can be accepted quickly and gain access to the labour market, and those who are not can be removed to their home country.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the asylum system on the vulnerability to gender-based violence and exploitation of women seeking safety; and what steps she has taken to mitigate this impact.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
While the wellbeing of those in the asylum system is important, it is also vital to continue cracking down on illegal working, and protect those employers and employees who will play by the rules from being undercut.
However, the Government provides specific support to migrant victims of VAWG through the Migrant Victims Domestic Abuse Concession (MVDAC) and works with sector leads on this group to ensure they are part of the broader strategy on VAWG.
Asylum seekers who have had their claim outstanding for 12 months or more, through no fault of their own, can currently apply for permission to work in jobs on the Immigration Salary List (ISL). The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration and asylum system under regular review, and recently published a White Paper setting out the Government’s plans for reform in relation to the exploitation and abuse of migrant workers, and a wide range of other areas.
The Home Office also continues to invest in a programme of transformation to speed up asylum decision making and therefore reduce the time people spend in the asylum system. This approach will ensure that genuine asylum seekers can be accepted quickly and gain access to the labour market, and those who are not can be removed to their home country.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many decisions on statelessness applications made in 2024 were challenged through administrative review; how many of those reviews have been completed; and how many of those completed resulted in a grant of leave.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many rejections of statelessness applications submitted in 2024 have been followed by renewed applications.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to data provided by her Department in relation to the court case Asylum Aid v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWHC 316 (Admin), for what reason 170 statelessness applications submitted between 31 January and 31 December 2024 were rejected without consideration.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the most common grounds were for the rejection of statelessness applications submitted in 2024.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many posts there are for (a) press, (b) media and (c) other communications staff in her Department; and what the salary band is for each post.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
In the central Home Office communications team, there are a total of 127 Full Time Equivalent Government Communication Service professionals.
Of this total, 35 work solely in the media discipline which covers press and media responsibilities.
This is the latest available data from June 2024.
Home Office salary bands are published on Gov.UK Home Office: structure and salaries, 2024 - GOV.UK
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2025 to Question 36658 on Home Office: Training, how many technical specialists are employed by her Department to provide training on statelessness determination only.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The statelessness training is not restricted to a single technical specialist and may be delivered by any number of technical leads (who have a wider remit) across the Asylum and Human Rights Operational area.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will list the job titles of staff in her Department's statelessness determination unit.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The statelessness unit job titles include the following: