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 Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, 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 Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In the central Department for Education communications team, there are a total of 93.82 full-time equivalent (FTE) Government Communication Service professionals.
Of this total, 27.80 FTE are in the media discipline which covers press and media responsibilities. This is the latest available data from June 2024.
The department does not hold salary band information in the format requested. Our HR system holds positions based on team name and grade and not specific job titles with corresponding salary costs.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many posts there are for (a) press, (b) media and (c) other communications staff in his Department; and what the salary band is for each post.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra Group Communications is the first shared service communications team in Whitehall, merging 6 geographically dispersed communications teams from the core department and Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs). Alongside the department, the team works to the Environment Agency, Natural England, the Animal and Plant Health Agency, Forestry Commission and Rural Payments Agency.
The teams work across all communications disciplines in support of the policy and operational priorities including a frontline team across the country providing a 24-hour communications response to incidents, working with local media and partners to give communities timely information they need to take action and prepare. This includes local and national media, planning, stakeholder engagement, digital communications and internal.
Defra Group Communications staff work in an agile way to 6 organisations, it is not possible to provide granular full-time equivalent figures for each part of the group.
The communications team employs professionals across all Civil Service grades, you can find more details on the salaries across Civil Service grades here - Civil Service Grades Explained - Defra Jobs - UK Government.
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 Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to respond to the letter of 9 April 2025 from the hon. Member for Aberdeen North, reference ZA32718, case CMPT12025/33740.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We aim to investigate issues raised by complainants, and MPs on their behalf, within 15 working days, but where the case is complex, we may need to take longer.
We acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 9th April 2025 and will provide a reply shortly.