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Written Question
British Nationality: Biometrics
Friday 20th December 2024

Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)

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 removing the referee requirement for UK citizenship applications, in the context of the introduction of biometric identity checks.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The application process for British citizenship is kept under regular review with a view to making it as efficient and straightforward as possible while upholding necessary security requirements.


Written Question
Immigration: EU Nationals
Tuesday 15th October 2024

Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the exemption criteria for the EU Settlement Scheme, in the context of the exceptional circumstances faced by some applicants during the covid-19 pandemic.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

There is already significant flexibility available to those applying to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) whose circumstances have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, they can be absent from the UK for a period of up to 12 months without breaking their continuity of residence where this is for an important reason, which can include COVID-19.

The relevant published guidance, which provides for further flexibility for EUSS applicants who would otherwise have broken their continuous qualifying period of residence in the UK because of COVID-19, is available at:

www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-eu-settlement-scheme-guidance-for-applicants


Written Question
Sleeping Rough
Monday 20th May 2024

Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it remains his Department's policy to end the criminalisation of rough sleeping.

Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary

Nobody should be criminalised for simply having nowhere to live. That is why we are committed to bringing into force the repeal of the outdated Vagrancy Act 1824.

We have tabled amendments for Report stage of the Bill which will bring the Repeal of the Vagrancy Act into force three months after the Criminal Justice Bill receives Royal Assent.

At this same time, the provisions on nuisance begging and nuisance rough sleeping in the Criminal Justice Bill will also come into force.


Written Question
Immigration: Fees and Charges
Thursday 16th May 2024

Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average waiting time is for a fee waiver application decision; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of those waiting times on people without leave to remain.

Answered by Tom Pursglove

Please find published transparency data regarding consideration times for fee waivers in relation to permission to stay here: Immigration and protection data: Q4 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Where a fee waiver application is submitted in relation to a subsequent application for permission to stay, while the applicant still has valid permission, and that permission expires while the fee waiver application is outstanding, section 3C of the 1971 Immigration Act will automatically extend the person’s permission while the fee waiver and linked application are still pending.

In the case of applicants where there is evidence of significant vulnerability, for example homeless individuals, the department makes efforts to prioritise consideration of their fee waiver application to support resolution of status.


Written Question
British Nationality: Applications
Thursday 16th May 2024

Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the longest waiting time is for a decision on a British citizenship application as of 13 May 2024.

Answered by Tom Pursglove

The Home Office does not routinely comment on individual cases. Published data regarding naturalisation applications can be found in the migration statistics which are published quarterly: Visas and citizenship data: Q4 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).


Written Question
Vagrancy Act 1824
Thursday 16th May 2024

Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Repeal of the Vagrancy Act 1824: Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 factsheet, updated on 20 August 2022, whether he plans to repeal the Vagrancy Act 1824 once the Criminal Justice Bill is passed.

Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary

Nobody should be criminalised for simply being having nowhere to live. That is why we are committed to bringing into force the repeal of the outdated Vagrancy Act 1824.

We have tabled amendments for Report stage of the Bill which will bring the Repeal of the Vagrancy Act into force three months after the Criminal Justice Bill receives Royal Assent.

At this same time, the provisions on nuisance begging and nuisance rough sleeping in the Criminal Justice Bill will also come into force.


Written Question
British Embassy Khartoum: Home Country Nationals
Tuesday 14th May 2024

Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of local staff of the British Embassy in Khartoum who have been resettled in the UK in the last three years.

Answered by Tom Pursglove

The Home Office do not hold this information.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) do not hold central data of anyone who has resettled in the UK as they would have done so on their own accord. The FCDO has not facilitated any resettlement of Sudanese CBS to the UK in the last 3 years.


Written Question
Immigration: Public Appointments
Tuesday 19th March 2024

Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what his timetable is for recruiting a Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson

The process to recruit a new Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration follows the principles set out within the Cabinet Office Governance Code on Public Appointments:

Governance Code on Public Appointments - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

The competition opened on 21 February, and the closing date for applications is 2 April 2024. Our intention is to make the appointment as soon as possible, and an indicative timetable is available on the Public Appointments website:

Search and apply – Apply for a public appointment – GOV.UK (apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk).


Written Question
Biometric Residence Permits: Standards
Monday 18th December 2023

Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time was between an immigration decision being made and a biometric residence permit being delivered in the last six months.

Answered by Tom Pursglove

We aim to deliver a BRP within 7 working days of the immigration decision.

BRPs are produced at the secure delivery facility (Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency (DVLA)) within 48 hours of the production request being made and are collected by our secure delivery partner the same day. Our secure delivery partner (Royal Mail Group) aims to attempt to deliver the BRPs within 48 hours of receipt of the BRPs. This equates to a minimum of 5 working days from date of production request being made to delivery of the BRP. We have added an additional 2 working days to the timeline advised to applicants to allow us to resolve any production issues.

In November, DVLA produced all BRPs within 24 hours of the production request. In November RMG attempted to deliver 99.1% of BRPs within 48 hours.


Written Question
Biometric Residence Permits
Tuesday 12th December 2023

Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what is the average processing time to print a Biometric Residence Permit after a decision to grant leave to remain has been issued.

Answered by Tom Pursglove

We aim to deliver a BRP within 7 working days of the immigration decision.

BRPs are produced at the secure delivery facility (Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency (DVLA)) within 48 hours of the production request being made and are collected by our secure delivery partner the same day. Our secure delivery partner (Royal Mail Group) aims to attempt to deliver the BRPs within 48 hours of receipt of the BRPs. This equates to a minimum of 5 working days from date of production request being made to delivery of the BRP. We have added an additional 2 working days to the timeline advised to applicants to allow us to resolve any production issues.

In November, DVLA produced all BRPs within 24 hours of the production request. In November RMG attempted to deliver 99.1% of BRPs within 48 hours.