Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of average time it currently takes to process and issue visas for non-Ukrainian nationals.
Answered by Kevin Foster
For applications not lodged under the Ukraine schemes, UKVI offers a range of service levels for applications which include Standard service (15 working days), Priority service (5 working days), and Super Priority service (next day) after a customer has provided their biometrics.
UKVI made a decision to prioritise the Ukraine Schemes following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Resources are now being returned to focus on visa routes impacted by these prioritisation decisions which should reduce the average processing times in due course. We continue to prioritise any urgent compelling or compassionate cases across all workstreams and are working to reduce the current processing times as quickly as possible.
For Standard applications lodged outside the UK, the current average processing time is as follows:
Further information can be found at Visa decision waiting times: applications outside the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and this is regularly updated.
For Standard applications lodged inside the UK, the current average processing times are not published though all routes are currently within the published service standards which are:
Further information is published at Visa decision waiting times: applications inside the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Animals in Science Regulation Unit’s Change Programme, what assessment she has made of the impact on animal welfare of (a) that programme and (b) the proposed decrease in in-person inspector visits to animal testing sites.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Each establishment licence holder has the responsibility at all times for the welfare of the animals within their establishment.
Establishment licence holders are required to have governance systems in place to ensure all Personal and Project Licence Holders comply with the requirements of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) and to maintain compliance with the conditions on their own establishment licence. These requirements are defined in the Standard Conditions of licences.
In July 2021 the regulator initiated a new operating model that delivers a structured and integrated framework aligned with leading regulatory practice. In October of this year the regulator commenced a new system of full system audits that form part of an integrated system to assess compliance across the regulated community.
The audit process and the evidence for assessment of compliance against the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, and associated licence conditions, are available at: www.gov.uk/guidance/animal-research-technical-advice#process-and-standards-for-establishment-full-system-audits