Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to expand the Tier 5 visa scheme to include European countries.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Following the end of free movement, as part of the new single global points immigration system, EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens, alongside nationals of all other European countries, are able to benefit from the full range of core T5 (Temporary Worker) routes.
Whilst the Hon Member is not clear which of the routes under Tier 5 he is actually referring to, it might from the wording be the T5 (Temporary Worker) Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS). This is a cultural exchange programme, allowing young people aged 18 to 30 from participating countries and territories to experience life in the UK for up to two years. It currently includes one European Country, San Marino, following a bilateral agreement between our two nations.
Each YMS is subject to a bilateral, reciprocal agreement which also provides benefit to UK nationals. The Home Office will not add nations to the scheme unilaterally in the absence of such an agreement. We do however, remain open to concluding further agreements on this reciprocal basis, including with European countries.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many outstanding applications for UK residence cards are awaiting processing as at 10 February 2021.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Home Office Migration Statistics do not capture the number of outstanding cases.
The Home Office does though publish data on the total number of decisions made on EEA applications, including UK residence cards. This can be found in our published statistics:
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effect on freedom of the press of arrests of journalists in Kent and Northern Ireland covering protests.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Decisions on arrests are an operational matter for the police. They do so in line with their duties to keep the peace, to protect communities, and to prevent the commission of offences, working within the provisions of the legal framework set by Parliament.
The Government is clear that freedom of the press is an absolute priority. That is why the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport set up the National Committee for the Safety of Journalists last year which brings together representatives from government, journalism, policing, prosecution services and civil society. The Committee will publish its National Action Plan shortly.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for its policies of the arrest of members of the press covering the recent Napier Barracks protest.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Decisions on arrests are an operational matter for the police. They do so in line with their duties to keep the peace, to protect communities, and to prevent the commission of offences, working within the provisions of the legal framework set by Parliament.
The Government is clear that freedom of the press is an absolute priority. That is why the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport set up the National Committee for the Safety of Journalists last year which brings together representatives from government, journalism, policing, prosecution services and civil society. The Committee will publish its National Action Plan shortly.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2020 to Question 114290 on Home Office: Correspondence and the Answer of 15 December 2020 to Question 126107 on Members: Correspondence, whether her Department has the capability to measure the average time it takes to respond to correspondence from hon. Members.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Currently different areas of the Department work on different IT systems for correspondence, which makes calculating average response times more complex. A programme of work is underway to transfer all correspondence onto one system.
Previous answers have given the link to published data for UKVI against meeting the 20-day service standards, this is published quarterly.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 December 2020 to Question 125288, what steps she plans to take to determine whether the durable partnership was formed before 31 December 2020.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The evidence required under the EU Settlement Scheme that the durable partnership was formed and was durable by 31 December 2020 will depend on the circumstances of the case.
The applicant may be required to provide a relevant document as a durable partner which was issued under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016, or the applicant may be able to provide other evidence of cohabitation, such as bank statements or utility bills in joint names at the same address, residential tenancy or rental agreements or mortgage statements.
Further information for applicants is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settlement-scheme-evidence-of-relationship-to-an-eu-citizen.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2020 to Question 117315 on Members: Correspondence, how her Department monitors its adherence to its 95 per cent target.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Department uses a workflow tool which all Operational MPs correspondence is registered on. We are able to run reports each day which summarises the daily situation in relation to intake and output and the age of each piece of MPs correspondence. The report also monitors the daily progress of output towards the weekly 95% target.
The latest published data on UKVI performance against the service standard is held at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/customer-service-operations-data-august-2020 and this includes data up to and including the end of quarter 2-2020/21. We are proposing the release of data for quarter 3, in due course.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what routes for settlement will be available to unmarried durable partners of EU citizens with pre-settled status after 31 December 2020.
Answered by Kevin Foster
After the transition period ends on 31 December 2020, the durable partner of an EU citizen with pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme can also apply to the scheme, where the partnership was formed and was durable before that date and the partnership remains durable at the date of application.
Where the durable partnership was formed after the end of the transition period, the durable partner of an EU citizen with pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme can apply to come to or remain in the UK as their unmarried partner under Appendix FM to the Immigration Rules.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average response time is for her Department to respond to enquiries from hon. Members.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Home Office does not measure the average time for responding to correspondence from hon. Members.
However, in line with Cabinet Office guidance, the Home Office has a target of responding within 20 working days where a response is required.
As you will understand, the Home Office has, during the current year, dealt with unprecedented volumes of correspondence due to COVID-19. The Home Office ensures that urgent cases raised by hon. Members are prioritised and is taking steps to provide substantive responses in as short a time as possible.
All correspondence received from hon. Members is being reviewed and will be responded to as soon as possible.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's average response time to enquiries from hon. Members was in (a) August, (b) September and (c) October 2020.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Home Office does not measure the average time for responding to correspondence from hon. Members.
However, in line with Cabinet Office guidance, the Home Office has a target of responding within 20 working days where a response is required.
As you will understand, the Home Office has, during the current year, dealt with unprecedented volumes of correspondence due to COVID-19. The Home Office ensures that urgent cases raised by hon. Members are prioritised and is taking steps to provide substantive responses in as short a time as possible.
All correspondence received from hon. Members is being reviewed and will be responded to as soon as possible.