Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which biometric and other data that will be stored on the central register of EU citizens who have applied for, or been granted, settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme may be shared with other public and private organisations in the UK and overseas; and with which organisations such information may be shared.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Biometrics enrolled as part of an application to the EU Settlement Scheme will be stored and used in accordance with the rules set by Parliament as set out within the Immigration (Physical Data) Regulations 2006, as amended. This includes sharing biometrics with other law enforcement organisations to prevent, detect and prosecute crime and in the interest of national security. Further information on this is set out in the Borders, Immigration and Citizenship privacy information notice: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-information-use-in-borders-immigration-and-citizenship/borders-immigration-and-citizenship-privacy-information-notice.
Those granted status under the EU Settlement Scheme can access information about their immigration status and entitlements via a secure online service. This includes their name, status information and their facial image. Individuals can then choose to grant access to this information to employers and other service providers. By giving individuals direct access to their own data – and the ability to share this with service providers we are giving them greater transparency, clarity and control. With online services, we can also ensure that service providers see only the information that is relevant and proportionate to their need, in a way that is not possible via a single document as evidence of status.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what help they provide to asylum seeker families whose children are allocated places at schools too close to their homes to qualify for free transport but where the additional cost of travel fares is unaffordable; and what assistance they provide for obtaining school uniforms.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Asylum seekers and their dependants who would otherwise be destitute are provided with accommodation and a weekly cash allowance to cover their other essential living needs. The level of the allowance is reviewed each year using a methodology that takes account of the costs of reasonable travel and of purchasing clothes, including school uniforms.
The level of the allowance does not take account of the costs of children travelling to school because these are generally covered by the local authority if the family does not live within reasonable walking distance of the school. However, where an asylum seeker or their dependant have a need for additional funds for travel purposes they can apply for it exceptionally. The applications are considered on a case by case basis.
Further information about how the level of the cash allowance provided to asylum seekers is assessed and about how they can apply for additional funds can be found in the reports published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-on-review-of-cash-allowance-paid-to-asylum-seekers and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/applications-for-additional-support
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need for housing more asylum seekers in Lancashire; what is their estimate of the numbers that can be housed in each district; what proposals they have for housing more asylum seekers in Lancashire; and what discussions they have held on this matter with each unitary and district council in Lancashire.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office maintains an active partnership with local governments across the UK and funds Strategic Migration Partnerships to plan for the most appropriate dispersal of asylum seekers. We work closely with our accommodation providers and the SMPs on the placement of asylum seekers to consider the impact on communities and local services so that adjustments can be made where appropriate. This includes increasing the number of areas that participate in providing accommodation and support to people seeking asylum and protection and allows local authorities to continue to shape the provision of service in their area and to ensure the impacts of dispersal on local communities and services are taken into account when accommodation is allocated.
We work to a maximum agreed dispersal ratio of 1:200 asylum seekers per head of total population and would not go beyond that ratio without the agreement of the relevant local authority. The Home Office publishes quarterly figures on the number of asylum seekers housed in asylum accommodation, including under Section 95, by local authority in the Immigration Statistics release, in table as_16q and 17q in volume 4 of the Asylum data tables. These are available at:
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many EU citizens have been detained in the UK, in each of the last five years including the present year to date, on the grounds of being (1) homeless, and (2) unable to support themselves; of those, how many have subsequently been deported; and how many of those (a) detained, and (b) deported, were children.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office does not hold the information requested in a reportable format. As such the information requested could only be supplied at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, for each of the last five years including this year to date, how many Commonwealth citizens have been detained following residence in the UK for over (1) 30, (2) 40, and (3) 50, years, (a) following a criminal conviction, (b) after a failure to provide sufficient evidence showing proof of residence, and (c) for other reasons; and in each case how many were subsequently deported.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Providing the information requested would require a manual check of individual records which could only be done at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government with which (1) other government departments, (2) government agencies, (3) other public bodies, (4) voluntary sector bodies, and (5) private sector bodies, the Home Office has regular data sharing arrangements in connection with the identification of individuals' rights to receive public services or to reside in the UK, and other matters.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
I refer his Lordship to the answer provided on 7 December 2017 to his question HL3521.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to removing the requirement for a permanent residence card in the case of EU citizens wishing to apply for British citizenship.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
An EEA national applying for naturalisation must provide a permanent residence document if they wish to demonstrate that they have settled status on the basis of EEA law.
This is consistent with other applicants, who apply for citizenship following a period of residence under the Immigration Rules and have to show that they are free of immigration time restrictions before applying.
Future arrangements for how EU citizens and their family members will be able to apply for citizenship after the UK has left the EU are being considered, though we have no current plans to amend the law at this time.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government with which (1) other departments, (2) Government agencies, (3) other public bodies, (4) voluntary sector bodies, and (5) private sector bodies, the Home Office has data sharing arrangements in connection with (a) the identification of individuals (b) their rights to receive public services, (c) their rights to reside in the UK, and (d) other matters.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
In line with the ICO Code of Practice on data sharing the Home Office maintains a number of agreements which oversee the exchange of key information necessary to support the effective delivery of departmental and government functions, including the prevention and detection of crime, immigration control and public safety. This includes agreements with government and non-government partners both in the UK and overseas.
All such sharing is in line with the Data Protection Act 1998 and other relevant legislation such as the Human Rights Act 1998, the Immigration Act 2014 or the Criminal Justice and Data Protection Regulations 2014. The Home Office keeps such data sharing agreements under review but does not currently maintain a central register of all such agreements.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
Her Majesty's Government whether the inquiry into, and report on, foreign funding and support for jihadi groups in the UK has been completed; if not, when it will be completed; how much it has cost so far; and whether they intend to publish it, and if so, when.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government’s review of funding for Islamist extremism in the UK reported to the Home Secretary and Prime Minister in 2016. It has improved the Government’s understanding of the nature, scale and sources of funding for Islamist extremism in the UK. The review was carried out by the Home Office at no extra cost to the Department.
The Government updated Parliament on the review’s main findings on Wednesday 12 July 2017.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government by what process a permanent resident right of an EU citizen living in the United Kingdom, that has been accepted by the issue of a Certificate of Residence in the UK, can be lawfully removed.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Under EU law, European Economic Area (EEA) nationals qualify for a right of permanent residence in the UK provided that certain conditions are met. For those EEA nationals who are in the UK and have a right of permanent residence, it is not mandatory to apply for documentation confirming that right.
EEA nationals with a permanent right of residence may be deported from the UK on serious grounds of public policy or public security, where their personal conduct represents a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat to one of the fundamental interests of society.