Lord Rosser Portrait

Lord Rosser

Labour - Life peer

Became Member: 14th June 2004


1 APPG membership (as of 24 Jan 2024)
Canada
Shadow Spokesperson (Transport)
17th Oct 2011 - 20th Feb 2023
Shadow Spokesperson (Home Affairs)
13th Oct 2010 - 20th Feb 2023
Shadow Spokesperson (Defence)
17th Oct 2011 - 18th Sep 2015
Opposition Whip (Lords)
8th Oct 2010 - 6th Sep 2012
Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee
28th Nov 2008 - 22nd Jul 2010
Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee
28th Nov 2008 - 22nd Jul 2010
Procedure and Privileges Committee
15th Jun 2005 - 12th Nov 2009


Division Voting information

During the current Parliament, Lord Rosser has voted in 275 divisions, and 1 time against the majority of their Party.

22 Feb 2022 - Procedure and Privileges Committee - View Vote Context
Lord Rosser voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 7 Labour No votes vs 64 Labour Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 144 Noes - 133
View All Lord Rosser Division Votes

Debates during the 2019 Parliament

Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.

Sparring Partners
Baroness Williams of Trafford (Conservative)
Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
(208 debate interactions)
Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Conservative)
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
(141 debate interactions)
Lord Paddick (Non-affiliated)
(53 debate interactions)
View All Sparring Partners
Department Debates
Home Office
(274 debate contributions)
Department for Transport
(150 debate contributions)
Ministry of Justice
(61 debate contributions)
Scotland Office
(9 debate contributions)
View All Department Debates
View all Lord Rosser's debates

Lords initiatives

These initiatives were driven by Lord Rosser, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.


Lord Rosser has not introduced any legislation before Parliament

Lord Rosser has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting


Latest 50 Written Questions

(View all written questions)
Written Questions can be tabled by MPs and Lords to request specific information information on the work, policy and activities of a Government Department
5th Dec 2022
To ask His Majesty's Government why individuals who enter under the Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme are not currently included in the quarterly Immigration Statistics publications; and what plans, if any, they have to include them.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the noble Lord’s Parliamentary Question of 5 December is attached.

Professor Sir Ian Diamond | National Statistician

The Lord Rosser

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

12 December 2022

Dear Lord Rosser,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking why individuals who enter under the Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme are not currently included in the quarterly Immigration Statistics publications; and what plans, if any, they have to include them (HL4035).

In your question, you refer to “quarterly immigration statistics publications”. If referring to the Home Office data Immigration statistics, year ending September 2022[1] , this was published on 24 November 2022, and contains a webpage entitled ‘How many people do we grant protection to?’ [2] . This page provides details of the inclusion of people resettled from Afghanistan in those statistics (see section 1.1 Resettlement).

The Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) Migration Statistics Quarterly Report (MSQR), has not been published since August 2020[3] and therefore will not contain information on the Afghan citizen resettlement scheme, which opened on 6 January 2022[4] . In our most recent Long-term international migration bulletin (published on 24 November 2022), Section 4, Migration Events[5] details that around 21,000 Afghans arrived in the UK and are included in the ONS’ total longterm international migration estimates.

This figure is based on published Home Office operational data, which estimates around 21,000 arrivals are associated with Operation PITTING (the evacuation of people from Afghanistan in August 2021), and are included in our total immigration estimates. This figure will include some British nationals. Similar to those arriving on the Ukrainian Visa Schemes, in the absence of reliable evidence to suggest otherwise, this subpopulation are included under the assumption that they are arriving in the UK for 12 months or more. This means that these estimates will be an upper bound for these populations and may be revised down once we have more information on their actual length of stay. Please see the Measuring the data section[6] for more detail on our methods.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-september-2022

[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-september-2022/how-many-people-do-we-grant-protection-to

[3] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/bulletins/migrationstatisticsquarterlyreport/previousReleases

[4] https://www.gov.uk/guidance/afghan-citizens-resettlement-scheme

[5] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/bulletins/longterminternationalmigrationprovisional/yearendingjune2022#migration-events

[6] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/bulletins/longterminternationalmigrationprovisional/yearendingjune2022#measuring-the-data

Baroness Neville-Rolfe
Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
6th May 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the announcement of the lockdown on 23 March, between which dates was the letter and enclosed leaflet from the Prime Minister updating recipients on the steps being taken to combat COVID-19 despatched; and what were the maximum number of days allowed, under any contractual arrangements, between date of despatch and date of delivery.

In light of the Coronavirus pandemic, the Government has developed a national campaign to provide information, guidance and reassurance to the public.

As part of this, a letter from the Prime Minister was sent to every UK household to urge them to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives. It also outlined the guidance everyone should follow and the measures the government has put in place to fight coronavirus and to support businesses and workers.

The letter was despatched into Royal Mail’s postal system between 31 March and 6 April. Royal Mail confirmed delivery of all letters by the end of 15 April.

Details of commercially sensitive information such as specific contractual agreements are not normally disclosed.

Lord True
Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
18th Jan 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what is (1) the average compensation payment under the Windrush Compensation schemes for those wrongly deported, and (2) the compensation payment now being proposed for those sub-postmasters wrongly imprisoned as a result of Post Office action.

Data on how much compensation has been paid by the Windrush Compensation Scheme is published as part of the regular transparency data release. The latest data release can be found here, covering the period up to end of November 2023: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/windrush-compensation-scheme-data-november-2023. Data on average payments made to individuals suffering specific losses is not reported on regularly.

Individuals who were wrongly imprisoned due to errors caused by the Horizon system will become eligible for a £600,000 up-front payment, or alternatively they can choose to have their claim fully assessed via the individual claim assessment process.

Lord Offord of Garvel
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
5th May 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have broadcast advertisements to warn the public, in particular those who are vulnerable, of scams related to the COVID-19 pandemic; if not, why not; and what plans they have to provide advice about how to avoid becoming a victim of such scams.

The government has not broadcast advertisements to specifically raise awareness of scams related to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there are a number of initiatives and public information campaigns aimed at tackling scams and disinformation connected with the pandemic.

The Rapid Response Unit, operating from within the Cabinet Office and No10, is tackling a range of harmful narratives online - from purported ‘experts’ issuing dangerous misinformation to criminal fraudsters running phishing scams. Up to 70 incidents a week, often false narratives containing multiple misleading claims, are being identified and resolved. The successful ‘Don’t Feed the Beast’ public information campaign has also relaunched, to empower people to question what they read online.

HMG believes the best way to ensure the public’s safety is to make sure that they know how to protect themselves – which is why we have been communicating both through our own channels, and using partner organisations like Trading Standards, the Financial Conduct Authority and working with all the major banks, so that the public know how to spot a scam and protect themselves from them. We have recently launched a GOV.UK page on coronavirus related fraud and cybercrime including easy-to-follow steps for people to better protect themselves as well as signposting all relevant advice and tips. This page can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-fraud-and-cyber-crime.

In order to avoid falling victim to misinformation, we encourage the public to continue to check GOV.UK, where up to date guidance can be found, as well as watch the daily briefings on the government's response to COVID-19, which are broadcast live.

Baroness Barran
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
25th Feb 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement by Lord Ashton of Hyde on 11 April 2019 (HL Deb, col 585), what "clear, tangible actions" have been delivered to address racist abuse in football, in relation to each of the six areas they identified as needing to be examined further.

Racism or any form of discrimination has no place in football or society, and we must confront this vile behaviour.

In July last year, the football authorities wrote to the government setting out their actions to further tackle discrimination:

  • A review of how professional clubs sanction and educate offenders to provide more clarity and consistency.

  • A review of FA sanctions for discrimination in the professional and grassroots game.

  • Improved steward training, including new modules on recognising and responding to discriminatory behaviour.

  • Improved reporting methods to enable fans to quickly and simply make clubs and the authorities aware of concerns or incidents of discrimination.

  • Enhance and grow programmes to provide more opportunities for BAME people in coaching, refereeing, management and administrative positions in the sport.

  • Further developing schools and community programmes, particularly in promoting inclusion through projects delivered by Premier League and EFL clubs.

There is still more to do: the previous Minister for Sport recently met with the FA and EFL to discuss their progress, and the current Minister for Sport will be calling in all the footballing authorities for a further update about their work on this important issue.

Baroness Barran
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
19th Jul 2022
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure equal access to English for Speakers of Other Languages support.

The department recognises that language skills are crucial to help people integrate into life in England, as well as to break down barriers to work and career progression.

We fund adults through the Adult Education Budget (AEB) for courses and qualifications, so that they can be confident they have the English language skills they need.

Currently, approximately 60% of the AEB is devolved to 9 Mayoral Combined Authorities and delegated to the Mayor of London acting through the Greater London Authority. These authorities are responsible for the provision of adult education and allocation of the AEB in their local areas. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) is responsible for the remaining AEB in non-devolved areas, where colleges and training providers have the freedom and flexibility to determine how they use their AEB to meet the needs of their communities.

Learner eligibility for public funding for education and training for adults, including English for Speakers of other Languages, is set out in the ESFA AEB Funding Rules for the 2021/22 funding year, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/adult-education-budget-aeb-funding-rules-2021-to-2022.

Baroness Barran
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
7th Feb 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the level of labour shortages in the farming sector; what measures they are taking to manage such shortages; and what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of such measures.

Defra is working closely with our food and farming sectors and across Government, to understand labour demand and supply, and help our world-leading growers, farmers and food producers access the labour they need, including both permanent and seasonal workforce requirements.

To reduce the risk of seasonal labour shortages in horticulture and the poultry sector, the Government announced last May that there would be 45,000 Seasonal Worker visas for the horticulture sector in 2024, with a further 2000 for seasonal poultry workers, ensuring these sectors can plan their workforce needs for the year ahead with confidence. This provides sufficient visas for growers to access all the workers they need, and if more visas are necessary within the year an additional 10,000 could be released. Reports on the Seasonal Worker visa route are available at GOV.UK.

To help support the issue of labour shortages and inform future decisions on labour across the sector, the Government commissioned John Shropshire to carry out an Independent Review into Labour Shortages in the Food Supply Chain throughout 2022 and 2023. John Shropshire’s Review considered how automation, domestic labour and migrant labour could contribute to tackling labour shortages in our sectors, including farming. This report was published on 30 June 2023 and the Government response – which will also be informed by the Review of Automation in Horticulture – is expected to be published in early 2024.

The Government response will consider all ten of the recommendations made in John Shropshire’s Review, covering the four themes of Recruitment & Retention, Skills, Data and Automation.

At the same time as the response, the Government will set out how it will support the sector to access the labour it needs alongside actions to reduce the sector’s reliance on migrant labour including via our work on automation and promoting domestic labour procurement and training.

Lord Douglas-Miller
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
18th Dec 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Benyon on 27 November where he stated that they have "nearly completed the 2,700-mile King Charles III England Coast Path", by what date was the path completed, or will be completed.

Work on the King Charles III England Coast Path is progressing with over 2600 miles approved and 1040 miles now open to the public. At 2,700 miles, when complete it will be the longest waymarked and maintained coastal walking route in the world.

We committed in the Environmental Improvement Plan, published in January 2023, for the path to be fully walkable by the end of 2024. We continue to work at pace towards this commitment.

Lord Benyon
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
17th May 2021
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the loss of fare revenue arising from the recent withdrawal from service of some Hitachi trains; and who will bear the cost of that loss of revenue.

Disruption has been most significant on the Great Western Railway (GWR) network on Intercity services, as well as some London North Eastern Railway (LNER) and a small number of TransPennine Express services.

We anticipate less than £1m each day may need to be refunded for GWR services.  On LNER services, and despite a smaller disruptive impact to the operation of services, the operator has reported to the Department that it processed on average £60,000 per day of Delay Repay claims last week.

The agreements in place to use the affected trains contain provisions that protect the taxpayer and we are currently assessing all available options to ensure taxpayers are protected.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
12th May 2021
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to publish the report of the consultation required under section 60 of the High Speed Rail (West Midlands–Crewe) Act 2021; and why they did not publish that report before 1 May 2021.

The Government published the report on 13 May, as soon as possible after the Queen’s speech. There were a range of factors that unfortunately delayed publication of the report. This included receiving 499 responses which was much more than expected so the report took longer to produce, commencement of the pre-local election period, and prorogation of Parliament.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
10th Mar 2021
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will publish the report of the consultation required under section 60 of the High Speed Rail (West Midlands–Crewe) Act 2021.

The report of the consultation required under section 60 of the High Speed Rail (West Midlands-Crewe) Act 2021 will be published before the 1 May 2021.

The consultation ran from 1 February 2021 to 26 February 2021. The analysis of consultation responses is currently taking place.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
10th Mar 2021
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many submissions were made to the consultation required under section 60 of the High Speed Rail (West Midlands–Crewe) Act 2021; and, of these submissions, how many mentioned (1) Woore, and (2) Aldersey's Rough.

There have been 499 responses to the consultation required under section 60 of the High Speed Rail (West Midlands-Crewe) Act 2021.

The coding and analysis of consultation responses is ongoing by an independent organisation, Ipsos MORI, so we are unable to provide exact figures for the number of responses which mention specific areas or themes at this time. The initial findings are that around 80 responses have mentioned Woore and around 30 responses have mentioned Aldersey’s Rough.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
7th Dec 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the average period of time in days between the booking of each practical driving test and the date of the test in each (1) month in 2020 for which figures are available, and (2) month of 2019.

Average time in days between practical car test booking and the test date
January 2020 63.9
February 2020 122.7
March 2020 179.4
April 2020 40
May 2020 34
June 2020 31.9
July 2020 *
August 2020 *
September 2020 *
October 2020 *
November 2020 *
December 2020 *
*TO NOTE: We cannot provide figures beyond 30 June 2020 as they have not yet been published officially and to release them externally would breach the Statistics and Registrations Service Act 2007.


Average time in days between practical car test booking and the test date
January 2019 40.1
February 2019 40.9
March 2019 44.7
April 2019 49.4
May 2019 48.9
June 2019 50.3
July 2019 54.5
August 2019 55.2
September 2019 51.2
October 2019 49.2
November 2019 53.2
December 2019 55.9

Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
20th May 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 5 May (HL Deb, cols 369–72), what steps they are taking to ensure that British Airways and other airlines process and deliver refunds that have been promised to customers as soon as reasonably possible.

The Department for Transport is in regular conversation with UK airlines and wider membership bodies. We are working closely with the sector, the regulator and consumer groups to help ensure airlines deliver on their commitments.

Airlines are working hard to answer the high call volumes and to process large volumes of refunds. However, the Government appreciates the frustration consumers may be experiencing. We have been clear that where a consumer has asked for a refund, that refund must be paid.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
12th May 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to publish the Williams Rail Review.

The Williams Rail Review was in the final stages of drafting at the outbreak of COVID-19. The Government views the purpose of the reforms as important as ever, but further work needs to be done now to reflect the impact of COVID-19 on the sector. We are progressing with this work.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
30th Jan 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 29 January (HLWS69) which stated that "Wherever you live, you deserve a railway that widens your children’s horizon, gives you access to highly skilled, highly paid jobs, and provides a viable green alternative to getting in your car", how many people in England they estimate do not currently have access to such an alternative.

This Government’s vision is for a transport system that is an engine for economic growth, is more environmentally sustainable and improves quality of life within our communities. Passenger numbers on the railways have doubled since privatisation, and this growth has brought significant benefits to Britain’s economy and environment by relieving congestion on the roads, reducing carbon emissions and improving connectivity for businesses, commuters and leisure travellers.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
30th Jan 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 29 January, when was the cross-industry North West Recovery Task Force established; who are the members of that task force; and when they expect it to "deliver recommendations on how best to boost capacity and performance in the short, medium and longer term".

The task force is considering a number of options that can be implemented to improve the performance and capacity of all rail services through Greater Manchester. It was established in January 2020 with members from Network Rail, DfT, stakeholders and train operators. It is considering and assessing a range of potential timetable and infrastructure changes across the short, medium and long term and I expect the first recommendations to be made later this year.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
30th Jan 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 29 January, whether the North West Recovery Task Force will "deliver recommendations on how best to boost capacity and performance in the short, medium and longer term" throughout the Northern Rail franchise area.

The task force, co-ordinated by Network Rail, is considering a number of options that can be implemented to improve the performance and capacity of all rail services through Greater Manchester. It is considering and assessing a range of potential timetable and infrastructure changes to be made across the short, medium and long term. The task force has been commissioned to create and develop improvement options in the North West, which includes the Northern Rail franchise area, and make recommendations to the government.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
30th Jan 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 29 January, whether the plan by Robin Gisby and Richard George to make sure the Government leaves "no stone unturned in improving this franchise for passengers" will be published and made public.

Northern Trains Ltd (NTL) will develop a plan over the first 100 days of its operation. This will set out the initiatives and measures that NTL believes are needed to deliver the services that passengers deserve and will be presented to the Government. Once agreed, NTL will publish details of any initiatives and measures to be taken forward and, where appropriate, these will form part of a new Services Agreement between the Secretary of State and NTL. In the meantime, from 1 March NTL will continue to deliver the new trains and associated service improvements that are already underway.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
30th Jan 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 29 January (HLWS69), what, if any, payments or compensation from public funds will be made to Northern Rail arising from, or following, it being taken into public ownership on 1 March; and what, if any, payments or compensation will be paid by the current operators of Northern Rail to the Government or any other public sector body arising from, or following, it being taken into public ownership.

The financial arrangements for the transfer of services have not been finalised. The Secretary of State intends to hold Arriva, the owning group of Arriva Rail North, to account for their contractual obligations and pursue the rights that arise from the termination of the contract.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
30th Jan 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 29 January (HLWS69), what is the estimated (1) cost, and (2) savings, to public funds arising from, and following, Northern Rail being taken into public ownership on 1 March.

The financial impact on public funds from the Northern rail franchise being taken into public ownership on 1st March 2020 has not yet been finalised. Financial impacts will include any additional subsidy necessary to deliver current rail services above the cost contracted in 2015.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
7th Feb 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government how much has been raised from the Immigration Health Surcharge has been received by (1) the NHS, and (2) by non-NHS bodies, in each year since 2015.

Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) income data is published annually in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts. The income generated by the Home Office is distributed to the devolved health administrations for the purposes of health spending, under the Barnett Formula.

Please note that the IHS figure is made up of both Retained Income and Consolidated Funds. The IHS amounts for the financial years from 2015 to 2022 inclusive are as follows:

- £169,112,000 in 2015/16;

- £210,250,000 in 2016/17;

- £240,483,000 in 2017/18;

- £297,927,000 in 2018/19;

- £597,677,000 in 2019/20;

- £480,822,000 in 2020/21;

- £1,423,284,000 in 2021/22; and

- £1,706,112,000 in 2022/23.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
11th Jul 2022
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which the Immigration Health Surcharge has reduced the impact of non-British citizens using the National Health Service; and how they have made this assessment.

The Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) raised £480.82 million in 2020/21; and £1,423 million in 2021/22. This relates to income collected by the Home Office through visa applications for the United Kingdom. The information requested on the distribution of this income specifically for the National Health Service in England, other Departments and public bodies is not held in the format requested. A proportion of net IHS income is allocated to the Department of Health and Social Care with other income sources for expenditure on health services by NHS England and other organisations, such as local authorities. However, there is no central record of the proportion of IHS income received by NHS and non-NHS organisations.

No specific assessment of the impact of the IHS on non-British citizens’ use of the NHS has been made. Those who pay the IHS have the same entitlement to NHS care as those ordinally resident in the United Kingdom, with the exception of assisted conception services.

11th Jul 2022
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much money the Immigration Health surcharge raised in (1) 2020, and (2) 2021; and how much of that money was distributed (a) solely to the National Health Service, and (b) to other departments and public bodies.

The Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) raised £480.82 million in 2020/21; and £1,423 million in 2021/22. This relates to income collected by the Home Office through visa applications for the United Kingdom. The information requested on the distribution of this income specifically for the National Health Service in England, other Departments and public bodies is not held in the format requested. A proportion of net IHS income is allocated to the Department of Health and Social Care with other income sources for expenditure on health services by NHS England and other organisations, such as local authorities. However, there is no central record of the proportion of IHS income received by NHS and non-NHS organisations.

No specific assessment of the impact of the IHS on non-British citizens’ use of the NHS has been made. Those who pay the IHS have the same entitlement to NHS care as those ordinally resident in the United Kingdom, with the exception of assisted conception services.

6th May 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people are in the “very high risk due to a serious underlying health condition" category referred to in the leaflet enclosed with the letter from the Prime Minister updating recipients on the steps being taken to combat COVID-19.

Those identified as extremely clinically vulnerable are put on the Shielded Patient List, which is drawn from multiple sources. An initial list of patients with high risk conditions has been supplemented by general practitioners (GPs) and hospital consultants adding individual patients to the list based on their clinical assessments of each individual’s needs. The list is dynamic. People are added to the list as we learn more about the virus and expand the list of high-risk conditions, or as additional patients are added at their clinician’s discretion. Letters have therefore been issued at various stages during this process. We cannot give a precise date of when letters are issued or when they should have been received, but everyone who has been identified should now have been sent a letter either centrally by the National Health Service or by their local clinician.

That number of people on the Shielded Patient List currently stands at 2.2 million people in England. If someone has not received a letter, then we would advise they contact their local GP or their hospital consultant in order to discuss this.

6th May 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement in the leaflet enclosed with the letter from the Prime Minister updating recipients on the steps being taken to combat COVID-19 that “If you are at a very high risk due to a serious underlying health condition, you should have already received a letter from the NHS containing specific guidance about what to do”, between which dates was that letter to those at a very high risk despatched; what were the maximum number of days allowed, under any contractual arrangements, between date of despatch and date of delivery; to how many people that letter has been despatched; and from what source, or sources, was the list of people to whom that letter has been sent, obtained.

Those identified as extremely clinically vulnerable are put on the Shielded Patient List, which is drawn from multiple sources. An initial list of patients with high risk conditions has been supplemented by general practitioners (GPs) and hospital consultants adding individual patients to the list based on their clinical assessments of each individual’s needs. The list is dynamic. People are added to the list as we learn more about the virus and expand the list of high-risk conditions, or as additional patients are added at their clinician’s discretion. Letters have therefore been issued at various stages during this process. We cannot give a precise date of when letters are issued or when they should have been received, but everyone who has been identified should now have been sent a letter either centrally by the National Health Service or by their local clinician.

That number of people on the Shielded Patient List currently stands at 2.2 million people in England. If someone has not received a letter, then we would advise they contact their local GP or their hospital consultant in order to discuss this.

6th May 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what the total cost to the taxpayer has been of NHS patients treated in independent sector hospitals, including the cost of independent sector hospitals being available for the treatment of NHS patients, since the declaration of a Level 4 National incident on 30 January, compared with the same period last year.

It is not possible to provide the data requested.

6th May 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what has been the maximum number of beds (1) available for use, and (2) used, by NHS patients in independent sector hospitals on any one day since the declaration of a Level 4 National incident on 30 January.

It is not possible to provide the data requested.

5th May 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) COVID-19 home testing kits, and (2) how many results from such kits, were sent out on each day since 28 April. [T]

We introduced home testing at the end of April to make testing more accessible to individuals. Between 28 April – 5 May over 92,000 home tests were dispatched to users. In that same time period, nearly 21,000 test samples were processed by our labs. Quite rightly, tests not within the control of the programme (home test kits and satellite test kits deliveries) are counted on dispatch. Tests that remain within the control of the programme throughout (for example, Regional Testing Sites and Mobile Testing Units) are counted when they are processed through our labs.

5th May 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many COVID-19 tests were carried out on each day since 28 April; how many of those were retests each day; what were the reasons for retests being necessary; what assessment they have made of the impact of carrying out a retest before knowing the result of the original test on the reduction of COVID-19 cases; and what is their percentage target for the maximum number of retests from each set of daily tests.

The number of daily tests and number of people tested from 28 April to 7 May 2020 are shown in the following table.

Date

Daily number of tests

Daily number of people tested

28 April

52,429

33,455

29 April

81,611

33,455

30 April

122,347

73,191

1 May

105,937

63,667

2 May

76,496

56,397

3 May

85,186

62,956

4 May

84,806

69,839

5 May

69,463

57,006

6 May

86,583

65,092

7 May

97,029

67,443

Data on the number of re-tests are not recorded. Re-testing is undertaken according to the judgement of clinicians, based on the case by case circumstances and need presented to them. They may run tests more than once on an individual, if they feel it is appropriate. Therefore, targets have not been set for re-testing.

5th May 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many COVID-19 tests were (1) sent to, and (2) carried out at, satellite testing locations on each day since 28 April.

To provide a more comprehensive response to a number of outstanding Written Questions, this has been answered by an information factsheet Testing – note for House of Lords which is attached, due to the size of the data. A copy has also been placed in the Library

7th Feb 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government how many complaints they have received about Teleperformance overseas helplines, and what compensation has been awarded to customers, in each month since 2022.

The number of complaints made to the UKVI international helpline, managed by Teleperformance, are found in the table below.

We do not hold the data relating to how much compensation has been issued in relation to contact made to the UKVI Contact Centre, as this is held by Teleperformance.

Teleperformance collect call and email charges on behalf of UKVI. Where any refunds are to be issued in relation to complaints made against the services, it is appropriate for Teleperformance to manage these refund transactions.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
7th Feb 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government when all Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration reports submitted to the Home Office will be published.

The department takes every inspection report seriously and considers the findings and recommendations carefully. This can sometimes mean the publication process is longer than expected. We will publish the reports in due course.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
7th Feb 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the current number of individuals who are in the United Kingdom illegally.

By its very nature, it is not possible to know the exact size of the illegal population, or the number of people who arrive illegally, and so we do not seek to make any official estimates of the illegal population. In June 2019, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published a note on ‘measuring illegal migration’.

The Home Office does publish statistics on irregular arrivals to the UK as part of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK’ quarterly statistics release on gov.uk. However, this does not indicate the number of irregular migrants currently in the UK.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
6th Feb 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Home Office's Independent Examiner of Complaints service, and whether the Office of the Independent Examiner of Complaints will publish annual reports.

The Independent Examiner of Complaints (IEC) is operating within its terms of reference. The Memorandum of Understanding between the Home Office and the IEC states that the IEC will publish an annual report.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
6th Feb 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government how many unannounced inspections of Life in the UK test centres have taken place each month since November 2022; whether any test centres have been closed since November 2022; and, if so, for what reason.

The information requested is not held in a reportable format.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
6th Feb 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government how many community events have Immigration Enforcement's National Community Engagement Team annually (1) held, and (2) hosted; and what were the annual costs of these events.

The National Community Engagement Team have held and hosted two community events, both in this financial year. The annual costs for these are £20,707, which includes £3,451 VAT.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
6th Feb 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government when the Digital Services at the Border programme will be completed, and what estimate they have made of its total cost.

DSAB will complete in spring this year. The cost of bringing all the world leading, security features that it delivers will have been £177m since the programme reset in 2020.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
18th Sep 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what caps are in place for work-related visas, and how they are enforced.

The UK’s Points Based system Skilled Worker and Temporary Worker routes are not capped, with the exception of the Seasonal Worker route which is specifically designed to support the UK horticulture sector. A sector in which growers typically require higher volumes of labour, for relatively short-term periods of time, in line with seasonal production peaks.

The Seasonal Worker route currently has 45,000 visas available. A further 10,000 places will be released if there is sufficient evidence of need, and contingent with improvements in worker welfare. A separate quota of 2,000 places is also available to support the poultry sector in the run up to Christmas. These allocations are divided amongst the licenced Scheme Operators, in line with published policy, and are managed via the Home Office’s Sponsor Management System.

18th Sep 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Rwandans have (1) applied for asylum, and (2) been granted asylum, in each year since 2010.

The Home Office publishes data on asylum applications and initial decisions, by nationality and year, in the Immigration System Statistics quarterly release on gov.uk. These statistics are published in tables Asy_D01 and Asy_D02 of the asylum & resettlement detailed datasets which can be downloaded via the table attached.

The latest data relates to the end of June 2023.

25th Jan 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 3 January (HL4343), on how many days on average it takes for an immigration decision relating to issuing a Biometric Residence Permit to be (1) taken, and (2) received; and how many Biometric Residence Permits took more than 48 hours after an immigration decision to be received in (a) 2021, and (b) 2022.

The waiting times for BRPs are dictated by the BRP production and delivery processes.

We aim to deliver a BRP within 7 working days of the immigration decision. BRPs are produced within 48 hours of the production request being made and are collected by our secure delivery partner the same day who attempt to deliver the BRPs within 48 hours of receipt. This equates to a minimum of 5 working days from date of production request being made to delivery of the BRP.

BRP production data does not form part of the Transparency Data and is not publicly available.

25th Jan 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 1 August 2022 (HL1923), whether they have now produced a forecast for 2023 of numbers of small boats crossing the English Channel; and if so, (1) how such a forecast was produced, and (2) when that forecasting started.

The Home Office considers a range of potential arrival volumes for the coming year as part of its planning for these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary crossings. However, these are planning scenarios, not forecasts or predictions, and there are no plans to publish them. In 2022, over 45,000 people arrived in the UK as a result of these crossings.

25th Jan 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 19 December 2022 (HL4037), whether there is a cap on the number of asylum seekers per 100,000 resident population in the Full Dispersal Model.

Currently there is no cap on the number of asylum seekers per 100,000 of the resident population. However, to support full dispersal plans have been developed in partnership with local government across the 9 England regions and Scotland and Wales, to agree a more equitable spread of dispersed accommodation across the UK. These plans ensure that no individual area is asked to support more than 0.5 per cent of its resident population.

Northern Ireland is not excluded from dispersal; they accommodate asylum seekers who arrive and claim asylum in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is not listed under the Full Dispersal Model as we don’t routinely transport people across the Irish Sea. However, they do have an active role in helping us meet our statutory obligations.

25th Jan 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 19 December 2022 (HL4037), why the Full Dispersal Model only applies in England, Wales and Scotland.

Currently there is no cap on the number of asylum seekers per 100,000 of the resident population. However, to support full dispersal plans have been developed in partnership with local government across the 9 England regions and Scotland and Wales, to agree a more equitable spread of dispersed accommodation across the UK. These plans ensure that no individual area is asked to support more than 0.5 per cent of its resident population.

Northern Ireland is not excluded from dispersal; they accommodate asylum seekers who arrive and claim asylum in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is not listed under the Full Dispersal Model as we don’t routinely transport people across the Irish Sea. However, they do have an active role in helping us meet our statutory obligations.

25th Jan 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 21 December 2022 (HL4067), what estimate they have made, if any, of (1) the expected costs of deportations of Albanian nationals who have travelled to the UK via small boats, and (2) the expected numbers of Albanian citizens who will be deported in 2023.

Costs for individual flights will vary based on a number of different factors and are regularly reviewed to ensure that best value for money is balanced against the need to remove those individuals with no right to remain in the UK.

We do not routinely disclose commercial or operational information relating to individual charter flights. Nor do we provide pre-emptive figures for the number of individuals who are expected to be removed from the UK.

The Home Office publishes statistics on all types of removals from the UK.

25th Jan 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 4 January (HL4305), what assessment they have made of the differing fees for differing citizenship applications despite the same unit cost; where the additional income is allocated; and what the additional income is used for.

The Explanatory Memorandum to the Immigration and Nationality Fees Regulations 2014 sets out the rationale for the differential between fees for naturalisation and adult and child registration. Different fees are applied to registration and naturalisation fee because a concession is applied to registration provisions as they cater for people closely connected with the UK with sufficiently strong or established links to be able to register as a British Citizen. The fee for a child registering as a British Citizen is lower than the fee charged to an adult, as the entitlements conferred on a successful applicant are fewer.

Fees for immigration and nationality applications are set in line with the charging principles set out in the Immigration Act 2014, which include the cost of processing the application, the wider costs of running the Migration and Borders system and the benefits enjoyed by a successful application.

All income generated above the estimated unit cost is used to fund the wider Migration and Borders system.

20th Jan 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the increase in so called 'honour-based' abuse crimes identified in the Home Office's Statistics on so called ‘honour-based’ abuse offences, England and Wales, 2021 to 2022, published on 20 October 2022; and what steps they are taking to reduce such crimes.

So-called 'Honour’-based abuse (HBA) is a terrible form of abuse, and we are clear that we will not allow political or cultural sensitivities to get in the way of tackling it. The Home Office has, since April 2019, required police forces to collect data relating to HBA offences which they have recorded, and has published three annual data sets for these data.

Data for the year ending March 2022 showed that the police recorded 2,887 HBA-flagged offences, a 6% increase on the previous year. As with all police recorded crime figures, these data cover only offences that were reported to and recorded by the police. HBA is a hidden crime and victims can be reluctant to report to the police or other authorities. These data, therefore, are likely to represent only a small proportion of the actual HBA offences committed in the year ending March 2022.

The increase seen in recorded offences of HBA in the last year may be due to more victims coming forward to report these crimes, improvements in crime recording, including a better understanding of what constitutes HBA, and a genuine increase in these crimes.

To tackle HBA crimes, amongst other things the Government:

  • in the past year, has introduced legislation to ban virginity testing and hymenoplasty throughout the UK and to expand the offence of forced marriage in England and Wales;
  • committed in the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy that the College of Policing would produce new guidance on HBA for police first responders (published in December 2021) and police investigators (to be published by autumn 2022);
  • in December 2022 launched an invitation to tender for a feasibility study relating to measuring the prevalence of forced marriage and female genital mutilation in England and Wales;
  • through its Forced Marriage Unit, provided advice and support for 337 victims or potential victims of forced marriage, and trained 1,537 professionals, during 2021; and

is providing up to £165,000 to Karma Nirvana in 2021/22 for its national HBA helpline, which enabled Karma Nirvana to provide support for 1,833 victims between April and December 2022.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)