Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when his Department's contract to provide financial support to asylum seekers through an Aspen card will expire.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Home Office’s contract to provide financial support to asylum seekers through an Aspen Card will expire on 27 November 2019 (with the option to extend for a further 6 months to 27 May 2020).
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse is of the contract to provide financial support to asylum seekers through Aspen cards.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Home Office does not publish data on the costs to the public purse for the contract to provide financial support to asylum seekers through Aspen cards.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason his Department stopped providing biometric enrolments through post office branches.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Our contract with the Post Office Ltd is coming to an end so we took the opportunity to modernise our services through the introduction of new front end services arrangements, which were procured in 2018.
The successful supplier in this procurement was Sopra Steria Ltd. The resulting UK Visas and Citizenship Application Service (UKVCAS) brings together identity checks, evidence submission and biometric enrolment and provides more choices for the customer about the way in which they complete their application.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for each available year, what the cost to the public purse was of his Department's arrangement with Post Office Ltd to provide biometric enrolments.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Since 2015 the net cost to the public purse for the Home Offices arrangement with Post Office Ltd has been as follows:
Total (Net) | |
2015 | £1,427,773.00 |
2016 | £1,156,030.00 |
2017 | £1,233,200.00 |
2018 | £1,640,528.00 |
2019* | £494,160.00 |
* 2019 data is for January to April only.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when his Department's contract with the Post Office Ltd to provide the biometric residence permit collection service (a) began, (b) will end; and whether he plans to extend that service.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The contract with the Post Office Ltd to provide the biometric residence permit (BRP) collection service started in June 2012, although the service only became operational in February 2015. The current BRP Collection contract is due to end in July 2019, however we do have an option to extend the contract for a further year to July 2020. The Home Office is currently considering this option, a decision is imminent.
In terms of the yearly cost of the contract:
2018/19: £2,131,283. 95
2017/18: £2,056,394.35
2016/17: £2,051,690.25
2015/16: £1,610,036.95
2014/15: £123,000
2013/14: £257,000
2012/13: £1,558,000
2011/12: £441,000 (Set up costs)
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much his Department has paid to Post Office Ltd to provide the biometric residence permit collection service in each year for which data is available.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The contract with the Post Office Ltd to provide the biometric residence permit (BRP) collection service started in June 2012, although the service only became operational in February 2015. The current BRP Collection contract is due to end in July 2019, however we do have an option to extend the contract for a further year to July 2020. The Home Office is currently considering this option, a decision is imminent.
In terms of the yearly cost of the contract:
2018/19: £2,131,283. 95
2017/18: £2,056,394.35
2016/17: £2,051,690.25
2015/16: £1,610,036.95
2014/15: £123,000
2013/14: £257,000
2012/13: £1,558,000
2011/12: £441,000 (Set up costs)
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of his Department's policy on the criteria for awarding people awaiting a decision on their refugee status a national insurance number.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Asylum Seekers are provided with a National Insurance number if they have permission to work. The rules allow those asylum seekers who have been waiting for 12 months through no fault of their own to take up employment in Shortage Occupation list roles.
Asylum Seekers who are granted leave to remain are provided with a National Insurance number by DWP as quickly as possible after their grant. We have worked with DWP to ensure National Insurance numbers are issued on the BRP to enable those with a right to work.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason his Department will accept identity documents only scanned electronically for the purposes of applying to the EU settlement scheme via Android devices.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
EU citizens make a huge contribution to our economy and society, and we want them to stay. The EU Settlement Scheme enables them to do so. The application process is short and user-friendly, and it will be accessible on any smartphone, tablet or computer using internet browsers.
The ‘EU Exit: Identity Document Check’ app – which allows applicants to prove their identity remotely, without sending in their passport or national identity card – is currently available only on Android devices. Applicants can, if they wish, use a family member or friend’s Android device to access the app, and complete the rest of the process on their own device.
Additionally, we currently have 13 locations where applicants can have their ID document scanned, if they choose to do so. Once the scheme is fully open, by 30 March 2019, there will be over 50 locations across the UK where applicants can have their identity document scanned. Applicants will also be able to post identity documents to the Home Office to be checked and returned quickly.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason his Department charges more for applications for passports accepted through post offices compared with online applications.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The current fees charged by Her Majesty’s Passport Office for administering a passport application, as approved by Parliament in March 2018, introduced a differential depending upon whether an application is made online or by post to reflect that digital applications are cheaper to process.
Check & Send is an additional service provided by Post Office Ltd. Fees charged for passport applications submitted at a Post Office include a Check & Send element. This fee is levied by Post Office Ltd for the service that they provide. The fee will differ depending upon whether the customer chooses to apply via a paper form or digitally.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 10 January 2019 to Question 207212 on Passports: Applications, how much (a) has been spent and (b) will be spent on radio advertising.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Of the total communications spend outlined previously (PQ 207212), £222,857 has been spent on radio and digital audio advertising. The 30 second advert aimed to raise awareness of the ease and convenience of the online passport renewal service including the £9.50 cost saving it offers for customers.
A re-launch of the campaign in the next financial year (2019/20) is being considered, with an estimate of £500,000 forecast for radio and digital audio advertising. However, this activity is dependent on the outcome of the EU Exit withdrawal agreement (in a ‘no deal’ scenario, budget would be re-allocated to activity informing passport holders about the passport validity rules changes).