Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of BNO visa holders with (a) B1 and (b) B2 level English-language qualifications.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office has not made an estimate of the proportion of British National (Overseas) visa holders who hold English‑language qualifications at CEFR levels B1 or B2. No data is collected or published that disaggregates BNO visa holders by specific levels of English‑language attainment.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent progress she has made on responding to the Migration Advisory Committee’s recommendations on the minimum income requirement for the UK’s spouse and partner visa routes.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The MAC’s recommendations are being considered in detail alongside the work being carried out as a result of the Immigration White Paper (Restoring control over the immigration system: white paper - GOV.UK) which made clear that family migration would be reformed to tackle the over complex family immigration arrangements, including the financial requirements.
However, there is no set date for when we will publish a response to the MAC report.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with the Local Authority Registration and Coroner Services Association on their planned timescale to develop a professional qualification for registrars.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The General Register Office for England and Wales, (part of the Home Office) has had no discussions with the Local Authority Registration and Coroner Services Association on their planned timescale to develop a professional qualification for registrars.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing signage in register offices that state (a) marriage and (b) civil partnership can cause a will to be revoked.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
There is currently no plan to introduce signage about wills in register offices.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proposed mandatory duty on the part of (a) therapists and (b) other mental health professionals to report child sexual abuse in the Crime and Policing Bill on child abuse convictions.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse considered such issues very carefully in the course of compiling its report to Government, and concluded that a mandatory reporting law was necessary to improve the protection of children and young people.
The Crime and Policing Bill will establish a clear, consistent requirement that allegations of child sexual abuse are shared promptly with appropriate safeguarding agencies, who are best placed to consider it further and take appropriate action to safeguard and support the child involved where necessary.
The Government already sets clear expectations through statutory and non-statutory guidance that those engaging with children should make an immediate referral to the relevant local authority children’s social care or the police if they are concerned about a child.
As they are now, impacted services will be responsible for explaining the detail and limitations of their confidentiality policies to their service users, including children and young people. Setting out a clear explanation of the need to pass certain concerns on to appropriate authorities should not undermine trusted relationships, or dissuade people from accessing the services they need.
We will be working with regulators and professional standards-setting bodies to ensure the new duty is clearly communicated ahead of implementation.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proposed mandatory duty to report child sexual abuse in the Crime and Policing Bill on dissuading offenders unknown to the police from coming forward for psychiatric treatment.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse considered such issues very carefully in the course of compiling its report to Government, and concluded that a mandatory reporting law was necessary to improve the protection of children and young people.
The Crime and Policing Bill will establish a clear, consistent requirement that allegations of child sexual abuse are shared promptly with appropriate safeguarding agencies, who are best placed to consider it further and take appropriate action to safeguard and support the child involved where necessary.
The Government already sets clear expectations through statutory and non-statutory guidance that those engaging with children should make an immediate referral to the relevant local authority children’s social care or the police if they are concerned about a child.
As they are now, impacted services will be responsible for explaining the detail and limitations of their confidentiality policies to their service users, including children and young people. Setting out a clear explanation of the need to pass certain concerns on to appropriate authorities should not undermine trusted relationships, or dissuade people from accessing the services they need.
We will be working with regulators and professional standards-setting bodies to ensure the new duty is clearly communicated ahead of implementation.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proposed mandatory duty to report child sexual abuse in the Crime and Policing Bill on levels of trauma in children who are not (a) ready and (b) willing to report such abuses.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse considered such issues very carefully in the course of compiling its report to Government, and concluded that a mandatory reporting law was necessary to improve the protection of children and young people.
The Crime and Policing Bill will establish a clear, consistent requirement that allegations of child sexual abuse are shared promptly with appropriate safeguarding agencies, who are best placed to consider it further and take appropriate action to safeguard and support the child involved where necessary.
The Government already sets clear expectations through statutory and non-statutory guidance that those engaging with children should make an immediate referral to the relevant local authority children’s social care or the police if they are concerned about a child.
As they are now, impacted services will be responsible for explaining the detail and limitations of their confidentiality policies to their service users, including children and young people. Setting out a clear explanation of the need to pass certain concerns on to appropriate authorities should not undermine trusted relationships, or dissuade people from accessing the services they need.
We will be working with regulators and professional standards-setting bodies to ensure the new duty is clearly communicated ahead of implementation.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department uses artificial intelligence to transcribe asylum interviews.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
No.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to ensure that (a) charities, (b) asylum seekers and (c) refugees are included in the development of her Department's (i) policy and (ii) procedures.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration and asylum system under regular review, in consultation with a wide range of experts and other stakeholders.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the proportion of substantive asylum interview appointments that were cancelled due to an inability to secure a translator in (a) 2024 and (b) 2025.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The number of substantive interviews completed per month is published in tab ASY_05(M) of the Immigration and Protection dataset: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-and-protection-data-q4-2024.
The requested information on cancelled appointments could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at a disproportionate cost.