Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that refugees who are (a) Ukrainian citizens and (b) third country nationals fleeing from Ukraine have safe passage to the UK.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Our humanitarian response has been developed in close consultation with the government of Ukraine and we will continue to support those who wish to come to the UK as a result of the current situation.
The Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine) allows Ukrainian citizens and their family members, including non-Ukrainian nationals, to come to the UK and is free to apply. Those who are eligible will receive an official permission letter from the Home Office that will enable their travel to the UK.
Third country nationals can apply for visas to come to the UK in the usual way.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to provide passenger locator forms in languages other than English.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The rapidly changing landscape of international travel health measure requirements has placed considerable pressure on maintaining the technical development of the Passenger Locator Form; therefore, translation of the form has not been possible.
Each language added to the system increases the technical development time required, meaning the system could not be accurately maintained given the pace of policy changes as we have dealt with the Covid-19 pandemic.
We have though introduced a guide to support the completion of the PLF which has been translated into 22 languages and is available on GOV.UK. An animated video to support guidance on how to complete the Passenger Locator Form is also in production. This will be placed on GOV.UK and social media platforms.
We will look to introduce translation of the PLF in the future, however this will be dependent on a long-term stable policy for it across the 4 nations of the United Kingdom given the devolution of public health regulations in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the patient consent process for people seeking asylum when sharing medical information with the her Department at registration.
Answered by Kevin Foster
There is not a specific patient consent process at registration which seeks to access a claimant’s medical records at this stage in the asylum process.
Individuals seeking asylum can be asked to complete a medical consent form at any stage in the asylum process where a specific issue or a concern is raised. This can be for a number of reasons which are usually related to safeguarding a vulnerable individual.
In terms of sharing information, all asylum claimants are made aware we may share information with other UK government departments or agencies, including the National Health Service, local authorities, asylum authorities of other countries, international organisations or other bodies. This is to enable us and other organisations to carry out their functions, including the prevention and detection of crime.
Claimants are also informed we do not disclose, to their own country, the fact they have claimed asylum in the UK, but we may share some information, for example, to help obtain travel documentation if their claim is refused.
We have recently updated our guidance on disclosure of information in asylum claims and it is available on gov.uk at:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/disclosure-of-information-relating-to-asylum-applications
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the need for staff working in contingency asylum accommodation to have relevant experience for that role.
Answered by Kevin Foster
To ensure staff working in all asylum accommodation have the skills and experience for the role the providers have a training programme as required by the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services contracts (AASC). Additionally, employees are subject to pre employment checks.
The contracts are published and the requirements of the contract are set out in the Statement of Requirements, this includes provisions around training and the training programme for those with face-to-face contact with our customers.
The Provider must fully equip and train staff (including volunteers) to ensure they are able to fulfil their roles and ensure appropriate and sufficient security provisions are made for all staff undertaking face-to-face activities. Those with face to face contact must cover the following:
As a minimum, provider staff should receive refresher training on the requirements listed above annually (i.e. refresher training completed every twelve (12) months), or more regularly if required.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the need for contingency asylum accommodation contracts to include training for frontline staff to understand the vulnerabilities of people seeking asylum.
Answered by Kevin Foster
To ensure staff working in all asylum accommodation have the skills and experience for the role the providers have a training programme as required by the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services contracts (AASC). Additionally, employees are subject to pre employment checks.
The contracts are published and the requirements of the contract are set out in the Statement of Requirements, this includes provisions around training and the training programme for those with face-to-face contact with our customers.
The Provider must fully equip and train staff (including volunteers) to ensure they are able to fulfil their roles and ensure appropriate and sufficient security provisions are made for all staff undertaking face-to-face activities. Those with face to face contact must cover the following:
As a minimum, provider staff should receive refresher training on the requirements listed above annually (i.e. refresher training completed every twelve (12) months), or more regularly if required.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Home Office:
What recent discussions she has had with representatives of the Catholic Church on visas for religious workers.
Answered by Kevin Foster
This Government recognises the importance of faith across our communities in the UK and we welcome members of religious institutions from around the world.
I met with representatives of the Catholic Church in July and confirmed that the existing dedicated arrangements for Ministers of Religion and Religious Workers will continue in the future immigration system.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of staff employed by her Department are apprentices.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The number of staff currently employed in the Home Office as apprentices is 343, which is 0.99% of headcount (this does not include individuals in the pipeline, undergoing security checks). Further information is provided in the attached table.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 6 November to Question 111100, on vetting, what information she has on the average time within which the DBS provides responses.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The average processing time for a standard or enhanced disclosure check by the Disclosure and Barring Service was 11.53 days in October 2017.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to improve the Disclosure and Barring Service checking service.
Answered by Sarah Newton
The Disclosure and Baring Service (DBS) has a governance framework set out in the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 and a performance framework agreed with the Home Office. The DBS regularly reports on performance and risk to its Board and Home Office Ministers.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to new guidance issued by the Upper Tribunal on Eritrea on 10 October 2016, what steps she will take to update her Department's travel guidance on that country.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
We will this week publish a country policy and information note on Eritrea updated in light of the Upper Tribunal’s determination in the Eritrea country guidance of MST and Others, which was handed down to respective parties on 7 October and published on 10 October.