Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help non-EU citizens with biometric residence permits who cannot access a share code online prove their right to work.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
We are delivering a streamlined, simplified and modern visa system that meets the needs of the Home Office and its customers. Increasingly, we are replacing physical and paper-based products and services with accessible, easy to use online and digital services. This includes providing individuals with the ability to prove their right to work using a secure share code that employers can check online.
If an individual is unable to provide a share code due to a technical issue, they can contact the UKVI Resolution Centre. The centre is open seven days a week for telephone and email enquiries. Individuals can contact the UKVI Resolution Centre, including by phone, to request us to share status on their behalf, if they are unable to do so themselves.
Further information is available on right to work checks on GOV.UK at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/right-to-work-checks-employers-guide.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how Afghan activists at risk due to their environmental activism can travel to the UK to seek refuge.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Those at-risk in Afghanistan and the region are eligible for resettlement through one of the three referral pathways laid out in the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) policy statement. The ACRS scheme is designed to support those who have assisted UK efforts in Afghanistan and stood up for UK values, as well as vulnerable people, such as women and girls at risk, and members of minority groups.
Our referral process is designed to be fair and equitable to those it identifies to be in need. The capacity of the UK to resettle people is not unlimited and difficult decisions have to be made on who will be prioritised for resettlement.
Under Pathway 2 of the ACRS, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) completes referrals based on their assessments of protection needs and vulnerabilities. We are pleased to have welcomed the first family to the UK under Pathway 2 of the ACRS. We will continue to receive referrals to the scheme in coming years.
Statistics on Afghan resettlement schemes and programmes - including the number of people resettled - will be included in the published Immigration Statistics.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have arrived in the UK under Pathway 2 of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Those at-risk in Afghanistan and the region are eligible for resettlement through one of the three referral pathways laid out in the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) policy statement. The ACRS scheme is designed to support those who have assisted UK efforts in Afghanistan and stood up for UK values, as well as vulnerable people, such as women and girls at risk, and members of minority groups.
Our referral process is designed to be fair and equitable to those it identifies to be in need. The capacity of the UK to resettle people is not unlimited and difficult decisions have to be made on who will be prioritised for resettlement.
Under Pathway 2 of the ACRS, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) completes referrals based on their assessments of protection needs and vulnerabilities. We are pleased to have welcomed the first family to the UK under Pathway 2 of the ACRS. We will continue to receive referrals to the scheme in coming years.
Statistics on Afghan resettlement schemes and programmes - including the number of people resettled - will be included in the published Immigration Statistics.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the risk posed to Afghan climate activists still in Afghanistan; and for what reason those at risk have not been included in the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Those at-risk in Afghanistan and the region are eligible for resettlement through one of the three referral pathways laid out in the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) policy statement. The ACRS scheme is designed to support those who have assisted UK efforts in Afghanistan and stood up for UK values, as well as vulnerable people, such as women and girls at risk, and members of minority groups.
Our referral process is designed to be fair and equitable to those it identifies to be in need. The capacity of the UK to resettle people is not unlimited and difficult decisions have to be made on who will be prioritised for resettlement.
Under Pathway 2 of the ACRS, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) completes referrals based on their assessments of protection needs and vulnerabilities. We are pleased to have welcomed the first family to the UK under Pathway 2 of the ACRS. We will continue to receive referrals to the scheme in coming years.
Statistics on Afghan resettlement schemes and programmes - including the number of people resettled - will be included in the published Immigration Statistics.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) reports of exploitation in the care sector were received and (b) how many inspections were conducted on (i) care homes and (ii) businesses by the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority in each year since 2018-19.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The overall regulation of care homes is administered by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) rather than the Gangmaster Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA). The CQC monitors, inspects, and independently regulates services of health and adult social care in England. The standard CQC Whistleblowing Policy applies to exploited care workers raising concerns. The GLAA undertakes inspections of businesses in their licenced sectors, which does not currently include care homes.
The Government does not hold a breakdown of data by labour market sector for the time periods requested. However, the GLAA has conducted visits to care homes as part of enforcement activity.
Labour market enforcement bodies set up Operation TOPAZ in May. This is a multi-agency enforcement operation to investigate a range of allegations about the adult care sector. The operation is in its initial stages and the allegations range from labour market offences, such as charging for work finding fees, potential non-payment of National Minimum Wage, to wider issues such as illegal working and student visa abuse. The GLAA lead work on the higher level of exploitative abuses, such as potential debt bondage and modern slavery.
We are developing a robust evidence base that will underpin our strategy to manage risks across the adult care sector.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Care Quality Commission shares information on the (a) personal data and (b) immigration status of workers with Immigration Enforcement following inspections of (i) care homes and (ii) providers.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Following the inspection of care homes and/or providers, the Care Quality Commission may make a referral to Immigration Enforcement via the ‘Report Immigration Crime’ tool on gov.uk. This referral may include personal data which could relate to immigration offenders.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to improve processing times for spousal and partner visa applications.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office had been prioritising Ukraine visa schemes applications in response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Staff from other Government departments, including DWP and HMRC, have been surged into the department to help with Ukraine work and enable normal visa routes to return to normal service levels in due course.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have entered the UK on the new Health and Care Visa since it was introduced in 2020 as (a) Care Workers and Home Carers and (b) Senior Care Workers.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office publishes data on visas in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of granted applications regarding the Health and Care visa are published in table Vis_D02 of the entry clearance visas applications and outcomes dataset.
We do not currently publish figures on individual job roles applied for under the visa.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help improve the recording of rates of forced marriage, including at a ward level.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Forced marriage is an all too often hidden crime and we are determined to tackle it and give more victims the confidence to come forward.
The joint Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s Forced Marriage Unit leads on the government’s forced marriage policy, outreach and casework. It operates both inside the UK (where support is provided to any individual) and overseas (where consular assistance is provided to British nationals, including dual nationals). The FMU publishes annual statistics of cases it has dealt with, including broken down by geographical area. The latest statistics published in 2021show the FMU provided advice and support in 337 cases of actual or potential forced marriage, with 22% of these referrals coming from the London region.
Understanding the potential relationship between deprivation and rates of forced marriage is challenging. However, as committed to in the 2021 Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, we are exploring options to better understand the prevalence of forced marriage in England and Wales.
We recognise the importance of cases being recorded accurately. That is why the Annual Data Requirement (ADR) for England and Wales now requires police forces to provide data returns to the Home Office on ‘honour’-based abuse offences, including forced marriage. The Government publishes this data annually – the most recent data was published on 9 December 2021 and can be found at the following link: Statistics on so called ‘honour-based’ abuse offences, England and Wales, 2020 to 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
In addition, we recently published updated multi-agency statutory guidance on forced marriage and the FMU undertakes regular outreach activities to professionals, including police officers, to raise awareness of forced marriage and how best to support victims. Through these activities, the FMU reached over 1,000 professionals in 2021.