Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
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 banning asylum claims from foreign national offenders convicted of sexual offences in their country of origin on LGBTQI+ people from countries where same-sex relationships are criminalised.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has introduced an amendment to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill which will strengthen existing provisions by creating a new presumption that convictions for all sexual offences in Schedule 3 to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (sex offences which are subject to the notification requirements) are considered particularly serious for the purposes of Article 33(2) of the Refugee Convention.
The same provision will only apply to convictions received overseas where we are able to show that an individual has received, from a foreign court, a conviction for a sexual offence that would have resulted in the notification requirements had they committed it in the UK.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to publish a Hate Crime Action Plan.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is determined to tackle all forms of hate crime.
We have a robust legislative framework in place to respond to hate crimes which target race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, and transgender identity, and we back the police in taking strong action against the perpetrators of these heinous crimes.
The Government funds an online hate crime reporting portal, True Vision, designed so victims of all types of hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report. We are also continuing to fund the National Online Hate Crime Hub, which supports individual local police forces in dealing specifically with online hate crime, providing expert advice to police to support them in investigating these abhorrent offences.
The Government is carefully considering how best to strengthen the response to hate crime going forward so we can continue to tackle this offending head on.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
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 raised standard of proof for asylum claims on LGBTQI+ people seeking asylum.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
All relevant impact assessments related to the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 have been published by the Home Office in the normal way.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to (a) respond to and (b) implement the proposals set out in the consultation entitled Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner's fee structure, published on 14 March 2024.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Home Office together with the Office of the Immigration Service Commissioner (OISC) ran the fees consultation for a period of 12 weeks, which closed on 5 June 2024. The consultation was designed to help best understand the impact of proposals to amend the structure of the fees charged by the OISC to its registered advisers, and to minimise the risks of any adverse impact.
The Government is committed to ensuring advice seekers receive the advice that they need, through an efficient and regulated immigration advice sector. We will consider next steps in this area in due course in line with that commitment.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2024 to Question 9238 on Immigration: Detainees, whether the Adults at Risk review will consider the (a) Immigration (Guidance on Detention of Vulnerable Persons) Regulations 2024 and (b) findings and recommendations of the Brook House Inquiry.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The scope of the Adults at Risk review includes the Immigration (Guidance on Detention of Vulnerable Persons) Regulations 2024.
The review forms part of the response to one of the recommendations of the Brook House Inquiry (Recommendation 9: Review of the operation of Rule 35 of the Detention Centre Rules 2001). The review will not cover all areas of the Brook House Inquiry and will not reassess the findings and recommendations made.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister of State in her Department in debate on the Immigration (Guidance on Detention of Vulnerable Persons) Regulations 2024 in Grand Committee in the House of Lords on 14 October 2024, Official Report, column 17GC, what the (a) timetable is and (b) terms of reference are for the review into immigration detention.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
We intend to complete the Adults at Risk review in Spring 2025, including Rule 34 and Rule 35 of the detention centre rules.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the (a) effectiveness and (b) cost efficiency of alternative to detention pilot projects operated by her Department; and what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing further pilots for (i) women, (ii) LGBTQI+ people and (iii) other people likely to be vulnerable in detention.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Department will keep under review the feasibility of alternative to detention pilots, taking account of effectiveness and cost efficiency, as part of our plans to transform the asylum and returns system.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that separated displaced Ukrainian families will be able to reunite with their relatives in the UK on the (a) Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship scheme and (b) Ukraine Permission Extension scheme.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The UK’s Ukraine schemes are not family reunification pathways. The schemes are designed to provide temporary sanctuary in the UK for Ukrainian’s fleeing the war.
The Homes for Ukraine scheme remains open for new applications from those wishing to come to the UK. Ukrainian nationals who would have qualified under the Ukraine Family Scheme will still be able to apply under Homes for Ukraine. Family members wishing to join a relative who is already in the UK may make an application to the Homes for Ukraine scheme provided they have a sponsor who meets the eligibility requirements for sponsorship. Ukrainians may also apply through standard visa or family routes, if they are eligible.
From early 2025, the new Ukraine Permission Extension scheme is due to open to those who fled Ukraine because of Russia’s invasion and were granted a Ukraine scheme visa as well as those granted Leave Outside the Rules for the same reason.
We keep all of our Ukraine schemes under consistent review in line with developments in the ongoing war.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact on family reunion pathways for separated displaced Ukrainian families of (a) closure of the Ukraine Family Scheme and (b) changes in sponsor eligibility criteria on the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship scheme.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The UK’s Ukraine schemes are not family reunification pathways. The schemes are designed to provide temporary sanctuary in the UK for Ukrainian’s fleeing the war.
The Homes for Ukraine scheme remains open for new applications from those wishing to come to the UK. Ukrainian nationals who would have qualified under the Ukraine Family Scheme will still be able to apply under Homes for Ukraine. Family members wishing to join a relative who is already in the UK may make an application to the Homes for Ukraine scheme provided they have a sponsor who meets the eligibility requirements for sponsorship. Ukrainians may also apply through standard visa or family routes, if they are eligible.
From early 2025, the new Ukraine Permission Extension scheme is due to open to those who fled Ukraine because of Russia’s invasion and were granted a Ukraine scheme visa as well as those granted Leave Outside the Rules for the same reason.
We keep all of our Ukraine schemes under consistent review in line with developments in the ongoing war.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of sections 22-29 of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 on victims of modern slavery receiving support via the National Referral Mechanism.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson
The Home Office published the Illegal Migration Bill (IMB) Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) on 10 May 2023. We are committed to taking the steps to ensure any potential impacts identified are appropriately mitigated when implementing the policy.
Where an individual has not made a protection claim and is granted immigration bail, support may be available under Schedule 10 of the Immigration Act 2016.
The Government is consulting with operational partners to implement sections 22 – 29 of the IMA. Guidance is under development which will support the operation of provisions in the IMA, once commenced.