Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the letter to his Department on Tackling the Recruitment & Retention Crisis from Leading Violence Against Women and Girls organisations, published on 20 March 2024.
Answered by Laura Farris
Home Office officials are discussing the concerns and proposals raised in the correspondence you refer to directly with some of the signatories and have also engaged with officials at the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities to ensure a co-ordinated consideration of the concerns raised.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of calls from a coalition of Violence Against Women and Girls organisations for an independent taskforce to tackle recruitment and retention in that sector.
Answered by Laura Farris
Home Office officials are discussing the concerns and proposals raised in the correspondence you refer to directly with some of the signatories and have also engaged with officials at the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities to ensure a co-ordinated consideration of the concerns raised.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with the Scottish Government on (a) immigration, (b) asylum seekers and (c) refugees.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Immigration is a reserved matter and representatives from across Government meet with their counterparts and will continue to do so as part of regular engagement with the Devolved Administrations.
The Home Secretary chaired the Home Office's Inter Ministerial Group with the Devolved Administrations on 11th July 2023, where one of the items for discussion was the Illegal Migration Bill.
From 13 April 2022, all local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales are considered a dispersal area and will need to take part in asylum dispersal. This is to ensure a fair and equitable accommodation spread of asylum seekers across the UK. We have agreed targets for every local authority and region in the UK to deliver by the end of 2023. The latest published Home Office figures from 31st March 2023 show that Midlothian has one asylum dispersal accommodation.
The SNP Government are accommodating 4.6% of the total asylum population being accommodated in the UK, when Scotland makes up 8.2% of the UK population.
If you would like to put forward specific proposals, please do contact the Home Office at: rasiengagementhubregionalconsultation@homeoffice.gov.uk and officials will happily discuss this in greater detail with you.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the number of (a) adults and (b) children in the UK who have No Recourse to Public Funds as of 8 December 2022.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) condition applies to millions of people, the vast majority of whom are visitors or other temporary migrants who have no need for public funds during their stay. It also applies to those without status, many of whom may not be in touch with the Home Office.
The Home Office’s Chief Statistician wrote to the Office for Statistics Regulation on 3 July 2020 to explain why the Home Office does not feel that it is of practical application to produce an estimate of the total population subject to NRPF present in the UK at any one time.
The Home Office publishes an extensive range of data in respect of No Recourse to Public Funds change of conditions applications, including data on age, gender and nationality. This data is available in the Home Office transparency data, published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data, in the “Immigration & Protection” data tables.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to take steps to review the No Recourse to Public Funds condition for migrants who have suffered from domestic abuse.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Tackling domestic abuse is a key priority for this Government and we are committed to supporting all victims. Anyone who has suffered domestic abuse should be treated as a victim first and foremost, regardless of their immigration status.
The Destitute Domestic Violence Concession (DDVC) already allows for eligible migrant victims to apply for the lifting of the no recourse to public funds condition (NRPF) associated with their leave, enabling the victim to access welfare benefits while their application for indefinite leave to remain as a victim of domestic abuse (DVILR) is made and considered.
To be eligible for DVILR an individual’s last grant of leave must have been on a spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner or same sex partner visa in a relationship with a British citizen or settled person. Other cohorts, such as those with refugee leave or the partners of those with pre-settled status via the EU Settlement Scheme, are also eligible to apply for DVILR. Migrant victims of domestic abuse who are subsequently granted DVILR are not subject to NRPF.
In March 2021 we launched the Support for Migrant Victims Scheme. This pilot, run by Southall Black Sisters and their delivery partners and supported with £1.5 million of Government funding, has provided wraparound support services for all migrant victims of domestic abuse with NRPF.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to provide emergency support to domestic abuse (a) survivors and (b) services during the cost of living crisis.
Answered by Sarah Dines
Tackling domestic abuse is a priority for this Government. A key part of this is making sure victims and survivors get the support they need.
The Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan, which we published in March, invests over £230 million, including over £140 million specifically for supporting victims and survivors. The commitments in the Plan include doubling funding for the National Domestic Abuse Helpline.
The Plan also committed to establish trials of a ‘flexible fund’, which charities could use to provide extra money to victims and survivors in light of cost of living pressures. This money could be used to help them flee an abuser.
The Government is aware that rises in the cost of living will also have an impact on charitable organisations, as well as those they are supporting.
That is why, with the Ministry of Justice, we are delivering on our commitment in the Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan to provide multi-year funding, where possible, for support services. We have already launched funding competitions which do this, including the Violence against Woman and Girls: Specialist and Support Services competition.
This will offer more stability and consistency for service users, as services will not be dependent on yearly grants. This will help to continue the delivery of high quality support throughout any increases in the cost of living.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she is taking steps to help reduce the up-front costs for (a) researchers and (b) innovators moving to work in the UK.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Government is improving its visa offer for overseas nationals coming here to work in research and innovation roles, and a number of visa routes are available for that purpose. We are removing the £50,000 minimum investment funds requirement for the Innovator route and exempting recruits under the new Scale-up route from the Immigration Skills Charge. We have increased the non-sponsorship options for the exceptionally qualified, including the Global Talent and the High Potential Individual routes. There are also other options to support temporary research mobility, including research-related permitted activities under the Visitor route and arrangements for temporary research assignments under the Government Authorised Exchange route.
Visa fees are set taking account of the charging powers provided by Section 68(9) of the Immigration Act 2014, which include the ability to set fees based on the cost of processing the application, the benefits provided by a successful application and the wider cost of the Migration and Borders system. Full details are available via the following link - http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/22/section/68.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to provide safe routes of asylum for protestors from Iran whose lives are at risk of violence perpetrated by authorities in that country.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The UK has a proud history of providing protection to those who need it and our resettlement schemes enable us to give the opportunity of a new start to those who have been forced to flee their homes.
We continue to provide and maintain well-defined safe and legal routes for refugees and vulnerable people in need of resettlement. Those fleeing Iran may be eligible for resettlement to the UK through the existing UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), Community Sponsorship and Mandate resettlement scheme.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps are being taken to locate alleged Chinese police stations in UK territory.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat
As I said to the House in my statement on 1 November, reports of undeclared ‘police stations’ in the UK are of course very concerning and are taken extremely seriously. Any foreign country operating on UK soil must abide by UK law.
I have discussed this matter with the police and I am assured that they are investigating allegations of unlawful activity. It would be inappropriate for me to comment further on operational matters. I have discussed this matter with the police and I am assured that they are investigating allegations of unlawful activity. It would be inappropriate for me to comment further on operational matters.
The protection of people in the UK is of the utmost importance and any attempt to illegally repatriate any individual will not be tolerated.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential security implications of alleged Chinese police stations in UK territory.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat
As I said to the House in my statement on 1 November, reports of undeclared ‘police stations’ in the UK are of course very concerning and are taken extremely seriously. Any foreign country operating on UK soil must abide by UK law.
I have discussed this matter with the police and I am assured that they are investigating allegations of unlawful activity. It would be inappropriate for me to comment further on operational matters. I have discussed this matter with the police and I am assured that they are investigating allegations of unlawful activity. It would be inappropriate for me to comment further on operational matters.
The protection of people in the UK is of the utmost importance and any attempt to illegally repatriate any individual will not be tolerated.