Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the availability of priority applications for spousal visas for applicants in South Africa.
Answered by Kevin Foster
From mid-March 2022, UKVI temporarily suspended Priority and Super Priority visa services for new marriage applications in order to redeploy resource to process applications made under the in response to the humanitarian crisis arising from the invasion of Ukraine.
We will keep this under review and reintroduce the priority service when possible.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Security Industry Authority on the potential merits of extending current licences for those who have been unable to work or been limited in working during the covid-19 pandemic, to allow more time to renew their licence in response to the recent changes to the renewal process.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Following the changes to mandatory training for Door Supervisors and Security Guards in April and October 2021, the Security Industry Authority (SIA) confirmed there continues to be record high numbers of licence holders, indicating a healthy throughput of labour into the private security industry.
To prepare for the introduction of these changes, the SIA worked closely with the industry to develop the new training requirements, following a public consultation with a wide variety of stakeholders over a period of years.
In recognition of the impact of Covid-19, the SIA delayed introducing the changes to allow the industry and training providers more time to prepare for the changes.
The SIA is responsible for ensuring that all licence holders are ‘fit and proper’ persons and have the required skillset and level of training suitable for their chosen sector, via checks made upon application. It would not therefore be appropriate on public safety grounds, to extend licences, without those licence holders being subject to the mandatory checks and training required at application and renewal.
The SIA works closely with the private security industry and with training providers to develop flexible and accessible licence-linked training for all current and prospective licence-holders across the UK. However, the SIA does not have the powers to deliver the training nor to determine the costs, scheduling, and availability of the courses being offered, this is the responsibility of the training providers.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the communication of changes regarding mandatory training to Security Industry Authority licence holders by the Security Industry Authority.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Following the changes to mandatory training for Door Supervisors and Security Guards in April and October 2021, the Security Industry Authority (SIA) confirmed there continues to be record high numbers of licence holders, indicating a healthy throughput of labour into the private security industry.
To prepare for the introduction of these changes, the SIA worked closely with the industry to develop the new training requirements, following a public consultation with a wide variety of stakeholders over a period of years.
In recognition of the impact of Covid-19, the SIA delayed introducing the changes to allow the industry and training providers more time to prepare for the changes.
The SIA is responsible for ensuring that all licence holders are ‘fit and proper’ persons and have the required skillset and level of training suitable for their chosen sector, via checks made upon application. It would not therefore be appropriate on public safety grounds, to extend licences, without those licence holders being subject to the mandatory checks and training required at application and renewal.
The SIA works closely with the private security industry and with training providers to develop flexible and accessible licence-linked training for all current and prospective licence-holders across the UK. However, the SIA does not have the powers to deliver the training nor to determine the costs, scheduling, and availability of the courses being offered, this is the responsibility of the training providers.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the accessibility of training providers in Scotland for the Security Industry Authority's mandatory training.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Following the changes to mandatory training for Door Supervisors and Security Guards in April and October 2021, the Security Industry Authority (SIA) confirmed there continues to be record high numbers of licence holders, indicating a healthy throughput of labour into the private security industry.
To prepare for the introduction of these changes, the SIA worked closely with the industry to develop the new training requirements, following a public consultation with a wide variety of stakeholders over a period of years.
In recognition of the impact of Covid-19, the SIA delayed introducing the changes to allow the industry and training providers more time to prepare for the changes.
The SIA is responsible for ensuring that all licence holders are ‘fit and proper’ persons and have the required skillset and level of training suitable for their chosen sector, via checks made upon application. It would not therefore be appropriate on public safety grounds, to extend licences, without those licence holders being subject to the mandatory checks and training required at application and renewal.
The SIA works closely with the private security industry and with training providers to develop flexible and accessible licence-linked training for all current and prospective licence-holders across the UK. However, the SIA does not have the powers to deliver the training nor to determine the costs, scheduling, and availability of the courses being offered, this is the responsibility of the training providers.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Security Industry Authority (SIA) on the recent implementation of mandatory training and the (a) associated costs and (b) availability of that training for applicants when renewing SIA licences.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Following the changes to mandatory training for Door Supervisors and Security Guards in April and October 2021, the Security Industry Authority (SIA) confirmed there continues to be record high numbers of licence holders, indicating a healthy throughput of labour into the private security industry.
To prepare for the introduction of these changes, the SIA worked closely with the industry to develop the new training requirements, following a public consultation with a wide variety of stakeholders over a period of years.
In recognition of the impact of Covid-19, the SIA delayed introducing the changes to allow the industry and training providers more time to prepare for the changes.
The SIA is responsible for ensuring that all licence holders are ‘fit and proper’ persons and have the required skillset and level of training suitable for their chosen sector, via checks made upon application. It would not therefore be appropriate on public safety grounds, to extend licences, without those licence holders being subject to the mandatory checks and training required at application and renewal.
The SIA works closely with the private security industry and with training providers to develop flexible and accessible licence-linked training for all current and prospective licence-holders across the UK. However, the SIA does not have the powers to deliver the training nor to determine the costs, scheduling, and availability of the courses being offered, this is the responsibility of the training providers.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when people with outstanding Turkish Businessperson visa applications will receive a decision on their application.
Answered by Kevin Foster
We received a significant increase in Turkish ECAA overseas applications before the route closed. Caseworking teams in UKVI continue to process ECAA applications and are focused on resolving them as quickly as possible.
At times, we may identify further information which is required in individual applications and need to contact applicants for this.
Some applications also require additional checks to be undertaken by the Home Office which may cause delays pending these essential checks being undertaken.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress her Department has made in assessing outstanding Turkish Businessperson visas, for applications made in 2020.
Answered by Kevin Foster
We received a significant increase in Turkish ECAA overseas applications before the route closed. Caseworking teams in UKVI continue to process ECAA applications and are focused on resolving them as quickly as possible.
At times, we may identify further information which is required in individual applications and need to contact applicants for this.
Some applications also require additional checks to be undertaken by the Home Office which may cause delays pending these essential checks being undertaken.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the case for and against removing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam from the list of organisations proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
In October 2020 the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission allowed the appeal against the Government’s decision to maintain the proscription of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on the basis of a procedural error. The Home Secretary subsequently undertook to reconsider the application for deproscription and, having reconsidered the application, determined that the LTTE should remain proscribed. The Home Secretary wrote to the Chair of the Home Affairs Committee on 31 August 2021 notifying the Chair of her decision. A copy of the Home Secretary’s letter was deposited in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to ensure that people who have been granted Turkish businessperson visas can request a national insurance number without having to provide evidence which has already been provided for their visa application.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The arrangements for processing National Insurance number (NINo) requests are the responsibility of the Department for Work and Pensions. It no longer requires a face-to-face interview as part of the process and will accept the Biometric Residence Permit of Turkish business persons as evidence of self-employment.
It is not mandatory for Turkish business persons to provide a NINo as part of their immigration application and the Home Office will ensure they are not penalised for any previous delays in issuing one.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for Turkish Businessperson visas were (a) submitted, (b) successful and (c) refused in 2020; and how many of those applications are still to be processed.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office publishes data on ECAA Business Persons in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’.
Data on applications for ECAA Business Persons are published in table Vis_D01 of the entry clearance visas applications and outcomes dataset. Data on the number of ECAA Business Persons issued and refused are included in table Vis_D02. These data may be selected using the ‘ECAA Business person’ visa type subgroup.
Information on how to use the entry clearance visas applications and outcomes dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to year ending March 2021.
Home Office Migration Statistics do not capture the number of Turkish Businessperson visa applications which are still to be processed.