Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's White Paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system, published on 12 May 2025, whether the proposals will apply retrospectively to people already on five or 10 year routes to settlement.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year and further details on the proposed scheme will be provided at the time.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's white paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system published 12 May 2025, in relation to which visa routes she is considering increasing the level of English language required from B1 to B2 under the Common European Framework for Reference for Languages.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The White Paper states our intention to increase language requirements for Skilled Workers and workers where a language requirement already applies from B1 to B2 levels.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2025 to Question 21609 on Migrant Workers: Civil Servants, how many civil servants are working on graduate visas; how many (a) current and (b) former civil service staff initially employed on graduate visas would not meet the salary threshold requirements for applying for Skilled Worker Visa sponsorship; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the salary threshold changes for Skilled Worker Visa sponsorship on civil service staff retention (i) since April 2024 and (ii) in the next three years.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
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 Skilled Worker Visa sponsorship salary threshold requirements introduced in April 2024 on retention of civil service staff initially employed on graduate visas.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The graduate route is designed to allow UK graduates time to work, or look for work, for a 2 or 3 year period after completing their studies. After this time, they must be able to meet the requirements of another immigration route to stay in the UK. These rules apply equally to the Civil Service as to all other UK workplaces.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will take steps to review the cost of (a) visa and (b) citizenship application fees.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Immigration 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 relevant application, the benefits and entitlements provided by a successful application and the wider costs of the Migration and Borders system. Full details can be reviewed via the following link: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/22/section/68.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's criteria are for implementation of an emergency visa scheme for refugees fleeing war zones.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the Home Secretary said in her statement to the House of Commons on the 22 July 2024, the UK will always work, along with other states, to help those fleeing war and persecution.
Our global resettlement scheme, the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) is designed in way that allows us to respond in any emergency. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) can refer cases to the UK under their standard resettlement submission categories, based on people’s needs and vulnerabilities. The UNHCR is expertly placed to help the UK authorities to identify and process vulnerable refugees who would benefit from resettlement in the UK and as such, HMG does not intervene in who the UNHCR refer for resettlement to the UK.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of creating an emergency family reunion visa scheme for people affected by the conflict in Israel and Palestine.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Currently, those affected by the conflict in Israel and Palestine who wish to join family members in the UK can do so via the existing range of routes available.
Any application for a UK visa will be assessed against the requirements of the Immigration Rules. Immediate family members of British citizens and those settled in the UK who wish to come and live in the UK can apply under one of the existing family visa routes.
There are also routes available for dependants of those who are in the UK on a work or student route.
Individuals with protection status or settlement on a protection route may sponsor their partner or child (under 18), to join or stay with them in the UK, providing they formed part of the pre-flight family unit before the sponsor fled their country to seek protection.
When the visa application has been received consideration will be given to compelling, compassionate and exceptional circumstances.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help asylum seekers to integrate into their local communities.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
This Government’s priority is to focus our efforts and resources to support those who most need it. As not all of those who seek asylum are found to need international protection, integration resources are available to those granted permission to stay. Under the New Plan for Immigration, the Government committed to offering an enhanced integration package for refugees arriving through safe and legal routes.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to directly consult with (a) asylum seekers and (b) refugees to understand where more integration support may be required.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
All refugees and those granted protection in the UK should be able to fully integrate into life here and become self-sufficient, providing for themselves and their families, and contributing to the economy.
Refugees (those who have been granted asylum, humanitarian protection or temporary protection under the Immigration Rules), as well as individuals on our resettlement schemes with Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in the UK; have access to mainstream benefits and services to enable their integration; and we are working across Government to ensure these services meet the needs of refugees.
Integration support is coordinated by local authorities, who are best placed to support the needs of those resettled in their area. The Home Office provides local authorities with a core tariff of £20,520 per person to cover resettlement and integration costs for those who arrive via refugee resettlement schemes, including the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS). This tariff can be used flexibly by the local authorities to meet the integration needs of the refugees they are supporting.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the risk of homelessness for new refugees; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the move-on period before the withdrawal of Section 95 support.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Where an individual is given notice that their asylum claim has been granted, their appeal has been allowed or their asylum claim has been refused but they have been given leave to enter or remain, the prescribed period in legislation (or ‘move on’ period’) is 28 days. There has been no change to the prescribed period. Individuals remain on asylum support, including accommodation, until the end of the 28 day period.
During this period, the Home Office provides individuals who have received a positive decision to their asylum claim with support through Migrant Help and/or their partner organisations. This includes providing advice on accessing the labour market, on applying for Universal Credit and signposting to local authorities for assistance with housing. Individuals do not need to wait for their Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) to make a claim for Universal Credit and are encouraged to do so as early as possible if they require it. Messaging to individuals is being reviewed to encourage them to plan to move on from asylum support as soon as they have received their decision.
The Home Office are ensuring our cross government partners, such as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) are sighted on data to enable them to consider the impacts of increased decision making and effectively plan. Additionally, the Home Office are working with DLUHC to ensure the right asylum decision data is being shared with local authorities to enable effective planning and to lessen the impact on existing homelessness and rough sleeping pressures. Accommodation providers are also working directly with local authorities to notify them when an individual is due to have their asylum support ended.
The asylum accommodation estate is under huge strain and increasing the ‘move on’ period would exacerbate these pressures. There are no current plans to extend the period (of 28 days) for how long individuals remain on asylum support once they have had a grant of asylum. We are engaging the DWP and DLUHC to ensure individuals can move on from asylum support as smoothly as possible.