Asked by: Richard Quigley (Labour - Isle of Wight West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) routes to naturalisation, (b) fee exemptions and (c) special considerations are available to foreign nationals who have completed a period of Crown Service as a civilian working overseas for British Military; and if her Department will make an assessment of whether B1 English tests are necessary for each of visa renewal where the applicant holds existing Ofsted accreditation as an English Teacher.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Foreign nationals who have completed a period of Crown service overseas are able to apply for naturalisation. British nationality law allows for discretion to be exercised over some of the residence requirements for naturalisation applications, if the customer can demonstrate they were in Crown service.
In most cases, people seeking to settle or naturalise in the UK will need to prove they have the required level of English depending on the route they are applying under. The English language requirement for each visa route is set out within the Immigration Rules for each individual route.
Appendix English Language of the Immigration Rules sets out how an applicant can meet this requirement. The English language requirements for naturalisation applications are set out in The British Nationality (General) Regulations 2003. This includes information about the options available to demonstrate the required level of English.
Asked by: Richard Quigley (Labour - Isle of Wight West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Isle of Wight will retain it’s own council as part of the Hampshire and Solent Mayoral authority under devolution.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Devolution Priority Programme aims to see a new wave of mayors elected in May 2026, including for Hampshire and the Solent. This will see local authorities in the area join up with their neighbours to form a new Combined Authority over a sensible geography, and will include Hampshire County Council, Portsmouth City Council, Southampton City Council and Isle of Wight Council as constituent members of the new proposed Combined Authority.
Separately, all councils across Hampshire and the Solent have received an invitation to work together to develop new unitary proposals that are in the best interests of the whole area. All levels of local government have a part to play in bringing improved structures to their area through any necessary reorganisation. Government is open to hearing from councils their views on reorganisation.
Asked by: Richard Quigley (Labour - Isle of Wight West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of young people out of work, education and training in Isle of Wight West constituency.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Robust data on the number of young people out of work, education and training is not available at a constituency level.
This Government is committed to supporting young people through the DWP Youth Offer and new Youth Guarantee, alongside launching Skills England and a new National Jobs and Career Service.
Asked by: Richard Quigley (Labour - Isle of Wight West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking with international partners to help tackle irregular migration to the UK.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We engage regularly with our international partners on irregular migration, with a commitment to tackling people trafficking and the gangs profiting from it. In July we declared steps to reinforce our cooperation with Europol and announced up to £84 million for projects across Africa and the Middle East to address the reasons why people flee their homes. Through our new Border Security Command, we will also intensify efforts in transit countries to break the business models of these gangs including by disrupting the supply chains of small boat equipment and prosecuting those responsible.
Asked by: Richard Quigley (Labour - Isle of Wight West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to ensure that the industrial strategy applies to the Isle of Wight.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
This Government will introduce a modern Industrial Strategy to drive long-term sustainable, inclusive and secure growth - through securing investment into crucial sectors of the economy. To do this, we will work in partnership with local and regional leaders to support successful industries across all nations and regions of the UK. This work will support the Government’s growth mission: to drive the highest sustained growth in the G7, aligned with our missions to increase opportunities for all and make Britain a clean energy superpower.