Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Tier 2 visa applications sponsored by the NHS for NHS child and adolescent psychiatrists were turned down in the most recent year for which data is available.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The information you have requested is not included in statistics published by the Home Office.
Information on the total number of Tier 2 refusals can be found here:
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to extend to children recognised as refugees the same family reunion rights granted to adults.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
We already have a comprehensive framework for refugees and their families to be safely reunited in the UK. Our refugee family reunion policy allows immediate family members of those granted protection in the UK to reunite with them here. The family provisions in the immigration rules also provide for relatives with protection in the UK to sponsor children when there are serious and compelling circumstances.
Our policy is also clear that where an application fails under the rules, we will consider whether there are exceptional reasons to grant leave outside the rules. In addition, refugees with family members in the UK may be eligible for resettlement under the Mandate and Gateway Schemes.
This policy is designed to provide a safe and legal route for close, dependent family members to join their refugee family in the UK. However, we must not create incentives for families to send children on dangerous journeys, often in the hands of criminals, rather than seek protection in the first safe country they reach.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of adding child and adolescent psychiatrists to the Shortage Occupation List.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) advises the Government on changes to the Shortage Occupation List (SOL). The MAC has determined that a number of medical professionals, including all nurses, paramedics and various doctors, including posts in emergency medicine, clinical radiology and old age psychiatry, are in national shortage and they appear on the published SOL in Appendix K of the Immigration Rules.
The SOL sits under Tier 2, our main immigration route for non-EEA workers. Applications for jobs on the SOL receive the highest priority – and the highest number of points – when allocating a Tier 2 (General) place.
The SOL is kept under regular review, with the most recent changes made to it last April.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support people with a family history that is (a) unclear and (b) unknown to verify their UK citizenship.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
UK Visas and Citizenship have two application types which allow those with unclear/unknown family histories to obtain definite evidence of their status.
These are:
A ‘Status letter’ application, made on Form NS – for those who believe they may have a claim to British nationality but who do not have the normal evidence required to prove this. The Form and Guidance are on the GOV.UK website here:
An application for a ‘No Time Limit’ card, made on Form NTL – which can be used by those who entered the UK before 1 January 1973 and have no evidence of settled status. The Form and Guidance are here:
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of security of open spaces in cities against terrorist attacks using vehicles.
Answered by Ben Wallace
Following recent attacks in Europe and the UK, National Counter Terrorism Policing continues to review the security position of crowded places, open spaces and events.This has led to the deployment of appropriate security measures including hostile vehicle mitigation on a number of bridges and in some town centres, as well as a range of operational police deployments.
The police plan for events in open spaces, such as upcoming Christmas markets, is undertaken against the current threat level which is SEVERE - an attack is highly likely. Proportionate security measures are developed to protect the public in conjunction with the event operators and other responsible bodies.
Asked by: Rosie Duffield (Independent - Canterbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will grant the same additional support for English language learning recently made available for refugees resettled to the UK under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme and Vulnerable Children's Resettlement Scheme to all refugees.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Government is committed to ensuring that refugees in the UK are able to integrate and recognises that English language skills are key to this.
Specific provision for English Language tuition has been built into the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme and the Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme in recognition of the vulnerability and particular needs of the refugees who arrive through these routes.
Not all those granted refugee status in the UK are new to the country or require English language support. However, all refugees are eligible for English language training and can attend ESOL classes and English language training made available under Education and Skills Funding Agency provision. Refugees are also able to access English language training following referral by JobCentre Plus.