Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will estimate the number of individuals with section 3C leave under the Immigration Act 1971 whose (a) employment has been (i) terminated or (ii) refused and (b) benefit claim has been (i) suspended or (ii) rejected in the last year as a result of incorrect application of rules on immigration status; and what steps she is taking to reduce these numbers.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Employers are not obliged to tell the Home Office when they terminate or refuse employment, and there are many reasons why a claim to benefits may be suspended or rejected.
Consequently, it is not possible to provide the estimates requested.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Immigration Enforcement has procedures for (a) notifying and (b) requesting permission from relevant organisations for enforcement operations (i) within and (ii) outside (A) Transport for London and (B) other rail stations.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Enforcement Operations conducted in areas under the control of the British Transport Police (BTP) within rail stations and Transport for London (TfL) locations are completed in cooperation with the BTP and / or TfL in line with the procedures set out on Partnership Working which can be accessed at Partnership working.docx (publishing.service.gov.uk).
Enforcement operations completed in the public areas outside a rail station or Transport for London locations, which are not under the control of the BTP are completed in line with the public operational enforcement procedures without notification unless the risk assessment deems this necessary. The procedures for enforcement operations in public areas can be accessed at Enforcement visits casework guidance (publishing.service.gov.uk) and enforcement-planning-assessments-v3.0-ext__002_.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk).
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to section 4.4.2 of Schedule 2 to the Asylum Accommodation and Support guidance, how many reports have been made under paragraph (a) 7.d and (b) 7.e in the last year.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
With reference to section 4.4.2 of Schedule 2 of the Asylum Accommodation and Support guidance the Home Office does not publish a breakdown of reports made under paragraph (a) 7.d and (b) 7.e These figures are not available in a reportable format and to provide the information could only be done at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her planned timetable is for the publication of a specific safeguarding framework which will provide specific safeguarding to all vulnerable service users in asylum accommodation.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The welfare of vulnerable asylum seekers in our care is of the utmost importance to the Home Office. We have worked closely with providers and stakeholders to develop a safeguarding assurance framework which is available at Asylum support contracts safeguarding framework - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The Asylum Support Contracts Safeguarding Framework is a supplementary document to others that are publicly available. The framework is designed to provide a high-level overview of the responsibilities of all parties and is to be read in conjunction with the safeguarding elements of the Accommodation and Support Contracts (AASC) - Schedule 2 - and the Advice, Issue Reporting and Eligibility Contract (AIRE) - AIRE Contract. These contracts were designed with safeguarding of the individual at their heart.
In addition to the existing contract governance and stakeholder engagement, a joint safeguarding board has been established between the department and its providers to oversee progress on all aspects of safeguarding work. Furthermore, a national safeguarding forum has been established with local authorities to discuss safeguarding across the contracts and help develop and share best practice.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average daily spend on hotel accommodation for asylum seekers was in September 2022; and what the average daily number of asylum seekers accommodated in those hotels was in September 2022.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The significant increase in dangerous journeys across the Channel is placing unprecedented strain on our asylum system and it has made it necessary to continue to use hotels to accommodate some asylum seekers. The use of hotels is a short-term solution and we are working hard with local authorities to find appropriate accommodation.
There are currently more than 37,000 asylum seekers in hotels costing the UK taxpayer £5.6 million a day. Occupancy levels vary and the number of people flowing through contingency hotel accommodation in any one month is not recorded.
Statistics relating to supported asylum seekers temporarily residing in contingency accommodation are published as Immigration Statistics under the S98 population tables. The latest publication (March 2022) can be found here Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab), under the document Asylum seekers in receipt of support (second edition)(opens in a new tab).
The Home Office does not publish a breakdown of statistics which disaggregates the number of asylum seekers accommodated in specific types of accommodation. These figures are not available in a reportable format and to provide the information could only be done at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers were accommodated in hotels in September 2022; and what the cost was per person per night, rounded to the nearest £10.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The significant increase in dangerous journeys across the Channel is placing unprecedented strain on our asylum system and it has made it necessary to continue to use hotels to accommodate some asylum seekers. The use of hotels is a short-term solution and we are working hard with local authorities to find appropriate accommodation.
There are currently more than 37,000 asylum seekers in hotels costing the UK taxpayer £5.6 million a day. Occupancy levels vary and the number of people flowing through contingency hotel accommodation in any one month is not recorded.
Statistics relating to supported asylum seekers temporarily residing in contingency accommodation are published as Immigration Statistics under the S98 population tables. The latest publication (March 2022) can be found here Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab), under the document Asylum seekers in receipt of support (second edition)(opens in a new tab).
The Home Office does not publish a breakdown of statistics which disaggregates the number of asylum seekers accommodated in specific types of accommodation. These figures are not available in a reportable format and to provide the information could only be done at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, by what process serious criminal allegations made by asylum seekers accommodated in hotels are reported to her Department.
Answered by Sarah Dines
There are vigorous processes in place to record, manage and monitor any high profile/critical incidents that involve asylum support service users, asylum support accommodation premises or asylum support service providers. This is primarily through the High Profile Notification (HPN) system once an issue is identified by a first responder, which triggers involvement from the relevant emergency services, Asylum Accommodation & Support Contracts (AASC) and provider staff as well as intervention from the departments Safeguarding Hub.
Due to the categorisations currently used, the Home Office does not record this information in a reportable format and to provide the information could only be done at disproportionate cost. We would have to manually investigate various data sources and even then, the figures would be incomplete as individuals are under no obligation to report sexual assault to the Home Office.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of individuals accused of (a) sexual assault and (b) rape against asylum seekers were subsequently removed from those hotels in each of the last four years.
Answered by Sarah Dines
There are vigorous processes in place to record, manage and monitor any high profile/critical incidents that involve asylum support service users, asylum support accommodation premises or asylum support service providers. This is primarily through the High Profile Notification (HPN) system once an issue is identified by a first responder, which triggers involvement from the relevant emergency services, Asylum Accommodation & Support Contracts (AASC) and provider staff as well as intervention from the departments Safeguarding Hub.
Due to the categorisations currently used, the Home Office does not record this information in a reportable format and to provide the information could only be done at disproportionate cost. We would have to manually investigate various data sources and even then, the figures would be incomplete as individuals are under no obligation to report sexual assault to the Home Office.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many allegations of (a) sexual assault and (b) rape have been made by asylum seekers accommodated in hotels in each of the last four years.
Answered by Sarah Dines
There are vigorous processes in place to record, manage and monitor any high profile/critical incidents that involve asylum support service users, asylum support accommodation premises or asylum support service providers. This is primarily through the High Profile Notification (HPN) system once an issue is identified by a first responder, which triggers involvement from the relevant emergency services, Asylum Accommodation & Support Contracts (AASC) and provider staff as well as intervention from the departments Safeguarding Hub.
Due to the categorisations currently used, the Home Office does not record this information in a reportable format and to provide the information could only be done at disproportionate cost. We would have to manually investigate various data sources and even then, the figures would be incomplete as individuals are under no obligation to report sexual assault to the Home Office.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department intends to reply to the correspondence of 29 April 2022 from the hon. Member for Walthamstow, case reference ZA67781.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
I apologise for the delay.
PQ 65741 – The Home Office, UK Visas and Immigration, MP Account Management (MPAM) team and Direct Communications Unit (DCU) have no trace of this enquiry.
PQ 65742 – MPAM reference – MPAM/0441402/22 – The Home Office responded to the correspondence on 19 October 2022.
PQ 65743 – The Home Office, UK Visas and Immigration, MP Account Management (MPAM) team and Direct Communications Unit (DCU) have no trace of this enquiry.
PQ 65744 – MPAM reference – MPAM/0297450/22 – The Home Office responded to the correspondence on 17 May 2022 at an MP Engagement event.