Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to grant a further extension to the Ministerial Authorisation under the Equality Act 2010: Equality (arrangements for grants of leave to Ukrainian nationals).
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We are considering options and any announcements will be made in due course.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Ukrainians received a leave outside the immigration rules stamp (a) in total across UK ports, (b) at Drumkeen House and (c) at Belfast International Airport since March 2022.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Ukraine scheme applicants who have travelled with a permission to travel letter, and some Ukrainians who have arrived at UK ports or attended Drumkeen House in Belfast, have received a leave outside the rules immigration stamp. Due to the nature of this process and how it is recorded, we are unable to provide an accurate breakdown of the information requested without incurring disproportionate cost.
The Ukraine schemes have welcomed or extended sanctuary in the UK to over 220,000 Ukrainians and their eligible family members. The latest statistics can be found here: Ukraine Family Scheme, Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine) and Ukraine Extension Scheme visa data – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the validity requirements for the Ukraine Extension Scheme set out in the Immigration Rules Appendix Ukraine Scheme, if he will amend the date by which applicants must have received permission to enter or stay in the UK from 16 November 2023 to May 2024.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Ukraine Extension Scheme was established in March 2022 to enable Ukrainian nationals and their close family members already in the UK, with permission (or where that permission has recently expired), to remain in the UK. To qualify for permission under the UES a customer must either hold permission to be in the UK on or between 18 March 2022 and 16 November 2023 or have previously held permission to be in the UK which expired on or after 1 January 2022. Those who have been granted permission by 16 November 2023 will have until 16 May 2024 to submit an application under the UES.
We are keeping the need for a possible extension of permission to remain for those here on our Ukraine schemes under consistent review in line with the ongoing conflict.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Oral Statement of 4 December 2023 on Legal Migration, Official Report, column 41, what his Department's policy is on the additional household income threshold requirements per child in that household.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The revised minimum income requirement will be implemented in spring 2024.
The Government will set out any transitional provisions associated with this increase in January.
Any applications already submitted will be considered in line with the existing policy.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers who had been transferred from Larne House in Northern Ireland to a longer-term holding facility in Britain were released into a hotel in England in the last six months.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
We do not publish the information requested. This is because the information is not available in a reportable format and providing this information could only be done at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of trialling community-based alternatives to detention for asylum seekers in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Recent independent evaluations of two Home Office funded pilot projects in the UK found no definitive evidence that community-based case management focused alternatives to immigration detention led to the quicker resolution of individual cases nor represented better value for money. We therefore have no plans to progress any further community-based case management focused alternatives to immigration detention.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers in Northern Ireland were (a) taken into Larne House short-term holding facility and (b) transferred to a longer-term detention centre in Britain in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
We do not publish the information requested. This is because the information is not available in a reportable format and providing this information could only be done at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress the Government has made on resettling 20,000 people from Afghanistan since January 2022.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Quarterly data on resettlement arrivals may be viewed within the latest Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) (published on 24 August 2023).
The latest published statistics show that both the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) and the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) have resettled a total of 21,526 people since the schemes began to operate.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2023 to Question 197102 on Electronic Travel Authorisations: Impact Assessments, if he will make an Impact Assessment of Electronic Travel Authorisation that differentiates between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA): Impact Assessment (IA) considers the impact to the UK as a whole. The IA does not differentiate between countries or regions as it is the intention that the ETA scheme applies to the UK as a whole.
The Government remains committed to working with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure the ETA requirement is communicated effectively to help mitigate against any risk of it being seen as an increased barrier to cross-border tourism on the island of Ireland.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Electronic Travel Authorisation: Impact Assessment, updated on 16 June 2023, whether her Department has conducted any Northern Ireland-specific analysis.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Impact Assessment considers the impact to the UK as a whole, It does not differentiate between countries or regions.