Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Spring Budget 2024, HC 560, published on 6 March 2024, how much Barnett Consequential funding Northern Ireland will receive from the announcement on the Household Support Fund.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
As a result of decisions at Spring Budget, the Northern Ireland Executive are now receiving around £100 million in additional funding in 2024-25 through the Barnett formula. The next Block Grant Transparency publication will include a breakdown of the Barnett consequentials for the Northern Ireland Executive from Spring Budget 2024. It is for the Northern Ireland Executive to allocate their resources in devolved areas as they see fit.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much levelling-up funding (a) has been transferred and (b) he plans to transfer to the Northern Ireland Executive as part of the financial settlement with that devolved Administration.
Answered by Jacob Young
The information requested is set out on gov.uk here and here.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the status is of the third round of the Levelling Up Fund in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Jacob Young
The information requested is set out on gov.uk here and here.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reversing the decision to reprofile Fresh Start Funding.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The UK Government is providing the Northern Ireland Executive with a comprehensive £3.3 billion spending settlement.
Within this package, the Government is providing the Northern Ireland Executive with £708 million RDEL to support public services over five years from 2024-25 to 2028-29. This is comprised of £85 million new funding and un-ringfencing £623 million of existing Northern Ireland funding streams.
Within the £708 million, £235 million is ringfenced for transformation and its release is subject to the establishment of a Public Service Transformation Board. The remaining £473 million is un-ringfenced. This means the Executive can choose how to use the funding for its priorities, including continuing projects.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people in Gaza have arrived in the UK following a successful application for a visa as a dependant of someone in the UK on a (a) work and (b) student visa since 7 October 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Border Force does not hold the information in an easily accessible format, therefore the information requested cannot be obtained without disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for visas for Palestinian nationals were (a) rejected and (b) approved in (i) October 2023, (ii) November 2023, (iii) December 2023, (iv) January 2024 and (v) February 2024.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Home Office does not publish data at the level of detail requested, however, we do publish data on entry clearance visas, by nationality, in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on work and sponsored study visas granted are published in table Vis_D02 of the Entry clearance detailed dataset. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relate to 2023 Q4.
Every attempt is made to meet the service level agreement standard, but in certain cases additional checks are required which can mean visa requests take longer to process.
The latest data on performance against service standards is published through migration transparency data and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data#uk-visas-and-immigration(opens in a new tab).
The Home Office also publishes information on visa processing times for applications inside and outside the UK at: Visa processing times - 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, how many people in Gaza are awaiting the results of their applications for a visa as a dependant of someone in the UK on a (a) work and (b) student visa, who applied (i) on and (ii) before 7 October 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Home Office does not publish data at the level of detail requested, however, we do publish data on entry clearance visas, by nationality, in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on work and sponsored study visas granted are published in table Vis_D02 of the Entry clearance detailed dataset. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relate to 2023 Q4.
Every attempt is made to meet the service level agreement standard, but in certain cases additional checks are required which can mean visa requests take longer to process.
The latest data on performance against service standards is published through migration transparency data and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data#uk-visas-and-immigration(opens in a new tab).
The Home Office also publishes information on visa processing times for applications inside and outside the UK at: Visa processing times - 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, how many visas for Palestinian nationals (a) are being processed, (b) have been approved and (c) have been rejected since 1 October 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Home Office does not publish data at the level of detail requested, however, we do publish data on entry clearance visas, by nationality, in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on work and sponsored study visas granted are published in table Vis_D02 of the Entry clearance detailed dataset. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relate to 2023 Q4.
Every attempt is made to meet the service level agreement standard, but in certain cases additional checks are required which can mean visa requests take longer to process.
The latest data on performance against service standards is published through migration transparency data and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data#uk-visas-and-immigration(opens in a new tab).
The Home Office also publishes information on visa processing times for applications inside and outside the UK at: Visa processing times - 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, what the average processing time was for a skilled worker visa in (a) December 2023 and (b) January 2024.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Home Office makes every attempt to meet the service level agreement standard, but in certain cases additional checks are required which can mean visa requests take longer to process.
The latest data on performance against service standards is published through migration transparency data and can be found at: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The Home Office also publishes information on visa processing times for applications inside and outside the UK at: Visa processing times - 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, what guidance his Department has issued on whether Skilled Worker Visa applicants whose overall band score in the IELTS English Language exam satisfies Home Office requirements but one area is below the minimum requirement can be issued with a visa.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
A migrant must pass all elements of an IELTS test, or one of the other English language tests which are acceptable, at the required level for a Skilled Worker visa. Because English Language is a mandatory requirement, there is no such guidance for migrants who fail to meet that requirement.