Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of visa applicants that used the (a) priority and (b) super priority service were (i) granted a visa and (ii) refunded due to missed deadlines in each of the last five years.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office publishes data on Entry clearance visas in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’ (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release).
Data on visa applicants using the Priority and Super Priority services can be found in VSI_02 of the Visa and Citizenship Transparency data (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/immigration-system-statistics-data-tables#entry-clearance-visas-granted-outside-the-uk.) The latest data relates to Q4 2023 (October to December).
Information on the number of applicants refunded due to missed deadlines is not published or held in a reportable format.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has plans to establish a fund to facilitate the (a) purchase and (b) installation of infrastructure required to commence checks as part of the EU’s Entry Exit System at juxtaposed borders; and whether he has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer ahead of the Spring Budget on the potential merits of such a fund being established.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government continues to work with port owners and operators including the Port of Dover, Eurotunnel and Eurostar / HighSpeed1 (St Pancras) to understand the impacts of EES and support their plans to mitigate these; however, it is ultimately for EU Member States and operators to implement and fund requirements associated with EES.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had recent discussions with the (a) French Government and (b) European Commission on the potential merits of developing an app to streamline checks required as part of the EU Entry/Exit System at juxtaposed borders.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government engages regularly with both the European Commission and the French Government on EES implementation through both officials and ministers. We understand that the Commission are developing an EES app but it will be for individual Member States to decide when this becomes available for use.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of Skilled Worker visas were issued to people classified as new entrants eligible for employment at reduced minimum salary thresholds in the most recent 12 months for which data is available.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office publishes data on sponsored work visas by occupation in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on work visas granted, by occupation, are published in table Occ_D02 of the sponsored work visas by occupation and industry dataset. Applications classified as ‘new entrants’ form a subset of this 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.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many nationals from (a) Bahrain, (b) Kuwait, (c) Oman, (d) the United Arab Emirates, (e) Saudi Arabia, (f) Jordan and (g) Qatar have (i) applied for and (ii) been granted an Electronic Travel Authorisation since 1 February 2024.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office publishes data on Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) in the `How many people come to the UK each year (including visitors)?` topic of the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. In 2023 quarter 4 (October to December), there were 12,190 applications for ETA and 12,076 grants. All applications were for Qatari nationals. The latest data relates up to the end of December 2023. Statistics for Jan-Mar 2024, including information on the nationalities who require an ETA to enter the UK, will be published in the May edition of the Immigration System Statistics.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have entered the UK with an Electronic Travel Authorisation since 22 February 2024.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office publishes data on Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) in the `How many people come to the UK each year (including visitors)?` topic of the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. In 2023 quarter 4 (October to December), there were 12,190 applications for ETA and 12,076 grants. All applications were for Qatari nationals. The latest data relates up to the end of December 2023. Statistics for Jan-Mar 2024, including information on the nationalities who require an ETA to enter the UK, will be published in the May edition of the Immigration System Statistics.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2024 to Question 7579 on Asylum:Rwanda, if he will publish his plans for future flights between the UK and Rwanda for the purposes of relocating asylum seekers under the UK-Rwanda treaty on provision of an asylum partnership; and whether he has made an estimate of the cost of such flights over the next two years.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
These discussions are commercially sensitive and therefore we will not be providing a running commentary on them.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has prepared contingency plans for relocating asylum seekers to Rwanda if a commercial airline cannot be found to operate flights.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
These discussions are commercially sensitive and therefore we will not be providing a running commentary on them.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of its policy on removing asylum seekers from the UK to Rwanda on the number of (a) English Channel crossings in small boats by asylum seekers and (b) asylum seekers undertaking small boat crossings in the next two years; and on what evidential basis the policy was introduced.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The Home Office is committed to ending people smuggling, and the Migration and Economic Development Partnership between the UK and Rwanda is part of a suite of measures aimed at dismantling the business model of organised crime gangs.
The Ministerial direction letter (April 2022) can be found here:- Letter from Matthew Rycroft to Rt Hon Priti Patel (accessible) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2024 to Question 13119 on Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority: Finance, what the total budget for the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority is for the financial year 2024-25.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The total budget for the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority for the financial year of 2024/25 has been set and will be formally communicated to the public body via the annual delegation letter. This allocation for 2024/25 has already been provided to the GLAA for planning purposes and totals £6.265m.