Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to ensure that Border Force has (a) resources and (b) processes in place at airports after the end of the transition period from 1 January 2021.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Border Force is continuing to build a pipeline of resource required to meet end of Transition requirements. In addition to c.900 officers recruited prior to FY 20/21, Border Force are currently recruiting an additional c.1100 staff - c.670 of these are required for the end of the Transition Period, with the remainder being recruited to be ready for the completion of phased border controls in July 2021.
Border Force is ensuring maximum flexibility in its recruitment and deployment model, including increasing the size of its mobile Readiness Taskforce to c.400 staff, which will enable swift deployment of staff to respond to peaks and pressures as they occur.
Border Force is confident that resources will meet the anticipated overall operational requirements by the end of December. This will be primarily through permanent recruitment, with any gaps filled through contingency routes.
In addition to providing comprehensive training to all new starters, Border Force is also currently delivering a programme of training for existing staff covering changes to policy and processes at the end of the Transition Period.
It is though worth noting international passenger travel has been greatly reduced by restrictions implemented worldwide in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's guidance, Coronavirus (COVID-19): immigration guidance, updated on 27 February 2020, whether (a) Hong Kong nationals and (b) British National (Overseas) passport holders are eligible to have their visas automatically extended.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Hong Kong Nationals, British National (Overseas) Passport holders and foreign nationals in the UK legally and whose visa expired after 24 January are able to extend their visa using this form https://gov.smartwebportal.co.uk/homeoffice/public/ho_form.html if they cannot leave the UK because of restrictions related to coronavirus.
The extension will last until 31 July and will apply to anyone whose leave expired after the 24 January and cannot leave the country because of travel restrictions or self-isolation. To help those who want to apply for visas to stay in the UK long-term, the Home Office is also temporarily expanding the in-country switching provisions until 31 July. Those who already had their visa extended to 31 May 2020, will have their visa extended automatically to 31 July 2020.
A dedicated help centre has been established for those who need assistance. The best way to contact the helpline is via email on CIH@homeoffice.gov.uk or on 0800 678 1767. It is open 9am-5pm Monday to Friday. Those who contact the Home Office for these visa extensions will be expected to return to their home countries as soon as possible once flight and border restrictions are lifted. No immigration enforcement action will be undertaken during this time for those who email the Home Office as outlined above.
More details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/further-visa-extensions-for-those-unable-to-return-home-due-to-coronavirus
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many British National Overseas passport holders there were in Hong Kong in each year since the introduction of that category of passport; whether she plans to review the rights afforded to those passport holders; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Kevin Foster
We are unable to provide data on the volume of British National (Overseas) passports in circulation (valid) prior to 31 December 2015 as the data could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
We do not hold data on the number of British National Overseas passport holder’s resident in Hong Kong. The table below contains information on the number of British National (Overseas) passports in circulation from 2015 to 2019.
Year | Nationality Description | Number of passports (Volume) |
31 December 2015 | British National (Overseas) | 143,219 |
31 December 2016 | British National (Overseas) | 152,351 |
31 December 2017 | British National (Overseas) | 158,107 |
31 December 2018 | British National (Overseas) | 169,653 |
31 December 2019 | British National (Overseas) | 314,779 |
BN(O) status is part of the delicate balance in negotiations that led to the Sino-British Joint Declaration. We believe it would not be right to change the legal status of BN(O)s at this point in time.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of British National (Overseas) passport holders who (a) applied for asylum in the UK and (b) were successfully granted (i) refugee or (ii) humanitarian protection status between 2015 and 2019.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office publishes data on asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release
Data on the number of asylum applications from British National (Overseas), and the initial decisions of such applications are published in tables Asy_D01 and Asy_D02 of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets
Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to year ending September 2019. Additionally, the Home Office publishes a high-level overview of the data in the ‘summary tables’. The ‘contents’ sheet contains an overview of all available data on asylum.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-statistics?content_store_document_type=upcoming_statistics&organisations%5B%5D=home-office&order=release-date-oldest
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress she has made on her Departments review of the restrictions that prevent asylum seekers from working.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Asylum seeker right to work is a complex issue and it is crucial we take the time to get this right. We are listening carefully to the arguments and considering the evidence put forward on the issue. Work on the review is ongoing.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the Migration Advisory Committee’s January 2020 report on a points-based system and salary threshold for immigration.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Following the UK’s exit from the European Union and the end of free movement, we will deliver a new points-based immigration system that allows us to attract the brightest and best talent from around the world and works for all parts of the UK.
The independent Migration Advisory Committee published its report on salary thresholds and the points-based system on the 28 January. We will consider carefully its findings and recommendations before taking any final decisions.
We will set out proposals for the future immigration system in the near future.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has a single individual who is responsible for leading her Department's application of the Family Test.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Government is committed to supporting families, including by tackling the scourge of domestic abuse and reducing the high harm of crime to our society.
The Home Office has a Family Test lead responsible for how the Family Test is applied. They are part of the Family Test Network, a cross-government forum to improve coordination and implementation.
This includes feeding into improvements to the existing guidance for officials in all departments on the Family Test.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the (a) number of illegal migrants who have entered the UK by crossing the English Channel and (b) proportion of such migrants that have been returned to France in the last 12 months.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Information regarding migrants crossing the English Channel was provided to the Home Affairs Select Committee on 5 March 2019 which gave the number of migrants detected entering the UK by small boats from January 2018 to February 2019 as 428.
On 22 July 2019 the then Home Secretary Sajid Javid provided an additional figure to Home Affairs Select Committee that up to 21 July 2019 725 migrants had crossed the English Channel.
Over 125 people who arrived on small boats have been returned to Europe.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 2 October 2019 to Question 293633 on Immigration: EU Nationals, what estimate she has made of the proportion of settled status applications that are not completed within the five working days target.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Our aim is to process all applications to the Scheme as expeditiously as possible. The majority of applications are concluded within 5 working days.
The following link lists the expected processing times for EU Settlement Scheme applications, based on current performance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-settlement-scheme-application-processing-times/eu-settlement-scheme-pilot-current-expected-processing-times-for-applications.
However, it is likely to take longer in the following instances:
Overall, the total number of applications that have been concluded, as of 30 September 2019, was more than 1.5 million (1,524,500). Of these, 61% were granted settled status, 38% were granted pre-settled status.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the (a) number of illegal migrants who have entered the UK by crossing the English Channel and (b) proportion of such migrants that have been returned to France in the last 12 months.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.