Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will consult with the Scottish Government ahead of the appointment of the new Investigatory Powers Commissioner.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The appointment of the Investigatory Powers Commissioner is subject to a statutory process set out in section 227 of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016. The Prime Minister must appoint a person who holds or has held high judicial office, and the candidate must be recommended jointly by the Lord Chancellor, (b) the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, (c) the Lord President of the Court of Session, and (d) the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland.
Section 227(5) of the Act provides that the Prime Minster must consult with Scottish Ministers before making the appointment. In 2017, the Prime Minister wrote to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice within the Scottish Government about the proposed appointment of the first Commissioner.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions he had with the Scottish Government before the appointment of the first Investigatory Powers Commissioner in 2017.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The appointment of the Investigatory Powers Commissioner is subject to a statutory process set out in section 227 of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016. The Prime Minister must appoint a person who holds or has held high judicial office, and the candidate must be recommended jointly by the Lord Chancellor, (b) the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, (c) the Lord President of the Court of Session, and (d) the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland.
Section 227(5) of the Act provides that the Prime Minster must consult with Scottish Ministers before making the appointment. In 2017, the Prime Minister wrote to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice within the Scottish Government about the proposed appointment of the first Commissioner.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make it his policy to waive fees charged for people applying for renewal of leave to remain.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Fees can be waived for applications for leave to remain and renewal of leave to remain in certain specified human rights categories. These are listed in the fee waiver: Human Rights–Based and other specified applica-tions guidance which can be found at www.homeoffice.gov.uk.
Where the application fee is waived the biometric enrolment fee is also waived. The Government has no plans to introduce a general waiver from paying the biometric enrolment fee for applicants who are resubmitting their biometrics.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make it his policy to abolish his Department's requirement for additional English language tests for applicants (a) seeking renewal of leave to remain and (b) who have already passed the first English language test.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
We expect those coming to the UK on a family visa with only basic English to become more fluent over time, to support their integration.
A2 level English language requirement under the family Immigration Rules applies to applications for further temporary leave to remain as a partner or parent, after 30 months in the UK on a five-year route to settlement.
Tests that exceed the required A1 level on entry to the partner or parent route, met at A2 level or above, may be re-used at the next application stage.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make it his policy to waive fees charged to people who are re-submitting biometrics as part of their leave to remain application.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Fees can be waived for applications for leave to remain and renewal of leave to remain in certain specified human rights categories. These are listed in the fee waiver: Human Rights–Based and other specified applica-tions guidance which can be found at www.homeoffice.gov.uk.
Where the application fee is waived the biometric enrolment fee is also waived. The Government has no plans to introduce a general waiver from paying the biometric enrolment fee for applicants who are resubmitting their biometrics.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many non-UK citizens in Glasgow South constituency will be required to apply for (a) settled and (b) temporary status as outlined in the Government's November 2017 technical note, citizens' rights, administrative procedures in the UK.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
All EU nationals and their family members living lawfully in the UK before the specified date will be eligible to apply for status. Subject to security checks, applicants who are able to evidence five years’ continuous lawful residence will be given settled status; those who do not will receive a temporary status to enable them to accrue five years’ residence and qualify for settled status in due course.
As our reply to HC1275 states, the Home Office does not hold any data on the numbers of EU citizens in Glasgow who may have to apply for settled status. The same is true of temporary status.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what evidence EU citizens not yet able to establish the five years' continuous residence necessary to obtain settled status but who were resident before the specified date will have to provide to ensure that they will be given temporary status.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Home Office will set out in due course what evidence may be provided. We are committed to creating a streamlined and user-friendly applications system using existing government data to minimise the burden of documentary evidence required.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of allowing businesses and their representative bodies who obtain licensed sponsor status the ability to issue directly certificates of sponsorship for workers.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Businesses who are licensed sponsors may already directly assign certificates of sponsorship to workers. The exception is where the Tier 2 (General) annual limit applies, in which cases employers must request certificates under a monthly allocation. This ensures that places go to workers with the skills most in need and who will make the greatest economic contributions.
The entity sponsoring the worker needs to be sufficiently aware of their activities – that means the employer, rather than a representative body, is best suited to be the sponsor.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of processing settled status claims for EU citizens.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
As with other areas of the immigration system, we aim to keep costs to the taxpayer to a minimum by charging the applicant a fee.
We recognise the cost of the new settled status application will be important for EU citizens, and intend to set fees at a reasonable level. Delivery options will be subject to negotiation with the EU so it is not currently possible to provide an estimate of the cost to the public purse.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of EU citizens who have immigrated to Glasgow since 29 March 2017.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Government’s policy paper (Cm 9464), which was laid before Parliament on 26 June, proposes that EU citizens who arrive in the UK before the specified date, have five years’ continuous residence and who do not breach the requirements in relation to criminality, public policy and public security, will be able to apply for UK settled status.
This is a fair and serious offer, and EU citizens granted settled status will be free to reside in any capacity and undertake any lawful activity. We also intend to treat EU citizens with settled status in the same way as if they were UK citizens for the purposes of education, benefits and pensions.
This will be subject to negotiations and a reciprocal deal with the EU.
The Home Office does not hold any data on the numbers of EU citizens in Glasgow who may have to apply for settled status. No estimate has been made of the number of EU citizens who have immigrated to Glasgow since 29 March 2017.