Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether special provisions will be made in cases where children pass their 18th birthdays while waiting for the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme to come into effect.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Through the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), the UK will relocate up to 20,000 people at risk, including women and girls and minority groups, so they can rebuild their lives in safety. The scheme is not yet open and remains under development; however, we would anticipate that those resettled will include children within family units. Additionally, unaccompanied children in the region may be offered resettlement where it is determined that resettlement to the UK is in their best interests and they have been identified as eligible for the scheme.
Further information on the eligibility, prioritisation and referral of people for the ACRS is set out in the policy statement published on gov.uk on 13 September, available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/afghanistan-resettlement-and-immigration-policy-statement
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the process is for a local authority to move an evacuated Afghan family from the hotel accommodation they have been placed in into a home that has been found by the local authority and meets the family’s needs.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
We are working at pace across government and with local authorities to source appropriate accommodation for Afghan families who were evacuated to the UK. The emergency circumstances of Operation Pitting meant that we were not able to secure long term accommodation for people as we would have liked before they flew to the UK.
Once properties are identified and referred to the Home Office, a matching exercise is undertaken which allows us to offer the property to a suitable family. Where possible, we will match families from local bridging hotels allowing them to remain in the area where they may have started to form connections and settle.
The local authority provide a formal occupancy date and arrangements are made to transport the family into their new home. The process of matching homes to families requires careful attention to detail but we are working to move people as quickly as possible when properties become available.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has plans to update birth certificates to enable parents of the same sex to register the birth of their child.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953, and associated regulations, prescribes the information to be recorded in a birth entry in England and Wales. The information collected during a birth registration relates to the event as it happened at the time the child was born and includes information about the mother who has carried and given birth to them.
Same-sex female couples can register their child’s birth to include both their names, subject to certain conditions being met. There are no current plans to change the information relating to parents recorded in a birth entry in England and Wales, however same-sex male couples can obtain a parental order from the court to be registered as parents.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many criminals and terrorists have been identified as applying for the support available to victims of modern slavery since 2016.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
There is more information on referrals available at: Modern Slavery: National Referral Mechanism and Duty to Notify statistics UK, end of year summary 2020 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
There is also information available on issues (including modern slavery) raised by people in immigration detention available at: Issues raised by people facing return in immigration detention - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2021 to Question 20434, what impact assessment she has conducted on people being unable to retrospectively amend their birth certificates to include two same-sex parents.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The birth certificate records the facts as collected at the time of registration.
The General Register Office has not therefore conducted an impact assessment on people being unable to retrospectively amend their birth certificates
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to enable birth certificates to be retrospectively amended to include both parents who are of the same sex; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Kevin Foster
There are no current plans to assess the merits of retrospectively amending birth certificates for this purpose.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending the Licensing Act 2003 guidance in order to make a licence for the sale of alcohol contingent on the requirement for the licensee to have a policy on responding to risk of or actual sexual misconduct and assault in premises.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government is committed to tackling and preventing all forms of sexual misconduct and assault.
Under the Licensing Act 2003, all licensed premises must comply with four statutory licensing objectives, one of which is the prevention of crime and disorder. Where there are concerns about an application for a licence arising from the way the premises propose to operate, the customers it will attract, or the incidence of sexual offences in its area, a licensing committee may decide to place conditions on its licence requiring measures to prevent sexual offending.
We continue to focus on establishing effective partnerships between the police, local authorities, local partnership schemes and businesses to take effective actions against alcohol-related crime in the night time economy and on licensed premises.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will assess the potential merits of amending the immigration rules to give officials the power in exceptional circumstances to waive the need to have been in the UK at the start of the qualifying period for naturalisation.
Answered by Kevin Foster
On 24 March 2021, as part of the New Plan for Immigration, the Home Secretary announced several proposed changes to British nationality law.
These included a proposal to allow the requirement to have been in the UK at the start of the qualifying period to be waived in exceptional circumstances
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration findings in his inspection of the use of contingency hotel accommodation and from site visits to Penally Camp and Napier Barracks of 15 February 2021, what mental health support is being provided to asylum seekers who are or were residents of either of those sites.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The use of contingency accommodation continues to be essential as we work to fix the broken asylum system. We must ensure our statutory obligations can always be met and ensuring we treat all asylum seekers humanely and with the dignity they deserve.
Penally provided emergency capacity in response to pressures put on the asylum estate during the pandemic. As those pressures have eased, we have decided not to extend emergency planning permission beyond six months and close Penally. Napier Barracks will remain in operation in accordance with current needs.
The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration announced an inspection of contingency asylum accommodation on 25 January 2021. The department acknowledges the ICIBI’s decision to publish on 8 March the initial findings from site visits to Napier Barracks and Penally.
The ICIBI’s inspection continues and a full inspection report will follow. The duration of the inspection is a matter for the ICIBI and upon its conclusion, following standard procedure set out in the UK Borders Act 2007, the Department will issue a formal response alongside the inspection report as it is laid before Parliament and published on Gov.UK.
Napier is being used to accommodate single, adult males. All asylum seekers are subject to an initial screening process by UK Visas and Immigration, which includes security and safeguarding checks and we are taking great care to ensure those with identified vulnerabilities are moved to appropriate accommodation. We will also take swift action in relation to any new safeguarding issues as they emerge (for example the identification of previously unknown vulnerabilities). Further checks are made, to confirm suitability for transfer to the accommodation, before individuals are moved to sites and asylum seekers will be briefed by the accommodation provider in advance of their move.
We work closely with our accommodation providers to ensure all asylum seekers in supported accommodation are aware of, and have access to, Migrant Help’s helpline. This service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, if individuals need help, advice or guidance, including signposting to relevant mental and medical health services.
Regular welfare checks are conducted on individuals, including behavioural monitoring of those who show signs of vulnerability, and where appropriate safeguarding referrals are made to relevant bodies.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration's key findings from site visits to Penally Camp and Napier Barracks on 15 February 2021, what the safeguarding procedures and requirements are for housing asylum seekers in contingency accommodation.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The use of contingency accommodation continues to be essential as we work to fix the broken asylum system. We must ensure our statutory obligations can always be met and ensuring we treat all asylum seekers humanely and with the dignity they deserve.
Penally provided emergency capacity in response to pressures put on the asylum estate during the pandemic. As those pressures have eased, we have decided not to extend emergency planning permission beyond six months and close Penally. Napier Barracks will remain in operation in accordance with current needs.
The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration announced an inspection of contingency asylum accommodation on 25 January 2021. The department acknowledges the ICIBI’s decision to publish on 8 March the initial findings from site visits to Napier Barracks and Penally.
The ICIBI’s inspection continues and a full inspection report will follow. The duration of the inspection is a matter for the ICIBI and upon its conclusion, following standard procedure set out in the UK Borders Act 2007, the Department will issue a formal response alongside the inspection report as it is laid before Parliament and published on Gov.UK.
Napier is being used to accommodate single, adult males. All asylum seekers are subject to an initial screening process by UK Visas and Immigration, which includes security and safeguarding checks and we are taking great care to ensure those with identified vulnerabilities are moved to appropriate accommodation. We will also take swift action in relation to any new safeguarding issues as they emerge (for example the identification of previously unknown vulnerabilities). Further checks are made, to confirm suitability for transfer to the accommodation, before individuals are moved to sites and asylum seekers will be briefed by the accommodation provider in advance of their move.
We work closely with our accommodation providers to ensure all asylum seekers in supported accommodation are aware of, and have access to, Migrant Help’s helpline. This service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, if individuals need help, advice or guidance, including signposting to relevant mental and medical health services.
Regular welfare checks are conducted on individuals, including behavioural monitoring of those who show signs of vulnerability, and where appropriate safeguarding referrals are made to relevant bodies.