Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral statement of 23 April 2018, Official Report, column 619, on Windrush, what progress his Department has made on setting up a new customer contact centre.

UK Visas and Immigration continues to work towards providing a World Class Customer Service. To that end, insight and feedback are used continuously to improve our services. Where an application is made in the UK, customers can contact our in-country contact centre and are provided with information about the Immigration Rules and the requirements of the Points Based System.

In addition to the established contact system, since the commitments mentioned by the Hon. Member on 23^rd April, several improved services have been introduced. These include a Customer Resolution Centre for our EU Settlement Scheme to proactively support EU citizens through the application process and in April 2018 we also formed a dedicated, free, helpline for those individuals who are part of the Windrush generation and wish to seek the help of the Windrush Taskforce.

Since 6^th August we have also been piloting a dedicated service through the Citizens Advice in Bolton and our Croydon Contact Centre for customers who need more in-depth information regarding their immigration applications.