Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has recruited additional staff to assist with the potential increased workload from the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy.

The Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) launched on 1 April 2021. Under the policy, any current or former locally employed staff in Afghanistan who are assessed to be under serious threat to life are offered priority relocation to the UK regardless of their employment status, rank or role, or length of time served.

Since 1 April, the MOD and Home Office have relocated around 7,000 former Afghan locally employed staff and their families to the UK, including those relocated as part of HMG’s evacuation from Afghanistan.

The overwhelming majority of those eligible for the ARAP scheme have now been evacuated. The scheme is an enduring commitment and will remain open for anyone who is eligible.

Resourcing has been increased substantially to support implementation of the ARAP scheme and ensure that any impact on existing application processing times is mitigated.