Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their response to the report by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration An inspection of the policies and practices of the Home Office’s Borders, Immigration and Citizenship Systems relating to charging and fees June 2018–January 2019, published on 4 April, which specific areas they plan to consult on; whether they intend to publish a children’s best interests impact assessment when proposing fees levels and increases; and what is their response to the Chief Inspector’s recommendation that they include consideration of extending eligibility for fee waivers, including for all child Leave to Remain and nationality applications, in a full review of the fee waiver process.

As detailed within the official Home Office response, there are no plans to run a full public consultation. A consultation in specific areas may be useful and we will undertake to do this before we take decisions which would result in fundamental changes to the way the system is funded.

There are no plans to produce a separate children’s best interest impact assessment at this point in time, but as we set out in the Home Office responses to the ICIBI report, we will consider publication of fee-related Policy Equality Statements on a case by case basis going forward.

In respect of the Chief Inspector’s recommendation to consider extending eligibility for fee waivers, the Home Office response is as detailed within the published response. We have recently reviewed the fee waiver policy, invested in recruitment and continued process improvement and also engaged with Local Authorities on how we may identify and, where required, prioritise fee waiver applications from those who are most vulnerable. Current fee levels and policies remain under consideration.