Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what support they provide, if any, to the Family Reunification Network.

Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth

Officials are engaged with the Global Family Reunification Network and attended the annual conference earlier this month which sought to make connections between network members, share information on good practices and review shared challenges.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people in her Department are responsible for making decisions on family reunion cases.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

In 2022 4,473 family reunion visas were issued to partners and children of those granted protection status. Our family reunion policy has granted more than 44,600 family reunion visas since 2015, with over half issued to children.

We will prioritise applications where there is a particularly urgent or compelling reason to do so.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she will take to provide safe routes for family reunification.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The Government already provides a safe and legal route to bring families together through its refugee family reunion policy. This allows the partner and children of those granted protection in the UK to join them here, if they formed part of the family unit before the sponsor fled their country. Our family reunion policy has reunited many refugees with their family members; since 2015 more than 44,659 family reunion visas have been granted.

Our policy also makes clear that there is discretion to grant visas outside the Immigration Rules, which caters for extended family members where there are compelling compassionate factors or relevant factors under Article 8 of European Convention on Human Rights. In addition, there are separate provisions in the Rules such as paragraph 319X to allow extended family to sponsor children to come here where there are serious and compelling circumstances.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on ensuring that the families of asylum seekers are located in areas with services supporting vulnerable children and families.

Answered by Robert Jenrick

The government is working to ensure the needs of asylum seekers on asylum support, including those with dependant family members, are met. We engage with Local Authorities to ensure asylum seekers have access to healthcare and social care services as well as education.

We work closely with the Department for Education. The latest published statistics from the Department for Education, for the year ending 31 March 2022, show there were 5,540 UASC being cared for in England alone, an increase of 34% from the previous reporting year and not reflecting the high intake seen last summer.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what (1) advice, and (2) training, they give to public servants dealing with asylum seekers who have family living in the UK.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

Public servants, including asylum decision making staff, give careful consideration of the protection needs by assessing all the evidence provided by the claimant.

All case working staff receive extensive training on considering asylum claims through our foundation training programme and must follow published Home Office policy guidance when making decisions. The training and guidance cover topics on dependents applying for asylum, child dependents and family asylum claims including those for family and private life.

In addition, an information leaflet is issued to asylum claimants at the point of claim which outlines the asylum process and the claimant’s responsibilities within that process. This information leaflet is periodically reviewed.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many individuals and families did not receive Section 95 support but were granted refugee status in 2021.

Answered by Kevin Foster

The latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of asylum seekers on Asylum Support. These statistics can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets#asylum-support.

The Home Office does not publish a breakdown of these statistics which shows families who did not receive section 95 support and have been granted refugee status in 2021. These figures are not available in a reportable format and to provide the information could only be done at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to preserve the right of familial reunification for asylum seekers regardless of the route of entry into the UK as part of the New Plan for Immigration, published on 24 March.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

We have a proud history of providing protection to those who need it, in-line with our international obligations. But we have been clear that individuals in need of protection should avoid making dangerous journeys and claim asylum in the first safe country they reach – that is the fastest route to safety. The Nationality and Borders Bill will set up a range of measures to deter people from undertaking dangerous journeys via unauthorised routes.

As set out in the New Plan for Immigration, we are committed to review the refugee family reunion rules. Refugee family reunion will only be permitted where refusing would be a breach of our international obligations. In practice, this means refugees will be able to sponsor their spouse or partner and under-18 children if they can show there are insurmountable obstacles to their relationship continuing anywhere other than the UK and it is in the child’s best interests.