Asked by: Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure that all seasonal worker scheme operators have complied with the requirement that all workers must receive a minimum of 32 hours’ pay for each week of their stay in the UK; and what plans they have, if any, to investigate scheme operator practice to ensure compliance with this requirement.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has a designated Seasonal Worker Scheme (SWS) team that regularly conducts visits to individual farms employing seasonal migrant workers. Checks are undertaken to ensure workers are offered a minimum of 32 hours employment per week and are paid at the appropriate rates.
Scheme operators that are responsible for the recruitment of the migrant workers are obliged to retain records of working hours and wages and these are inspected annually by sponsorship compliance officers. If discrepancies are discovered, then the SWS team will commence action against the respective scheme operator. This can include suspension or revocation of an operator’s licence.
From March 2023 to date, 241 farm visits have been conducted and 1,700 migrant workers interviewed. We will continue to consider how best to tackle labour exploitation in the Seasonal Worker Scheme.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to extend the 28-day move-on period for asylum seekers who have been given the right to remain in the UK.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The government is aware of the need for a smooth exit from asylum accommodation for those asylum seekers who are granted leave to remain, so those individuals can support themselves through employment. We continue to work closely with local government and employment partners, including MHCLG and DWP, on this process.
Asked by: Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the revocation of Ethero’s licence as a scheme operator under the seasonal worker visa scheme, whether that company still holds a Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority licence; and if so, what plans they have to review that licence.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Ethero still hold a GLAA licence and the GLAA are considering appropriate measures in light of the revocation.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many units of accommodation, including hotel rooms, (1) are currently being used to house persons who have submitted claims for asylum in the United Kingdom; and (2) they have reserved or acquired to accommodate those who may yet arrive and seek asylum in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has a statutory obligation to support and accommodate asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute. It does not publish a breakdown of statistics which disaggregates asylum accommodation costs by type.
The total expenditure on asylum is published in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, available at HO annual reports and accounts.
Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including hotels, can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for our most recent stats release at Gov.UK.
The government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly, and fairly including reducing the use of hotels over time. Additionally, the Government will be reviewing current Home Office arrangements to ensure efficiency and deliver value for money.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether it remains their policy to increase the minimum income for spouse/partner visas to £38,700 by 2025.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Secretary has commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to review the financial requirements in the Family Immigration Rules. Conducting a review of the financial requirements across the family routes will ensure we have a clear and consistent system.
There will be no changes to the current threshold of £29,000, or the ways in which the Minimum Income Requirement can be met, until the MAC review is complete.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to increasing asylum support payments.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has a legal obligation to meet the essential living needs of destitute asylum seekers. Support is usually provided in the form of accommodation and a weekly allowance. The level of the allowance is reviewed each year to ensure it covers an asylum seeker’s “essential living needs”.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what financial provision has been made in the current financial year to provide (1) accommodation, and (2) food and provisions, to those currently awaiting a response to applications for asylum in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has a statutory obligation to support and accommodate asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute. It does not publish a breakdown of statistics which disaggregates asylum accommodation costs by type.
The total expenditure on asylum is published in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, available at HO annual reports and accounts.
Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including hotels, can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for our most recent stats release at Gov.UK.
The government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly, and fairly including reducing the use of hotels over time. Additionally, the Government will be reviewing current Home Office arrangements to ensure efficiency and deliver value for money.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum seekers are currently being accommodated in (1) England, (2) Scotland, (3) Wales and (4) Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has a statutory obligation to support and accommodate asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute. It does not publish a breakdown of statistics which disaggregates asylum accommodation costs by type.
The total expenditure on asylum is published in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, available at HO annual reports and accounts.
Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including hotels, can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for our most recent stats release at Gov.UK.
The government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly, and fairly including reducing the use of hotels over time. Additionally, the Government will be reviewing current Home Office arrangements to ensure efficiency and deliver value for money.
Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum seekers have arrived illegally in the UK by small boats since 5 July; and what is the breakdown of those arrivals by (1) nationality, (2) gender, and (3) age.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes daily small boat arrival figures in the ‘Small boat activity in the English Channel’ transparency release on gov.uk; however, this includes all small boat arrivals, not just those who have claimed asylum.
The Home Office also publishes statistics on small boat arrivals to the UK in the ‘Irregular migration to the UK statistics’ release on gov.uk. Data on asylum applications from small boat arrivals, by nationality, sex, and age, is published in table Irr_D02 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed datasets’, with the latest data up to the end of June 2024. Data on asylum applications from small boat arrivals for July to September 2024 will be published in November 2024.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the recent publication of the Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals, Great Britain 2023, whether they have considered the merits of legislative action such as 'Herbie's Law', to support a further decrease in the number of scientific procedures performed on living animals and to support the long-term phase-out of animal experiments in medical research by 2035.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) is leading on plans to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of alternatives to animal testing.
As yet, no assessment has been made of the potential merits of introducing Herbie’s Law.