Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Department's press release entitled 100th asylum hotel set to close next week, published on 20 March 2024, how many of the 100 hotels closed by the end of March 2024 were used to accommodate personnel relocating through the (a) Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy and (b) Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme and their families.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
None of the 100 hotels were used to accommodate people relocating through the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy or the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme.
Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation (including in contingency hotels and other contingency accommodation) is published in table Asy_D11 here: Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Data is published on a quarterly basis. The Home Office does not publish a breakdown of statistics which disaggregates the number of hotels used to house asylum seekers by region or constituency.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of the report by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration entitled An inspection of contingency asylum accommodation for asylum seeking families with children in Northern Ireland, published on 29 February 2024.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The former Independent Chief Inspector of Borders Immigration has identified several areas for improvement and made 5 recommendations. The Home Office has fully accepted two and partially accepted three recommendations.
Work is already underway to take forward the recommendations in this report to ensure that we continue to meet not only our statutory obligations in Northern Ireland, but also to support the delivery of the Home Office’s broader aims in the UK, in response to the findings.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the backlog of court cases in Bury South constituency.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
We are pursuing a number of measures at a national level that will contribute to the reduction of cases in the Bury South constituency, to tackle the outstanding caseload across all jurisdictions.
Over 90% of all criminal cases are heard at the magistrates’ court, where we heard 100,000 cases a month on average across 2023. While the outstanding caseload in the magistrates’ courts has slightly increased in recent months due to an increase in the number of cases coming to court, the caseload remains well below its pandemic peak and stood at 353,900 at the end of September 2023, and cases continue to be progressed quickly.
To aid our efforts in the magistrates’ courts, we have invested over £1 million in a programme of work to support the recruitment of new magistrates, and launched a new marketing campaign to target a more diverse pool of potential magistrates and raise the overall profile of the magistracy.
At the Crown Court, we remain committed to reducing the outstanding caseload.
We have introduced a raft of measures to achieve this aim. We are on course to deliver over 100,000 sitting days this year for the third financial year running, alongside recruiting more than 1,000 judges across all jurisdictions.
Judges have worked tirelessly to complete more cases, with disposals up by 9% during Q3 in 2023 compared to Q4 in 2022 (25,700 compared to 23,700). However, an increase in cases coming before the Crown Court throughout 2023 has caused the outstanding caseload to increase, and it stood at 66,500 at the end of September 2023.
Data on the outstanding caseload at Crown Court centre level is published by the Ministry of Justice on a quarterly basis. Receipts, disposals and the outstanding caseload for individual Crown Court centres can be found at: Criminal court statistics quarterly: July to September 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
We are also investing more in our criminal courts. In August 2023, we announced we are investing £220 million for essential modernisation and repair work of our court buildings across the next two years, up to March 2025.
In the Family Court, we are working closely with system partners to drive forward a cross-cutting programme of work to address delays and inefficiencies in the system and to ensure cases are ready to be heard when they reach court.
We are committed to meeting the 26-week statutory requirement for public law cases, and the Government is investing an extra £10 million to develop new initiatives to support this.
In addition, we remain committed to supporting more families to reach agreement on their children and finance arrangements earlier and, where appropriate, without court involvement. As of February 2024, over 25,400 families have successfully used the Family Mediation Voucher Scheme to attempt to resolve their disputes outside of court. We are investing up to £23.6 million, which we intend will allow for its continuation up to March 2025.
With regards to civil cases, we are taking action to ensure those that do need to go to trial are dealt with quickly. We have launched the biggest ever judicial recruitment drive for District Judges, are digitising court processes and holding more remote hearings, and are increasing the use of mediation.
We announced in July 2023 that we would introduce a requirement for small claims in the county court to attend a mediation session with the Small Claims Mediation Service, starting with specified money claims. This requirement will start in the spring and is expected to help parties resolve their dispute swiftly and consensually without the need for a judicial hearing.
With regards to tribunals, we continue to work with the Department for Business and Trade on further measures to address caseloads in the Employment Tribunal, where the deployment of legal officers, recruitment of additional judges and a new electronic case management system have already contributed to the caseload falling and remaining below its pandemic peak.
We are working on completing the programme of reform in the Immigration and Asylum Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal, and the judiciary have recently introduced a virtual region pilot to provide additional judicial capacity and flexibility in how appeals are heard and disposed of.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what dates he plans to publish the inspections completed by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration on (a) Country of Origin Information – Thematic review of statelessness, (b) Afghan resettlement schemes, (c) ePassport gates, (d) the use of powers to deprive British nationals of citizenship, (e) contingency asylum accommodation for families with children in Northern Ireland, (f) Border Force operations at Portsmouth International Port, (g) Border Force’s fast parcel operations, (h) Border Force practices and procedures in relation to firearms, (i) the use of hotels for housing unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, (j) illegal working enforcement activity, (k) country of origin information, Albania and Pakistan, (l) asylum casework and (m) the immigration system as it relates to the social care sector.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The department takes every inspection report seriously and considers the findings and recommendations carefully. This can sometimes mean the publication process is longer than expected. We will publish the reports in due course.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the contribution by the Minister for Immigration to the debate on Safe Asylum Routes: Afghan Refugees of 17 October 2023, official report, column 54WH, what progress he has made with Cabinet colleagues on reuniting Afghans evacuated under Operation Pitting in August 2021 with family members.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The government remains committed to providing protection for vulnerable and at-risk people fleeing Afghanistan. The situation is complex and presents significant challenges, including how those who are eligible for resettlement in the UK can leave the country. This includes eligible immediate family members of those being resettled under the ACRS.
For those evacuated from Afghanistan under ACRS P1 without their immediate family members, the Home Secretary has committed to establishing a route for separated families to be reunited. We expect to receive referrals in the first half of 2024.
Individuals remaining in Afghanistan or elsewhere are not obliged to wait for the pathway for eligible family members of ACRS P1 to open. Appendix FM, for example, provides a route for those seeking to enter the UK on the basis of their family life.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to help reduce court backlogs.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
We have taken your question to mean what steps are being taken to tackle the outstanding caseload across all jurisdictions.
At the Crown Court, we remain committed to reducing the outstanding caseload at the Crown Court and have introduced a raft of measures to achieve this aim. We funded over 100,000 sitting days last financial year and plan to deliver the same again this financial year. Thanks to our investment in judicial recruitment, we expect to have recruited more than 1,000 judges by the end of this financial year.
We are also investing more in our courts. In August 2023, we announced we are investing £220 million for essential modernisation and repair work of our court buildings across the next two years, up to March 2025.
In the Family Court, we are working closely with the President of the Family Division, the Department for Education, HMCTS and the cross-system Family Justice Board to drive forward a cross-cutting programme of work to address delays and inefficiencies in the system and to ensure cases are ready to be heard when they reach court.
We are committed to meeting the 26-week statutory requirement for public law cases, and the Government is investing an extra £10m to develop new initiatives to support this.
In addition, we remain committed to supporting more families to reach agreement on their children and finance arrangements earlier and without court involvement and are continuing delivery of the Family Mediation Voucher Scheme. As of December 2023, over 24,000 families have successfully used the scheme to attempt to resolve their disputes outside of court. We are investing up to £23.6m in the scheme, which we intend will allow for its continuation up to March 2025
With regards to civil cases, we are taking action to ensure those that do need to go to trial are dealt with quickly. We have launched the biggest ever judicial recruitment drive for District Judges, are digitising court processes and holding more remote hearings, and are increasing the use of mediation.
We announced in July that we would introduce a requirement for small claims in the county court to attend a mediation session with the Small Claims Mediation Service, starting with specified money claims. This requirement will start in the spring and is expected to help parties resolve their dispute swiftly and consensually without the need for a judicial hearing.
With regards to tribunals, we continue to work with the Department for Business and Trade on further measures to address caseloads in the Employment Tribunal, where the deployment of legal officers, recruitment of additional judges and a new electronic case management system have already contributed to the caseload falling and remaining below its pandemic peak.
We are working on completing the programme of reform in the Immigration and Asylum Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal and the judiciary have recently introduced a virtual region pilot to provide additional judicial capacity and flexibility in how appeals are heard and disposed of.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help support the mental health of children from (a) families seeking asylum and (b) refugee families in educational settings.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government wants all children, regardless of their background or the challenges they face, to grow up happy, healthy and safe.
While education settings are not specialist mental health support providers, schools and colleges have an important role to play in identifying and responding to mental health needs, whether by providing targeted pastoral support or ensuring referrals are made to external specialist support. The department has put in place a wide range of training and guidance to help education staff do so effectively.
The department’s mental health and behaviour guidance supports education staff to identify children in need of extra mental health support. This includes information on how adverse childhood experiences, including loss or separation and traumatic incidents, can affect children’s mental health, and on working with external agencies to put in place effective support. The guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-and-behaviour-in-schools--2.
The department is offering every state school and college in England funding to train a senior mental health lead, who can oversee an effective whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing. This approach should include robust processes for identifying pupils or groups of pupils in need of further support, which may include children from refugee or asylum-seeking families.
To ensure more children and young people have access to early intervention support, the department is continuing to roll out mental health support teams to schools and colleges in England. These teams currently cover over 35% of pupils in schools and learners in further education and the department is extending coverage to at least 50% by April 2025.
Further information on these programmes and other sources of support to help schools and colleges promote and support mental health can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mental-health-and-wellbeing-support-in-schools-and-colleges.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to directly consult with (a) asylum seekers and (b) refugees to understand where more integration support may be required.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
All refugees and those granted protection in the UK should be able to fully integrate into life here and become self-sufficient, providing for themselves and their families, and contributing to the economy.
Refugees (those who have been granted asylum, humanitarian protection or temporary protection under the Immigration Rules), as well as individuals on our resettlement schemes with Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in the UK; have access to mainstream benefits and services to enable their integration; and we are working across Government to ensure these services meet the needs of refugees.
Integration support is coordinated by local authorities, who are best placed to support the needs of those resettled in their area. The Home Office provides local authorities with a core tariff of £20,520 per person to cover resettlement and integration costs for those who arrive via refugee resettlement schemes, including the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS). This tariff can be used flexibly by the local authorities to meet the integration needs of the refugees they are supporting.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of including working parents subject to the No recourse to public funds condition in the extended 30 hours childcare offer for three- and four-year-olds on (a) maternal and (b) parental participation in the labour force.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is making the largest investment in childcare in England’s history. By the 2027/28 financial year, the government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education. It will provide hard working parents 30 hours of free childcare per week (38 weeks per year) for children aged 9 months to until they start school. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.
The department does not hold data on the numbers of 3- and 4-year-old children who are not eligible for 30 hours because their parents have no recourse to public funds, and what proportion of those children have British citizenship.
The expanded working parent entitlement, which will be rolled out in phases from April 2024, will be available to working parents who meet the eligibility criteria. These will be the same as the current 30 hours offer for 3- and 4-year-olds.
The free childcare entitlements for the children of working parents are not within the definition of ’public funds’ in the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 or the Immigration Rules. However, there are requirements in the Childcare (Free of Charge for Working Parents) (England) Regulations 2022 for the parent, or one of the parents, not to be subject to immigration control. This means that where both parents have no recourse to public funds, they will not be eligible for the entitlements. However, if there are two parents and just one of them is subject to immigration control the family will still be eligible for the entitlements, provided they meet the other conditions.
Parents with no recourse to public funds are, however, able to access the 15 hours free early education entitlement available for all 3 and 4-year-olds and, if eligible, 15 hours free early education for disadvantaged 2-year-olds. In September 2022, the department extended eligibility for the 2-year-old entitlement to disadvantaged families who have no recourse to public funds. This is because these entitlements are intended to support children's development and help prepare them for school.
The government has no current plans to extend the free childcare entitlements offer for working parents to families with no recourse to public funds.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending the eligibility criteria for the extended 30 hours childcare offer for three and four year-olds to migrant parents with any immigration status who are resident in the UK, have the right to work and who work the requisite number of hours.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is making the largest investment in childcare in England’s history. By the 2027/28 financial year, the government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education. It will provide hard working parents 30 hours of free childcare per week (38 weeks per year) for children aged 9 months to until they start school. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.
The department does not hold data on the numbers of 3- and 4-year-old children who are not eligible for 30 hours because their parents have no recourse to public funds, and what proportion of those children have British citizenship.
The expanded working parent entitlement, which will be rolled out in phases from April 2024, will be available to working parents who meet the eligibility criteria. These will be the same as the current 30 hours offer for 3- and 4-year-olds.
The free childcare entitlements for the children of working parents are not within the definition of ’public funds’ in the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 or the Immigration Rules. However, there are requirements in the Childcare (Free of Charge for Working Parents) (England) Regulations 2022 for the parent, or one of the parents, not to be subject to immigration control. This means that where both parents have no recourse to public funds, they will not be eligible for the entitlements. However, if there are two parents and just one of them is subject to immigration control the family will still be eligible for the entitlements, provided they meet the other conditions.
Parents with no recourse to public funds are, however, able to access the 15 hours free early education entitlement available for all 3 and 4-year-olds and, if eligible, 15 hours free early education for disadvantaged 2-year-olds. In September 2022, the department extended eligibility for the 2-year-old entitlement to disadvantaged families who have no recourse to public funds. This is because these entitlements are intended to support children's development and help prepare them for school.
The government has no current plans to extend the free childcare entitlements offer for working parents to families with no recourse to public funds.