Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Department's news story of 11 March 2024 entitled Government commits more funding to protect UK Muslims, what the eligibility criteria for applications for that funding will be; how bids for funding will be (a) assessed and (b) decided upon; and which Government department will be responsible for providing that funding.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
In light of increased reports of anti-Muslim hatred following the start of the Israel/Hamas conflict, an additional £4.9 million was made available in October for protective security at mosques and Muslim faith schools, bringing total funding available for 2023/24 to £29.4 million. The Government has confirmed that this level of funding will now be maintained annually through to 2027/28.
Mosques and Muslim faith community centres can register for protective security measures through the Home Office’s Protective Security for Mosques Scheme on GOV.UK. The scheme provides physical protective security measures, such as CCTV, intruder alarms and secure perimeter fencing. Due diligence checks are carried out by the Home Office; for example, to confirm that applicants are eligible registered charities. Following approval, applicants receive a site survey to assess the most suitable security measures for their site, which are funded by the Home Office and installed by the Department’s delivery partner. Security officer services will also become available through the scheme later this year.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum claims have been successfully made by citizens of (a) Israel, (b) the United States, (c) Canada, (d) New Zealand, (e) Australia, (f) Germany, (g) Spain, (h) France and (i) Italy in each of the last five years.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum applications received, and the initial decisions on claims, is published in tables Asy_D01 and Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum applications, decisions and resettlement detailed datasets’. This data includes nationality breakdowns.
Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of each workbook. The latest data relates to 31 December 2023. Data up to the end of March 2024 will be published on 23 May 2024.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of people (a) received and (b) repaid a refugee integration loans since 2007.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Refugee Integration Loans were introduced in 2007 following a public consultation and are intended to help people with the costs of integrating into UK society. They are funded by the Home Office, who make the initial decisions on applications. They are then administered and recouped by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Refugee integration loans are interest-free loans with favourable repayment terms for individuals who are over 18 and meet the following eligibility criteria:
Individuals are currently able to borrow between £100 and £500. Between £100 to £780 can be borrowed if submitting a joint application with a partner.
The specific data requested cannot be provided as it comes from live operational databases that have not been quality assured.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people from Rwanda were granted asylum on (a) human rights and (b) other grounds in each year since 2010.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The UK has a proud history of providing protection to those who need it, in accordance with our international obligations under the Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Those who need protection are normally granted refugee status or humanitarian protection.
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum decisions by nationality are published in table Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum Applications, Decisions and Resettlement detailed datasets’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to 2023.
All asylum and human rights claims lodged from within the UK and admitted to the UK asylum system, including those seeking asylum from Rwanda, are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations, and against the background of relevant case law, policy guidance and the latest available country of origin information.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many certificates of sponsorship were issued to (a) the NHS, (b) local authorities and (c) independent or charitable organisations in each of the last three years.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office does not routinely publish data on these matters; however, we have recently deployed an IT change which introduces a new compulsory field for required mandatory information which enables defined Certificate of Sponsorship applications to move more expediently through the system.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time taken to process applications for certificates of sponsorships was in the latest period for which data is available; and what steps his Department has taken to reduce time take to process those applications.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office does not routinely publish data on these matters; however, we have recently deployed an IT change which introduces a new compulsory field for required mandatory information which enables defined Certificate of Sponsorship applications to move more expediently through the system.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what his timetable is for recruiting a Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The process to recruit a new Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration follows the principles set out within the Cabinet Office Governance Code on Public Appointments:
Governance Code on Public Appointments - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The competition opened on 21 February, and the closing date for applications is 2 April 2024. Our intention is to make the appointment as soon as possible, and an indicative timetable is available on the Public Appointments website:
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Rwandan nationals have been granted (1) refugee status, or (2) other leave to remain, in the UK since April 2022; and what are the principal reasons for granting.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’ on gov.uk. Data on initial decisions by nationality are published in table Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum applications, decisions and resettlement detailed datasets’. From April 2022 until December 2023, 9 main applicant Rwandan nationals were granted refugee permission and 1 main applicant was granted other leave.
All asylum and human rights claims lodged from within the UK and admitted to the UK asylum system, including those seeking asylum from Rwanda, are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations, and against the background of relevant case law, policy guidance and the latest available country of origin information.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the potential merits of enabling (a) Palestinian civilians in Gaza and (b) other people living in war zones to apply for a visa without visiting a visa application centre.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Foreign Secretary meets regularly with the Home Secretary to discuss relevant policy matters between the two departments. Visa applications can be started online at any time. Applicants are required to enrol their biometrics in a Visa Application Centre (VAC) as part of the visa application process to support identity assurance and suitability checks on foreign nationals who are subject to immigration control. Foreign national dependents of British citizens who are travelling from Gaza to Egypt and require visas to come to the UK can apply online and then visit the Visa Application Centre in Cairo or Alexandria to provide their biometric information. Further advice on travelling to Egypt from Gaza is available at: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/israel. The FCDO Consular Contact Centre can be contacted on 020 7008 5000.
There are no plans to authorise entry clearance without biometrics for visa applications from Palestinian civilians in Gaza and or other people living in war zones. Palestinians in Gaza who want to apply for a UK visa but are not a dependent of a British National are not currently eligible for FCDO assistance.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many individuals have arrived into the UK via irregular routes since 7 March 2023; and of those individuals, how many have a case for refugee status started by the Home Office.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes statistics on irregular arrivals to the UK in the ‘Irregular migration to the UK statistics’ release on gov.uk. Data on irregular arrivals from 2018 to 2023 is published in table Irr_D01 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed datasets’. Data on asylum applications from small boat arrivals and the initial decisions for these applications is published in tables Irr_D02 and Irr_D03 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed datasets’, with the latest data up to the end of May 2023.
The Home Office does not publish data on asylum applications for other irregular arrivals.
As shown on table Irr_D03, there were no applications of asylum granted to small boat arrivals who arrived in April and May 2023.