Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential benefit of linking income raised from non-EEA migrants paying the Immigration Health Surcharge to NHS trusts in their region.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department has made no such assessment.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, (a) how much revenue has been raised by the Immigration Health Surcharge annually since its introduction and (b) how much of this revenue is paid into the NHS annually.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The following table provides Immigration Health Surcharge income figures for the financial years from 2015/16 to 2018/19 – the latest period available, taken from the Home Office’s Annual Accounts which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2018-to-2019
2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | Total | |
Income (£’000) | 169,112 | 210,250 | 240,483 | 297,925 | 917,770 |
Prior to COVID-19, the Immigration Health Surcharge was forecast to generate over £400 million per year for the National Health Service.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign national NHS and social care workers have (a) paid and (b) been refunded the NHS surcharge since 21 May 2020.
Answered by Kevin Foster
This information is not readily available nor held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost due to the fact the IHS is payable across multiple application routes. For example, where the customer is on a visa with a general right to work and takes up employment, we do not have a record who the employer is. Since the Prime Minister’s announcement, we have been working at pace to identify and issue refunds to those customers who are eligible and hold Tier 2 (General) visas.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2020 to Question 1925, if her Department will reassess charging the full immigration health surcharge to non-UK NHS staff in 2020.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Secretary and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care have worked together to exempt non-UK NHS staff from the Immigration Health Surcharge. On 14 July, the Home Office published further detail regarding the Health and Care Visa. The introduction of this visa route demonstrates the Government’s commitment to deliver for the NHS and wider health and care sector. The new Health and Care Visa will come with a reduced visa application fee, fast-track entry and dedicated team to process applications. Those applying un-der the Health and Care Visa route will be exempt from paying the Immigra-tion Health Surcharge. Those who would qualify for the Health and Care visa and who paid the Sur-charge on or after 31 March will be refunded. More information will be pub-lished on the Immigration Health Surcharge gov.uk pages. All those working in the health and care sector who paid the Surcharge on or after the 31 March 2020, but who do not qualify for the Health and Care Visa will be eligible for a reimbursement of what they have paid since that date. The Minister for Health announced on 15 July that this reimbursement will be paid in arrears of six-month increments and that this scheme will be launched by 1 October 2020.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many migrants have received bills for healthcare treatment in error during the exemption period for charges due to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department does not hold data on the number of migrants who have received bills for healthcare treatment in error.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the paper entitled, Healthcare access for children and families on the move and migrants, published in BMJ Pediatrics Open on 13 April 2020.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
As part of its ongoing policy responsibilities, the Department is considering the Charging Regulations in relation to the most vulnerable in society, including children and migrant pregnant women and new mothers. This includes ensuring the evidence base is sufficient and up to date where necessary and consideration of relevant legal duties, such as the Public Sector Equality Duty.
The Department has no plans to suspend the Charging Regulations or to launch an independent review of their impact.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the publication entitled, Patients not passports: migrants’ access to healthcare during the coronavirus crisis, published by Medact, Migrants Organise, and The New Economics Foundation in June 2020.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Regulations came into force on 29 January 2020 to add Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) (now known as COVID-19) to Schedule 1 of the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015. This means there can be no charge made to an overseas visitor for the diagnosis, or treatment, of COVID-19. Patients that are known to be undergoing testing and treatment for coronavirus only are not subject to Home Office status checks.
This information has been widely communicated to NHS staff and the public, including a message published on Public Health England’s Migrant Health Guide, which has been translated into 40 languages.
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign nationals working in the NHS paid the NHS surcharge in each month of 2020.
Answered by Kevin Foster
This information is not readily available nor held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost due to the fact the IHS is payable across multiple application routes.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) NHS and (b) social care workers who are foreign nationals have (i) paid and (ii) been refunded the NHS surcharge since 21 May 2020.
Answered by Kevin Foster
This information is not readily available nor held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost due to the fact the IHS is payable across multiple application routes.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many NHS and social care workers paid the Immigration Health Surcharge in each month of 2020.
Answered by Kevin Foster
This information is not readily available nor held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost due to the fact the IHS is payable across multiple application routes.