Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government why no reason is given to inward travellers for being held for 6 hours; why they are offered no food or drink during such detention; and why no apology is offered when nothing untoward has been found in their travel to the UK.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
A passenger remains liable to examination on arrival in the United Kingdom until all necessary enquiries have been concluded and a decision is made on their application for permission to enter or admission.
Anyone detained beyond two hours is detained in compliance with the relevant guidance and legislation (notably The Short Term Holding Facility Rules 2018). The detained person is informed of their bail rights and reasons for their detention, and this is explained in a language that they understand.
Temperature controlled food was temporarily withdrawn from BF managed facilities during 2023 whilst we implemented a new training and governance procedure to ensure we were complaint with current food standards. Throughout this period, we followed Government guidance, continuing to serve water, hot drinks and snacks.
We always look to minimise detention as far as possible; however, the power to detain must be retained in the interests of maintaining effective immigration control.
It would not be appropriate for Border Force to apologise for conducting legitimate border security checks.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of sections 22-29 of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 on victims of modern slavery receiving support via the National Referral Mechanism.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The Home Office published the Illegal Migration Bill (IMB) Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) on 10 May 2023. We are committed to taking the steps to ensure any potential impacts identified are appropriately mitigated when implementing the policy.
Where an individual has not made a protection claim and is granted immigration bail, support may be available under Schedule 10 of the Immigration Act 2016.
The Government is consulting with operational partners to implement sections 22 – 29 of the IMA. Guidance is under development which will support the operation of provisions in the IMA, once commenced.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will publish assessments of facilities that will accommodate potential victims of modern slavery ineligible for support under the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The Home Office published the Illegal Migration Bill (IMB) Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) on 10 May 2023. We are committed to taking the steps to ensure any potential impacts identified are appropriately mitigated when implementing the policy.
Where an individual has not made a protection claim and is granted immigration bail, support may be available under Schedule 10 of the Immigration Act 2016.
The Government is consulting with operational partners to implement sections 22 – 29 of the IMA. Guidance is under development which will support the operation of provisions in the IMA, once commenced.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what his planned timetable is for the implementation of sections 22-29 of the Illegal Migration Act 2023.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The Home Office published the Illegal Migration Bill (IMB) Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) on 10 May 2023. We are committed to taking the steps to ensure any potential impacts identified are appropriately mitigated when implementing the policy.
Where an individual has not made a protection claim and is granted immigration bail, support may be available under Schedule 10 of the Immigration Act 2016.
The Government is consulting with operational partners to implement sections 22 – 29 of the IMA. Guidance is under development which will support the operation of provisions in the IMA, once commenced.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will consult with service providers for the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract to ensure that implementation of sections 22-29 of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 will be trauma informed.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The Home Office published the Illegal Migration Bill (IMB) Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) on 10 May 2023. We are committed to taking the steps to ensure any potential impacts identified are appropriately mitigated when implementing the policy.
Where an individual has not made a protection claim and is granted immigration bail, support may be available under Schedule 10 of the Immigration Act 2016.
The Government is consulting with operational partners to implement sections 22 – 29 of the IMA. Guidance is under development which will support the operation of provisions in the IMA, once commenced.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign national offenders there are in the youth secure estate; and if she will provide a breakdown of those figures by offence type.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
As of 30 November 2023, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 71 foreign nationals in the youth secure estate. A breakdown by offence type is given in the table below.
Table 1: Number of foreign national children and young people by offence group, 30 November 2023
Offence Group 1 | Number 2 |
Breach of statutory order | * |
Domestic burglary | * |
Drugs | * |
Other 3 | 10 |
Robbery | * |
Sexual Offences | * |
Violence Against the Person | 44 |
Total | 71 |
Notes:
Data Source: Further breakdown of youth custody data for November 2023.
Since 2010, we have removed over 55,000 foreign national offenders from our prisons, immigration removal centres and the community. Between January 2019 and September 2023, we returned 16,676 FNOs.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans his Department has to consider mitigating factors such as imprisonment under the National Security Law for Hong Kong citizens applying for British National (Overseas) visas.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Applicants to the British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) route must have no serious criminal convictions, have not otherwise engaged in behaviour which the UK Government deems not conducive to the public good, or be subject to other general grounds for refusal set out in the Immigration Rules. However, we recognise that every case has its individual circumstances therefore caseworkers have flexibility to ensure that those who have custodial sentences for crimes which are not recognised as such in the UK are not automatically refused on the BN(O) route.
In most cases, a person with a pending asylum claim can make an application to the BN(O) route. Recent changes ensure that a person who has been placed on immigration bail due to a pending asylum claim will not have their application to the BN(O) route refused solely for that reason. To make a successful application, applicants will need to meet all the other requirements of the route.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to allow Hong Kongers who are being processed as asylum seekers to apply for BNO visas at the same time.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Applicants to the British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) route must have no serious criminal convictions, have not otherwise engaged in behaviour which the UK Government deems not conducive to the public good, or be subject to other general grounds for refusal set out in the Immigration Rules. However, we recognise that every case has its individual circumstances therefore caseworkers have flexibility to ensure that those who have custodial sentences for crimes which are not recognised as such in the UK are not automatically refused on the BN(O) route.
In most cases, a person with a pending asylum claim can make an application to the BN(O) route. Recent changes ensure that a person who has been placed on immigration bail due to a pending asylum claim will not have their application to the BN(O) route refused solely for that reason. To make a successful application, applicants will need to meet all the other requirements of the route.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were electronically tagged as a condition of immigration bail as of 1 September 2023; and what was the cost to the public purse of electronic tagging in immigration cases in each of the last five years for which data is available.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Foreign nationals who commit crimes here in the UK will face the full force of the law, including deportation at the earliest opportunity for those eligible.
In some cases, where deportation is delayed, individuals may be released on electronic monitoring as a condition of immigration bail, pending deportation.
Since 14 June 2022, we have been piloting the use of EM with a small cohort of individuals who have arrived in the UK through illegal and dangerous routes.
Asked by: Stephen Farry (Alliance - North Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether financial support is available for the dependents of an individual on immigration detention bail whose right to work has been withdrawn.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The number and type of immigration bail conditions to impose will vary depending on the circumstances of the individual case. If the person being granted immigration bail does not have any leave to enter or remain in the UK, it will be appropriate to impose a bail condition restricting work in the majority of cases.
An asylum seeker, or failed asylum seeker with outstanding protection-based further submissions, whose claim has been outstanding for more than 12 months through no fault of their own, may be granted permission to work. Those who are allowed to work are restricted to jobs on the Shortage Occupation list. Further information is set out in the published HO guidance - Permission to work and volunteering for asylum seekers.
Asylum seekers and failed asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute are eligible for support under section 95 or section 4 of the Immigration & Asylum 1999 Act. This would also include dependents of an asylum seeker or a failed asylum seeker on immigration bail.