Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the lack of an appeals process for Visitor Visa's on tourism numbers coming to the UK.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The department has not conducted an assessment of tourism numbers and appeals. When appeals for family visitors were abolished in 2013, the assessment was that the quicker and more cost-effective remedy for those refused was a fresh application, with judicial review available where necessary. These options are open to tourists, who therefore have no reason to be deterred by the lack of an appeal. In 2023, the number of visitor visas issued was up by 40% on 2022.
In 2014, the immigration appeals system was reserved for cases raising issues of fundamental rights, and in those rare cases where a visit engages human rights an appeal is still available.
Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what position they took during discussions between the Spanish acting Minister of Industry, and Foreign Office officials in November in which the 90-day cap on the stay of British tourists in Spain was discussed; and whether any agreement was reached.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Spanish Tourism Minister met with Foreign Office officials in November to discuss tourism. British tourists in Spain are treated as third country nationals under the EU's Schengen Borders Code. As such, they are able to travel visa-free for short stays of up to 90 days in a rolling 180-day period. UK travellers applying for visas to visit or stay in Spain for longer periods of time are processed according to Spanish domestic law, reflecting the UK's position as a non-EU Member State. Whilst the UK government would welcome any changes to visa systems that benefit UK nationals, this is a matter for national governments and parliaments. We are not currently negotiating any reciprocal agreements.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2023 to Question 195882 on Visas: Tourism, how much his Department spent on contracts with Teleperformance Ltd for (a) visa processing and (b) contact centre services in (i) 2021, (ii) 2022 and (iii) 2023.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office does not categorise the information in a way that groups together Visa Processing spend with Teleperformance Ltd from 2021 to 2023, therefore we are unable to answer part of this question.
Contractual information in Contracts Finder is available for the second part of the question.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse was for processing (a) an average tourist visa application and (b) all tourist visa applications in (i) 2021 and (ii) 2022.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The estimated cost of processing visit visa applications for the years 2021 – 2022, is published on gov.uk as part of the Home Office’s transparency publications Visa fees transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many tourist visa applications were made to UK Visas and Immigration in (a) 2021 and (b) 2022.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
According to the Home Office published data on visit visa applications in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’ and in the Entry clearance detailed dataset of the quarterly publication, for 2021 there were 613,741 visit visa applications and in 2022 there were 1,795,963 visit visa applications.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of increasing the cost of (a) the immigration health surcharge and (b) student visas on (i) the international student target within the International Education Strategy.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department has been successful in delivering our International Education Strategy ambition of hosting at least 600,000 students per year by 2030 for the last two years, and the government fully expects the UK to continue to be an attractive destination for international students.
The department is increasing fees across a range of immigration routes, including for people coming here to live, work and study, at a time of record high migration numbers. It is the government’s policy that those who use and benefit most from the immigration system should contribute towards the cost of operating the system, reducing the burden on the UK taxpayer.
The government’s visa fees are competitive globally and there is little evidence that fee increases to date have significantly affected demand on work, study and tourism routes.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to raise awareness of section 170 of the Health and Care Act 2022.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department has not issued guidance or advice on the potential impact of Section 170 of the Health and Care Act 2022 on clinical practice. On 15 July 2022, NHS Blood and Transplant wrote to NHS Trust Chief Executives, Medical Directors, Advisory Group Chairs, Clinicians and Recipient and Living Donor Co-ordinators to inform them of the commencement of Section 170 of the Health and Care Act 2022.
We continue to engage with colleagues across the public sector, including from NHS Blood and Transplant, the Human Tissue Authority, UK Visas and Immigration, National Crime Agency and the Crown Prosecution Service, to raise awareness of the change in the law and build the United Kingdom’s capacity to identify, investigate and prosecute transplant tourism.
Asked by: Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has issued (a) guidance and (b) other advice to (i) medical professionals, (ii) health and care partnerships and (iii) other health-related bodies on the potential impact of section 170 of the Health and Care Act 2022 on clinical practice.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department has not issued guidance or advice on the potential impact of Section 170 of the Health and Care Act 2022 on clinical practice. On 15 July 2022, NHS Blood and Transplant wrote to NHS Trust Chief Executives, Medical Directors, Advisory Group Chairs, Clinicians and Recipient and Living Donor Co-ordinators to inform them of the commencement of Section 170 of the Health and Care Act 2022.
We continue to engage with colleagues across the public sector, including from NHS Blood and Transplant, the Human Tissue Authority, UK Visas and Immigration, National Crime Agency and the Crown Prosecution Service, to raise awareness of the change in the law and build the United Kingdom’s capacity to identify, investigate and prosecute transplant tourism.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the finding by the Tourism Alliance that there was an 83 per cent decline in EU student group visitors to the UK in 2022; what estimate they have made of the financial impact on the UK economy of this decline; what assessment they have made of the reasons for this decline; what plans they have (1) to return to policy of accepting ID cards in place of passports for educational group visits, and (2) to reduce the costs of visas for participants in such visits who require them.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
All visitors from outside the EU are expected to hold a passport (and visa where necessary) and those visiting from EU countries are now expected to do the same.
In implementing this policy, a full impact assessment was carried out which can be found at the following link: Impact Assessment (publishing.service.gov.uk). We will continue to monitor the ongoing impact of these documentary requirements.
At the summit in Paris on 10 March 2023 the UK committed to ease the travel of school groups to the UK by making changes to documentary requirements for schoolchildren on organised trips from France. Further details will be announced in due course.
Fees for immigration and nationality applications are kept under review however, there are no plans to reduce the level of fees charged. Income from fees plays a vital role in our ability to run a sustainable migration and borders system and reduce the burden on UK taxpayers.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of delays in issuing tourist visas on the UK’s tourism industry.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office publishes data on its performance against its service level agreement for Visitors, which can be found on the GOV.UK webpage: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) recognises the impact of delays to customers can be significant. UKVI resources are focussed on reducing the current processing times and will continue to prioritise urgent compelling or compassionate cases across all workstreams. UKVI encourages all customers to apply in good time ahead of intended travel dates.
The Department is also continuing to invest in a programme of transformation and business improvement initiatives which will speed up and simplify decision making, reduce the time people spend in the system and decrease the number of people who are awaiting an interview or decision.
Additionally, UKVI has recently reintroduced a limited priority service in all markets where the service can be offered, which customers can also make use of.
In addition, our Electronic Visa Waiver scheme was expanded in June to include Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. This means most nationals of these countries wishing to visit the UK as a tourist can now do so without applying for a full UK visa