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1140861

	registered interest
	date	22/07/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Immigration: EU Nationals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for administrative review have been made to the EU Settlement Scheme; how many of those applications were (a) successful and (b) successful due to new evidence or an error by the caseworker in the original decision.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	280266
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/07/2019 answer text <p>In the period up to 31 May 2019, the last point at which data was assured, 368 applications were received for administrative review of decisions made on applications under the EU Settlement Scheme. Of these:</p><p>• 30 administrative review applications were rejected, e.g. because no EU Settlement Scheme application had been received;</p><p>• in all the remaining 253 cases, the applicant was challenging a grant of pre-settled status rather than settled status, of which:</p><p>o 22 of these grants of pre-settled status were upheld following the administrative review; and <br>o 231 of these grants of pre-settled status were overturned, and the applicant was instead granted settled status following administrative review. In these cases, the applicant had generally accepted a grant of pre-settled status when making their application and then provided additional evidence of their eligibility for settled status with their application for administrative review.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 25/07/2019 15:26:59 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1139832

	registered interest
	date	17/07/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Immigration: EU Nationals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will place in the Library a copy of the algorithms citizen matching layer and business logic.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	278477
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>Under the EU Settlement Scheme, we conduct automated checks of certain tax and benefits records held by HM Revenue &amp; Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions, where the applicant chooses to provide their National Insurance number. The checks help to provide evidence of the applicant’s residence in the UK and remove or reduce the need for them to submit documentary evidence of this.</p><p>The business logic of how the checks calculate the period of residence is available on gov.uk at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settlement-scheme-uk-tax-and-benefits-records-automated-check" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settlement-scheme-uk-tax-and-benefits-records-automated-check</a></p><p>We have also published there the memorandum of understanding with each department, reasons why records may not be found, and guidance on the wide range of other evidence we can use to confirm UK residence.</p><p>All applications under the scheme are decided by a caseworker.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 22/07/2019 15:40:43 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1139834

	registered interest
	date	17/07/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Immigration: EU Nationals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will include data on administrative reviews in his Department’s monthly statistics report on applications made to the EU Settlement Scheme.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	278478
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>The third official statistics – ‘EU Settlement Scheme Statistics, June 2019’ – on the operation of the scheme were published on 18 July 2019. These can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/eu-settlement-scheme-statistics-june-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/eu-settlement-scheme-statistics-june-2019</a></p><p>The Home Office is committed to publishing more detailed quarterly statistics on the EU Settlement Scheme, alongside our Immigration Statistics, from August 2019. Home Office statisticians and officials are currently considering the content and will take into account the views of statistics users.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 22/07/2019 15:59:10 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1138051

	registered interest
	date	10/07/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Entry Clearances: Applications
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2019 to Question 263146 on Visas: Applications, if he will ensure that the processing of in-country visa services by Sopra Steria will not result in increased prices for visa services for (a) international students and staff at UK universities and (b) universities.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	275742
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>The application fee for a visa or visa extension is paid to the Home Office and is not related to the service provided by Sopra Steria.</p><p>As part of the application process in the UK individuals must enrol their biometrics at a UK Visa and Citizenship Application Service centre which are run by Sopra Steria.</p><p>For the majority of applicants in the UK there are a variety of offerings for students and other employees at UK education institutions which include free appointments at core service points, access to enhanced service points and the premium lounge for a fee. Additionally, to help meet demand for the autumn increase in student applications a “Tier 4 Service Point” will also be offered by Sopra Steria for a fee. This cost of this is lower than the costs of an out of hours, enhanced service point or premium lounge appointments under the normal UKVCAS service and will save students the financial and logistical burden of travel.</p><p>As part of our governance processes, we work closely with SSL to ensure that excessive charges are not imposed on UKVI customers. Whilst SSL may offer added value services to customers, these are optional and aim to enhance the customer experience.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 15/07/2019 12:31:44 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1135859

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Members: Correspondence
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to respond to the letter of 19 June 2018 from the hon. Member for Sheffield Central in respect of Written Parliamentary Questions on Tier 2 Visas, CTS Reference number M8354/18.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	271487
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/07/2019 answer text <p>The Home Office can confirm a substantive response to the questions raised is being prepared and apologises for the delay in responding.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 04/07/2019 15:40:42 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1135990

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Immigration: EU Nationals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of applications that have been (a) received, (b) concluded and (c) turned down for the EU Settlement Scheme at 31 May 2019.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	271538
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/07/2019 answer text <p>The second official statistics – ‘EU Settlement Scheme Statistics, May 2019’ – on the operation of the scheme were published on 20 June 2019, including applications received and decisions made to 31st May 2019. These can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/eu-settlement-scheme-statistics-may-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/eu-settlement-scheme-statistics-may-2019</a></p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 04/07/2019 15:28:18 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1135475

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Immigration: EU Nationals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2019 to Question 261210, how many applicants who have asserted in their application that they have been continuously resident in the UK for more than five years have been granted pre-settled status to date.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	270743
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>All applicants granted pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme will have agreed that they have been continuously resident in the UK for less than five years either in the application or, post-submission, in discussion with a caseworker.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 03/07/2019 15:41:03 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1135476

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Immigration: EU Nationals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to pages 9-10 of the Memorandum of Understanding between his Department and the Department for Work and Pensions and to pages 12-13 of the Memorandum of Understanding between his Department and HMRC, for what reasons automated residency checks will not check applicants' records on child benefit.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	270744
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>The purpose of the automated checks is to help the applicant establish their continuous residence in the UK. Eligibility to receive benefits is not dependent upon being continuously resident in the UK. Benefits except Job Seekers Allowance and Maternity Allowance on their own are not strong indicators of continuous residence unless receipt of them persists over a period of 12 months. There are also overlaps with other data that is available from the checks. For instance, PAYE data covers most applicants who claim working tax credits and receipt of other benefits included in the checks will overlap with receipt of child tax credits. Child Benefit is not included in the automated checks because it is not a sufficient indicator of continuous UK residence. A full explanation of how the automated checks work has been published at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settlement-scheme-uk-tax-and-benefits-records-automated-check." target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settlement-scheme-uk-tax-and-benefits-records-automated-check.</a></p><p>Following analysis conducted on an anonymised sample of 10,000 applications submitted under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006, the Home Office estimated that the potential pool of resident EEA citizens who might benefit from tax credits data being included in the automated checks was around two per cent and this was before any consideration of the applicability of that data to proving continuous residence. Individuals who need to rely on tax credits to demonstrate their continuous residence are still able to provide documentary evidence of this as part of their application.</p><p>In accordance with section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, we have had due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes grouped question UIN 270745 question first answered 03/07/2019 15:33:05 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1135477

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Immigration: EU Nationals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to pages 9-10 of the Memorandum of Understanding between his Department and the Department for Work and Pensions and to pages 12-13 of the Memorandum of Understanding between his Department and HMRC, whether automatic residency checks will give equal weight when calculating length of residence to evidence of (a) one month of employment and (b) one month of claiming housing benefit, employment support allowance, carer's allowance, personal independence payments, disability living allowance, income support, incapacity benefit, attendance allowance, severe disability allowance and/or universal credit.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	270745
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>The purpose of the automated checks is to help the applicant establish their continuous residence in the UK. Eligibility to receive benefits is not dependent upon being continuously resident in the UK. Benefits except Job Seekers Allowance and Maternity Allowance on their own are not strong indicators of continuous residence unless receipt of them persists over a period of 12 months. There are also overlaps with other data that is available from the checks. For instance, PAYE data covers most applicants who claim working tax credits and receipt of other benefits included in the checks will overlap with receipt of child tax credits. Child Benefit is not included in the automated checks because it is not a sufficient indicator of continuous UK residence. A full explanation of how the automated checks work has been published at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settlement-scheme-uk-tax-and-benefits-records-automated-check." target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settlement-scheme-uk-tax-and-benefits-records-automated-check.</a></p><p>Following analysis conducted on an anonymised sample of 10,000 applications submitted under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006, the Home Office estimated that the potential pool of resident EEA citizens who might benefit from tax credits data being included in the automated checks was around two per cent and this was before any consideration of the applicability of that data to proving continuous residence. Individuals who need to rely on tax credits to demonstrate their continuous residence are still able to provide documentary evidence of this as part of their application.</p><p>In accordance with section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, we have had due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes grouped question UIN 270744 question first answered 03/07/2019 15:33:05 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1135336

	registered interest
	date	27/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Immigration: EU Nationals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 June 2019 to Question 267306, if he will place in the House of Commons Library a copy of any (a) minutes of meetings where the decision to exclude tax credit records was discussed or made and (b) equality impact assessment conducted to inform that decision.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	270376
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2019 answer text <p>The purpose of the automated checks is to help the applicant establish their continuous residence in the UK. Eligibility to receive benefits is not dependent upon being continuously resident in the UK. Benefits except Job Seekers Allowance and Maternity Allowance on their own are not strong indicators of continuous residence unless receipt of them persists over a period of 12 months. There are also overlaps with other data that is available from the checks. For instance, PAYE data covers most applicants who claim working tax credits and receipt of other benefits included in the checks will overlap with receipt of child tax credits. Child Benefit is not included in the automated checks because it is not a sufficient indicator of continuous UK residence. A full explanation of how the automated checks work has been published at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settlement-scheme-uk-tax-and-benefits-records-automated-check." target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settlement-scheme-uk-tax-and-benefits-records-automated-check.</a></p><p>Following analysis conducted on an anonymised sample of 10,000 applications submitted under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006, the Home Office estimated that the potential pool of resident EEA citizens who might benefit from tax credits data being included in the automated checks was around two per cent and this was before any consideration of the applicability of that data to proving continuous residence. Individuals who need to rely on tax credits to demonstrate their continuous residence are still able to provide documentary evidence of this as part of their application.</p><p>In accordance with section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, we have had due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 02/07/2019 16:54:28 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1135337

	registered interest
	date	27/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Immigration: EU Nationals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applicants to the EU Settlement scheme are recorded as being (a) male and (b) female in relation to the outcome of their applications.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	270377
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2019 answer text <p>The second official statistics – ‘EU Settlement Scheme Statistics, May 2019’ – on the operation of the scheme were published on 20 June 2019, including applications received by nationality and constituent parts of the UK. These can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/eu-settlement-scheme-statistics-may-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/eu-settlement-scheme-statistics-may-2019</a></p><p>The Home Office is committed to publishing more detailed quarterly statistics on the EU Settlement Scheme, alongside our Immigration Statistics, from August 2019. Home Office statisticians and officials are currently considering the content and will take into account the views of statistics users.</p><p>The application process for the EU Settlement Scheme collects data on the applicant’s date of birth, nationality and, where appropriate, marital or civil partnership status. Other data on protected characteristics may be processed as part of the application.</p><p>In accordance with the public sector equality duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, the Government continues to have due regard to the impacts of the EU Settlement Scheme on those who share a protected characteristic. A Policy Equality Statement, which sets out the Government’s consideration of the impacts of the scheme on those who share such a characteristic, will be published shortly.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes grouped question UIN 270378 270379 270380 question first answered 02/07/2019 15:57:53 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1135338

	registered interest
	date	27/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Immigration: EU Nationals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data fields are processed by the EU Settlement scheme that are protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	270378
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2019 answer text <p>The second official statistics – ‘EU Settlement Scheme Statistics, May 2019’ – on the operation of the scheme were published on 20 June 2019, including applications received by nationality and constituent parts of the UK. These can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/eu-settlement-scheme-statistics-may-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/eu-settlement-scheme-statistics-may-2019</a></p><p>The Home Office is committed to publishing more detailed quarterly statistics on the EU Settlement Scheme, alongside our Immigration Statistics, from August 2019. Home Office statisticians and officials are currently considering the content and will take into account the views of statistics users.</p><p>The application process for the EU Settlement Scheme collects data on the applicant’s date of birth, nationality and, where appropriate, marital or civil partnership status. Other data on protected characteristics may be processed as part of the application.</p><p>In accordance with the public sector equality duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, the Government continues to have due regard to the impacts of the EU Settlement Scheme on those who share a protected characteristic. A Policy Equality Statement, which sets out the Government’s consideration of the impacts of the scheme on those who share such a characteristic, will be published shortly.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes grouped question UIN 270377 270379 270380 question first answered 02/07/2019 15:57:53 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1135339

	registered interest
	date	27/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Immigration: EU Nationals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons data disaggregated by protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 is not included in his Department's monthly official statistics on the operation of the EU Settlement Scheme.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	270379
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2019 answer text <p>The second official statistics – ‘EU Settlement Scheme Statistics, May 2019’ – on the operation of the scheme were published on 20 June 2019, including applications received by nationality and constituent parts of the UK. These can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/eu-settlement-scheme-statistics-may-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/eu-settlement-scheme-statistics-may-2019</a></p><p>The Home Office is committed to publishing more detailed quarterly statistics on the EU Settlement Scheme, alongside our Immigration Statistics, from August 2019. Home Office statisticians and officials are currently considering the content and will take into account the views of statistics users.</p><p>The application process for the EU Settlement Scheme collects data on the applicant’s date of birth, nationality and, where appropriate, marital or civil partnership status. Other data on protected characteristics may be processed as part of the application.</p><p>In accordance with the public sector equality duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, the Government continues to have due regard to the impacts of the EU Settlement Scheme on those who share a protected characteristic. A Policy Equality Statement, which sets out the Government’s consideration of the impacts of the scheme on those who share such a characteristic, will be published shortly.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes grouped question UIN 270377 270378 270380 question first answered 02/07/2019 15:57:53 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1135340

	registered interest
	date	27/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Immigration: EU Nationals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 14 May 2019 to Question 252534, what steps his Department is taking to monitor the compliance of the operation of the EU Settlement Scheme with the public sector equality duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	270380
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/07/2019 answer text <p>The second official statistics – ‘EU Settlement Scheme Statistics, May 2019’ – on the operation of the scheme were published on 20 June 2019, including applications received by nationality and constituent parts of the UK. These can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/eu-settlement-scheme-statistics-may-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/eu-settlement-scheme-statistics-may-2019</a></p><p>The Home Office is committed to publishing more detailed quarterly statistics on the EU Settlement Scheme, alongside our Immigration Statistics, from August 2019. Home Office statisticians and officials are currently considering the content and will take into account the views of statistics users.</p><p>The application process for the EU Settlement Scheme collects data on the applicant’s date of birth, nationality and, where appropriate, marital or civil partnership status. Other data on protected characteristics may be processed as part of the application.</p><p>In accordance with the public sector equality duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, the Government continues to have due regard to the impacts of the EU Settlement Scheme on those who share a protected characteristic. A Policy Equality Statement, which sets out the Government’s consideration of the impacts of the scheme on those who share such a characteristic, will be published shortly.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes grouped question UIN 270377 270378 270379 question first answered 02/07/2019 15:57:53 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1134842

	registered interest
	date	26/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Immigration: EU Nationals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2019 to Question 267306 on Immigration: EU Nationals, what estimate he has made of the number of applicants for whom tax credit records would be relevant.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	269726
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2019 answer text <p>The purpose of the automated checks is to help the applicant establish their continuous residence in the UK. Eligibility to receive benefits is not dependent upon being continuously resident in the UK. Benefits except Job Seekers Allowance and Maternity Allowance on their own are not strong indicators of continuous residence unless receipt of them persists over a period of 12 months. There are also overlaps with other data that is available from the checks. For instance, PAYE data covers most applicants who claim working tax credits and receipt of other benefits included in the checks will overlap with receipt of child tax credits. Child Benefit is not included in the automated checks because it is not a sufficient indicator of continuous UK residence. A full explanation of how the automated checks work has been published at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settlement-scheme-uk-tax-and-benefits-records-automated-check." target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settlement-scheme-uk-tax-and-benefits-records-automated-check.</a></p><p>Following analysis conducted on an anonymised sample of 10,000 applications submitted under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006, the Home Office estimated that the potential pool of resident EEA citizens who might benefit from tax credits data being included in the automated checks was around two per cent and this was before any consideration of the applicability of that data to proving continuous residence. Individuals who need to rely on tax credits to demonstrate their continuous residence are still able to provide documentary evidence of this as part of their application.</p><p>In accordance with section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, we have had due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 03/07/2019 15:35:26 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1133855

	registered interest
	date	21/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Visas: Fees and Charges
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2019 to Question 263147 on Visas: Applications, what the new costs of out of hours appointments will be.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	267739
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2019 answer text <p>We are aware that increased demand has had an impact on short term appointment availability which means customers might not always be able to book an appointment at their earliest convenience.</p><p>We are working with Sopra Steria Limited (SSL) as a matter of priority on a number of actions to increase the capacity at service points and we expect availability to increase shortly. These measures include; six additional service points in Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Exeter in May and June. SSL are also increasing appointments offered to customers across a number of existing sites and have reduced the cost of out of hours appointments to £50 in the Croydon service point. Charges in other core sites currently range from £75 to £100, but we will continue to monitor prices and customer demand.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 26/06/2019 14:46:35 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1131342

	registered interest
	date	11/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Entry Clearances: Applications
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to improve the level of service provided by Sopra Steria for in-country visa services at UK visa and citizenship application service centres and enhanced service points across the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	263146
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>UKVI officials meet with Sopra Steria Limited (SSL) on a regular basis to review performance and drive improvements to service standards. We are aware that there are issues with capacity at the moment which means customers might not always be able to book an appointment at their earliest convenience.</p><p>We are working with SSL as a matter of priority on a number of actions to increase the capacity at service points and we expect availability to increase shortly. These measures include; four additional enhanced service points in Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester and Edinburgh over the last month, increasing appointments offered to customers across a number of existing sites and reducing the cost of out of hours appointments.</p><p>Planning is underway with Sopra Steria and we are looking at a range of options to ensure that there is sufficient capacity within the service to meet demand during the student Autumn surge period.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 17/06/2019 10:29:16 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1131344

	registered interest
	date	11/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Visas: Applications
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to ensure that the UK Visa and Citizenship Application Service centres and enhanced service points across the UK have sufficient capacity to handle the increase in demand that will result from the student surge period in September 2019.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	263147
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>UKVI officials meet with Sopra Steria Limited (SSL) on a regular basis to review performance and drive improvements to service standards. We are aware that there are issues with capacity at the moment which means customers might not always be able to book an appointment at their earliest convenience.</p><p>We are working with SSL as a matter of priority on a number of actions to increase the capacity at service points and we expect availability to increase shortly. These measures include; four additional enhanced service points in Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester and Edinburgh over the last month, increasing appointments offered to customers across a number of existing sites and reducing the cost of out of hours appointments.</p><p>Planning is underway with Sopra Steria and we are looking at a range of options to ensure that there is sufficient capacity within the service to meet demand during the student Autumn surge period.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 17/06/2019 10:30:43 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1131086

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Deportation: Democratic Republic of Congo
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of whether it is safe to deport nationals of the Democratic Republic of Congo to that country.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	262356
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/06/2019 answer text <p>We only return those who are without a legal right to remain in the UK, including foreign national offenders, when we and, where the individual has exercised a right of appeal, the courts deem it is safe to do so, on a case by case basis.</p><p>We are currently reviewing our assessment of risk faced by rejected asylum seekers and foreign national offenders on return to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). An updated country policy and information note setting out our position will be published in due course.The Home Office has regular discussions with the Foreign Office on a range of issues and has on a number of occasions discussed the subject of returns to the DRC to establish as full an assessment of the situation as possible.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes grouped question UIN 262357 262358 question first answered 13/06/2019 11:35:16 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1131087

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Deportation: Democratic Republic of Congo
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the safety of nationals of the Democratic Republic of Congo who are returned to that country.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	262357
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/06/2019 answer text <p>We only return those who are without a legal right to remain in the UK, including foreign national offenders, when we and, where the individual has exercised a right of appeal, the courts deem it is safe to do so, on a case by case basis.</p><p>We are currently reviewing our assessment of risk faced by rejected asylum seekers and foreign national offenders on return to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). An updated country policy and information note setting out our position will be published in due course.The Home Office has regular discussions with the Foreign Office on a range of issues and has on a number of occasions discussed the subject of returns to the DRC to establish as full an assessment of the situation as possible.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes grouped question UIN 262356 262358 question first answered 13/06/2019 11:35:17 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1131088

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Deportation: Democratic Republic of Congo
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions his officials have had with officials in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on issuing advice on the safety of returning nationals of the Democratic Republic of Congo to that country.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	262358
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/06/2019 answer text <p>We only return those who are without a legal right to remain in the UK, including foreign national offenders, when we and, where the individual has exercised a right of appeal, the courts deem it is safe to do so, on a case by case basis.</p><p>We are currently reviewing our assessment of risk faced by rejected asylum seekers and foreign national offenders on return to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). An updated country policy and information note setting out our position will be published in due course.The Home Office has regular discussions with the Foreign Office on a range of issues and has on a number of occasions discussed the subject of returns to the DRC to establish as full an assessment of the situation as possible.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes grouped question UIN 262356 262357 question first answered 13/06/2019 11:35:17 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1130500

	registered interest
	date	06/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Immigration: EU Nationals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 14 May 2019 to Question 252534 on Immigration: EU Nationals, if he will place in the Library, a copy of the Equality Impact Assessment on the EU Settlement Scheme.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	261207
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2019 answer text <p>A Policy Equality Statement, which sets out the Government’s consideration of the impacts of the EU Settlement Scheme on those who share a protected characteristic, will be published shortly.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 11/06/2019 11:08:09 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1130501

	registered interest
	date	06/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Immigration: EU Nationals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 May 2019 to Question 254185 on Immigration: EU Nationals, if he will place in the Library, a copy of the algorithm applied by his Department during automated residency checks.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	261208
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2019 answer text <p>Guidance on the automated checks process has been published on gov.uk and a copy of this will be placed in the Library. <br /><a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settlement-scheme-uk-tax-and-benefits-records-automated-check." target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settlement-scheme-uk-tax-and-benefits-records-automated-check.</a></p><p>The rules for assessing continuous residence are already set out in the Immigration Rules. The automated checks simply apply these principles to the data provided by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and The Department for Work and Pensions. The automated checks replace the need, where data exists, for an applicant to submit any other forms of evidence.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 11/06/2019 11:11:01 question first ministerially corrected 11/06/2019 11:31:13 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes attachment 1 file name How_the_automated_check_calculates_the_period_of_residence.docx title The Automated Checks - EU Settlement Scheme previous answer version 121701 answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1130502

	registered interest
	date	06/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Immigration: EU Nationals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 May 2019 to Question 254812, whether staff at the Home Office and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs will access that data for the purposes of the EU Settlement Scheme exclusively.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	261209
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2019 answer text <p>Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has full access to a person’s tax records as per HMRC’s statutory responsibilities and their access to tax records data is not limited to the EU Settlement Scheme.</p><p>Similarly, Department for Work and Pensions has full access to a person’s benefit and pension records as per DWP’s statutory responsibilities and their access to these records is not limited to the scheme. The Home Office processes a calculation of residence on based the data provided and does not retain access to the source data in an application to the EU Settlement Scheme as confirmed by the MOU.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes grouped question UIN 261212 question first answered 11/06/2019 11:13:32 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1130503

	registered interest
	date	06/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Immigration: EU Nationals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the letter dated 1 May 2019 from the Minister of State for Immigration to the Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, if his Department will include data on the responses received to the question of whether applicants have been continuously resident for less than five years, or more than five years, in relation to the outcome of the application in the monthly Official Statistics report on the EU Settlement Scheme.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	261210
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2019 answer text <p>The first official statistics on the operation of the ‘EU Settlement Scheme Sta-tistics, April 2019’ were published on 30th May 2019 and can be found at:<br><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/eu-settlement-scheme-statistics-april-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/eu-settlement-scheme-statistics-april-2019</a></p><p>The Home Office is committed to publishing more detailed quarterly statistics on the EU Settlement Scheme as a whole, alongside our Immigration Statistics from August 2019. Home Office statisticians are currently considering the content and will take into account the views of statistics users.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 11/06/2019 11:32:44 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield