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388294

registered interest
date	07/07/2015
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Passports
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many passports were issued in each part of the UK in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	6041
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2015 answer text <p>Her Majesty’s Passport Office does not hold this information at constituency level or for individual countries within the United Kingdom and the cost of extracting this data would be disproportionate.</p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire question first answered 15/07/2015 15:18:01 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

388295

registered interest
date	07/07/2015
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Passports: British Nationals Abroad
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many UK passports were issued to people resident outside the UK in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	6042
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2015 answer text <p>Her Majesty’s Passport Office took over issuing passports to British citizens overseas on a phased basis between October 2012 and April 2014. As a result data relating to the period before April 2014 could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p>The number of passports issued for British citizens applying from overseas since April 2014 is set out in the table below.</p><p>Passports – Overseas Applications</p><p>Year Total passports passed for issue</p><p>2014 (April – December) 302,445</p><p>2015 (January- June) 237,107</p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire question first answered 15/07/2015 15:28:11 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

388297

registered interest
date	07/07/2015
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Immigration Controls: Scotland
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions were held with the Scottish Government on the minimum income threshold requirement for family visas prior to its implementation about its potential impact (a) on affected families living in Scotland, (b) to the Scottish economy and (c) on communities across Scotland.
tabling member constituency	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
tabling member printed	Margaret Ferrier
uin	5781
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2015 answer text <p>A three-month public consultation on family migration, including the proposal for a minimum income threshold for those sponsoring family migrants, was undertaken across the UK from 13 July to 6 October 2011. The Scottish Government and local authorities and non-governmental organisations in Scotland were consulted as part of this process. The Scottish Government and local authorities were also consulted by the independent Migration Advisory Committee in preparing its November 2011 report on the level at which a minimum income threshold should be set to prevent family migrants becoming a burden on the taxpayer. The responses to the public consultation and the Migration Advisory Committee’s report were carefully considered in setting the minimum income threshold requirement for family visas implemented on 9 July 2012.</p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire question first answered 15/07/2015 15:26:17 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
tabling member	4386 label Biography information for Margaret Ferrier

388298

registered interest
date	07/07/2015
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Immigration Controls
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 Oral Answer to the hon. Member for South Antrim of 6 July 2015, Official Report, column 22, whether her Department plans to vary the minimum income threshold requirements for family visas to take account of different costs of living in different parts of the UK.
tabling member constituency	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
tabling member printed	Margaret Ferrier
uin	5782
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2015 answer text <p>The minimum income threshold of £18,600 for sponsoring a non-European Economic Area national partner to come or remain here applies across the UK under the family Immigration Rules implemented on 9 July 2012. The level of the income threshold, which aims to prevent burdens on the taxpayer and promote integration, was set following advice from the independent Migration Advisory Committee and reflects the income at which a family settled here generally cannot access income-related benefits. The Committee, in its November 2011 report, could see no clear case for differentiation of the income threshold between UK countries and regions and noted several arguments against such an approach. These included that a family living in a wealthy part of a relatively poor UK country or region could be subject to a lower income requirement than a family living in a deprived part of a relatively wealthy one. The government agrees with that assessment and a single minimum income threshold across the UK has been found to be lawful by the courts.</p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire question first answered 15/07/2015 15:26:37 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
tabling member	4386 label Biography information for Margaret Ferrier

388299

registered interest
date	07/07/2015
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Undocumented Migrants: Calais
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent representations she has made to her French counterpart on the effect of illegal migration from Calais on the UK freight industry.
tabling member constituency	Redditch
tabling member printed	Karen Lumley
uin	5805
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/07/2015 answer text <p>The Home Secretary regularly meets her French counterpart to discuss the current situation in Calais. The Home Secretary and French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve set out a number of commitments in a joint declaration, on 20 September 2014, to tackle problems at the port of Calais. This included £12 million from the UK Government to help reinforce security. We continue to work with the French Government to implement the practical solutions that have been agreed. On 2 July, the Home Secretary and the French Interior Minister reaffirmed the determination of both countries to strengthen and complete their joint strategy to deal with this common challenge, including by increasing the intervention fund to secure access to the Channel Tunnel.</p><p>Driver safety is paramount; and it is in all our interests that goods are able to be transported to the UK secure against the harm that can be caused by clandestines. To that end the Home Secretary announced on 14 July the creation of a new secure buffer zone at the port of Calais for UK-bound lorries. This will provide a secure waiting area for 230 vehicles – the equivalent of removing a two-and-a-half mile queue from the approaching road.</p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire question first answered 20/07/2015 09:49:40 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
tabling member	4023 label Biography information for Karen Lumley

388300

registered interest
date	07/07/2015
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Passports: British Nationals Abroad
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) number and (b) proportion of applications for a passport for a child overseas take longer than (a) three, (b) four and (c) six months to be processed.
tabling member constituency	Edinburgh East
tabling member printed	Tommy Sheppard
uin	5846
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2015 answer text <p>A total of 49,173 international child passport applications finished processing in January-June 2015. Of this total, <del class="ministerial">2,418 (4.9%)</del> <ins class="ministerial">3,242 (6.6%)</ins> took longer than three months to be processed, <del class="ministerial">1,780 (3.6%)</del> <ins class="ministerial">2,539 (5.2%)</ins> took longer than four months to be processed, and <del class="ministerial">944 (1.9%)</del> <ins class="ministerial">1,657 (3.4%)</ins> took longer than six months to be processed.</p><p>The processing time is the length of time from receipt of the application to the passport being printed. For international child passport applications processed in the same period, the average processing time was 19.4 working days. Information is not held on the time between receipt of application and interview date as the date of interview can be subject to customer availability.</p><p>Her Majesty’s Passport Office must be fully satisfied that all appropriate checks have been completed successfully prior to the issuance of passport facilities. This is particularly important in relation to child applications as part of Her Majesty’s Passport Office responsibility to protect potentially vulnerable children, including those potentially at risk of child trafficking and to maintain the integrity of the British Passport.</p><p>These checks can require the provision of information from other agencies overseas – particularly in complex applications such as surrogacy cases.</p><p>Delays in the provision of this information to HMPO can lead to significantly extended timeframe in processing applications.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire question first answered 15/07/2015 15:19:26 question first ministerially corrected 05/08/2015 13:22:11 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire previous answer version 14230 answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
tabling member	4453 label Biography information for Tommy Sheppard

388301

registered interest
date	07/07/2015
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Passports: British Nationals Abroad
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will review the application processing timescale published by HM Passport Office for passport applications for children who are overseas.
tabling member constituency	Edinburgh East
tabling member printed	Tommy Sheppard
uin	5847
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2015 answer text <p>The expected turnaround times for all applications are subject to ongoing review and every effort is made to ensure that cases, particularly involving children overseas, are dealt with as quickly as possible. We will shortly be publishing updated expected turnaround times on www.gov.uk for all application types covering 133 countries.</p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire question first answered 15/07/2015 15:26:59 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
tabling member	4453 label Biography information for Tommy Sheppard

388302

registered interest
date	07/07/2015
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Passports: British Nationals Abroad
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time is for processing a passport application for a child overseas from the initial application to the interview in connection with that application.
tabling member constituency	Edinburgh East
tabling member printed	Tommy Sheppard
uin	5848
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2015 answer text <p>A total of 49,173 international child passport applications finished processing in January-June 2015. Of this total, <del class="ministerial">2,418 (4.9%)</del> <ins class="ministerial">3,242 (6.6%)</ins> took longer than three months to be processed, <del class="ministerial">1,780 (3.6%)</del> <ins class="ministerial">2,539 (5.2%)</ins> took longer than four months to be processed, and <del class="ministerial">944 (1.9%)</del> <ins class="ministerial">1,657 (3.4%)</ins> took longer than six months to be processed.</p><p>The processing time is the length of time from receipt of the application to the passport being printed. For international child passport applications processed in the same period, the average processing time was 19.4 working days. Information is not held on the time between receipt of application and interview date as the date of interview can be subject to customer availability.</p><p>Her Majesty’s Passport Office must be fully satisfied that all appropriate checks have been completed successfully prior to the issuance of passport facilities. This is particularly important in relation to child applications as part of Her Majesty’s Passport Office responsibility to protect potentially vulnerable children, including those potentially at risk of child trafficking and to maintain the integrity of the British Passport.</p><p>These checks can require the provision of information from other agencies overseas – particularly in complex applications such as surrogacy cases.</p><p>Delays in the provision of this information to HMPO can lead to significantly extended timeframe in processing applications.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire question first answered 15/07/2015 15:19:26 question first ministerially corrected 05/08/2015 14:35:08 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire previous answer version 15266 answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
tabling member	4453 label Biography information for Tommy Sheppard

388303

registered interest
date	07/07/2015
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	HM Passport Office: Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations she has received on (a) poor and (b) slow service at HM Passport Office in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Edinburgh East
tabling member printed	Tommy Sheppard
uin	5849
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2015 answer text <p>Numerous representations have been made both about the general passport issuing process as well as on behalf of individual applicants. They have been received from Members of Parliament and the public. Those with concerns about imminent travel plans for applicants are given priority.</p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire question first answered 15/07/2015 15:27:19 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
tabling member	4453 label Biography information for Tommy Sheppard

388304

registered interest
date	07/07/2015
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	HM Passport Office: Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to ensure that estimated application processing timelines by HM Passport Office are realised.
tabling member constituency	Edinburgh East
tabling member printed	Tommy Sheppard
uin	5850
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/07/2015 answer text <p>Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) is committed to processing applications as quickly as possible. 99.95% of UK straightforward passport applications were processed to published service standards in June 2015. The published processing times are for guidance only and complex applications can take significantly longer to complete. HMPO is unable to issue a passport until all the requisite security checks have been completed.</p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire question first answered 20/07/2015 09:50:14 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
tabling member	4453 label Biography information for Tommy Sheppard