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1126062

registered interest
date	13/05/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to promote Refugee Week 2019; and if he will take steps to ensure his Department promotes the value of refugees and asylum seekers to the UK.
tabling member constituency	Ealing, Southall
tabling member printed	Mr Virendra Sharma
uin	253539
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2019 answer text <p>The UK government is committed to humanitarian efforts to support refugees at home and abroad.</p><p><br>The UK has a proud history of providing protection to those who need it – and this Government is committed to ensuring refugees can take positive steps towards integration as they rebuild their lives in the UK.</p><p><br>We recognise Refugee Week as an opportunity to celebrate the valuable contributions refugees make to UK society.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 16/05/2019 13:04:08 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	1604 label Biography information for Mr Virendra Sharma

1126078

registered interest
date	13/05/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	British Nationality: Assessments
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans he has to include adult and child safeguarding in the Life in the UK Test.
tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
uin	253714
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2019 answer text <p>There is currently a “fundamental principles” section in the handbook which covers domestic violence, female genital mutilation and forced marriage.</p><p>However, the Home Secretary has announced a review of the handbook and test, and we will be revising it and the test to place greater emphasis on British values. In doing so, it is important that we focus on both the rights and responsibilities of citizens and on the importance of being active citizens. <br>We are currently considering how this will be taken forward.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 16/05/2019 12:54:22 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

1126196

registered interest
date	13/05/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum
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 taken is for a decision on an application for asylum.
tabling member constituency	Bradford South
tabling member printed	Judith Cummins
uin	253591
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2019 answer text <p>The Home Office does not publish data on the average time taken to make a decision on an asylum application. In addition, we cannot provide data on the average time taken to receive a decision in particular region such as Yorkshire and Humber, such data can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p><p><br>However, the Home Office does publish data on the number of pending applications that have been awaiting an initial decision for more or less than 6 months. This data can be found at Volume 1, as_01 of the Immigration Statistics December 2018: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-december-2018/list-of-tables#asylum" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-december-2018/list-of-tables#asylum</a></p><p>In line with our ambition to promote a greater understanding and transparency of the asylum system and to develop service standards that are meaningful and command confidence, plans are underway for UKVI to implement new service standards for asylum case working. This change means UKVI will be moving away from the six-month service standard for straightforward cases which was introduced in 2014.</p><p>It had become clear that the current service standard no longer best served those that used our services and a number of stakeholders had been concerned that not all cases were captured by it.</p><p>For these reasons, it has been agreed to change how Asylum Operations proritise their workload. This means, in the short term, Asylum Operations will reprioritise cases by focusing on claims with acute vulnerability and those in receipt of the greatest level of support, including Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC). Additionally, cases where an individual has already received a decision, but a reconsideration is required, will also be prioritised. The implications of the change on applicants have been considered and appropriate mitigations put in place, with the most vulnerable groups being prioritised as appropriate.</p><p>The intention is for this approach to bring balance back to the asylum system while steps are taken to increase the capacity of the asylum decision making system and focus on process improvements to deliver better quality decisions more efficiently.</p><p>To come to a longer-term arrangement for service standards that meet the needs of those seeking asylum and the country, UKVI have engaged with key partners in the Strategic Engagement Group (SEG) and other NGOs to redesign the way in which claims are prioritised. This engagement started on 4 December 2018 and over 100 organisations were invited to service standards workshops, which included members of SEG and National Asylum Stakeholder Forum (NASF) sub groups. 41 organisations out of the 100 attended workshops nationally.</p><p>We aim to ensure that we design our new service standards to deliver a world leading immigration service for those seeking asylum in the UK.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes grouped question UIN 253592 253595 question first answered 16/05/2019 13:09:06 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4391 label Biography information for Judith Cummins

1126197

registered interest
date	13/05/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Yorkshire and the Humber
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 taken is for Home Office decisions on applications for asylum in the Yorkshire and Humber region.
tabling member constituency	Bradford South
tabling member printed	Judith Cummins
uin	253592
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2019 answer text <p>The Home Office does not publish data on the average time taken to make a decision on an asylum application. In addition, we cannot provide data on the average time taken to receive a decision in particular region such as Yorkshire and Humber, such data can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p><p><br>However, the Home Office does publish data on the number of pending applications that have been awaiting an initial decision for more or less than 6 months. This data can be found at Volume 1, as_01 of the Immigration Statistics December 2018: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-december-2018/list-of-tables#asylum" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-december-2018/list-of-tables#asylum</a></p><p>In line with our ambition to promote a greater understanding and transparency of the asylum system and to develop service standards that are meaningful and command confidence, plans are underway for UKVI to implement new service standards for asylum case working. This change means UKVI will be moving away from the six-month service standard for straightforward cases which was introduced in 2014.</p><p>It had become clear that the current service standard no longer best served those that used our services and a number of stakeholders had been concerned that not all cases were captured by it.</p><p>For these reasons, it has been agreed to change how Asylum Operations proritise their workload. This means, in the short term, Asylum Operations will reprioritise cases by focusing on claims with acute vulnerability and those in receipt of the greatest level of support, including Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC). Additionally, cases where an individual has already received a decision, but a reconsideration is required, will also be prioritised. The implications of the change on applicants have been considered and appropriate mitigations put in place, with the most vulnerable groups being prioritised as appropriate.</p><p>The intention is for this approach to bring balance back to the asylum system while steps are taken to increase the capacity of the asylum decision making system and focus on process improvements to deliver better quality decisions more efficiently.</p><p>To come to a longer-term arrangement for service standards that meet the needs of those seeking asylum and the country, UKVI have engaged with key partners in the Strategic Engagement Group (SEG) and other NGOs to redesign the way in which claims are prioritised. This engagement started on 4 December 2018 and over 100 organisations were invited to service standards workshops, which included members of SEG and National Asylum Stakeholder Forum (NASF) sub groups. 41 organisations out of the 100 attended workshops nationally.</p><p>We aim to ensure that we design our new service standards to deliver a world leading immigration service for those seeking asylum in the UK.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes grouped question UIN 253591 253595 question first answered 16/05/2019 13:09:07 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4391 label Biography information for Judith Cummins

1126198

registered interest
date	13/05/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of asylum claims are decided within the Home Office’s service standard that 98 per cent of straightforward claims will be decided within 6 months.
tabling member constituency	Bradford South
tabling member printed	Judith Cummins
uin	253593
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2019 answer text <p>In line with our ambition to promote a greater understanding and transparency of the asylum system and to develop service standards that are meaningful and command confidence, plans are underway for UKVI to implement new service standards for asylum case working. This change means UKVI have moved away from the six-month service standard for straightforward cases which was introduced in 2014.</p><p>It had become clear that the service standard no longer best served those that used our services and a number of stakeholders had been concerned that not all cases were captured by it.</p><p>The intention is for this approach to bring balance back to the asylum system while steps are taken to increase the capacity of the asylum decision making system and focus on process improvements to deliver better quality decisions more efficiently.</p><p>Data on the proportion of asylum claims that are decided within the Home Office’s previous service standard, which was to decide 98 per cent of straight-forward claims within 6 months can be found at Asy_10: Percentage of Asy-lum applications processed within 6 months, Asylum Transparency data February 2019: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-transparency-data-february-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-transparency-data-february-2019</a></p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 16/05/2019 13:41:46 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4391 label Biography information for Judith Cummins

1126199

registered interest
date	13/05/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Employment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans he has to allow individuals who have not received a decision on their asylum claim after six months the right to work.
tabling member constituency	Bradford South
tabling member printed	Judith Cummins
uin	253594
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2019 answer text <p>Asylum seekers can work in the UK if their claim has been outstanding for 12 months, through no fault of their own. Those allowed to work are restricted to jobs on the Shortage Occupation List, which is published by the Home Office and based on expert advice from the Migration Advisory Committee.</p><p>During the Meaningful Vote debate on 5 December, the Home Secretary stated that although there are no current plans to change the current policy, it is an area he wished to review, and work on this is ongoing.</p><p>In making any policy changes, it is important to distinguish between those who need protection and economic migrants, who can apply for a work visa under the Immigration Rules. Our wider policy could be undermined if migrants could bypass work visa routes by lodging unfounded asylum claims.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 16/05/2019 12:56:09 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4391 label Biography information for Judith Cummins

1126200

registered interest
date	13/05/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum
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 reduce the time taken for asylum decisions to be made.
tabling member constituency	Bradford South
tabling member printed	Judith Cummins
uin	253595
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2019 answer text <p>The Home Office does not publish data on the average time taken to make a decision on an asylum application. In addition, we cannot provide data on the average time taken to receive a decision in particular region such as Yorkshire and Humber, such data can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p><p><br>However, the Home Office does publish data on the number of pending applications that have been awaiting an initial decision for more or less than 6 months. This data can be found at Volume 1, as_01 of the Immigration Statistics December 2018: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-december-2018/list-of-tables#asylum" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-december-2018/list-of-tables#asylum</a></p><p>In line with our ambition to promote a greater understanding and transparency of the asylum system and to develop service standards that are meaningful and command confidence, plans are underway for UKVI to implement new service standards for asylum case working. This change means UKVI will be moving away from the six-month service standard for straightforward cases which was introduced in 2014.</p><p>It had become clear that the current service standard no longer best served those that used our services and a number of stakeholders had been concerned that not all cases were captured by it.</p><p>For these reasons, it has been agreed to change how Asylum Operations proritise their workload. This means, in the short term, Asylum Operations will reprioritise cases by focusing on claims with acute vulnerability and those in receipt of the greatest level of support, including Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC). Additionally, cases where an individual has already received a decision, but a reconsideration is required, will also be prioritised. The implications of the change on applicants have been considered and appropriate mitigations put in place, with the most vulnerable groups being prioritised as appropriate.</p><p>The intention is for this approach to bring balance back to the asylum system while steps are taken to increase the capacity of the asylum decision making system and focus on process improvements to deliver better quality decisions more efficiently.</p><p>To come to a longer-term arrangement for service standards that meet the needs of those seeking asylum and the country, UKVI have engaged with key partners in the Strategic Engagement Group (SEG) and other NGOs to redesign the way in which claims are prioritised. This engagement started on 4 December 2018 and over 100 organisations were invited to service standards workshops, which included members of SEG and National Asylum Stakeholder Forum (NASF) sub groups. 41 organisations out of the 100 attended workshops nationally.</p><p>We aim to ensure that we design our new service standards to deliver a world leading immigration service for those seeking asylum in the UK.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes grouped question UIN 253591 253592 question first answered 16/05/2019 13:09:07 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4391 label Biography information for Judith Cummins

1126201

registered interest
date	13/05/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Deportation: Homosexuality
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 13th edition of the ILGA State Sponsored Homophobia Report, how many people were deported to each of the 71 countries where homosexuality is illegal in (a) 2016, (b) 2017 and (c) 2018.
tabling member constituency	East Dunbartonshire
tabling member printed	Jo Swinson
uin	253532
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2019 answer text <p>The number of enforced returns from the UK by year and country of destination is published in table rt_05 (returns data tables, volume 5) in ‘Immigration Statistics, year ending December 2018’, available from the GOV.uk website at:</p><p><br><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/781118/returns5-dec-2018-tables.ods" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/781118/returns5-dec-2018-tables.ods</a></p><p><br>Deportations are a subset of enforced returns. They may occur either following a criminal conviction, or when it is judged that a person’s removal from the UK is conducive to the public good. Information on those deported is not separately available. The published statistics refer to enforced returns, which include deportations, as well as cases where a person has breached UK immigration laws, and those removed under other administrative and illegal entry powers who have declined to leave voluntarily. Most illegal immigrants are removed from the UK under administrative or illegal entry powers and not deported.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 16/05/2019 13:06:12 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson

1126210

registered interest
date	13/05/2019
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 standards his Department used in the digital verification of people applying to the EU Settlement Scheme.
tabling member constituency	Leigh
tabling member printed	Jo Platt
uin	253725
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2019 answer text <p>EU citizens make a huge contribution to our economy and society, and we want them to stay. The EU Settlement Scheme enables them to do so.</p><p>The ‘EU Exit: Identity Document Check’ app is an optional aspect of the service which allows applicants to prove their identity remotely.</p><p>The app performs a series of digital security checks on the chip contained within the applicant’s identity document that meets the international standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). These checks allow us to establish, to a high level of trust, the authenticity of the identity document and its contents. Where an individual cannot validate their identity document using the app to make an application to the EU Settlement Scheme, they can post their identity documents to the Home Office to be checked and returned quickly.</p><p>The use of the ‘EU Exit: ID Document Check’ app is entirely optional, but it offers a secure and quick way of making an application to the EU Settlement Scheme.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 16/05/2019 12:59:57 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4673 label Biography information for Jo Platt

1126224

registered interest
date	13/05/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Namibia
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 his Department is unable to provide an essential interpreter for Namibian nationals undertaking a substantive asylum interview.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	253648
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2019 answer text <p>The Home Office recognises the ongoing high demand for Namibian interpreters across the department and has an ongoing recruitment campaign for all high demand languages, of which Namibian is a priority.</p><p><br>We will continue to explore and act upon potential recruitment avenues both regionally and nationally. Alongside the ongoing recruitment campaign, we will continue to work with stakeholders in assessing demand and have in place contingencies to ensure the available national resource is utilised as effectively as possible.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 16/05/2019 13:02:10 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens