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1233552

registered interest
date	10/09/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	British Nationality: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what were the estimated (1) legal, and (2) administrative, costs of their involvement in the case Project for the Registration of Children as British Citizens v Home Office; and what they estimate such costs to be of any appeal to the judgment of that case.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL8008
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/09/2020 answer text <p>The information that you have requested on legal and administrative costs is not available. Our systems do not record administrative costs against particular legal cases and as the litigation is ongoing we are not able to provide an accurate assessment of the legal costs.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 24/09/2020 15:54:02 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1233553

registered interest
date	10/09/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Refugees: Employment
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay on 9 September (HL Deb, col 820), what plans they have to meet with the Lift the Ban Coalition and Refugee Action to discuss (1) the requests of those organisations, (2) the timeline for the completion of the review into the right to work, and (3) the reasons for the delay in the conclusion of that review to date.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL8009
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/09/2020 answer text <p>Officials will be meeting with Asylum Matters to discuss asylum seeker right to work policy in due course.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 24/09/2020 12:15:04 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1233554

registered interest
date	10/09/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Refugees: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many unaccompanied children have been transferred since June to the care of councils since arriving in England from crossing the English Channel; to list the countries of origin of such children, including the number of children for each such country;  what their policy is in regard to the long term needs and care of these children; and what plans they have to make the National Transfer Scheme compulsory.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL8010
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/09/2020 answer text <p>The Government remains committed to helping and supporting children in need of international protection. Since 2010, the UK has received over 23,700 asylum claims from unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC).</p><p>The National Transfer Scheme (NTS) supports local authorities to transfer responsibility for these children to another participating local authority and seeks to achieve a fairer allocation of caring responsibilities across the country so that all children get the care and support they need.</p><p>We publish data on the number of transfers completed under the scheme each quarter as part of the Home Office Migration Transparency Data (NTS_01), which is available on GOV.UK. As at June 2020, over 1,050 children had been transferred under the scheme since it began. We do not currently publish a nationality breakdown of those children transferred under the scheme, however these children would be a subset of the UASC data published as part of the ‘asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement’ volume of the quarterly Immigration Statistics (Asy_D01), which is also available on GOV.UK.</p><p>UASC have often suffered deep trauma and they should receive the same level of care and support we would expect for any looked after child. In 2017, we published our Safeguarding Strategy for Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking and Refugee Children which sets out the Government’s commitments to safeguard and promote their welfare.</p><p>Whilst there are statutory powers to mandate a transfer scheme, our preference is to continue to operate the NTS on a voluntary basis. We recognise a need to achieve a more equitable distribution of UASC and have therefore worked with local government partners to develop proposals to further improve the scheme. On 28 August we launched an informal consultation with local authorities on these proposals. The consultation also seeks views on a potential mandatory approach should participation in the voluntary scheme not achieve a more proportionate distribution of UASC.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 24/09/2020 16:00:30 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1228151

registered interest
date	28/07/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Refugees
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will extend the Mandate Refugee Resettlement Scheme to include having siblings in the UK as a key factor for resettlement in cases where separation has occurred because of persecution caused by religion or belief; and if not, why not.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL7422
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/08/2020 answer text <p>The UK has a proud history of providing refuge to those seeking sanctuary. There is already provision for wider family members (including adult siblings) to be considered for resettlement to the UK under the Mandate scheme, where there are exceptional circumstances.</p><p>This applies in all cases, including where UNHCR identifies that persecution because of religion or belief is a contributing factor in their protection needs.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 11/08/2020 11:23:53 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1227097

registered interest
date	21/07/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	China: British National (Overseas)
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take, when determining the eligibility of British National (Overseas) passport holders to settle in the UK, to ascertain whether the applicants (1) have supported the Chinese Communist Party in the past, and (2) are committed to democracy, human rights and the rule of law.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL7067
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/08/2020 answer text <p>The Home Secretary was pleased to recently announce details of the new immigration route for Hong Kong British National (Overseas) citizens, which can be found at:</p><p>https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hong-kong-bno-visa-policy-statement</p><p>The eligibility requirements are set out in the policy statement.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 04/08/2020 10:20:52 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1226213

registered interest
date	20/07/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Islamic State: British Nationals Abroad
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Daesh fighters are known to have returned to the UK; how many such fighters and individuals assisting Daesh in different capacities have been prosecuted in the UK courts, including anyone who has (1) financed, or (2) recruited for, Daesh; on what charges any such individuals have been prosecuted; and what progress they have made on the proposal to establish an international ad-hoc tribunal for Daesh.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL7040
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/08/2020 answer text <p>Around 900 people have travelled from the UK to engage with the conflict in Syria and Iraq, against the advice of the Foreign Office.  Of these, approximately 20% have been killed in the conflict and around 40% have returned to the UK.</p><p> </p><p>The Governments priority is the safety and security of the people who live here. All of those who have returned, have been investigated and the majority have been assessed to pose no, or a low security risk. Around 40 individuals have been convicted on their return from Syria/Iraq, either because of offences committed overseas or for other activity linked to their involvement in terrorism. Individuals can be convicted in UK courts of offences committed overseas (including preparation of terrorism, encouragement of terrorism and membership of a proscribed organisation). Furthermore, through the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019, we have extended this to new offences including: inviting or recklessly expressing support for a proscribed organisation and for sharing their propaganda.</p><p> </p><p>The UK continues to work with international partners, as well as partners in the region in seeking to secure the prosecution of individuals who have committed crimes in the name of Daesh. Any such justice mechanism must respect human rights and the rule of law.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 03/08/2020 12:30:15 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1224156

registered interest
date	13/07/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Slavery: Victims
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) reports that up to 10,000 people could be victims of modern slavery in textile factories in Leicester, (2) claims by Andrew Bridgen MP that “a conspiracy of silence” has prevented action from being taken on such victims' behalf, (3) the report by the Centre for Social Justice It Still Happens Here: Fighting UK Slavery in the 2020s, published on 12 July, that estimates there are at least 100,000 victims of modern slavery in the UK each year; and what plans they have (a) to undertake an analysis of those statistics, and (b) publish a summary of the factors to be considered to review the effectiveness of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL6753
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/07/2020 answer text <p>We are deeply concerned by the appalling reports of illegal and unsafe working conditions for garment workers in Leicester. The Government will not tolerate the exploitation of vulnerable workers for commercial gain and is committed to taking action against those who seek to do so.</p><p> </p><p>While we cannot comment on any ongoing investigations, we can confirm that since 2017 a number of operations have been undertaken in the Leicester area linked to potential exploitation of workers, including by the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, HMRC and Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate. On each occasion, where breaches were found, enforcement action was taken, including warning letters, recovery of unpaid wages and director disqualifications.</p><p> </p><p>In March 2020, the Office for National Statistics noted that there is no definitive source of data or suitable method available to accurately quantify the number of potential victims of modern slavery in the UK. While the hidden nature of modern slavery makes providing an accurate measure of its scale difficult, we are committed to improving our understanding of this often complex crime. In July 2019, the Government announced a £10 million investment to create a new Policy and Evidence Centre for Modern Slavery and Human Rights. We will continue working with the Centre and other partners to strengthen the evidence base underpinning our policy and operational response to modern slavery.</p><p> </p><p>In July 2018, the Government commissioned an Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. The aim of the Review was to identify what can be improved in the implementation of the Act and whether specific areas of the legislation need to be strengthened. The Government response (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/803406/Independent_review_of_the_Modern_Slavery_Act_-_final_report.pdf) to the Independent Review, which was published on 9 July 2019, accepted or partially accepted the majority of the Review’s recommendations.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 27/07/2020 15:22:06 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1222725

registered interest
date	09/07/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Migrant Workers: Care Workers
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how they intend to respond to the concerns raised by the Cavendish Coalition, on behalf of UK health and social care groups, that their current immigration proposals would not allow enough overseas workers to be recruited for the care sector; and how they intend to address any shortfall of such workers in the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL6655
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/07/2020 answer text <p>The Government recognises the fantastic contribution made by those working in the social care sector and the need for roles in it to offer rewarding career opportunities. The independent Migration Advisory Committee has been very clear immigration is not the answer to the challenges faced in this sector, a view the Government shares.</p><p>The Minister for Future Borders and Immigration has met with the Cavendish Coalition to hear their thoughts about future immigration policy. In response he confirmed the Government would not be creating a migration route to allow some employers in the sector to permanently recruit at the legal minimum wage as an alternative to paying more competitive\rewarding salaries to their staff who undertake such valuable work supporting the most vulnerable.</p><p>He also outlined how the groups represented by the Cavendish Coalition should in the first instance seek to engage with the Department for Work &amp; Pensions about how they can work together to encourage more UK based jobseekers into rewarding careers in the Social Care Sector, rather than view immigration as the preferred option for addressing any shortfall in recruitment and as a way to ensure continued recruitment at the legal minimum wage. This is especially relevant when many UK based workers with the ability to make excellent social carer workers are looking for new employment due to the economic impact of Covid-19.</p><p>As we implement the new immigration system, we want employers to focus on investing in our domestic work force and offering rewarding packages to Social Care Workers, rather than view immigration as an alternative to doing this. In relation to roles within the sector where specific training is required the new skilled worker route will provide for a broader range of roles, including senior care workers to come to the UK.</p><p>The EU Settlement Scheme means all EU and EAA citizens, and their family members, currently working in social care can stay in the UK and we are encouraging them to do so.</p><p>The Government is supporting the Social Care sector in several ways, including through launching a national recruitment campaign and providing councils with access to an additional £1.5 billion for adults and children’s social care in 2020-21.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 30/07/2020 12:15:28 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1219732

registered interest
date	01/07/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Immigrants: Poverty
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 30 June (HL Deb, col 574), what assessment they have made of the impact of the “no recourse to public funds” policy on the prevalence of poverty among people without residential status and the dependence on charities for food, housing and survival.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL6340
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2020 answer text <p>The NRPF policy is based on the principle that migrants coming to the UK are expected to maintain and support themselves and their families without posing a burden on the UK’s welfare system. Access to benefits and other publicly funded services reflects a migrant’s lawful status and the strength of their connections to the UK. That is why access to public funds is normally tied to indefinite leave to remain.</p><p>Those without lawful status in the UK are expected to take steps to resolve their situation, either by regularising their stay, or by leaving the UK. Help is available for people who wish to leave voluntarily. However, we recognise the unique challenges that the Covid-19 pandemic presents. That is why we have provided more than £3.2 billion of funding to local authorities in England and now a further £500 million to respond to spending pressures they are facing. The Government has also provided additional funding for the devolved administrations under the Barnett formula as part of the wider government response. Funding provided to local authorities under the Covid-19 emergency response will be paid through a grant that is not ring-fenced, recognising that local authorities are best placed to decide how this funding is spent.</p><p> </p><p>Local authorities may provide basic safety net support, if it is established that there is a genuine care need that does not arise solely from destitution, for example, where there are community care needs, migrants with serious health problems or family cases where the wellbeing of a child is in question.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Chancellor announced an additional £750m package of support for charities across the UK to ensure they can continue their vital work during the Covid-19 pandemic.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 15/07/2020 16:47:40 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1219733

registered interest
date	01/07/2020
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 30 June (HL Deb, col 574), how many applications from asylum seekers for refugee status are currently being assessed; how long it takes on average to resolve each application; how many applicants are currently neither told that they will be (1) removed, or (2) allowed to stay; and what consideration they have given (a) to holding an amnesty to regularise the position of those who have been in the UK for more than five years without legal status, and (b) to the potential benefits of enabling such people to live, study, work, contribute, and pay taxes, in the UK.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL6341
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2020 answer text <p>The Home Office is unable to state how many applications from asylum seekers for refugee status are currently being assessed or how long it takes on average to resolve each application.</p><p>The Home Office does however publish data on the number of asylum applications awaiting an initial decision by duration. This data can be found at Asy_04, of the published Immigration Statistics March 2020 which indicate that, as at March 2020, the total number awaiting an initial decision was 51,906.</p><p>An extract from the published data can be found below showing the total numbers awaiting an initial decision broken down by more or less than 6 months.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Mar 2020</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Awaiting initial decision</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>51,906</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Less than 6 months</p></td><td><p>20,390</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>More than 6 months</p></td><td><p>31,516</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>All asylum claimants are notified in writing of the outcome of the decision on their claim. If a claim is refused, a full explanation is provided of the reasons along with the relevant appeal rights, plus the necessary removal notice notifications advising them of their responsibility to leave the UK voluntarily and the consequences of them remaining in the UK illegally. Those applicants who are granted status are advised of their rights and benefits to which they are entitled to in the UK.</p><p> </p><p>There are no plans for the Government to hold an amnesty to regularise the position of those who have been in the UK for more than five years without legal status.</p><p> </p><p>The Immigration Rules already provide for undocumented migrants who are in the UK, who have not broken the law except for remaining here without lawful immigration status, to regularise their status. For those who do not meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules, there is provision for a grant of leave where there are exceptional circumstances or compelling compassionate grounds which would mean refusal would result in unjustifiably harsh consequences for the applicant.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to a fair and humane immigration policy which welcomes and celebrates people here lawfully, but which tackles immigration offending and protects tax-payer funded public services.</p><p> </p><p>In common with other comparable countries, the UK has in place a framework of laws, policies and administrative arrangements ensuring access to work, benefits and services is permitted only for those with the right to access them. It protects the taxpayer and is based on principles of fairness.</p><p> </p><p>It is expected that those who do not have a legal right to be in the UK should leave.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 15/07/2020 16:41:24 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool