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1202971

registered interest
date	11/06/2020
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 recent assessment she has made of the length of response times for decisions on visa applications.
tabling member constituency	Glenrothes
tabling member printed	Peter Grant
uin	58735
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/06/2020 answer text <p>Data on visa processing times, including the percentage and number of visas that are processed within service standards, is usually published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data. However, due to Covid-19, it has not been possible to prepare and quality assure all of the data tables which usually make up the publication. Priority has therefore been given to those with the highest degree of public interest. We anticipate that all Q1 2020 data will be published as part of the Q2 2020 publication in August.</p><p> </p><p>On 28 May the Home Office published a statistical report on the impact of Covid-19 on the immigration system, up to April 2020, which shows the impact on the visa system. This report can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-relating-to-covid-19-and-the-immigration-system-may-2020.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 16/06/2020 08:42:03 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	4466 label Biography information for Peter Grant

1203034

registered interest
date	11/06/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Immigration Removal Centres: Hygiene
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of availability of adequate hygiene facilities in immigration removal centres.
tabling member constituency	Nottingham East
tabling member printed	Nadia Whittome
uin	58845
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/06/2020 answer text <p>The safety and health of people in the detention estate are of the utmost importance. We are following all Public Health England guidance on COVID-19 and have robust contingency plans in place, including measures such as shielding and use of personal protective equipment.</p><p> </p><p>Basic hygiene is a key part of tackling COVID-19. Handwashing facilities are available in all immigration removal centres and we are working closely with suppliers to ensure we have an adequate supply of soap and cleaning materials. The arrangements in place are subject to regular review by Home Office staff and suppliers at each IRC.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, each centre has posters and leaflets to inform staff and detainees about the importance of handwashing and social distancing to minimise the risk from COVID-19. Detainees are also able to speak to staff directly for advice on the protective measures in place.</p><p> </p><p>Guidance on managing COVID-19 in immigration removal centres was published on gov.uk on 5 June https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-immigration-removal-centres.</p><p> </p><p>As of 12 June 2020, there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in immigration removal centres.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 16/06/2020 08:59:00 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4869 label Biography information for Nadia Whittome

1202346

registered interest
date	10/06/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Airports: Scotland
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have arrived at Scottish airports from international destinations since 8 June 2020 to date.
tabling member constituency	Dunfermline and West Fife
tabling member printed	Douglas Chapman
uin	57999
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/06/2020 answer text <p>Border Force does not release location specific statistics on the arrival of passengers to an individual airport.</p><p>However on 28 May 2020, the Home Office published additional statistics relating to Covid-19 and the immigration system here. This contains information on the impact of COVID-19 on passenger arrivals and includes data on the number of passengers arriving in the UK by air routes only.</p><p>The Home Office is due to publish the next quarterly Immigration Statistics on 27 August 2020.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 15/06/2020 15:42:39 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4402 label Biography information for Douglas Chapman

1202350

registered interest
date	10/06/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Visas: Married People
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 guidance was removed from her Department's website that stated that non-EU spouses of British nationals would not be disadvantaged in their application for a spouse visa if they cannot meet their income requirement due to the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow North
tabling member printed	Patrick Grady
uin	58004
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/06/2020 answer text <p>The Home Office has put in place a range of measures to support those affected by the Covid-19 outbreak. We continue to monitor the situation closely and take these exceptional circumstances into account.</p><p> </p><p>To ensure a spouse or partner applying for entry clearance, leave to remain or indefinite leave are not unduly affected by circumstances beyond their control, for the purpose of the minimum income requirement:</p><ul><li>A temporary loss of employment income between 1 March and 31 July 2020 due to Covid-19, will be disregarded provided the requirement was met for at least six months up to March 2020.</li><li>An applicant or sponsor furloughed under the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will be deemed as earning 100% of their salary.</li><li>A temporary loss of annual income due to Covid-19 between 1 March 2020 and 31 July 2020 will generally be disregarded for self-employment income, along with the impact on employment income from the same period for future applications. Income received via the Coronavirus Self-Employment Income Support Scheme will also be taken into account.</li><li>Evidential flexibility may be applied where an applicant or sponsor experiences difficulty accessing specified evidence due to Covid-19 restrictions.</li></ul><p> </p><p>The minimum income requirement can also be met in several ways in addition to or instead of income from employment or self-employment. For example, income from the couple’s investments, property rental or pension may also be taken into account, together with their cash savings.</p><p>These concessions are set out for customers on GOV.UK and are available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-uk-visa-applicants-and-temporary-uk-residents.</p><p> </p><p>An earlier draft of the guidance was uploaded to GOV.UK, but was quickly replaced with the correct version, thereby ensuring our guidance is as clear as possible on how a spouse or partner will not be disadvantaged.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 16/06/2020 08:29:52 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	4432 label Biography information for Patrick Grady

1202351

registered interest
date	10/06/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Visas: Married People
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that non-EU spouses of British nationals will not be disadvantaged in their application for a spouse visa if they cannot meet their income requirement due to the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow North
tabling member printed	Patrick Grady
uin	58005
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/06/2020 answer text <p>The Home Office has put in place a range of measures to support those affected by the Covid-19 outbreak. We continue to monitor the situation closely and take these exceptional circumstances into account.</p><p> </p><p>To ensure a spouse or partner applying for entry clearance, leave to remain or indefinite leave are not unduly affected by circumstances beyond their control, for the purpose of the minimum income requirement:</p><ul><li>A temporary loss of employment income between 1 March and 31 July 2020 due to Covid-19, will be disregarded provided the requirement was met for at least six months up to March 2020.</li><li>An applicant or sponsor furloughed under the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will be deemed as earning 100% of their salary.</li><li>A temporary loss of annual income due to Covid-19 between 1 March 2020 and 31 July 2020 will generally be disregarded for self-employment income, along with the impact on employment income from the same period for future applications. Income received via the Coronavirus Self-Employment Income Support Scheme will also be taken into account.</li><li>Evidential flexibility may be applied where an applicant or sponsor experiences difficulty accessing specified evidence due to Covid-19 restrictions.</li></ul><p>These concessions are set out for customers on GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-uk-visa-applicants-and-temporary-uk-residents.</p><p>The minimum income requirement can also be met in several ways in addition to or instead of income from employment or self-employment. For example, income from the couple’s investments, property rental or pension may also be taken into account, together with their cash savings.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 16/06/2020 08:32:52 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	4432 label Biography information for Patrick Grady

1201812

registered interest
date	09/06/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Visas: Coronavirus
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 1 June 2020 to Question 51863 on Visas, whether she plans to introduce a further extension of visas for people that are unable to travel home after 31 July 2020.
tabling member constituency	Edinburgh South
tabling member printed	Ian Murray
uin	57177
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/06/2020 answer text <p>Individuals who are in the UK legally and whose visa expires between 24 January 2020 and 31 July 2020 can have their visa extended to 31 July 2020, if they cannot leave the UK because of travel restrictions or self-isolation related to coronavirus.</p><p> </p><p>This is being kept under regular review in case further extensions are necessary. The latest information can be found on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-uk-visa-applicants-and-temporary-uk-residents.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 16/06/2020 08:27:37 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	3966 label Biography information for Ian Murray

1201813

registered interest
date	09/06/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Barbecues: Fire and Rescue Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Office, how many call outs the fire service has received for incidents related to barbecues in each of the last ten years, broken down by fire authority.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	57093
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/06/2020 answer text <p>The Home Office publishes figures on accidental primary fires started by barbecues at a national level in table FIRE0605, available here:</p><p>https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fire-statistics-data-tables#cause-of-fire. The data is available from 2010/11 to 2018/19 but is not broken down by fire and rescue service.</p><p> </p><p>In 2018/19, there were 315 accidental primary fires started by barbecues in England. Of these, 112 were dwelling fires, 97 in other buildings, 90 outdoors and 16 road vehicles.</p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse question first answered 15/06/2020 15:32:35 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1201922

registered interest
date	09/06/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the suitability of the level of financial support for people in the asylum system during the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Nottingham North
tabling member printed	Alex Norris
uin	57327
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/06/2020 answer text <p>We have been reviewing the level of the cash allowances provided to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute, as we do each year to ensure that they remain capable of meeting their essential living needs.</p><p> </p><p>As a result of this work, the standard allowance has been raised to £39.60 per week from £37.75 per week, an increase of around 5%. The increase is significantly higher than the current general rate of inflation, which Office of National Statistics data shows was only 0.8% in the 12 months period to April 2020. Food inflation over the same period was only 1.4% and the data actually shows that, despite Covid-19, food prices fell between March to April 2020. In addition to asylum support payments, asylum seekers are provided with free accommodation, utilities are paid for, council tax is paid for, they have free access to the NHS and their children have free access to education.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 16/06/2020 08:56:18 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4641 label Biography information for Alex Norris

1201955

registered interest
date	09/06/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	British Nationality: Assessments
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of enabling people to take the Life in the UK test virtually during the covid-19 pandemic
tabling member constituency	Glasgow North
tabling member printed	Patrick Grady
uin	57246
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/06/2020 answer text <p>During Covid 19 we have been working closely with all our providers to restart the provision of our services. The knowledge of Life in the UK (LitUK) service reopened on 1st June 2020 in England only. This service recommenced with processes to ensure social distancing and health and safety measures are in place. Consideration of opening test sites in the rest of the United Kingdom is pending decisions by the individual devolved authorities.</p><p> </p><p>We have previously considered remote testing and prior to the award of the recent contract. Remote testing was not considered appropriate as anti-fraud measures have to be maintained at all times to protect the integrity of the test.</p><p> </p><p>We may however consider remote testing in the future as and when suitable technology is available and we are confident the integrity of tests can be maintained.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 16/06/2020 08:28:26 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	4432 label Biography information for Patrick Grady

1201968

registered interest
date	09/06/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Protective Clothing: Production
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 representations on the (a) merits of onshoring during the covid-19 pandemic and (b) domestic production of personal protective equipment, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of adding textiles, garment and footwear workers to the Shortage Occupation List.
tabling member constituency	East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow
tabling member printed	Dr Lisa Cameron
uin	57237
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/06/2020 answer text <p>The independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) advises the Government on which occupations are deemed in national shortage.</p><p>We have commissioned the MAC to compile Shortage Occupation Lists covering all occupations encompassed by the new Skilled Worker route, for introduction from January 2021, and to keep the lists under regular review.</p><p>The MAC has recently issued its call for evidence and we encourage all of those with an interest to contribute.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 16/06/2020 08:45:16 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	4412 label Biography information for Dr Lisa Cameron