We share UNICEF's assessment that the El Nino phenomenon has contributed to failed rains across Southern Africa, resulting in serious drought in both Zambia and Malawi, which in turn will have a serious impact on children and the most vulnerable. We welcome the swift actions of Presidents Hichilema (Zambia) and Chakwera (Malawi) in declaring a state of national disaster and emergency across Zambia and within 23 out of 28 districts in Malawi.<\/p>
In Zambia, the UK is committing to the rapid expansion of the Social Cash Transfer scheme to reduce food insecurity for an additional 6 million people and pivoting our existing nutrition programmes to expand access to treatment. We deployed a UK Humanitarian Stabilisation Operations Team to support the Government of Zambia's drought response coordination. In Malawi, the UK has contributed to the Government's investment into disaster risk financing instruments which will provide an immediate response when triggered. The Malawian Government is currently preparing its own El Nino Response Plan which will outline further international assistance requirements. The UK will continue to monitor the situation closely.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1547", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Benyon"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Benyon"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-04-10", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "HL3648"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-04-10T11:07:25.527Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "208"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2024-03-27", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Malawi: Droughts"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports from UNICEF that the 2023\u201324 El Niño phenomenon has led to the president of Malawi declaring a state of disaster in 23 out of the 28 districts in the country.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/738", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Alton of Liverpool"} ], "uin" : "HL3646"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1544698", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Home Office"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1544698/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
We recruit using standard Civil Service recruitment processes and all our decision makers must meet minimum Civil Service recruitment standards. Once appointed the Home Office offers a comprehensive training programme and mentoring framework for decision makers. In relation to methods used, it should be noted that tools involving machine learning or artificial intelligence are not used in the assessment of family visa applications.<\/p>
Records for the number of staff assessing family visa applications are not maintained as far back to 2010. During that time, the department has undergone various organisational changes, and has also employed temporary staff, so we are unable to provide accurate data on the number of caseworkers who have ceased employment. However the average number of decisions made each week in respect of family visa applications do not form part of any current transparency data applications and are not published. The transparency data does, however, include a range of processing data and the latest data can be found at: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).<\/p>
In relation to the records for the number of staff assessing family visa applications, they are not maintained back to 2010. Resource is also often used flexibly, so if data was available, we would be unable to provide accurate figures in respect of the amount of caseworkers engaged in considering family visa applications for each year since 2010.<\/p>
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<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4950", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Murray of Blidworth"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Murray of Blidworth"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2022-12-06", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : [{"_value" : "HL3647"} , {"_value" : "HL3648"} , {"_value" : "HL3649"} , {"_value" : "HL3650"} ], "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2022-12-06T16:48:28.597Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2022-11-22", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Asylum and Visas: Applications"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask His Majesty's Government, in respect of (1) family visa applications, (2) asylum applications, and (3) visit visa applications, for the purpose of visiting close family members, how many caseworkers are engaged in considering applications for each year since 2010.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/2652", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Hamwee"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Baroness Hamwee"} ], "uin" : "HL3646"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 2, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }