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168453

registered interest
date	08/12/2014
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 what improvements to the procedures of the Detained Fast Track for the better protection of applicants they have introduced since the decision of the High Court on 9 July 2014.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL3483
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2014 answer text <p>In July 2014 the High Court upheld the principle of a Detained Fast Track (DFT) process as lawful. However, the Court found that the DFT process as operated carried an “unacceptable risk of unfairness” with regard to vulnerable applicants within the system. This was primarily because they were not guaranteed access to lawyers sufficiently soon after induction to enable instructions to be taken and advice to be given before the substantive interview. The Home Office took immediate steps to address this and other criticisms of the process.</p><p> </p><p>Screening:</p><p>The judgment observed that the current asylum screening process did not do enough to identify and exclude from DFT vulnerable people or those with particularly complex claims. We have since changed the questions asked in the screening interview to help address this issue and there is an ongoing review of the screening process that incorporates discussions and input from external stakeholders.</p><p> </p><p>Detention Centre Rule 35:</p><p>Detention Centre Rule 35 requires doctors in immigration removal centres to issue reports to Home Office officials with responsibility for authorising, maintaining and reviewing detention, if they have concerns about issues of particular vulnerability. Those issues include particular ill-health, suicide risk and concerns that the detainee may have been a victim of torture. Whilst acknowledging that a Rule 35 report issued by a medical practitioner relating to possible torture concerns may sometimes reflect only the detainee’s own claim and so not require automatic release, the judgment nonetheless concluded that the evidence did not show the process to operate as well as it should.</p><p>Releases can and do result from Rule 35 reports and a recent sampling exercise has reconfirmed this position and identified some other issues for improvement. We have already taken steps to improve awareness of existing process requirements. We have consulted external partners on improvements to the operation of Rule 35 and further measures will introduced in the coming months to ensure that the process operates as effectively as possible.</p><p> </p><p>Access to legal representation:</p><p>The judgment stated that in some cases, legal representatives were allocated to asylum applicants too late in the DFT process, which was considered significant enough to carry a high risk of unfairness for those who may be vulnerable. On the 14th and 15th of July the Home Office implemented new arrangements, that ensured that legal representatives were are allocated to asylum claimants that require them (around 50% of asylum claimants arrive with a lawyer already) on the day of induction to DFT or, where that is not possible, no later than 2 working days after induction. In addition we are now ensuring that there are 4 clear working days between the allocation of a lawyer and the asylum interview except where the asylum claimant and lawyer advise that they want an earlier interview.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Bates question first answered 18/12/2014 15:17:54 answering member 1091 label Biography information for Lord Bates
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

168455

registered interest
date	08/12/2014
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what help they are providing, or planning to provide, for asylum applicants who lose financial support when their initial application is rejected but who nevertheless wish to appeal or to submit a new application.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL3485
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/12/2014 answer text <p>Asylum seekers are supported by the Home Office if they are destitute under Section 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. This support continues until all appeal rights have been exhausted and the asylum seeker is either granted leave or the asylum claim refused.</p><p>Failed asylum seekers are not usually entitled to support, but where there is a legal or practical obstacle that prevents them from leaving the United Kingdom support is provided under section 4 of the 1999 Act. This includes cases where the person has lodged further submissions which they have asked to be considered as fresh asylum claims.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Bates grouped question UIN HL3486 question first answered 16/12/2014 15:21:12 answering member 1091 label Biography information for Lord Bates
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

168456

registered interest
date	08/12/2014
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	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for providing help for asylum seekers who lose financial support when their initial application is rejected but who wish to appeal or submit a new application in cases where they had no legal advice for their initial application.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL3486
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/12/2014 answer text <p>Asylum seekers are supported by the Home Office if they are destitute under Section 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. This support continues until all appeal rights have been exhausted and the asylum seeker is either granted leave or the asylum claim refused.</p><p>Failed asylum seekers are not usually entitled to support, but where there is a legal or practical obstacle that prevents them from leaving the United Kingdom support is provided under section 4 of the 1999 Act. This includes cases where the person has lodged further submissions which they have asked to be considered as fresh asylum claims.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Bates grouped question UIN HL3485 question first answered 16/12/2014 15:21:12 answering member 1091 label Biography information for Lord Bates
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

168457

registered interest
date	08/12/2014
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	British Nationals Abroad: Armed Conflict
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recommendations in the pamphlet "Western Foreign Fighters", recently published by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue; and in particular whether they will make use of the experience of Germany and Denmark in supporting families and coping with the needs of returning fighters.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL3487
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/12/2014 answer text <p>We actively and regularly engage with our European partners to share expertise and best practise in tackling extremism and radicalisation. These relationships are vital if we are to reduce this shared threat.</p><p>The importance of a balanced counter-terrorism strategy is clear and is laid out in the UK's CONTEST strategy, in which preventing terrorism is one of four essential pillars. Prevent aims to stop people becoming terrorists or extremists, or supporting terrorism. It deals with all kinds of terrorist threats to the UK, and includes non-violent extremism. Many of the recommendations in the report reflect initiatives already in place.</p><p>Prevent includes work to challenge extremist ideology (including disrupting extremist speakers and removing terrorist and extremist material online) and to intervene and stop people being radicalised. In the context of Syria it includes work to dissuade people from travelling to Syria and to intervene when they return.</p><p>We have seen a significant rise in referrals to the Channel programme, which provides tailored support to people identified as at risk of radicalisation. The Association of Chief Police Officers reported a 58% increase in the past year. Since April 2012 there have been over 2000 referrals. Hundreds of individuals have been offered support.</p><p>In the 2013/14 financial year Prevent local authority co-ordinators in our 30 Prevent priority areas worked with over 250 mosques, 50 faith groups and 70 community groups.</p><p>As referenced in the report, our Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit has a key role to play in taking down unlawful terrorist-related content. Since February 2010, the CTIRU has taken down more than 65,000 pieces of unlawful terrorist-related content which encourages or glorifies acts of terrorism. Over 46,000 of these have been removed since December 2013.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Bates question first answered 16/12/2014 15:19:31 answering member 1091 label Biography information for Lord Bates
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

156537

registered interest
date	19/11/2014
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Syria
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many persons, including children, have so far been accepted from Syria by the Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme; how long they expect the scheme to continue; and whether people fleeing Iraq can qualify for it.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL2960
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/11/2014 answer text <p>The scheme was launched in January 2014. It is based on need rather than fulfilling a quota; however, we expect it to help several hundred people over three years.</p><p>The first beneficiaries of the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme arrived in March, and by the end of June 50 Syrians had been relocated to the UK. This is the latest publicly available figure, as numbers are released as part of the publication of Home Office official statistics each quarter; arrivals up to 30 September 2014 will be published on 27 November. Groups of Syrians continue to be brought to the UK on a regular basis under the scheme.</p><p>The VPR scheme is a bespoke programme designed to help particularly vulnerable Syrian refugees displaced by the Syrian crisis who cannot be supported effectively in the region, particularly survivors of torture and violence, women and children at risk and those in need of medical care. We have no plans to extend the scheme to include Iraqi refugees. The Government believes that humanitarian aid and actively seeking to end the conflict in Iraq are the most effective ways for the UK to help the majority of those affected by the crisis. However, the Government has separately, under the Gateway Programme, resettled a number of Iraqi refugees who have sought refugee in countries surrounding Iraq.</p><p>The latest publicly available figures for the VPR scheme and Gateway are available at : <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release</a></p><p>The number of displaced people resettled under the VPR scheme and Gateway Programme are in addition to asylum seekers who lodge applications in the UK; the Government continues of course to consider asylum claims, including applications from Syrian and Iraqi nationals, under our normal rules.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Bates question first answered 27/11/2014 12:53:20 answering member 1091 label Biography information for Lord Bates
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

156538

registered interest
date	19/11/2014
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 how many persons benefited from the International Organisation for Migration's Gateway Programme in 2011; whether that programme has continued since then; and in what countries the beneficiaries were resettled.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL2961
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/11/2014 answer text <p>The Gateway Protection Programme is the resettlement programme operated by UK since 2002. The programme is operated in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is a key delivery partner in assisting with pre departure logistics for refugees resettled to UK under the programme. The number of refugees resettled under the programme is published through our official statistics at quarterly intervals. The next publication, on 27 November, will include numbers to the year ending September 2014. These will be available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release</a></p><p>The number of refugees resettled to other countries’ programmes is a matter for UNHCR and the states concerned.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Bates question first answered 27/11/2014 12:51:49 answering member 1091 label Biography information for Lord Bates
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

143447

registered interest
date	07/11/2014
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Middle East
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to conduct consultations at a local level about the best ways of rehabilitating and re-integrating upon their return young people who have left Britain to fight in Syria and Iraq.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL2732
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/12/2014 answer text <p>The Government takes extremely seriously the threat posed by those who travel from the UK to areas of conflict abroad, and who may return with experiences which they may use against the UK, or with the intention of radicalising others. <br><br>People who commit, plan and support acts of terror abroad and seek to return to the UK will be prosecuted. All decisions on returnees from Syria or Iraq are taken on a case by case basis. Whether a prosecution is justified in an individual case is a matter for the Crown Prosecution Service to decide after a full police investigation. For others, it may be that support from mental health or social service bodies might be the appropriate course of action. Prevent interventions which provide individual support to people who are vulnerable to further radicalisation are among the range of options which are considered. <br><br>The Prevent programme includes work both to dissuade people from travelling to Syria and Iraq, and to intervene when they return. The approach has been shaped by ongoing discussions with operational partners and practitioners at local and national level. The Government has no plans conduct a formal consultation on this issue.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Bates question first answered 01/12/2014 11:58:23 answering member 1091 label Biography information for Lord Bates
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

101737

registered interest
date	30/10/2014
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Mediterranean Sea
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of statements by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Caritas Internationalis, Save the Children Fund and others on the case for effective search and rescue measures to prevent further loss of life in the Mediterranean.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL2546
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government has considered the statements made by the UN High Commissioner and other organisations calling for effective search and rescue measures to prevent further loss of life in the Mediterranean. The Italian Government took the decision to end the current operation, Mare Nostrum, after careful consideration and with the unanimous support of EU Ministers.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Bates question first answered 24/11/2014 16:20:33 answering member 1091 label Biography information for Lord Bates
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton