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1714873

registered interest
date	30/04/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Immigration Controls
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he is taking steps to help ensure that people with indefinite leave to remain that was granted before the digitisation of his Department's records are able to prove their immigration status when travelling.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	24272
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2024 answer text <p>As part of our move to a ‘digital by default’ border and immigration system, physical immigration documents are being replaced by fully digital eVisas (an online record of the person’s immigration status).</p><p>Customers with indefinite leave to enter or indefinite leave to remain (also known as settlement) who currently prove their rights using a physical document such as a wet-ink stamp in their passport or a vignette sticker, are encouraged to make a ‘No Time Limit’ (NTL) application.</p><p>If their NTL application is successful, they will get a BRP to prove their rights. They should carry their BRP, along with their passport, when travelling internationally. Once they have a BRP, they will be able to create a UKVI account to access their eVisa later this year. By the end of 2024, ‘No Time Limit’ applicants will receive an eVisa, rather than a BRP. Further updates on this change will be available in due course.</p><p>Customers who do not create a UKVI account will be able to use their legacy physical document such as a wet-ink stamp in their passport or a vignette sticker during 2025 when travelling. However, creating a UKVI account will bring a range of benefits to customers. This includes the fact that an eVisa cannot be lost or damaged, like a vignette, and there is no need for a potentially costly replacement. Customers who replace their legacy document with an eVisa will benefit from the automated access that public bodies, including the Department for Work &amp; Pensions and the National Health Service will securely have to their immigration status, which will streamline access to key services. We are also developing technology to enable carriers to check immigration status automatically via systems checks for those with eVisas, reducing the need for carriers to make physical documentation checks and improving the passenger experience.</p><p>Further information about eVisas and future updates will be available at <a href="http://www.gov.uk/evisa" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/evisa</a>.</p> answering member constituency Corby answering member printed Tom Pursglove question first answered 09/05/2024 16:47:07 answering member 4369 label Biography information for Tom Pursglove
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1714874

registered interest
date	30/04/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Hotels
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many hotels that were previously used to provide accommodation for asylum seekers and subsequently closed by his Department have subsequently been reopened for that purpose.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	24273
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2024 answer text <p>The Home Office has been clear that the use of hotels is a temporary and necessary measure to ensure we meet our statutory obligation to accommodate destitute asylum seekers.</p><p>Since October 2023, none of the 150 hotels that have ceased to be used for accommodating asylum seekers have been re-contracted or re-used by the Home Office for this purpose.</p> answering member constituency Corby answering member printed Tom Pursglove question first answered 09/05/2024 16:47:42 answering member 4369 label Biography information for Tom Pursglove
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1714875

registered interest
date	30/04/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Sham Marriage
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 stop sham marriages and civil partnerships.
tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
uin	24180
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2024 answer text <p>The Government takes abuse of the spouse and partner immigration routes very seriously and is clear that family migration must be based on a genuine and subsisting marriage or relationship.</p><p>The Home Office focuses its efforts on disrupting facilitators as well as prosecuting individuals involved in sham marriages and civil partnerships and will consider refusal or cancellation of permission to stay, or removal, following any determination that a relationship is a sham.</p><p>The marriage referral and investigation scheme, introduced across the UK under the Immigration Act 2014, requires that all proposed marriages and civil partnerships where one or both parties could gain an immigration advantage from it are referred to the Home Office. Under this scheme, where we have reasonable grounds to suspect a sham relationship, the marriage notice period will be extended to allow for further investigation, and for enforcement or casework action to be taken where appropriate.</p><p>Part 9 of the Immigration Rules provides specific grounds for the refusal or cancellation of permission to enter or stay on the basis of any involvement in a sham marriage or sham civil partnership, providing a more robust and consistent framework against which immigration applications are assessed, and reflecting the seriousness of this type of abuse.</p> answering member constituency Mid Dorset and North Poole answering member printed Michael Tomlinson question first answered 09/05/2024 15:54:07 answering member 4497 label Biography information for Michael Tomlinson
tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes

1714876

registered interest
date	30/04/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Sham Marriage
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate he has made of the number of applications to stay in the UK that are made on the basis of a sham marriage or civil partnership.
tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
uin	24181
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2024 answer text <p>The number of applications to stay in the UK that are made on the basis of a sham marriage or civil partnership does not form part of any current transparency data or migration statistics and is not published. The transparency data does, however, include a range of processing data and the latest data can be found at:</p><p><a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data#uk-visas-and-immigration" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data#uk-visas-and-immigration</a>.</p> answering member constituency Corby answering member printed Tom Pursglove question first answered 09/05/2024 16:48:33 answering member 4369 label Biography information for Tom Pursglove
tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes

1714882

registered interest
date	30/04/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Drugs: Crime
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of trends in the number of convictions for class (a) A and (b) B drug possession in the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	24237
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/05/2024 answer text <p>No specific assessment on trends in convictions for drug offences as a result of policy changes has been made, but the Government takes the matter of harmful drugs very seriously. Our approach to them remains clear - we must prevent drug misuse in our communities and support people through treatment and recovery.</p><p>The police have a range of powers at their disposal to deal with drug-related offences, such as illegal possession, and how police choose to pursue investigations is an operational decision for Chief Constables, but we are clear that we expect them to enforce the law. We expect police to take a zero tolerance approach to drug possession, and this can include sanctions other than prosecution. This includes referrals to treatment, as well as sanctions to make offenders understand the impact of their actions and opportunities for them to change their behaviour. However, we are clear prosecution remains an option to deal with repeat offenders.</p><p>We keep the classification of drugs under review. Ministers are subject to a statutory obligation to consider advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), an independent scientific advisory body, before making legislation on the classification of drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Legislative changes are accompanied by a robust impact assessment where we set out the potential impacts of such changes.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 08/05/2024 15:25:44 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1714907

registered interest
date	30/04/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Sham Marriage: Prosecutions
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 been prosecuted in relation to sham marriages or civil partnerships that have taken place for the purpose of remaining in the UK since 2019.
tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
uin	24182
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/05/2024 answer text <p>Between 14 November 2018 to 1 May 2024, 11 individuals who have entered into sham marriages or civil partnerships, or facilitated those arrangements, have been convicted by Home Office Criminal and Financial Investigation teams.</p> answering member constituency Mid Dorset and North Poole answering member printed Michael Tomlinson question first answered 08/05/2024 15:14:53 answering member 4497 label Biography information for Michael Tomlinson
tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes

1714910

registered interest
date	30/04/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Immigration: Databases
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 been affected by merged identities in the Person Centric Data Platform.
tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
uin	24183
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2024 answer text <p>The Person Centric Data Platform (PCDP) holds millions of identities that have been submitted, or otherwise provided, in support of immigration applications.</p><p>The ‘merged identities’ issue affects around 0.02% of PCDP customer records; over 99.98% of records are not impacted by this issue. We have identified around 46,000 records with an identity issue, of which over 13,000 have already been resolved and we have a dedicated team working on the remainder.</p><p>The Home Office takes data security and accuracy very seriously. We continue pro-active analysis to identify potentially erroneous records so that appropriate remedial work can be undertaken as quickly, and as carefully, as possible, and ideally before the individual is even aware.</p><p>Where customers identify an issue with their data, we encourage them to contact the UK Visas and Immigration Contact Centre so this can be investigated and resolved.</p><p>As part of the Identity Document Linking change, we pro-actively highlighted a small number of records which were sent for manual resolution through our existing processes. We expect that most of these records would have been corrected before the person themselves would become aware.</p><p>We do not hold information on how many people have contacted the Home Office due to a merged identity issue which is directly related to the document linking change.</p><p>We are not aware of any significant delays to visa application processing as a result of this issue. UKVI also have a triage process in place so that where there may be an outstanding application, cases can be escalated for immediate resolution.</p> answering member constituency Corby answering member printed Tom Pursglove grouped question UIN 24184 24185 question first answered 09/05/2024 16:49:23 answering member 4369 label Biography information for Tom Pursglove
tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes

1714911

registered interest
date	30/04/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Immigration: Databases
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 has taken to mitigate potential delays in visa application processing for people affected by merged identities.
tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
uin	24184
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2024 answer text <p>The Person Centric Data Platform (PCDP) holds millions of identities that have been submitted, or otherwise provided, in support of immigration applications.</p><p>The ‘merged identities’ issue affects around 0.02% of PCDP customer records; over 99.98% of records are not impacted by this issue. We have identified around 46,000 records with an identity issue, of which over 13,000 have already been resolved and we have a dedicated team working on the remainder.</p><p>The Home Office takes data security and accuracy very seriously. We continue pro-active analysis to identify potentially erroneous records so that appropriate remedial work can be undertaken as quickly, and as carefully, as possible, and ideally before the individual is even aware.</p><p>Where customers identify an issue with their data, we encourage them to contact the UK Visas and Immigration Contact Centre so this can be investigated and resolved.</p><p>As part of the Identity Document Linking change, we pro-actively highlighted a small number of records which were sent for manual resolution through our existing processes. We expect that most of these records would have been corrected before the person themselves would become aware.</p><p>We do not hold information on how many people have contacted the Home Office due to a merged identity issue which is directly related to the document linking change.</p><p>We are not aware of any significant delays to visa application processing as a result of this issue. UKVI also have a triage process in place so that where there may be an outstanding application, cases can be escalated for immediate resolution.</p> answering member constituency Corby answering member printed Tom Pursglove grouped question UIN 24183 24185 question first answered 09/05/2024 16:49:24 answering member 4369 label Biography information for Tom Pursglove
tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes

1714915

registered interest
date	30/04/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Immigration: Databases
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 been affected by merged identities created in the Identity Document Linking change.
tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
uin	24185
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2024 answer text <p>The Person Centric Data Platform (PCDP) holds millions of identities that have been submitted, or otherwise provided, in support of immigration applications.</p><p>The ‘merged identities’ issue affects around 0.02% of PCDP customer records; over 99.98% of records are not impacted by this issue. We have identified around 46,000 records with an identity issue, of which over 13,000 have already been resolved and we have a dedicated team working on the remainder.</p><p>The Home Office takes data security and accuracy very seriously. We continue pro-active analysis to identify potentially erroneous records so that appropriate remedial work can be undertaken as quickly, and as carefully, as possible, and ideally before the individual is even aware.</p><p>Where customers identify an issue with their data, we encourage them to contact the UK Visas and Immigration Contact Centre so this can be investigated and resolved.</p><p>As part of the Identity Document Linking change, we pro-actively highlighted a small number of records which were sent for manual resolution through our existing processes. We expect that most of these records would have been corrected before the person themselves would become aware.</p><p>We do not hold information on how many people have contacted the Home Office due to a merged identity issue which is directly related to the document linking change.</p><p>We are not aware of any significant delays to visa application processing as a result of this issue. UKVI also have a triage process in place so that where there may be an outstanding application, cases can be escalated for immediate resolution.</p> answering member constituency Corby answering member printed Tom Pursglove grouped question UIN 24183 24184 question first answered 09/05/2024 16:49:23 answering member 4369 label Biography information for Tom Pursglove
tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes

1714948

registered interest
date	30/04/2024
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Local Government: Corruption
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how resources are allocated to police forces for investigating (a) corruption and (b) bribery allegations in local councils.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	24284
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2024 answer text <p>The Government is committed to the fight against corruption, which threatens the UK’s national security, prosperity and reputation as a fair, open society, and a good place to do business.</p><p>The Government confirmed a total police funding settlement of up to £18.5 billion in 2024-25, an increase of up to £886.1 million when compared to 2023-24.</p><p>Decisions on how funding and resources are utilised are an operational matter for Chief Constables and locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners, who are best placed to make resourcing decisions within their communities based on their local knowledge and experience.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp grouped question UIN 24287 question first answered 09/05/2024 16:53:14 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi