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1563811

registered interest
date	21/12/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Refugees: China
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to provide reassurance to the Uyghur, Tibetan, Hong Kong and other Chinese refugee communities in the UK about their security, following the 16 October attack on protesters outside the Chinese consulate.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL4475
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/01/2023 answer text <p>As the Minister for Security stated to the House of Commons on 1 November, the Home Office works closely with Departments across Whitehall and with devolved Administrations to ensure that our national security is protected and that, in particular, those who have chosen to settle here are free to engage in our democratic society without fear of the regimes that they have tried to leave behind.</p><p>Through our excellent police forces and the agencies that work with them, we take a proactive approach to protecting individuals and communities from all manner of threats. Where we identify individuals who may be at heightened risk, we are front-footed in deploying protective security guidance and other measures where necessary.</p><p>The upcoming National Security Bill will strengthen our legal powers to deal with transnational repression. Coercion, harassment or intimidation linked to a foreign power that interfere with the freedoms of individuals will be criminalised under the new foreign interference offence in the Bill.</p><p>Home Office Ministers have asked officials to step up the work to ensure that our approach to transnational repression is robust, and the Security Minister has asked our Department to review our approach to transnational repression as a matter of urgency. The Security Minister will provide an update on that work to the House in due course.</p> answering member printed Lord Sharpe of Epsom question first answered 09/01/2023 17:56:12 answering member 4888 label Biography information for Lord Sharpe of Epsom
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1562883

registered interest
date	19/12/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Asylum: Domestic Abuse
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the statement by the Prime Minister on Illegal Immigration on 13 December (HC Deb cols 885–8), what assessment they have made of the gender impacts of the aspiration that claims for asylum will be processed “in days or weeks, not months or years”, given the difficulties many victims of sexual violence may have in immediately disclosing the full extent of their experiences.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL4405
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/01/2023 answer text <p>We are committed to ensuring that all asylum claimants, including those who have suffered sexual violence, feel able to disclose their experiences early in the asylum process, so that decision-makers can consider that evidence and grant protection status where it is needed without undue delay.</p><p>We appreciate that it may be difficult for claimants to disclose sensitive information and we have gender sensitive processes in place, for example providing gender specific interviewers and interpreters where appropriate. If there is a discrepancy between the information someone provides at different stages in the asylum process, we will clarify this during the asylum interview. We will take account of the explanation the claimant provides alongside any other underlying factors such as gender, feelings of shame and social standing when assessing credibility and deciding whether the claimant qualifies for protection status.</p> answering member printed Lord Murray of Blidworth question first answered 03/01/2023 14:59:53 answering member 4950 label Biography information for Lord Murray of Blidworth
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1562884

registered interest
date	19/12/2022
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 His Majesty's Government, further to the statement by the Prime Minister on Illegal Immigration on 13 December (HC Deb cols 885–8), whether the commitment to double the number of asylum caseworkers will be delivered by (1) an increase in the number of civil servants, or (2) a redeployment of existing civil servants from other areas of work.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL4406
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/01/2023 answer text <p>We have doubled the number of Asylum Decision Makers from 614 in 2021/22 to around 1,250 today through a range of recruitment exercises. We continue to recruit using standard Civil Service processes.</p> answering member printed Lord Murray of Blidworth question first answered 03/01/2023 14:25:24 answering member 4950 label Biography information for Lord Murray of Blidworth
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1543075

registered interest
date	16/11/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Seasonal Workers
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to assist seasonal workers whose contracts are terminated early, (2) to prevent brokerage fees from being levied in seasonal workers' home countries, and (3) to support unemployed seasonal workers to find work in agricultural labour jobs or other sectors.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL3444
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/11/2022 answer text <p>The Seasonal Worker scheme operators are responsible for managing all aspects of the recruitment and placement of workers on UK farms and ensuring their welfare in the UK. This includes ensuring ethical recruitment practices, in line with Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority regulations; arranging a new employer if the worker requires it; and ensuring that workers are fully supported throughout their stay.</p><p>The Home Office closely monitors the scheme operators to ensure they are complying with their sponsor duties. Together with Defra, the Home Office also maintains regular contact with operators to ensure they adhere to requirements for ensuring the safety and wellbeing of seasonal workers. Non-compliance with the relevant guidance could result in the revocation of their sponsor licence.</p><p>Scheme operators must also be licensed by the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority who, supported by the Home Office, are working with overseas agencies to prevent abuse of the system and educate workers about their rights in the UK, including not paying recruitment fees.</p> answering member printed Lord Murray of Blidworth question first answered 22/11/2022 12:52:31 answering member 4950 label Biography information for Lord Murray of Blidworth
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1460201

registered interest
date	25/04/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Visas: Graduates
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to including (1) Indian, (2) Kenyan, or (3) other national universities, from former colonial countries in the list of institutions whose graduates are eligible for the High Potential Individual Visa opening on 30 May.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL7913
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2022 answer text <p>It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 28/04/2022 11:10:25 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1453809

registered interest
date	23/03/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Visas: Yemen
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many visa applications were made by Yemeni citizens to visit the UK in the past two years; how many were approved; how many were rejected; and how many were rejected but subsequently approved after appeal.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL7253
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/04/2022 answer text <p>The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visa applications and outcomes by nationality in the Immigration Statistics Quartley release, which can be found on gov.uk.</p><p>Data on the number of Visitor visa applications from Yemeni nationals, and data on Visitor visa grants and refusals to Yemeni nationals are published on the attached document.</p><p>Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to calendar year 2021.</p><p>Additionally, the Home Office publishes a high-level overview of the data in the summary tables of the attached. The ‘contents’ sheet contains an overview of all available data on entry clearance visas.</p><p>Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the 'Research and statistice calender, which can also be found on gov.uk.</p><p>The Home Office do not publish statistics on the number of grants after appeal. However, these statistics are kept under constant review in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, taking account of user needs.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 27/04/2022 16:17:07 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford attachment 1 file name visas-summary-dec-2021-tables.xlsx title Visa Summary
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1351721

registered interest
date	18/08/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Deportation: Afghanistan
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people whose applications to stay in the UK had been refused were returned to Afghanistan in the past five years.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL2334
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/09/2021 answer text <p>The Home Office publishes data on the number of returns from the UK in each quarter in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly release’. The latest data are published in Ret_D02 of the Returns detailed tables. (See attached for information) This includes information on the number of people returned to each country. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relate to the year ending December 2020. Data to the end of March 2021 is due to be published on 26 August.</p><p>The table below covers the period of Quarter 1 - 2017 to Quarter 1 2021 over the last five years.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>2017 Q1</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017 Q2</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017 Q3</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017 Q4</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2018 Q1</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2018 Q2</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2018 Q3</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2018 Q4</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2019 Q1</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2019 Q2</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2019 Q3</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2019 Q4</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2020 Q1</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2020 Q2</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2020 Q3</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2020 Q4</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2021 Q1</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Grand Total</strong></p></td><td><p>13905</p></td><td><p>11912</p></td><td><p>13005</p></td><td><p>12418</p></td><td><p>11656</p></td><td><p>10456</p></td><td><p>11036</p></td><td><p>11445</p></td><td><p>10439</p></td><td><p>9237</p></td><td><p>9004</p></td><td><p>9529</p></td><td><p>7207</p></td><td><p>1495</p></td><td><p>4479</p></td><td><p>5075</p></td><td><p>4565</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br>The Home Office seeks to return people who do not have any legal right to stay in the UK, which includes people who:</p><ul><li>enter, or attempt to enter, the UK illegally (including people entering clandestinely and by means of deception on entry);</li><li>overstay their period of legal right to remain in the UK;</li><li>breach their conditions of leave;</li><li>are subject to deportation action; for example, due to a serious criminal conviction and</li><li>have been refused asylum.</li></ul><p>The published data relate to all returns, regardless of reason for return.</p><p>Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 06/09/2021 14:18:26 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford attachment 1 file name returns-datasets-jun-2021.xlsx title Returns Data - DO2
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1351722

registered interest
date	18/08/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Deportation: Afghanistan
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to follow the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner's advice to stop all returns of individuals to Afghanistan after immigration proceedings.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL2335
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/09/2021 answer text <p>Enforced returns to Afghanistan have been paused.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 02/09/2021 12:29:45 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1349804

registered interest
date	22/07/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Deportation: Zimbabwe
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they sought legal advice in respect of the Zimbabwean nationals due to be deported on 21 July in relation to (1) non-refoulement, and (2) the risk posed to individuals being deported from the UK to Zimbabwe by the Emergency Travel Document process; and if so, what steps they took as a result.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL2289
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/08/2021 answer text <p>FNOs selected for deportation have either been convicted of an offence that has caused serious harm, are a persistent offender, or represent a threat to national security.</p><p>Deportation of foreign criminals is subject to several exceptions, including where doing so would be a breach of a person’s European Convention on Human Rights or the UK’s obligations under the Refugee Convention. All those that were deported on the flight were provided with the opportunity to raise claims, including asylum and human rights claims, prior to their deportation and were given a minimum of 5 working days’ notice of their removal directions, in accordance with published policy.</p><p>Re-documentation interviews with officials from countries of return are a standard part of Home Office process where an interview is required by the receiving country to enable the confirmation of nationality and identity, in order for a travel document to be produced.</p><p>All of those that were returned were free of any legal barriers. Our priority will always be to keep our communities safe, and since January 2019 we have returned 7,985 foreign criminals from the UK.</p> answering member printed Lord Greenhalgh question first answered 05/08/2021 12:05:54 answering member 4877 label Biography information for Lord Greenhalgh
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1347597

registered interest
date	15/07/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Immigration: EU Nationals
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to provide funding to agencies and local authorities to support EU citizens facing problems accessing their rights and entitlements in the UK, including issues with the EU Settlement Scheme, given that the Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens’ Rights Agreements does not deal with individual cases.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL2055
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/07/2021 answer text <p>The Home Office remains committed to ensuring those who are eligible can apply to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS), including those who are vulnerable, need extra support or are harder to reach. <br> <br> £22 million of funding, through to 30 September 2021, has been awarded to a network of 72 charities and local authorities across the UK, to ensure important information and assistance gets through to those who are hardest to reach, and no one is left behind. This support has continued beyond the 30 June 2021 deadline to ensure continuing support for vulnerable citizens applying late</p><p><br> Guidance on how to apply and details of the support available to applicants is available through the EU Settlement Resolution Centre (SRC), which is open seven days a week to provide assistance over the telephone and by email, and the SRC also provides a direct line for organisations, charities, social workers, and local authorities working with vulnerable groups.</p><p>We are working closely with the Grant-funded Network (GFN) and other key stakeholders, collating feedback, to help establish the needs and scale of support beyond September 2021.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 29/07/2021 12:42:35 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle