The UK has a proud history of providing protection to those who need it and this Government is committed to delivering a fair and humane asylum system.<\/p>
Whilst the Government has not made such an assessment, our current policy is consistent with EU law and permits asylum seekers to work, in jobs on the Shortage Occupation List, if they have been waiting for a decision on their claim for 12 months or more and the delay is through no fault of their own. We are tackling delays in decision-making and have plans in place to improve the speed at which outstanding claims are decided.
The Government is considering recent calls to change the policy. However, our current approach aims to protect the resident labour market so that any employment meets our needs for skilled labour and distinguishes between those who need protection and those who want to work in the UK, who can apply for a work visa under the Immigration Rules. We need to avoid creating further incentives for migrants, particularly children or those with children, to come here illegally, risking their lives in the process, instead of claiming asylum in the first safe country they reach.<\/p>
It is also important to focus on providing support for those who are recognised as refugees, to help them to integrate and find employment, so that they can rebuild their lives here.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4048", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Caroline Nokes"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Romsey and Southampton North"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Caroline Nokes"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2018-11-27", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2018-11-27T17:54:30.103Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2018-11-20", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Asylum: Employment"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effect of the restriction on asylum seekers' right to work on dependent children during the 12-month waiting period.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4433", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Bristol West"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Thangam Debbonaire"} ], "uin" : "193493"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/818814", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Home Office"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/818814/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Asylum seekers are not allowed to work in the UK unless their claim has been outstanding for at least 12 months through no fault of their own. Those who are allowed to work are restricted to jobs on the Shortage Occupation List. This policy is designed to protect the resident labour market so that access to employment is prioritised for British citizens and lawful residents, including those granted refugees status. We have no plans to change this policy.<\/p>
Asylum seekers do not need to work whilst their claim is considered \u2013 they are provided with accommodation and support to meet their essential living needs if they would otherwise be destitute.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4048", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Caroline Nokes"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Romsey and Southampton North"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Caroline Nokes"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2018-01-15", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "121582"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2018-01-15T17:29:24.26Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2018-01-08", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Asylum: Employment"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will allow asylum seekers to work while awaiting a decision on their application for refugee status.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4433", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Bristol West"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Thangam Debbonaire"} ], "uin" : "121578"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/818818", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Home Office"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/818818/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Asylum seekers are not allowed to work in the UK unless their claim has been outstanding for at least 12 months through no fault of their own. Those who are allowed to work are restricted to jobs on the Shortage Occupation List. This policy is designed to protect the resident labour market so that access to employment is prioritised for British citizens and lawful residents, including those granted refugees status. We have no plans to change this policy.<\/p>
Asylum seekers do not need to work whilst their claim is considered \u2013 they are provided with accommodation and support to meet their essential living needs if they would otherwise be destitute.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4048", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Caroline Nokes"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Romsey and Southampton North"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Caroline Nokes"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2018-01-15", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "121578"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2018-01-15T17:29:24.307Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2018-01-08", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Asylum: Employment"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will remove the limitation that asylum seekers are only able to work in jobs on the shortage occupation list, when granted permission to work.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4433", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Bristol West"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Thangam Debbonaire"} ], "uin" : "121582"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/626676", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Home Office"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/626676/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The data requested on the number of asylum seekers that were granted permission to work is held on individual Home Office records on the Immigration casework database.<\/p>
Such data is not extractable without interrogating thousands of individual records. Therefore, the information is not readily available and could only be obtained through a disproportionately expensive manual case search to collate the data.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1562", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Scarborough and Whitby"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Mr Robert Goodwill"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2016-11-11", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2016-11-11T15:32:50.277Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2016-11-01", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Asylum: Employment"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers were granted permission to work in each of the last three years.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4433", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Bristol West"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Thangam Debbonaire"} ], "uin" : "51465"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 4, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }