The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time taken is to process reconsideration requests for rejected applications for British naturalisation.
Mr Robert Goodwill
No information is recorded in national reporting systems to enable reporting on the time taken to process reconsideration requests for rejected applications for British naturalisation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Salmond on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to speed up family reunification for unaccompanied refugee children in Europe.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Government began work to implement the ‘Dubs amendment’ immediately after the Immigration Bill gained Royal Assent. Over 30 children who meet the criteria in the Immigration Act have been accepted for transfer since it received Royal Assent in May, the majority of these have already arrived in the UK.
We continue to work with the French, Greek and Italian authorities and others to speed up existing family reunification processes or implement new processes where necessary for unaccompanied children. We have seconded a UK official to Greece, we have a long-standing secondee working in Italy and will shortly be seconding another official to the French Interior Ministry to support these efforts.
We have established a dedicated team in the Home Office Dublin Unit to lead on family reunion cases for unaccompanied children. Transfer requests under the Dublin Regulation are now generally processed within 10 days and children transferred within weeks. Over 120 children have been accepted for transfer this year from Europe. We also continue to consult local authorities about the transfer unaccompanied refugee children from Europe to the UK, where it is in their best interests.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christian Matheson on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations her Department has received on alleged conflicts of interest in the appointment of Sir John Chadwick to head an inquiry into the mistreatment of live foxes by the South Herefordshire Hunt.
Brandon Lewis
The Home Office has not received any representations regarding the appointment of Sir John Chadwick to head the independent inquiry into the mistreatment of live foxes by the South Herefordshire Hunt.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many convictions there have been for offences relating to cases of immigration marriage fraud in each of the last 10 years.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The table below gives the number of individuals who were successfully prosecuted by Home Office Immigration Enforcement for offences relating to immigration marriage fraud.
|
Year |
Successfully prosecuted |
|
2014/15 |
121 |
|
2015/16 |
37 |
Prior to 2014, the records were not held centrally.
The decrease in the number of referrals to the Home Office can be aligned to the introduction of the Immigration Act 2014.
This legislation extends the notification period for those seeking to marry up to 70 days and provides time for the Home Office to investigate whether the marriage is sham. The effect of this is that those marriages deemed to be sham can be prevented from taking place.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress the West Yorkshire police force has made on piloting and evaluating the use by police officers of body-worn cameras.
Brandon Lewis
We know that the majority of forces in England and Wales use Body Worn Video (BWV) to some extent. The deployment of BWV is an operational decision for chief officers. However, we are aware that West Yorkshire Police are operating a phased rollout of body worn video cameras to frontline officers following an initial pilot, with officers in the Bradford and Calderdale districts already equipped.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Salmond on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure the safety of refugees coming to the UK.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Home Office works closely with local authorities to support resettled refugees as they arrive in their areas. Local authorities have a duty to protect individuals in their care – this includes resettled Syrians.
The Care Act 2014 put adult safeguarding on a legal footing and established that each local authority must set up Adult Safeguarding Boards with multi-agency membership including local partners and the Police. Local agencies, including the police and health services, also have a duty under section 11 of the Children Act 2004 to ensure that they consider the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children when carrying out their functions.
In addition, upon arrival, the local authority assign a caseworker to every resettled family/individual, who maintains close contact with the family for the first 12 months to support their well being and integration. The small number of unaccompanied minors being resettled will be placed into local authority care where their safety needs, along with other needs, will be met via the resettling authority’s children’s social care service.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine McKinnell on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans to make a commitment at the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants on 19 and 20 September 2016 to provide more safe and legal routes for refugees to find protection in the UK.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Government has no plans to introduce additional pathways for refugees to come to the UK. The UK is already a leading resettlement state, offering a number of safe and legal pathways for refugees. In the year ending June 2016, a total of 3,439 people were resettled in the UK.
In addition to the 20,000 Syrian refugees and up to 3,000 vulnerable persons from the Middle East and North Africa region that the Government has committed to resettle by 2020, the UK has also committed to relocate unaccompanied refugee children from France, Greece and Italy. Under the family reunion policy we have reunited around 22,000 refugees with their immediate family over the past five years and will continue to do so. The Government supports the principle that those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach. This allows vulnerable persons to receive help quickly rather than risking their lives on hazardous journeys into and across Europe or falling victim to criminal gangs who are exploiting the situation. Providing humanitarian aid in the region is the best way to provide much needed support to the majority of those fleeing persecution while working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to resettle the most vulnerable who cannot reasonably remain.
HM Government will be represented at the UN General Assembly high level meeting on 19 September and the Leaders’ Summit on refugees to be hosted by President Obama on 20 September.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to accelerate family reunification for unaccompanied refugee children in Europe.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The Government began work to implement the ‘Dubs amendment’ immediately after the Immigration Bill gained Royal Assent. Over 30 children who meet the criteria in the Immigration Act have been accepted for transfer since it received Royal Assent in May, the majority of these have already arrived in the UK.
We continue to work with the French, Greek and Italian authorities and others to speed up existing family reunification processes or implement new processes where necessary for unaccompanied children. We have seconded a UK official to Greece, we have a long-standing secondee working in Italy and will shortly be seconding another official to the French Interior Ministry to support these efforts.
We have established a dedicated team in the Home Office Dublin Unit to lead on family reunion cases for unaccompanied children. Transfer requests under the Dublin Regulation are now generally processed within 10 days and children transferred within weeks. Over 120 children have been accepted for transfer this year from Europe. We also continue to consult local authorities about the transfer unaccompanied refugee children from Europe to the UK, where it is in their best interests.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to the concluding observations and recommendations of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the UK’s sixth periodic report in relation to welfare support for asylum-seekers; and if she will make a statement.
Mr Robert Goodwill
The report recommends that the cash allowance provided to destitute asylum seekers, currently set at £36.95 per week, is raised. The level of the allowance is reviewed regularly to ensure that it is sufficient to cover essential living needs of individual asylum seekers and we will announce the result of this year’s review later this year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Stephens on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the suitability and adequacy of conduct of landlords engaged by Serco and its subcontractors to provide accommodation to refugees and asylum seekers under the COMPASS contract.
Mr Robert Goodwill
COMPASS accommodation providers, including Serco, are contractually required to provide safe, habitable, fit for purpose and correctly equipped accommodation to comply with the standards outlined in the relevant housing legislation and the Decent Homes Standard.
The Government expects the highest standards from our contractors and providers are monitored closely to ensure asylum accommodation providers meet these standards. Where a contractor is found to be falling short of these standards, we work with them to ensure issues are quickly addressed. When they are not we can and do impose sanctions.