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  • Pamela Nash – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Pamela Nash – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pamela Nash on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will implement travel bans against those who have been actively promoting the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act 2014.

    James Brokenshire

    The Secretary of State has a non-statutory power to exclude from the UK any
    foreign national whose presence is considered not conducive to the public good.
    The power to exclude is broad but is normally used in circumstances involving
    national security, ‘unacceptable behaviour’ (extremism), international
    relations and foreign policy and serious organised crime.

    Where the Government identifies or is made aware of any individual who may have
    crossed the threshold for exclusion, we will consider carefully the evidence in
    the case before the Secretary of State decides whether or not to take action.

  • Emma Lewell-Buck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Emma Lewell-Buck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Lewell-Buck on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department makes available to applicants for Tier 4 student visas on maintenance funding requirements; and what types of accounts or financial instruments count towards meeting this requirement.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office provides guidance on the maintenance funding requirements for Tier 4 student visas to applicants in Appendix C of the Immigration Rules, in
    the Tier 4 Policy guidance for applicants, and on the Tier 4 application form. The Tier 4 application form also calculates the level of funds an applicant requires and advises them which documents they can submit as evidence.

    The guidance does not specify an exhaustive list of accounts or financial instruments that can be used to satisfy the maintenance requirement. Instead,
    the Immigration Rules set out the attributes an acceptable account must satisfy. The rules specifically exclude financial instruments such as shares, bonds, credit cards and pension funds from use as acceptable evidence.

  • John Randall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    John Randall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Randall on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2014, Official Report, column 277W, on human trafficking and of 14 January 2014, Official report, columns 481-6W, on human trafficking: victim support schemes, what information she has on the whereabouts of each of the (a) 92 victims of human trafficking found in the UK in November 2013 and (b) 113 victims of human trafficking found in UK in December 2013.

    Karen Bradley

    The information requested is published by the Salvation Army in an annual ‘Anti-
    Human Trafficking Report’. The latest report, which covers the period July
    2012-June 2013, can be found at:
    https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/uki-cache.salvationarmy.org/fdda0251-4ab6-4bf
    8-9fc0-4837891ad1c7_Fourth+draft+Year+2+AHT+VICTIM+Contract.pdf.

    The report covering the period July 2013-June 2014 will be published later this
    year.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support her Department offers to local authorities who are caring for asylum seekers who entered care as a child to ensure adequate support is in place when they become care leavers.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office does not have a direct role in this policy area. The Department of Education provides statutory guidance to local authorities about how to support care leavers, including care leavers who are asylum seekers. The guidance makes clear that asylum seekers should receive the same level of support as any other care leaver. The Home Office does, however, provide funding to local authorities to help cover the costs of supporting the young people.

  • John Randall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    John Randall – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Randall on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the nationality and gender was of each suspected victim of trafficking referred to the Trafficking Victim Support Scheme operated by the Salvation Army in March 2014; which agency referred each person to that scheme; in which town the shelter to which those people were placed for the relevant period was; and what contact is had with each such victim to ensure their safety after they exit the scheme.

    Karen Bradley

    In March 2014, there were 126 referrals to the Government-funded support
    service for adult victims of human trafficking in England and Wales
    administered by The Salvation Army. In the interests of victim safety only the
    region in which the victim was encountered is provided, and not which town they
    were placed in. Once an individual receives a Conclusive Grounds decision they
    will be given tailored move-on support to safely return home or integrate in
    the UK. Once they exit the service, no formal mechanisms exist to maintain
    contact.

  • Emma Lewell-Buck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Emma Lewell-Buck – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Lewell-Buck on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what comparative assessment her Department has made of the cost to Indian nationals of applying for a (a) UK and (b) US student visa.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Office assesses visa fees annually, to ensure the fees charged by the
    UK are competitive with similar endorsement types offered by other countries.

  • Pamela Nash – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Pamela Nash – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pamela Nash on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Syrians have been brought to the UK under the Vulnerable Person Relocation Scheme to date.

    James Brokenshire

    The first group of Syrian refugees arrived in the UK on 25 March as part of the
    Government’s Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) Scheme. The next group of
    refugees are expected to arrive this month, with further groups to follow on a
    regular basis. Whilst there is no set quota we predict that the VPR scheme will support several hundred people over the next three years.

  • Pamela Nash – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Pamela Nash – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Pamela Nash on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her policy is on granting asylum to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people from Uganda.

    James Brokenshire

    All asylum and human rights claims are considered in accordance with our
    obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention and the European Convention on
    Human Rights. We recognise that, in general, lesbian, gay, bisexual,
    transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons may be at risk of persecution and
    warrant protection, and that this may have increased in particular for lesbian,
    gay and bisexual (LGB) persons following the signing of the Anti-Homosexual
    Act. However, each case needs to be considered on its individual facts.
    In light of the Act, which specifically targets ‘homosexuality’, we published
    updated guidance covering lesbian, gay and bisexual claims on the Gov.uk
    website on 10 April.
    We are monitoring the situation and will publish updated guidance on LGBTI
    persons once it is clear how the law is being applied in practice.

  • David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the number of people who have overstayed their approved visa to be in the UK by (a) up to six months, (b) six months to one year, (c) more than one year and (d) more than three years as at 31 March 2014.

    James Brokenshire

    It is not possible to accurately quantify the number of immigration offenders in the UK as, by their very nature, those that deliberately evade immigration control to enter and stay in the country illegally are not officially recorded until they come to light and are arrested.

    The Immigration Bill will provide new powers to implement exit checks, which the last Labour Government scrapped in 1998. This will allow the Home Office to screen those who leave the UK to identify threats and persons of interest to Border Force, immigration enforcement and other law enforcement bodies, and to enable an appropriate response.

    The Home Office continues to prevent abuse, pursue offenders and increase compliance with immigration law – our Immigration Compliance and Enforcement teams across the UK target illegal migrants who have no right to live and work in the community.

    The Immigration Bill will stop migrants using public services to which they are not entitled, reduce the factors which encourage people to come to the UK and make it easier to remove people who should not be here.

  • David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    David Hanson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2014-04-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for how long funding will be made available to local authorities for accepting refugees from Syria under the vulnerable persons relocation scheme.

    James Brokenshire

    Central government will meet the full first year costs of the Vulnerable
    Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme, including integration support, education and
    healthcare costs. These timescales are consistent with those applied to our
    funding of the Gateway Protection Programme. The level of support provided
    will depend on the individual needs of beneficiaries, and will be assessed on a
    case-by-case basis. Costs will be recovered wherever possible, including from
    the EU.