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Tag: Kate Osamor

  • Kate Osamor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Kate Osamor – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking in co-operation with UN agencies to tackle the increase in child brides in refugee camps and conflict areas.

    Priti Patel

    The UK is committed to the ‘Call to Action’ on women and girls and keeping girls and women safe in emergencies, including providing £23.5 million to UNFPA in Syria, to support women and girls vulnerable to child and forced marriage, domestic violence, and sexual violence, abuse, and exploitation through improved access to psycho-social support and sexual and reproductive health care.

  • Kate Osamor – 2022 Parliamentary Question on the Asylum Backlog

    Kate Osamor – 2022 Parliamentary Question on the Asylum Backlog

    The parliamentary question asked by Kate Osamor, the Labour MP for Edmonton, in the House of Commons on 19 December 2022.

    Kate Osamor (Edmonton) (Lab/Co-op)

    What recent progress her Department has made on reducing the backlog of asylum applications.

    Vicky Foxcroft (Lewisham, Deptford) (Lab)

    What recent progress her Department has made on reducing the backlog of asylum applications.

    The Minister for Immigration (Robert Jenrick)

    Last week we set out plans to clear the initial decision backlog of asylum legacy cases by the end of next year. Over the summer and autumn, the Home Office reduced the number of older asylum cases by 11,000, and the number of asylum caseworkers has doubled.

    Kate Osamor

    Last week the International Development Committee heard from organisations working closely with refugees in the UK. I was disappointed but not surprised to hear Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, say that it was not consulted about the proposals, announced last week, to tackle the backlog. Why have the Government neglected to widely consult experts, and would the Minister be willing to consider their recommendations if I was to write to him?

    Robert Jenrick

    I would be interested in the views of any of our stakeholders, but the Prime Minister set out a very compelling case last week to radically re-engineer the end-to-end process, with fewer interviews, shorter guidance, less paperwork, specialist caseworkers by nationality, including tackling Albanian cases, and reforming modern slavery by reducing the cooling-off period from 45 to 30 days—all steps to clear the backlog as quickly as possible.

    Vicky Foxcroft

    One of my constituents arrived in the UK from Afghanistan and claimed asylum in September 2021. Despite my caseworkers making regular inquiries since August 2022, we have received no updates regarding the status of his application. He tells us that the situation has made him seriously depressed. Does the Minister agree that excessive wait times can have a hugely detrimental impact on mental health, and will he agree to look at this case in further detail?

    Robert Jenrick

    I would be happy to look at that case and any others that are brought to my attention. The backlog, however, is a symptom of the problem, which is that far too many people are crossing the channel illegally, and that is what this Government are determined to tackle. The hon. Lady and her Opposition colleagues have voted against every tough measure that we have sought to take in recent years. I hope that she will now get behind the measure that we are taking, the statement the Prime Minister made last week and, of course, our world-leading Rwanda partnership, which the Court today gave its agreement to.

    John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con)

    Will the Government introduce urgent legislation to strengthen control of our borders, and could that include a notwithstanding clause to guide the courts against using other laws that undermine the fundamental principle of the Prime Minister’s policy?

    Robert Jenrick

    My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister set out last week our intention to bring forward legislation early next year, and at the heart of that legislation will be a simple point of principle that we on this side of the House believe: no one should gain a right to live in this country if they entered illegally. From that, all things will need to flow. Nothing is off the table. We will take our obligations to deliver on that policy very seriously. That is in stark contrast to the Labour party. At the weekend, the shadow Home Secretary, the right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper), could not even say whether illegal entry to this country should be an offence. That says it all. We believe in securing our borders and in controlled migration. The Labour party is the party of mass migration.

    James Gray (North Wiltshire) (Con)

    We in Wiltshire are proud of the fact that some 900 Ukrainians will be enjoying Christmas dinners with us, and that we have entertained a large number of Afghan people who looked after us so well during the war. However, we were very surprised when last Friday 82 young Albanian men were moved into the very rural, very distantly located Wiltshire golf club without any notice at all being given to the neighbouring retirement village. Does the Minister agree that this is an inappropriate location for people of this kind, who are very probably economic migrants, and will he seek to advance them elsewhere as soon as he possibly can?

    Robert Jenrick

    I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that question. We do not want to use hotels in any part of the country; we want to tackle the issue at its source. I understand his constituents’ concerns with respect to the hotel in Wiltshire. As I understand it, a smaller number of individuals have been accommodated there than he has perhaps been advised and the local authority was informed in advance, but that does not diminish his constituents’ concerns. I am happy to talk to him to see what we can do to end that at the earliest opportunity.

    Mr Speaker

    I call the shadow Minister.

    Stephen Kinnock (Aberavon) (Lab)

    The Nationality and Borders Act 2022 is profoundly counterproductive legislation, as illustrated by the fact that, since it was passed, the number of dangerous crossings has reached a record high. The Act includes the so-called inadmissibility clause, but the fact that the Government have failed to negotiate a returns agreement with a single European country means that just 21 out of 18,000 inadmissible people have been returned. Sending 300 asylum seekers to Rwanda will not even touch the sides of that 18,000. Does the Minister recognise the inadequacy of the legislation? Will he explain why the Government’s utterly self-defeating approach has led directly to the British taxpayer footing an extra bill of £500 million?

    Robert Jenrick

    First, whatever the inadequacies of the current system, they would be far worse if the Opposition were in power—in fact, the backlog of cases was 450,000 when the last Labour Government handed over to us. They have opposed every tough measure that we have taken, including the Nationality and Borders Act. If the hon. Gentleman thinks that Act did not go far enough, I will welcome his support next year when we bring forward further and even tougher legislation. We will make sure that we secure the borders and control migration. He cannot see the difference between people genuinely fleeing persecution and economic migrants. He is testing the will of the British people; we will take action.

    Mr Speaker

    I call the SNP spokesperson.

    Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)

    My casework in Glasgow Central speaks to the fundamentally broken asylum system, and a failing immigration system more widely, as other types of applications are regularly delayed and people are left waiting for years. The barrister Colin Yeo suggests that, to get the asylum backlog down to 20,000, the Home Office would need to make 8,000 decisions a month. In the year to September, only 16,400 decisions were made in total, so precisely how will the Minister meet his target?

    Robert Jenrick

    Last week, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister set out our plan to re-engineer the process and hire more decision makers. It is about not just people and resource, but ensuring that the process is faster and less bureaucratic, and that the guidance is cut and simplified. If the hon. Lady wants to help us with the issue, perhaps she will get on to her colleagues in the Scottish Government, because today in Scotland, in contrast with the rest of the United Kingdom, only one city—Glasgow—is doing its fair share and taking asylum seekers. In the whole of Scotland, only a dozen hotels outside of Glasgow are taking asylum seekers, which is not fair and equitable. She might sound pious, but her words and rhetoric are not matched by action from the Scottish Government.

    Alison Thewliss

    Local authorities in Scotland are reticent to take more because they know that the UK Government are not funding asylum seeker provision properly, and that pressed budgets due to another round of austerity are coming down the road, as the Minister knows just fine. Can he confirm that the Home Office is recruiting asylum decision makers from people in customer service and sales positions at McDonald’s and Aldi who have no prior experience of the asylum system, who are consulting Lonely Planet guides for knowledge of applicant countries, and who have described being

    “left to fend for themselves”

    after two days to conduct complex interviews and make life or death decisions? Is that really an adequate way to conduct sensitive decision making?

    Robert Jenrick

    I do not recognise anything that the hon. Lady just said. The problem with the current system is that it is too complicated and too bureaucratic. We want to simplify that, speed up those decisions and make sure that the teams are more productive. To come back to her first point, the Scottish Government are refusing to take any of the asylum seekers who are arriving in the UK on small boats, which is not right. There is a widening gulf between the actions of the Scottish Government and their rhetoric, which I ask her to consider.

  • Kate Osamor – 2022 Parliamentary Question on the Sovereign Debt of African Countries

    Kate Osamor – 2022 Parliamentary Question on the Sovereign Debt of African Countries

    The parliamentary question asked by Kate Osamor, the Labour MP for Edmonton, in the House of Commons on 13 December 2022.

    Kate Osamor (Edmonton) (Lab/Co-op)

    What assessment he has made of the potential effect of trends in the level of sovereign debt in Africa on stability in that region.

    The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Mr Andrew Mitchell)

    The significant debt vulnerabilities in many sub-Saharan African countries create risks for their growth, development and stability.

    Kate Osamor

    I thank the Minister for his reply. We have seen crippling crises affect various parts of Africa this year, from drought in the horn of Africa to floods in Nigeria. The debt burden of many low and middle income countries impacts the state’s capacity to cope, and the crisis only worsens the economic outlook further. As the charity Debt Justice has proposed, will the Government commit to supporting a universal framework for debt cancellation when an extreme climate event strikes, to prevent that double whammy?

    Mr Mitchell

    We look at every way of helping to address the problem that the hon. Lady sets out. We are providing bilateral technical assistance to help many countries better manage their public funding, and we are working with partners in the Paris Club and the G20 on how to address international debt issues together. We have already seen the progress that results from that in Ghana, where I am going today, and in Malawi.

    Sir James Duddridge (Rochford and Southend East) (Con)

    Is my right hon. Friend concerned, as I am, that Chinese sovereign debt is perhaps understated in countries such as Zambia, where banks lend directly to the Government but are effectively controlled by the ministry of finance in China? Will he do more to understand the totality of the debt and the indebtedness of specific countries to the Chinese Government?

    Mr Mitchell

    Yes. My right hon. Friend makes a very good point, and we need to show through what we do that there is a much better alternative. In 2020, we provided debt relief on repayments to the International Monetary Fund for 23 countries and contributed £150 million to the IMF catastrophe containment and relief trust. It is by doing such things that we show that there is a better way than the one the Chinese are using.

    Mr Speaker

    I call the shadow Minister.

    Preet Kaur Gill (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab/Co-op)

    The IMF says that three out of five of the world’s poorest countries are now in debt distress. The last Labour Government cancelled billions of pounds of multilateral debt. Any solution now depends on China, which receives 66% of all bilateral payments, and private creditors such as BlackRock. The future of millions of the world’s poorest depends on halting debt defaults, so what steps will the Government now take to engage seriously with China and bring forward the incentives, regulation and education needed to force private creditors to the table?

    Mr Mitchell

    The shadow Minister makes a good point. I think she is referring specifically to vulture funds, which we will certainly address. I want to make it clear to the House that we are working very closely with the international financial community. We understand absolutely the risks of instability that the situation creates, and the hon. Lady will have seen the work on stabilisation that has been done by both the Africa Development Bank and the World Bank.

  • Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2015-10-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what provisions are in place to safeguard vulnerable adults who are declared intentionally homeless and who do not want to be separated from family members also declared intentionally homeless in order to be rehoused.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    Local authorities are under a duty to provide accommodation to vulnerable households who have made themselves intentionally homeless, for such time as will give the household a reasonable opportunity of securing their own accommodation. They must also provide them with advice and assistance to help them secure their own accommodation. There is no time limit on this duty and authorities should consider each case in light of its particular facts.

    Local housing authorities are also under a duty to make arrangements to ensure that social services are aware of cases where households with children may be intentionally homeless.

  • Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many pregnant women are detained at Yarl’s Wood.

    James Brokenshire

    Although we are now recording management information on the number of women who have disclosed their pregnancy to the Home Office, collection of data about the detention of pregnant women will be limited.

    We will not necessarily be aware that a woman is pregnant unless she chooses to make this known to us and a woman may not know herself that she is pregnant when she enters detention. It may not always be appropriate for healthcare professionals to disclose information that the patient has asked not to be disclosed.

  • Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will suspend the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We take our arms export responsibilities very seriously and the UK operates one of the most rigorous and transparent arms export control regimes in the world. All defence and dual-use exports are required to meet the UK’s strict export control requirements, which include consideration of the UK’s international commitments including under international treaties and obligations. We do not issue an export licence if there is a clear risk that the proposed export might be used in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law. We also take account of any risk that the goods might be diverted to undesirable end-users or end-use.

  • Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to encourage Saudi Arabia to destroy its stock of cluster munitions.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Convention on Cluster Munitions obliges States Parties to promote adherence to the Convention, and to encourage non-States Parties to accede to it. The UK, in line with these Convention commitments, encourages all states not party to accede to the Convention as soon as possible to further prevent the use, development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention and transfer of cluster munitions. The UK continues to encourage Saudi Arabia to accede to the Convention both bilaterally and in multinational fora.

  • Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will discuss with his international counterpart the possibility of setting up a judicial mechanism to independently and impartially investigate reports of violations of international humanitarian law in Yemen.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We take seriously the reports of alleged violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) and abuses of human rights in Yemen, by all sides to the conflict. We have raised our concerns with Saudi Arabia and other members of the Coalition, and have received repeated assurances of compliance with IHL. We continue to engage with them on those assurances. We are also concerned by reports of alleged IHL violations by Houthi-Saleh forces. We have raised our concerns with the Houthis on the importance of compliance with IHL.

    The UK supported the resolution adopted at the recent session of the Human Rights Council which, inter alia, called upon all parties in Yemen to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law, and requested that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights assist the Yemeni national independent commission of inquiry. This assistance should help the government of Yemen to meet its international obligations in investigating reports of violations of human rights law and international humanitarian law.

  • Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the provisions in Clauses 13 and 14 of the Welfare Reform and Work Bill on the welfare of cancer patients.

    Priti Patel

    The Government set out its assessment of the impacts of the policies in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill on 20th July. These are available on the Parliament website: http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2015-16/welfarereformandwork/documents.html

    “

  • Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress his Department has made on the implementation of the Choice Review.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department commissioned the Review of Choice in End of Life Care to examine the issue of choice in end of life care. The Review’s recommendations on achieving high quality care and greater choice were published earlier this year. We agree with the vision set out by the Review and we are working with NHS England to see how this can best be achieved. We intend to respond to the Review later this year.