Robert Jenrick: The Illegal Migration Act received Royal Assent on 20 July 2023. As is standard practice for any legislation, commencement of wider measures in the Act will take place over the coming months, including around the duty to remove. Further guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/electronic-travel-authorisation- eta
Robert Jenrick: Once a claimant has been interviewed, asylum decision-makers carefully consider their protection needs by assessing all the evidence provided, in light of published country information guidance. We have taken immediate action to speed up asylum processing whilst maintaining the integrity of the system. This includes simplifying guidance and streamlining processes. We have also introduced...
Robert Jenrick: The Home Secretary and I engage regularly with our French counterparts on the issue of small boat crossings. Our joint work with France saw nearly 33,000 crossings prevented in 2022, 40% more than in 2021, and so far in 2023 a further 15,000 migrants have failed to reach our shores on small boats. Alongside this, since July 2020, the UK-France Joint Intelligence Cell (JIC) and French law...
Robert Jenrick: Officials and law enforcement work alongside social media companies in the OCC to identify harmful OIC content on their platforms and remove it as quickly as possible. Social media companies are not providing any funding for the centre. Funding for the Online Capability Centre is provided as part of Project Invigor. In December 2023, as part of the Prime Minister's Ten Point Plan, it was...
Robert Jenrick: The murals in question were painted over in the Kent Intake Unit at Dover. The overwhelming majority of unaccompanied children who passed through the location last year were largely teenagers. It was not felt that the murals were age appropriate. We provide high-quality facilities at the Kent Intake Unit, which is fully equipped to meet all the needs of unaccompanied children upon arrival in...
Robert Jenrick: The Minister for Immigration conducts visits, and host meetings, on the whole spectrum of Immigration business regularly. Information on Ministers’ meetings is released quarterly as part of Government transparency and accountability data and is available at: Home Office: ministerial gifts, hospitality, travel and meetings, January to March 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Robert Jenrick: An early version of a portal has been tested. The initial release focusses on the download element of document exchange, with future releases allowing for document upload. In time the portal will enable asylum seekers to access real time updates on their case.
Robert Jenrick: All individuals who attend a citizenship ceremony to become a British Citizen receive a welcome pack which includes a letter from the Secretary of State for the Home Department welcoming them into our national community.
Robert Jenrick: The capacity of the Bibby Stockholm remains 504. The number of asylum seekers onboard the vessel at any one time is likely to vary due to a number of factors.
Robert Jenrick: The Home Office publishes transparency data for Senior Officials’ business expenses and meetings on a quarterly basis on GOV.UK: Home Office: senior officials’ business expenses and meetings - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Robert Jenrick: The Home Office publishes data on numbers of returns in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on returns are published in table Ret_D01 of the ‘Returns detailed datasets’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to end March 2023. Provisional data on returns up to the end of August 2023...
Robert Jenrick: People are receiving their passports in good time. Between January and August 2023, 99.3% of customers using the standard UK service received their passport within the published processing timeframe of ten weeks.
Robert Jenrick: Under Part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, the Home Office has a legal obligation to support asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute. In the Netherlands and Belgium, the authorities have delivered accommodation for asylum seekers on vessels in a safe and secure manner. The Bibby Stockholm vessel has been used for decades to provide safe and decent accommodation to oil rig...
Robert Jenrick: The Home Office publishes statistics on small boat arrivals to the UK in the ‘Irregular migration to the UK statistics’ release. Data on asylum applications from small boat arrivals is published in table Irr_D02 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed dataset’ with the latest data up to the end of June 2023. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’...
Robert Jenrick: Border Force does not hold the data in an easily accessible format on how many of the cocaine seizures in (a) 2018, (b) 2019, (c) 2020, (d) 2021 and (e) 2022 were consignments intercepted while attempting to enter the UK via the Channel ports. The links for the main seizures publication can be found at Gov.UK: Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Robert Jenrick: The information requested can be found in tab CP03 of Immigration Enforcement data: Q2 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Please note the figures shown in the data are for penalties levied at the initial decision stage, which may be cancelled at the objection or appeal stage.
Robert Jenrick: The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on applications awaiting an initial decision that were raised before 28 June 2022 can be found in table Asy_10a of the ‘asylum and resettlement summary tables’. The latest data relate to 30 June 2023. Data for 30 September 2023 will be published on 23 November 2023. Information on...
Robert Jenrick: Border Force does not hold the data in an easily accessible format on how many of the MDMA seizures in (a) 2018, (b) 2019, (c) 2020, (d) 2021 and (e) 2022 were consignments intercepted while attempting to enter the UK via the Channel ports. The links for the main seizures publication can be found at Gov.UK: Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Robert Jenrick: The safety and wellbeing of asylum seekers in our care is of paramount importance to the Home Office. We expect high standards from all of our providers, and we have a robust governance framework in place to manage service delivery of the Asylum Accommodation Support Contracts (AASC). Details of the AASC can be found at: New asylum accommodation contracts awarded - GOV.UK...
Robert Jenrick: There has been no refurbishment.
