Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the value of legal aid expenditure available to support asylum applications from individuals from (1) Hong Kong, (2) Ukraine, and (3) Afghanistan, over the past 12 months.

Answered by Lord Bellamy

Funding for legal aid is on a demand led basis, the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) does not have a specific budget allocation for delivery of legal aid services in relation to specific categories of law.

Statistical data is not centrally held regarding legal expenditure provided to individuals from the specified countries.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have received in the past 12 months to add occupations to the Skilled Workers Shortage Occupation List.

Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth - Shadow Minister (Home Office)

His Majesty’s Government regularly engages with all sectors about the UK immigration system, which includes the Shortage Occupation List.

The Migration Advisory Committee recently opened their call for evidence for their review of the Shortage Occupation and we would encourage businesses and sector bodies to contribute.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of Hong Kong asylum seekers are in temporary accommodation; and what proportion of those have no access to Wi-Fi.

Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth - Shadow Minister (Home Office)

As of 10/03/2023, there are 52 Asylum Seekers in the Asylum Support Scheme with a Hong Kong nationality out of a total 108,700 Asylum Seekers. 22 of these 52 are currently in temporary accommodation.

All service users are entitled to access Wi-Fi wherever it is available with no restrictions placed on them accessing these services by the Home Office.

In 2022, 17 initial decisions were made on applications from Hong Kong nationals, 4 initial decisions were made on applications from Ukrainian nationals and 1,842 initial decisions were made on applications from Afghanistan nationals.

As at 31 Dec 2022, 115 Hong Kong nationals had been awaiting an initial decision for more than 6 months while 11 had been waiting 6 months or less (main applicants only). Please note that any further breakdowns in wait time are not published.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum applications were processed from individuals from (1) Hong Kong, (2) Ukraine, and (3) Afghanistan, in the past 12 months.

Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth - Shadow Minister (Home Office)

As of 10/03/2023, there are 52 Asylum Seekers in the Asylum Support Scheme with a Hong Kong nationality out of a total 108,700 Asylum Seekers. 22 of these 52 are currently in temporary accommodation.

All service users are entitled to access Wi-Fi wherever it is available with no restrictions placed on them accessing these services by the Home Office.

In 2022, 17 initial decisions were made on applications from Hong Kong nationals, 4 initial decisions were made on applications from Ukrainian nationals and 1,842 initial decisions were made on applications from Afghanistan nationals.

As at 31 Dec 2022, 115 Hong Kong nationals had been awaiting an initial decision for more than 6 months while 11 had been waiting 6 months or less (main applicants only). Please note that any further breakdowns in wait time are not published.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum seekers from Hong Kong have been waiting for their case to be processed for longer than (1) six months, (2) one year, and (3) 18 months.

Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth - Shadow Minister (Home Office)

As of 10/03/2023, there are 52 Asylum Seekers in the Asylum Support Scheme with a Hong Kong nationality out of a total 108,700 Asylum Seekers. 22 of these 52 are currently in temporary accommodation.

All service users are entitled to access Wi-Fi wherever it is available with no restrictions placed on them accessing these services by the Home Office.

In 2022, 17 initial decisions were made on applications from Hong Kong nationals, 4 initial decisions were made on applications from Ukrainian nationals and 1,842 initial decisions were made on applications from Afghanistan nationals.

As at 31 Dec 2022, 115 Hong Kong nationals had been awaiting an initial decision for more than 6 months while 11 had been waiting 6 months or less (main applicants only). Please note that any further breakdowns in wait time are not published.

Found: I cannot help but notice that it is now 15 months since you lost your permanent chair, Lord Tyrie.

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Found: LORD BRIDGES OFHEADLEY BARONESS BOWLES OFBERKHAMSTED LORD VAUX OFHARROWDEN LORD TYRIE 162 Insert thefollowing