On 29th November 2023, the Bishop of Chelmsford’s Private Member’s Bill, the Asylum Application (Entry to the United Kingdom) Bill, was introduced and had its first reading in the House of Lords:
Asylum Application (Entry to the United Kingdom) Bill [HL]
A Bill to make provision for leave to enter the United Kingdom to be granted to people for the purposes of making an application for asylum; and for connected purposes.
The Bill was introduced by the Bishop of Chelmsford, read a first time and ordered to be printed.
The Bishop of Durham received the following written answers on 29th November 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Durham asked what steps they are taking over the immigration detention estate to ensure the use of force is continually monitored and recorded for all detainees, and particularly vulnerable adults and children.
Lord Sharpe Epsom (Con, Home Office): We will accept nothing but the highest standards from companies employed to manage the immigration removal estate.
The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on the success of dedicated networking hubs to speed up asylum claims for children and young people on 22nd November 2023, during a discussion on safe routes available for child refugees and asylum seekers to come to the UK:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, in May 2021, recognising the need to speed up the applications for child asylum seekers, the Government set up two dedicated caseworking hubs to try to process these claims more quickly. What assessment, two and half years on, has been made of the success of these dedicated hubs, and what more could be done to speed up the claims of young people as they seek asylum?
The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on the government’s long term asylum and immigration strategy on 20th November 2023, following a government statement regarding the Supreme Court Judgement on the proposed Rwanda Immigration Partnership:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, we on these Benches are quite clear that we cannot have open borders, that we must stop people risking their lives, and that we need to stop the people smugglers. But we are also clear that we cannot export our moral responsibilities towards those seeking sanctuary on to the shores of another country, be it Rwanda or anywhere else. This is such a long-term, complex, worldwide problem that we need a long-term strategy for tackling this refugee crisis, in concert with our global partners, so while the Government are proposing some immediate new laws, what are they doing to address the scale of the problem, to provide long-term certainty? Will the Minister commit to developing and publishing a long-term strategy so that we can all try to engage with this in a much more measured way?
The Bishop of Durham received the following written answer on 26th October 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Durham asked His Majesty’s Government how many unaccompanied children have been held at (1) HMP Elmley, Kent, and (2) other adult prisons over the last year, including those determined to be children after local authority age assessments.
The Bishop of Durham received the following written answers on 17th October 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Durham asked His Majesty’s Government whether, in the instance a child is found after going missing from Home Office accommodation, they are initially returned to hotel accommodation or the care of the local authority.
Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con, Home Office): When a missing child is found, a referral to the local authority is made with a clear expectation that they are taken into local authority care.
The Bishop of Durham received the following written answers on 17th October 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Durham asked His Majesty’s Government from what date asylum applications were first treated as withdrawn on the basis that the claimant failed to report or to inform the Home Office of a change of address.
Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con, Home Office): We do not currently publish data on the date asylum claims were first treated as withdrawn on the basis that the claimant failed to report or to inform the Home Office of a change of address. However, official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, as well as quality and availability of data.
The Bishop of Leicester received the following written answer on Thursday 21st September 2023:
The Lord Bishop of St Leicester asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the National Audit Office’s report on the Government’s Asylum and Protection Transformation Programme.
Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con, Home Office): The NAO report into the Asylum & Protection Transformation Programme fully recognises the significance of the transformation programme, and the efforts of the Home Office to reform the asylum and protection system.
The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 19th September 2023:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government how many (1) asylum, or (2) humanitarian protection, visas were granted to people from China in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, (c) 2021, and (d) 2022.
The Bishop of Durham asked a question on time allowed for consideration of asylum requests, during a discussion on the asylum applications backlog on 6th September 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Durham: Returning to the question from the noble Lord, Lord Coaker, how long does the Home Office consider a reasonable length of time for an asylum seeker to provide reasons and evidence as to why their asylum request should be reinstated after receiving a decision and the application is withdrawn? Will the Government publish statistics on the number of applicants reinstated?
The Church of England in Parliament 
You must be logged in to post a comment.