FOI - Rough sleeping/ICE [Jan 2023]

This request is concerning the work the Greater London Authority has been commissioning with Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) teams and the Home Office in relation to rough sleepers.

In the year 2022:

1) How many visits to rough sleepers have you conducted under the Rough Sleeping Support Service (RSSS)?

2) How many visits to rough sleepers have you coordinated with ICE/Home office officials?

3) What are the locations of the visits in question 2?

4) How many people have been helped to voluntarily return through these visits? And what were the nationalities of these individuals?

5) How many people have the GLA helped the ICE/Home Office detain through these visits? And what were the nationalities of these individuals?

Please could you also provide:

1) The guidance the GLA’s team working with ICE/Home Office follow when investigating the immigration status of rough sleepers? And when facilitating voluntary return of rough sleepers?

2) The amount of funding from central government (DLUHC or Home Office) the GLA has received in the last 4 years to aid the Home Office with immigration enforcement of rough sleepers?

3) Any reports that evaluate previous work with the Home Office/ICE in aiding with immigration enforcement of rough sleepers?

4) Any proposals submitted in the last 12 months to gain future funding for aiding the Home Office/ICE with immigration enforcement of rough sleepers?

5) A list of all the NGOs and charities that are involved in these operations?

Response

Your request has been considered under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Responses to your questions are below.

In the year 2022:

1) How many visits to rough sleepers have you conducted under the Rough Sleeping Support Service (RSSS)?

No visits to people sleeping rough have been conducted under the Rough Sleeping Support Service.

2) How many visits to rough sleepers have you coordinated with ICE/Home office officials?

No visits to people sleeping rough have been coordinated with ICE/ Office officials.

3) What are the locations of the visits in question 2?

This question is not applicable as no visits were conducted.

4) How many people have been helped to voluntarily return through these visits? And what were the nationalities of these individuals?

This question is not applicable as no visits were conducted.

5) How many people have the GLA helped the ICE/Home Office detain through these visits? And what were the nationalities of these individuals?

This question is not applicable as no visits were conducted.

Please could you also provide:

1) The guidance the GLA’s team working with ICE/Home Office follow when investigating the immigration status of rough sleepers? And when facilitating voluntary return of rough sleepers

The Mayor opposes the hostile environment, which threatens social integration and leaves vulnerable people without access to essential services and has called for the policies to be scrapped. Enforcement action taken against migrants experiencing homelessness has had a negative impact on the level of engagement and trust of this cohort towards homelessness services. Therefore, the Mayor believes that enforcement is not a solution to rough sleeping and GLA-commissioned services do not incorporate this practice. Moreover, there has been clear communication confirming that information from the CHAIN system, a multi-agency database recording information about rough sleepers in London commissioned by the Mayor, should not be shared with the Home Office- 30112020_New-Immigration-Rules-on-Rough-Sleeping-GLA-position-and-CHAIN.pdf (freemovement.org.uk)

The Mayor has extensively funded immigration advice for people sleeping rough in order to support them clarify and/or regularise their immigration status. Recently the GLA and London Councils secured £4.9m funding from the Rough Sleeping Initiative to fund four sub-regional immigration advice services (SIASs) from 1 July 2022 to 31 March 2025. This is an ambitious programme which has substantially increased the immigration advice capacity available for people sleeping rough, and those at risk of rough sleeping, in London.

The Mayor also commissions a specialist service called Routes Home, that, among other things, is able to support those that wish to return to their country of origin and require specialist support. This service works in accordance to published best practice: Reconnection-Best-Practice-Guidelines-28.03.22.pdf (mungos.org). The team at St Mungo’s running this service can also support clients to apply to the Home Office Voluntary Returns Service and they do so according to the following St Mungo’s internal guidance: “We support clients to access qualified immigration advice in order to understand their rights and entitlements in the UK. If a client wishes to pursue Assisted Voluntary return then we support the client to also access immigration advice on the implications of doing so, including on their current and future status. We only share information with the Voluntary Returns Service with our client’s full and informed consent.”

2) The amount of funding from central government (DLUHC or Home Office) the GLA has received in the last 4 years to aid the Home Office with immigration enforcement of rough sleepers?

The GLA has not received any funding from central government in the last four years to aid the Home Office with immigration enforcement of people sleeping rough.

3) Any reports that evaluate previous work with the Home Office/ICE in aiding with immigration enforcement of rough sleepers?

The GLA has not produced or commissioned any reports on that topic.

4) Any proposals submitted in the last 12 months to gain future funding for aiding the Home Office/ICE with immigration enforcement of rough sleepers?

No proposals have been submitted in the last 12 months to gain future funding for aiding the Home Office/ICE with immigration enforcement of people sleeping rough.

5) A list of all the NGOs and charities that are involved in these operations?

This question is not applicable as the GLA has not been, either directly or through the charities it commissions, involved in any immigration enforcement operations.