Speeches by Cooper.

“Do you mean a timetable target?”

“The backlog is down to 79,000 in the most recent figures, and it has continued to fall since then—those are the most recent published figures. That, in itself, was a 13% drop on the previous quarter. That is the pace at which we are making decisions at the moment. We will continue to make initial decisions at that curr…”

“We expect, over the course of this year and certainly over the course of the next six months, a very substantial drop in the backlog on initial decision making. But if we do not have the legislation on the appeals system go through, we will still end up with long, unacceptable delays in the system. We are introducing t…”

“I am just scrolling through my notes. Initial decisions are more than double those in the three months before the election, in the period January to March. We are going to continue with that high level of decision making, and that should bring down the initial decision making. There is obviously a certain point at whic…”

“We have already had a significant drop in the number of people awaiting an initial decision. We have speeded up decisions substantially since the election, including the initial decisions, and we are also taking action as part of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill to introduce statutory timetables for app…”

“Compliance with international law has already helped us get new agreements in place with France and Germany to help tackle some of the serious problems we face with the criminal gangs’ operations. On the agreements with France, as you may know, the previous Government tried over a six-year period to get the French Gove…”

“We have already taken a series of steps since the election to drive better value through the contracting process. We are already saving hundreds of millions of pounds, compared to previous years and compared to the plans that we inherited, as a result of those changes. We are looking at further changes to drive those c…”

“She can talk through some of the details on that. You will know that we have been taking action to remove one of the suppliers, Stay Belvedere, from the supply chain, as part of the tighter contract management. We will keep all contracts under review, but the core issue is to bring the overall numbers down in the asylu…”

“In terms of the management of the contracts, we will introduce tighter conditions in the contracts. I think you have Minister Angela Eagle giving you more evidence on that.”

“I am concerned about the level of money that has gone into these contracts. There is also the scale of the backlog that we inherited. We need to end asylum hotels altogether. Some of that is about bringing the whole backlog down and being able to clear the decision making.”

“We inherited these contracts.”

“We have always said that we would like to see those sorts of arrangements, and a replacement for that kind of arrangement. We obviously need to make sure that we have a system in place that is workable. You also referred to the impact in terms of the gangs. Information will be released later this afternoon about an add…”

“Nobody should be making these dangerous boat crossings; they undermine border security and they put lives at risk. The numbers that we saw on Saturday were completely unacceptable, as is the continuing nature of the problem. The central focus of the co-operation that we are building at the moment, particularly with Fra…”

“In terms of strengthening international co-operation, we have always said that we would like to see a replacement for the Dublin scheme, and we recognise the impact of that. There is evidence of that impact, with people who arrive in the UK raising that as being a factor for them.”

“I think there is a series of factors behind what has happened. We have seen this big increase in small boat crossings over the last few years; if you go back to 2018, it was barely a handful. Since then, an entire criminal industry has taken hold along our borders, with networks, including supply chains, that spread ri…”

“Yes, we are continuing to do that. I think it is particularly important that that academic timetable for young people is taken into account. I am very conscious of that and of ensuring that we recognise that as part of our continuing support for the Ukraine scheme.”

“We think that the care industry will be able to recruit from those who are here lawfully, whether UK residents or people who are already here lawfully from overseas. We think they will be able to do that and meet the recruitment pressures that they face, but we are working with the Health Department on this. As we intr…”

“For a transition period, employers will continue to be able to recruit international care workers who are here already on an alternative legal route. Those who are here legally already, with permission to work, will be able to get care worker jobs and to transition to a care worker visa. We will continue to do that for…”

“We will have to write to you with that. Obviously, we have set up a system for those who come to the UK on a care worker visa, but then it turns out that the sponsorship of that care worker has had to be revoked because the sponsor was not meeting the proper standards—they did not have proper checks in place, or someti…”

“I do not have those figures in front of me. I do not know whether we have them—”