Sir Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many and what proportion of the places available in the first year under ACRS Pathway 3 have been filled, pending security checks, by eligible (a) British Council (i) contractors and (ii) contractors' family members, (b) GardaWorld (i) contractors and (ii) contractors' family members and (c) Chevening (i) Alumni and (ii) Alumni family members.  [117403]

[Due for Answer on 11 January] 

ANSWER

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Europe (Leo Docherty): The Government received over 11,400 expressions of interest (EOI) under Pathway 3 of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), which we have been assessing against the eligibility criteria. We have informed just under 200 individuals that they are eligible in principle for resettlement, subject to passing security checks. Including their dependents, this accounts for over 750 of the 1500 available places on Pathway 3 in year one. We will not be commenting on individual cohort numbers while EOIs are still being processed and security checks are outstanding. As initial security checks are completed, we are providing further information on next steps to eligible individuals. We will update Parliament further once we have completed the allocation process, have notified all those who submitted EOIs of the outcome and have assured data to share.