Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that survivors of domestic abuse with no recourse to public funds (a) are aware of their entitlements and (b) can access welfare.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This government understands the specific challenges that migrant victims of domestic abuse hold, particularly for those who have no recourse to public funds.
The Migrant Victims of Domestic Abuse Concession (MVDAC) provides partners here under the family, work or study Immigration Rules, who are victims of domestic abuse (and their dependants), with 3 months permission to stay in the UK without a no recourse to public funds (NRPF) condition. The concession enables victims and their dependants to access relevant support, arrange to leave the UK or apply to remain in a different immigration capacity.
There are also immediate settlement provisions for migrant victims of domestic abuse, under the Immigration Rules (Appendix Victim of Domestic Abuse (Appendix VDA)).
The government has recently uplifted the Support for Migrant Victims scheme, which helps migrant victims of domestic abuse with No Recourse to Public Funds, bringing the total investment to £2.4 million for 2025/26. The scheme, delivered by Southall Black Sisters, provides vital support, including accommodation, subsistence, counselling and legal advice.
Further information on support for victims of domestic abuse can be found on the Domestic abuse: how to get help page on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the definition of retail workers in clause 14 of the Crime and Policing Bill includes staff selling tickets at (a) train station gate lines and (b) train station platforms.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Through our Crime and Policing Bill, we have introduced a standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores. This applies only to shop workers.
The new offence is aimed specifically at shop workers due to the unacceptable, soaring levels of retail crime and assaults against retail workers in recent years.
Those workers whose roles are not included within the definition are already covered under other legislation such as the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which also covers more serious violence, including actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm.
Section 156 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 creates a statutory aggravating factor in sentencing cases of assault against public facing workers. It applies where an assault is committed against those providing a public service, performing a public duty or providing a service to the public. This includes those working in retail and other public-facing roles, including those working in the transport sector.
We will use the parliamentary process to scrutinise the provisions in the Bill and will consider carefully amendments tabled as well as evidence put forward in support of such amendments.
Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the definition of retail workers in clause 14 of the Crime and Policing Bill includes transport revenue protection staff with the facility to sell tickets.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Through our Crime and Policing Bill, we have introduced a standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores. This applies only to shop workers.
The new offence is aimed specifically at shop workers due to the unacceptable, soaring levels of retail crime and assaults against retail workers in recent years.
Those workers whose roles are not included within the definition are already covered under other legislation such as the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which also covers more serious violence, including actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm.
Section 156 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 creates a statutory aggravating factor in sentencing cases of assault against public facing workers. It applies where an assault is committed against those providing a public service, performing a public duty or providing a service to the public. This includes those working in retail and other public-facing roles, including those working in the transport sector.
We will use the parliamentary process to scrutinise the provisions in the Bill and will consider carefully amendments tabled as well as evidence put forward in support of such amendments.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which companies supply police ICT systems; and how many (a) contracts have been awarded to and (b) systems are managed by each company.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not centrally collect all of the information requested. Obtaining and verifying this information for the purposes of answering these questions could only be done at disproportionate cost.
However, the Hon Member may be interested to read the Home Secretary's speech to the National Police Chiefs' Council and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners' annual conference on 19 November 2024, where she set out her vision on police reform and efficiency, including the potential savings to be achieved through greater collaboration on IT contracts. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/home-secretarys-vision-for-police-reform
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which companies supplied police ICT systems in each year since 2010; and what the value of contracts awarded to those companies was.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not centrally collect all of the information requested. Obtaining and verifying this information for the purposes of answering these questions could only be done at disproportionate cost.
However, the Hon Member may be interested to read the Home Secretary's speech to the National Police Chiefs' Council and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners' annual conference on 19 November 2024, where she set out her vision on police reform and efficiency, including the potential savings to be achieved through greater collaboration on IT contracts. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/home-secretarys-vision-for-police-reform
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many different suppliers there are for ICT systems used across police forces in England and Wales.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not centrally collect all of the information requested. Obtaining and verifying this information for the purposes of answering these questions could only be done at disproportionate cost.
However, the Hon Member may be interested to read the Home Secretary's speech to the National Police Chiefs' Council and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners' annual conference on 19 November 2024, where she set out her vision on police reform and efficiency, including the potential savings to be achieved through greater collaboration on IT contracts. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/home-secretarys-vision-for-police-reform
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many ICT systems are used across police forces in England and Wales.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not centrally collect all of the information requested. Obtaining and verifying this information for the purposes of answering these questions could only be done at disproportionate cost.
However, the Hon Member may be interested to read the Home Secretary's speech to the National Police Chiefs' Council and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners' annual conference on 19 November 2024, where she set out her vision on police reform and efficiency, including the potential savings to be achieved through greater collaboration on IT contracts. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/home-secretarys-vision-for-police-reform
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an estimate of the cost to the public purse of only charging administrative costs for child citizenship applications.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
No such estimate has been made. However, fees for immigration and nationality applications are kept under review, and this includes consideration of the financial impacts that may arise were fee levels to be changed.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Border Force collects data on the ethnicity of people (a) held or (b) delayed in excess of 30 minutes at the UK border.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Border Force does not collect ethnicity data.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what quality controls her Department has put in place to help ensure that people accessing their digital immigration status receive accurate information.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
eVisas are a key part of delivering a border and immigration system which will be more digital and streamlined, a change that will enhance the applicant’s experience and increase the immigration system’s security and efficiency.
The transition to eVisas has seen millions of people already receiving and using eVisas successfully. By the end of April 2025 over 4.3 million people had created an online (UKVI) account to access their eVisa. Between Q4 2019 and Q1 2025, the 'view and prove' service has seen over 41.9 million views by individuals and over 6.3 million views by organisations checking immigration status.
The rollout of eVisas does not affect a person’s immigration status. The information in an eVisa is based on the information held on a person’s underlying immigration case, which is recorded in the same way as when we issued biometric residence permits. We have been recording this immigration case information digitally for over 20 years, on various caseworking systems, and if someone encounters an issue with their eVisa we can search those records to find their information and confirm their status.
If a person believes there is an error with their eVisa, they should report it to the Home Office using the dedicated ‘Report an error with your eVisa’ form which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/report-error-evisa.
We are continually improving our systems and welcome feedback on errors and how access to eVisas can be enhanced.