Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Child Poverty Strategy, published on 5 December 2025, what discussions the Home Office have had with the Department for Education about the guidance to local authorities on statutory duties under section 17 of the Children Act 1989; and what steps they have taken to ensure that safeguarding and the best interests of children are considered in that guidance.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 establishes the general duty of local authorities in England to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need and, so far as is consistent with that duty, to promote the upbringing of such children by their families.
I can confirm that the Home Office is working with the Department for Education alongside other government departments and the NRPF network to produce guidance to assist local authorities in their duties to those with No Recourse to Public Funds as part of the Child Poverty Strategy.
The duty Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 duty does not apply to the Home Office. Instead, Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 places a duty on the Home Office to make arrangements for ensuring that immigration, asylum, nationality and general customs functions are discharged having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in the UK.
The statutory guidance, called ‘Every Child Matters’, issued under Section 55 (3), sets out the key arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children as they apply both generally to public bodies who deal with children in the UK (Part 1) and specifically to the Home Office (Part 2).
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2026 to Question 117978 on Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, how many registrations have been entered on the enhanced tier since the scheme's inception; and which countries have been identified on the enhanced tier.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Foreign Influence Registration scheme came into force on 1 July 2025 with Russia and Iran specified on the enhanced tier.
The Government do not intend to provide details of registrations beyond those that appear on the public Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS) register, as doing so could identify information not intended to be published and undermine the scheme’s objectives. Registrations under the enhanced tier are not published unless they relate to political influence activities; there are also circumstances in which publication will not occur, for example where publication could create a risk to the safety or interests of the UK.
An annual report on the operation of FIRS will be laid before Parliament. This will include, among other things, the number of registrations under both tiers, the number of information notices issued, and the number of people charged and prosecuted for failing to comply with the scheme’s requirements. The first report will be published as soon as practicable after 30 June 2026.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the statement of 12 March 2026, Official Report, on Defending Democracy Taskforce, if he will make it his policy to ensure political parties are provided via the Parliamentary Parties Panel with the contact details of the relevant local police force contacts, for the dedicated superintendent co-ordinator for Operation Bridger, in each Police Force area with May 2026 elections.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Home Office remains firmly committed to protecting elected representatives and those standing for election.
If a candidate is in immediate danger, they should call 999 and reference Operation Bridger for Members of Parliament or Operation Ford for locally elected representatives.
For non‑emergency incidents, reports should be made via 101 or online, again referencing Operation Bridger or Operation Ford as appropriate. This will ensure that Bridger Leads and/or the Force Elected Official Advisors are notified of any incidents affecting candidates standing in the May 2026 elections.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment on the impact of the changes to immigration rules on those currently in the visa renewal process.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
In relation to the 2026 Spring Rules change, the Home Office has updated our identity requirements. The change to Rule 34(5)(a) will reduce the need for applicants to keep having to attend a Visa and Citizenship Application Service (VCAS) centre every time they make an immigration application for further permission to stay in the UK. This change will enable applicants who have previously enrolled their biometrics under controlled conditions, such as at a VCAS centre, and who are making a new in-country immigration application, to have their identity reused. The change to facilitate the re-use of digital identity neither creates new powers nor extends identity reuse to applicants overseas but will have required one-off implementation costs to the public sector. While unquantified, these implementation costs are likely to be offset by ongoing efficiency savings from modernising, digitising and streamlining application processes, which improve the customer experience whilst maintaining public safety.
In respect of wider Spring Rules changes, the Home Office has produced two impact assessments and two economic notes for the four Immigration Rules changes which met the threshold for requiring one. These are published alongside the Exploratory Memorandum and Statement of Changes on the GOV.UK website: Statement of changes to the Immigration Rules: HC 1691, 5 March 2026 - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of recent trends in (a) visa extensions and (b) visa switches on her Department’s net migration targets.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes a variety of analysis considering the impact of the visa system on net migration. Home Office Impact Assessments and wider analysis can be found here: Migration analysis at the Home Office - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to assist UK citizens whose children have been rendered stateless as a result of incorrect advice regarding dual nationality provided by foreign authorities; and if she will review guidance and support available to families affected.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
As responsibility for nationality rests with the Home Office, this has been transferred to the Secretary of State for the Home Department for a substantive response.
Where a child is not a British citizen at birth, UK law provides a number of statutory routes which allow children to be registered as British citizens where the relevant legal criteria are met, including in circumstances where the child would otherwise be stateless. British nationality law allows dual nationality, but it is for other states to set and apply their own nationality laws.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average staffing complement is for a ministerial private office within their Department; what grades those staff are appointed at; what the typical remuneration and contracted working hours are for those posts; and what the staff turnover rate is.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Ministerial private offices in the Home Office have a mean of 6 staff members, at grades ranging from Executive Officer to Grade 6 (excluding the Principal Private Secretary and one other member of staff, who are Senior Civil Servants). Staff are contracted between 36 and 37 hours per week depending on their terms and conditions, and their base remuneration is on this basis. An additional allowance is paid in recognition of the expectation that private office staff face additional and out of hours demands. The most recent publication of Home Office salaries (December 2024) lists the salary bands for these grades as:
Grade | Salary minimum | Salary maximum | Private Office allowance |
Executive Officer | £30,000 | £35,700 | £5,000 |
Higher Executive Officer | £37,300 | £44,191 | £6,000 |
Senior Executive Officer | £44,720 | £52,130 | £7,000 |
Grade 7 | £60,300 | £70,730 | £9,000 |
Grade 6 | £73,900 | £85,690 | £10,000 |
Pay bands for the Senior Civil Service are centrally determined.
Staff turnover for calendar year 2025 was 68%.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to introducing enforceable duties on chief officers of police to ensure that officers comply with (1) the "Believe, React, Fast" duty to require a prompt and appropriate response to reports of domestic abuse and rape and serious sexual offences, including risk assessment, recording and safeguarding, and (2) the Gaia Principle, campaigned for by the Gemini Project, requiring diligent identification and consideration of all relevant intelligence relating to suspects.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
We expect all reports of a sexual offence to be treated seriously from the point of disclosure. Police officers must follow all reasonable lines of enquiry, and this includes seeking out relevant information on suspects in VAWG offences.
The National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection is supporting police forces to implement Operation Soteria, helping ensure sexual offence investigations are always suspect-focused, and rolling out Raneem’s Law to embed independent domestic abuse specialists in police control rooms.
Police officers are already required to act diligently in the exercise of their duties, as part of the statutory standards of professional behaviour, a breach of which can result in disciplinary action. In addition, the Code of Ethics, published by the College of Policing in 2024, includes guidance on ethical and professional behaviour in policing. This makes it clear that the police must “gather, verify and assess all appropriate and available information”, which correlates with the policing commitment to pursue all reasonable lines of enquiry.
The recently published Police Reform White Paper outlined this Government’s commitment to drive quality, consistency and efficiency in policing and ensure it is set up to deliver for the public. These reforms will create a more consistent service by holding police forces accountable for delivery, supported by new powers to intervene where forces fall short.
Asked by: Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve the monitoring of domestic extremist groups.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The government is delivering a fundamental reset of how we counter extremism, ensuring we have the tools, capabilities, and partnerships to match the scale and nature of an evolving threat.
As announced in the Government’s Protecting What Matters publication, the Home Office is expanding the Prevent Disruptions team, which horizon scans for extremist influence and events, with additional resource to understand and disrupt extremist networks at a national and local level. This builds on strong action by the team over the past two years, where the highest harm extremists from across the political spectrum were targeted and stopped from spreading their divisive views.
We will also publish an annual ‘State of Extremism’ report which will arm frontline, public sector workers with the information they need to identify and confront extremism in the UK.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is taking steps to promote the adoption of standards such as BS 25700 to support organisations in meeting their obligations under the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
This Government is clear that no company in the UK should have forced labour in its supply chain and encourages businesses to monitor their supply chains with rigour, to uncover and remedy any instances of modern slavery they may find.
The Government published new transparency in supply chains statutory guidance in March 2025. This new guidance is more comprehensive, practical and ambitious – calling on businesses to go further and faster.
The Home Office worked with a wide group of stakeholders from business, academia and civil society to ensure the guidance reflects current best practice and international standards, including the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Due Diligence Guidance.
This will support businesses to produce high quality statements, which are underpinned by effective measures to prevent and effectively respond to modern slavery.
The BSI standard on modern slavery (BSI25700) provides similar guidance to support businesses assess and monitor their supply chains. We encourage businesses to draw on all available guidance and standards to continue to improve their supply chain monitoring.