Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) women-only and (b) family-only hotels staffed exclusively by women for female refugees.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration and asylum system under regular review, and works closely with our accommodation providers, the police and a range of other experts and stakeholders to provide the best possible safeguards for female asylum seekers against violence and abuse.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce knife crime in Nottinghamshire.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

Halving knife crime over the next decade is a key part of the Government’s Safer Streets Mission and we are determined to tackle the scourge of serious knife crime on our streets.

To date, we have implemented a ban on zombie-style knives and zombie-style machetes and a ban on ninja swords will come into effect from 1 August 2025. We will also be running an extended surrender scheme in July to allow knives and offensive weapons to be handed in safely and securely. Limiting the availability and accessibility of knives and dangerous and illegal weapons is a central part of our work.

To that end, we have also announced “Ronan’s Law”, following an independent review into online knife sales by Commander Stephen Clayman, the national policing lead on knife crime, which set out a range of measures including strengthening age verification and delivery checks and reporting bulk sales to the police. These changes are now included in the Crime and Policing Bill currently passing through Parliament.

In the Crime and Policing Bill, we are also increasing the penalties for illegal sales of knives, creating a new offence of possessing a knife with the intention to commit unlawful violence and providing the police with a new power to seize knives when they believe they are likely to be used in connection with unlawful violence.

In Nottinghamshire, the Government has allocated c.£1.5m for the Hotspot Action Fund in 2025-2026 to deliver high visibility patrolling and problem-oriented policing tactics in the areas with the highest densities of knife crime and Anti-Social Behaviour (‘hotspots’).

Through our Young Futures Programme, the Government will introduce Prevention Partnerships across the country, including in Nottinghamshire, to intervene earlier and ensure that children and young people who are vulnerable to being drawn into crime are identified and offered support in a more systematic way.

As we continue to design the Young Futures Programme, we want to ensure that it learns from and builds on the work of the Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) in this regard. In 2025/26 we are investing £47m via the Home Office in core grant funding to VRUs, including making over £1.1m available to the Nottinghamshire VRU this year.

This funding will support the delivery of a range of early intervention and prevention programmes, such as youth workers in custody, school and community settings, sports programmes, mentoring, healthy relationships programmes, and intensive cognitive behavioural therapies for individuals involved in or at risk of serious violence, to divert young people away from crime.

A further £14.3m in grant funding has been made available across all 43 local policing body areas to deliver the Serious Violence Duty with £139k available to Nottinghamshire.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to (a) the Women for Refugee Women report entitled Coercion and Control, published in September 2024 and (b) the Imkaan and Rape Crisis England and Wales joint report entitled Not Safe Here, published in October 2024, what safeguarding measures her Department has recently put in place as a response to the sexual violence and abuse faced by asylum-seeking women in hotel accommodation.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration and asylum system under regular review, and works closely with our accommodation providers, the police and a range of other experts and stakeholders to provide the best possible safeguards for female asylum seekers against violence and abuse.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has produced for sub-contracted accommodation providers to (a) prevent and (b) better respond to the sexual violence and abuse faced by asylum-seeking women in hotel accommodation.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration and asylum system under regular review, and works closely with our accommodation providers, the police and a range of other experts and stakeholders to provide the best possible safeguards for female asylum seekers against violence and abuse.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to ensure that British National (Overseas) passport holders are afforded (a) access to the UK’s digital eGates at border control and (b) equal treatment to British passport holders in all other respects.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The Immigration White Paper, published in May 2025, sets out new measures on a wide range of immigration and border issues, including our vision to revolutionise the UK border by using technology to make visible change to security, flow and the passenger experience. This includes investigating options to expand eGate eligibility and the use of automation to more cohorts, including British National (Overseas) passport holders.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of immigration cases involve the use of interpretation services paid for by the state.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

Obtaining the specific information requested would involve collating and verifying information from multiple systems owned by multiple teams across the Home Office and, therefore, could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce the time taken for the consideration of Administrative Reviews of immigration casework.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The allocation of resources across competing demands within the immigration system requires that prioritisation decisions are made, but the Home Office continues to work hard to meet the timescales set out in public guidance for the processing of AR applications.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for administrative reviews relating to immigration casework.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The allocation of resources across competing demands within the immigration system requires that prioritisation decisions are made, but the Home Office continues to work hard to meet the timescales set out in public guidance for the processing of AR applications.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of foreign nationals entering the UK as delivery drivers under temporary work schemes.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

Under the current Immigration Rules, the UK operates no Temporary Work schemes that enable the recruitment of delivery drivers from overseas.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) British and (b) Irish citizens emigrated from Northern Ireland in 2024.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The Home Office does not hold this information.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been (a) arrested and (b) prosecuted for riding e-scooters on (i) public roads and (i) pavements in each of the last three years.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

The data requested is not held centrally.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce shop theft in Surrey Heath constituency.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

Shop theft continues to increase at an unacceptable level, up 20% on year up to December 2024. We will not stand for this.

We are providing £5 million over the next three years to continue to fund a specialist analysis team within Opal, the National Policing Intelligence Unit for serious organised acquisitive crime, to crack down on the organised gangs targeting retailers.

We are also investing £2 million over the next three years in the National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) which provides a resource for both police and businesses to learn, share and support each other to prevent and combat crime.

Via the Crime and Policing Bill we will repeal the legislation which makes shop theft of and below £200 a summary-only offence, which means it can only be tried a magistrate’s court. This will send a clear message that any level of shop theft is illegal and will be taken seriously. Also included in the Bill is a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.

I chair the Retail Crime Forum which brings together the retail sector, security providers and law enforcement agencies to ensure we understand the needs of all retailers and to promote collaboration, share best practice and to work collectively to tackle the serious issue of retail crime. This includes the development of a new strategy to tackle shop theft published by policing, retail sector representatives and industry as part of collective efforts to combat shop theft.

The strategy builds on previous progress made by police and retailers but provides a more comprehensive and intelligence-led approach to tackle all perpetrators of shop theft – not just organised criminal gangs.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of fraudulent insurance claims that have been made by people who stage road traffic collisions to gain compensation there have been in the last 12 months.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government recognises the harm caused by these types of fraudulent claims. This is why we have launched an Insurance Fraud Charter with key insurance firms to agree a series of voluntary measures to reduce fraud against the sector and consumers.

The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau reports that there has been 118 reports of Insurance related Fraud in the past 13 months.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of rural crime in (a) Bedfordshire and (b) the East of England; and what steps her Department is taking to reduce that level.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

Rural crime can have devastating consequences for countryside communities and the agricultural sector. That is why this Government is committed to reducing crime in rural areas.

Under our Safer Streets Mission reforms, rural communities will be safeguarded, with tougher measures to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, strengthened neighbourhood policing and stronger measures to prevent theft of farm equipment and fly-tipping.

The Government is committed to strong neighbourhood policing for everyone in England and Wales, wherever they live. On 10 April, the Prime Minister outlined further details about our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, including that by July, every community, including rural communities, will have named and contactable officers dedicated to addressing their issues.

This financial year we will be providing the first Home Office funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (NRCU), as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU). The funding boost of over £800,000 in total will help the units tackle those crimes that predominantly affect our rural communities.

This will allow these specialist units to continue their work in tackling rural and wildlife crime which can pose unique challenges for policing given the scale and isolation of rural areas.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council Wildlife and Rural Crime Strategy 2022-2025 provides a framework through which policing, and its partners can work together to tackle the most prevalent threats and emerging issues which predominantly affect rural communities NPCC-Wildlife-Rural-Crime-Strategy-2022-2025.pdf (nwcu.police.uk). We are working closely with the NPCC to deliver the next iteration of their strategy, to ensure the government’s Safer Streets Mission benefits every community no matter where they live, including rural communities.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the safety of town centres during summer 2025 in Surrey Heath constituency.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

This is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission. As part of the Neighbourhood Policing Grant, £200 million has been allocated to forces for 2025/26 to support the Government’s commitment to deliver additional personnel into neighbourhood policing. Surrey Constabulary has been allocated £2,588,427 and will deliver an increase of 25 police officers by 31 March 2026.

The Home Office is also providing £66.3 million funding in 2025-26 to forces in England and Wales to deliver high visibility patrols in the areas worst affected by knife crime, serious violence and anti-social behaviour. Surrey Police will receive £1,000,000 of this funding.

In addition to this, the Safer Streets Summer Initiative is a government-led initiative to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB), street crime and retail crime in town centres this summer, and to increase local confidence through increased collaboration at a local level. It will be led by Police and Crime and Commissioners, in partnership with Chief Constables and other key local partners such as councils, schools, health services, business, transport and community organisations.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 54430 on Undocumented Migrants: English Channel, how many people arriving in small boats have been found to have (a) convictions, (b) pending prosecutions and (c) wanted or missing reports since 4 July 2024.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office conducts mandatory identity and security checks on all small boat arrivals.

In line with the Refugee Convention, we will deny the benefits of protection status to those who commit particularly serious crimes and are a danger to the community or those who are a threat to national security.

Anyone convicted of a particularly serious crime resulting in a custodial sentence of 12 months or more, and are considered a danger to the UK, will be denied asylum and will be considered for removal from the UK. Those refused protection status who cannot be removed will be subject to regular review until they can be removed at the earliest opportunity.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 54430 on Undocumented Migrants: English Channel, how many and what proportion of people arriving by small boat undergo further checks on criminality.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office conducts mandatory identity and security checks on all small boat arrivals.

In line with the Refugee Convention, we will deny the benefits of protection status to those who commit particularly serious crimes and are a danger to the community or those who are a threat to national security.

Anyone convicted of a particularly serious crime resulting in a custodial sentence of 12 months or more, and are considered a danger to the UK, will be denied asylum and will be considered for removal from the UK. Those refused protection status who cannot be removed will be subject to regular review until they can be removed at the earliest opportunity.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 54430 on Undocumented Migrants: English Channel, what steps her Department is taking to remove small boat arrivals who fail criminality checks.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office conducts mandatory identity and security checks on all small boat arrivals.

In line with the Refugee Convention, we will deny the benefits of protection status to those who commit particularly serious crimes and are a danger to the community or those who are a threat to national security.

Anyone convicted of a particularly serious crime resulting in a custodial sentence of 12 months or more, and are considered a danger to the UK, will be denied asylum and will be considered for removal from the UK. Those refused protection status who cannot be removed will be subject to regular review until they can be removed at the earliest opportunity.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish the evaluation of the move-on period pilot extension; and whether her Department plans to further extend the pilot.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

In December, the Home Office operationalised a pilot to extend the grace period to 56 days. It is important that we take the necessary time to evaluate the impact of the interim measures, including overall net costs to taxpayers, before deciding whether to make the measures permanent. We will make further announcements in the normal way in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, where she plans to relocate irregular migrants living in hotels in Lancashire by 2029.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office continues to work with a range of stakeholders and consider a range of options to fulfil its statutory obligations, and deliver our commitment to reduce overall cost of asylum accommodation, including the use of hotels, by the end of this Parliament.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 16 May 2025 to Question 52848 on Offenders: Foreign Nationals, what steps her Department is taking to support the police when immigrants who have arrived in the UK illegally are housed in communities, in the context of the absence of data on those people being electronically monitored by nationality.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office communicates regularly with local police forces, and with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, to assess the operational implications of housing asylum seekers in different areas and regions around the country, and will always do what is necessary to protect the safety and security of each local community affected.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether (a) current and (b) former (i) civil servants and (ii) politicians will be required to give evidence to the grooming gangs inquiry; what steps her Department is taking to ensure accountability of public officials involved in the handling of grooming gang cases; and whether public officials found to have engaged in wrongdoing will be liable to prosecution.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The National Inquiry will utilise existing legislation in the Inquiries Act 2005 to appoint an independent chair who will determine the conduct and procedure of the inquiry. We will announce further details on the inquiry, including the appointment of an independent chair, in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many reports of fraud involving impersonation of government agencies targeting pensioners have been recorded in each of the last five years by region.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office collects data on the number of fraud and computer misuse cases reported to Action Fraud that have been recorded as crimes by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB). Information on the victims of these cases is not held.

Action Fraud reports of fraud and computer misuse offences are published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) quarterly in the Crime in England and Wales tables, which can be found at this link: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/crimeinenglandandwalesappendixtables

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle the reported increase in modern slavery cases within the care sector since that sector’s inclusion on the Shortage Occupation List.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Government is continually looking to improve the quality and provision of modern slavery statistics.

We have recently improved and simplified the First Responders form used to refer people to the NRM, following extensive feedback from over 450 stakeholders. These changes will have a direct and positive impact on the accuracy of data collection, as well as improve the quality of referrals.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to improve the accuracy of data collection on modern slavery cases.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Government is continually looking to improve the quality and provision of modern slavery statistics.

We have recently improved and simplified the First Responders form used to refer people to the NRM, following extensive feedback from over 450 stakeholders. These changes will have a direct and positive impact on the accuracy of data collection, as well as improve the quality of referrals.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of vehicles under the jurisdiction of her Department coming to their end of life; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of making those vehicles available to the Ukrainian military.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 11 June to Question 56574.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding has been allocated to community safety initiatives in Lincolnshire in the last three years.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

As the locally elected representative for policing in their area, it is for Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to decide on the allocation of funding to community safety initiatives, based on the priorities set out in their Police and Crime Plans.

Lincolnshire Police will receive up to £174.5 million in 2025-26, an increase of up to £10.3 million when compared to the 2024-25 funding settlement. This equates to a 6.2% cash increase and 3.8% real terms increase in funding.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions her Department has had with licence holders on reporting the number of animals bred for scientific purposes and not used in procedures at their establishment.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office is presently reviewing the collection and publication of additional statistics on animals that were bred but not used in scientific procedures. This position has been communicated to all stakeholder groups, including the life science sector.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of religious institutions in the UK receive funding from foreign governments or entities, broken down by (a) religion and (b) source of funding.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)

Obtaining the specific information requested would involve collating and verifying information from multiple systems owned by multiple teams across various Government departments and, therefore, could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment the security services have made of the level of economic espionage by the Chinese Government in the UK.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)

As a matter of long-standing policy, we do not comment on the detail of security and intelligence matters. However, we continuously assess potential threats to the UK and, where necessary, deploy the full range of tools available to mitigate them.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 16 June 2025 to Question 59099 on Animal Experiments, when she expects the review to conclude.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)

We intend for a position to be publicised later in 2025.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2025 to Question 53973 on Defending Democracy Taskforce, if she will provide a copy of the Defending Democracy Taskforce's assessment of transnational repression to the Planning Inspector considering the planning application for the proposed site for the new Chinese embassy.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)

The planning application has been called in by the Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and she will make this quasi-judicial decision independent from the rest of Government.

The Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary submitted written representations to the planning inspector on 14 January 2025. That letter is clear that the Home Office has considered the breadth of national security issues and where necessary, relevant agencies and departments have been consulted on the national security implications of the application.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reduce the waiting period before an asylum seeker with an outstanding asylum claim can access jobs on the Shortage Occupation List or the Immigration Salary List to six months.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office’s priority remains to ensure that employers and employees who play by the rules are not undercut by people working illegally, or by unscrupulous employers exploiting their labour.

We have repeatedly resisted calls to relax our policy position on asylum seeker permission to work. Allowing asylum seekers the right to work sooner than under the current rules could enable migrants to bypass established work visa routes, and may act as an incentive for people to travel here illegally via dangerous routes. Asylum seekers do not need to make dangerous journeys to seek employment in the UK. There are various legal routes for those seeking to work in the UK under the Points Based System.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle hate crime against LGBTQ+ people.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

There is no excuse for violence or abuse driven by hatred and discrimination, and we support the police in taking strong action against those crimes.

We have a robust legislative framework in place to respond to hate crimes, including those which target sexual orientation and transgender identity.

The Government is carefully considering our next steps to tackle the full range of hate crime offences, and we have committed to ensuring parity of protection under aggravated offences.

The Government funds an online hate crime reporting portal called True Vision, designed so victims of all types of hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report. We are also continuing to fund the National Online Hate Crime Hub which supports individual local police forces in dealing specifically with online hate crime.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending British National (Overseas) nationality status to BN(O) visa holders' dependents residing in the United Kingdom.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

Registration for British National (Overseas) status closed on 1 July 1997 and no new applications can now be made. BN(O) visa holders’ dependants who are on the BN(O) route in the UK may apply for British citizenship after 5 years’ qualifying residence, and being free from immigration time restrictions for a further year.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the level of financial support available to irregular migrants will change following the ending of the use of hotels in 2029.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration and asylum system under regular review, in consultation with a wide range of experts and stakeholders.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to purchase (a) tower blocks and (b) former student accommodation to house asylum seekers in Northern Ireland.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

Only individuals claiming asylum in Northern Ireland are accommodated there, and as such there are no plans to acquire additional dispersal accommodation to house a wider cohort of UK asylum seekers there. The Home Office continues to work with a range of stakeholders and consider a range of options to fulfil its statutory obligations, and deliver our commitment to reduce the overall cost of asylum accommodation, including ending the use of hotels by the end of this Parliament.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what powers local authorities have to object to the housing of asylum seekers in (a) hostel and hotels and (b) private rented sector accommodation in their locality.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Asylum Accommodation Services Contracts set out a number of principles in relation to working with Local Authorities, and other stakeholders including consultation and liaison regarding the location of accommodation and other issues, ranging from security controls to the impact on local amenities.

It is through this consultation and liaison that local authorities may raise any objection to specific properties being used as asylum accommodation, including on behalf of the local people they represent.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, where she plans to relocate irregular migrants living in hotels to end the use of asylum hotels by 2029.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office continues to work with a range of stakeholders and consider a range of options to fulfil its statutory obligations, and deliver our commitment to reduce the overall cost of asylum accommodation, including ending the use of hotels by the end of this Parliament.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers who have previously reached a another safe country before arriving in the UK have had their applications (a) approved and (b) rejected in each year since 2015.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Available data on third country refusals, where the claimant is believed to have reached a safe third country prior to claiming in the UK, is published in table Asy_D02 of the asylum detailed datasets. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relate to the year ending March 2025.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many attempted applications have been made for the British National (Overseas) visa pathway by people born before 1997 and who have at least one parent with BNO status since 2021.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) route reflects the historic and moral commitment to those people of Hong Kong who chose to retain their ties to the UK by taking up BN(O) status. It has enabled thousands of eligible Hong Kongers and their family members to come to the UK to live, study and work on a pathway to citizenship. The Home Office does not hold data on the number of applications to the BN(O) route from individuals born before 1997 who have at least one parent holding BN(O) status, as this specific information is not collected or recorded on Home Office systems.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help disrupt county lines operations in Lincolnshire.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

To deliver our pledge to halve knife crime in the next decade, it is crucial that we tackle the drug gangs that run county lines through violence and exploitation. That is why we are investing £42m this financial year (25/26) in the County Lines Programme, to target exploitative drug dealing gangs whilst breaking the organised crime groups behind this trade.

Between July 2024 and March 2025, law enforcement activity through the County Lines Programme taskforces has resulted in more than 1,200 deal lines closed, 2,000 arrests (including the arrest and subsequent charge of over 800 deal line holders) and 2,100 safeguarding referrals of children and vulnerable people. Over 320 children and young people also received dedicated specialist support through the County Lines Programme support service in that time.

While the the majority of lines originate from the areas covered by the Metropolitan Police Service, West Midlands Police, Merseyside Police, and Greater Manchester Police, county lines is a national issue which affects all forces. That is why, through the Home Office-funded County Lines Programme, we fund the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response. The County Lines Programme taskforces regularly conduct joint operations with other forces, and we have established a dedicated fund which provides local forces with additional funding to tackle county lines, including Lincolnshire Police.

The National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC) also regularly coordinates weeks of intensive action against county lines gangs, which all police forces take part in. The most recent of these took place 25 November to 1 December 2024. During this period, law enforcement activity delivered by Lincolnshire Police resulted in 18 individual arrests, and £10,000 in cash and £33,000 worth of drugs being seized.

As committed to in the Government’s manifesto, we have introduced a new offence of child criminal exploitation in the Crime and Policing Bill to go after the gangs who are luring children into violent crime. We are also introducing a new criminal offence of ‘coerced internal concealment’ as an amendment to the Bill, which will crack down on the dangerous practice of anyone, including gang leaders, who forces people to hide items inside their bodies to avoid detection often as part of horrendous and exploitative drugs trade.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria were used to determine the re-imposition of visit visa requirements for Colombia; and what determination he made using those criteria for other Latin American countries.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

Full details were provided in the explanatory memorandum accompanying the changes to the Immigration Rules: Explanatory Memorandum to the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules Presented to Parliament on 26 November 2024.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what evidence they have on the incidence of sham marriages in the United Kingdom.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government takes abuse of the spouse and partner immigration routes very seriously and is clear that family migration must be based on a genuine and subsisting marriage or relationship. The marriage referral and investigation scheme (the Scheme), introduced across the UK under the Immigration Act 2014, requires that all proposed marriages and civil partnerships where one or both parties could gain an immigration advantage from it are referred to the Home Office.

Under the Scheme, where we have reasonable grounds to suspect a sham relationship, the marriage notice period will be extended to allow for further investigation, and for enforcement or casework action to be taken where appropriate.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many hotels her Department has purchased for the temporary accommodation of asylum seekers since January 2025.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

None.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to revise the shortage occupation list to include key removals and storage industry roles to address skills shortages in the sector.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Immigration White paper, published 12 May, set out proposed reforms in a number of areas, including to the shortage occupation list, further details of which will be set out in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that decisions made using AI in law enforcement can be (a) explained, (b) reviewed, and (c) challenged.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

It is for operationally independent Chief Constables to decide when and how they use AI-enabled or algorithmic tooling.

However, the adoption of these technologies by law enforcement must be lawful, transparent, ethical and underpinned by robust data and governance arrangements. These principles are set out in the ‘Covenant for Using AI in Policing’ which all Chief Constables have signed.

The Home Office is working closely with the AI portfolio of the National Police Chief’s Council and the Police Chief Scientific Advisor to ensure policing has the resources and support it needs to abide by these principles consistently. This includes working with a range of academics from leading universities on a ‘responsible AI checklist’ and producing a detailed ‘AI playbook for policing’, akin to those produced for government departments.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to tackle (a) anti-social behaviour and (b) shoplifting in Wythall.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

Tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB) and the harm it causes is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.

The Government’s Plan for Change details our commitment to reduce ASB, including delivery of a dedicated lead officer in every police force in England and Wales working with communities to develop a local ASB action plan. We are also delivering on our commitment to restore and strengthen neighbourhood policing, ensuring thousands of additional police officers and police community support officers are out patrolling in our town centres and communities to make the streets safer.

Through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are strengthening the powers available to the police and other relevant agencies to tackle ASB, including introducing new Respect Orders to tackle persistent adult ASB offenders, and extending the maximum exclusion period for dispersal directions from 48 to 72 hours. Other measures in the Bill include enhancing the powers for the police to seize nuisance off-road bikes, and other vehicles which are being used in an anti-social manner, without having to first give a warning to the offender.

In the same bill, we are repealing the legislation which makes shop theft of and below £200 a summary-only offence, which means it can only be tried in a magistrate’s court, sending a clear message that any level of shop theft is illegal and will be taken seriously. In addition, we have brought a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.

The Home Office is also providing £66.3 million funding in 2025-26 to forces in England and Wales to deliver high visibility patrols in the areas worst affected by knife crime, serious violence, and anti-social behaviour. West Mercia police will receive £1,000,000 of this funding.

We will continue to crack down on the organised gangs targeting retailers. We will provide £5 million over the next three years to continue to fund Opal, the National Policing Intelligence Unit for serious organised acquisitive crime.

We will also invest £2 million over the next three years in the police-led National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) which provides a resource for both police and businesses to learn, share and support each other to prevent and combat crime.

I am committed to chairing the Retail Crime Forum which brings together the retail sector, security providers and law enforcement agencies to ensure we understand the needs of all retailers and to promote collaboration, share best practice and to work collectively to tackle the serious issue of retail crime. This includes the development of a new strategy to tackle shop theft published by policing, retail sector representatives and industry as part of collective efforts to combat shop theft. The strategy builds on previous progress made by police and retailers but provides a more comprehensive and intelligence-led approach to tackle all perpetrators of shop theft – not just organised criminal gangs.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department’s report entitled Understanding asylum seeker and refugee vulnerabilities and needs, published on 22 May 2025, what was the methodology for the vulnerability identification framework: and how (a) gender and (b) sexual orientation fit this framework.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The report in question was produced under the previous government in 2022. Sections 2 and 3 of the report detail at length the methodologies and definitions underpinning the research.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish a hate crime action plan.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

There is no excuse for violence or abuse driven by hatred and discrimination and we support the police in taking the strongest action against the perpetrators of these appalling offences.

This Government is carefully considering how best to strengthen the response to hate crime going forward so we can tackle this offending head on.

The Government funds an online hate crime reporting portal called True Vision, designed so victims of all types of hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report. We are also continuing to fund the National Online Hate Crime Hub which supports individual local police forces in dealing specifically with online hate crime.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to (a) enforce and (b) monitor the application of legislation on the rights of migrants to (i) rent and (ii) otherwise reside in Northern Ireland.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The Right to Rent Scheme (the Scheme) requires landlords and letting agents to check that prospective adult tenants have the relevant permission to access the private rental sector. The Scheme is in force in England only and has not been rolled out to the devolved nations and therefore does not apply to Northern Ireland. The Home Office continues to keep the Scheme’s operation under review.

Immigration Enforcement teams are active in Northern Ireland as they are in the rest of the UK. As part of our Plan for Change, this government is cracking down on criminal industry at every level, including stepping up our visits to businesses where illegal working is taking place, and increasing our enforcement action both against illegal workers and the people who employ them in Northern Ireland.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to continue the Talent Catalogue beyond the Displaced Talent Mobility Pilot.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The Home Office’s Displaced Talent Mobility Pilot ended on 1 November 2024. The Talent Catalogue used during the pilot was wholly owned and operated by Talent Beyond Boundaries, the non-profit organisation who were the delivery partner for the pilot.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Operation Gull is continuing to operate in Northern Ireland.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

Operation Gull is informed by intelligence and is carried out in keeping with this principle.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to maintain the five year qualifying period for current indefinite leave to remain visa holders in (a) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency and (b) Hertfordshire.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year and further details on the proposed scheme will be provided at that time.

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 the proposed increase to the standard qualifying period for settlement on (a) higher education and (b) research.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

A technical annex has been published alongside the White Paper. It can be found at the following link: Restoring control over the immigration system: white paper - GOV.UK.

We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year and further details on the proposed scheme will be provided at that time. An impact assessment will be developed alongside any finalised policy.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the White Paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system, published on 12 May 2025, what her planned timeline is for bringing the proposals into effect.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

Further details of all the measures announced in the White Paper will be set out in due course, and where necessary, subject to consultation.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals relating to police use of (a) AI and (b) machine learning technology.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

It is for operationally independent Chief Constables to decide when and how they deploy AI systems. They are accountable to elected Police and Crime Commissioners.

AI deployment must be lawful, transparent, ethical and underpinned by robust data and governance arrangements. These principles are set out in the ‘Covenant for Using AI in Policing’ which all Chief Constables have signed. The Home Office is working closely with the AI portfolio of the National Police Chief’s Council and the Police Chief Scientific Advisor to ensure policing has the resources and support it needs to abide by these principles consistently. This includes working with a range of academics from leading universities on a ‘responsible AI checklist’ and producing a detailed ‘AI playbook for policing’, akin to those produced for other government departments.

AI-enabled technologies like facial recognition are valuable tools in modern policing, helping the police to quickly identify suspects and keep our communities safe. While existing laws provide a framework for its use, we recognise the need for clarity and are engaging closely with stakeholders to ensure facial recognition operates on a firm legal footing. We will set out our plans in the coming months alongside a broader package of reforms in our forthcoming White Paper on policing.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) safeguards and (b) oversight her Department has in place to monitor the deployment of AI systems by police forces.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

It is for operationally independent Chief Constables to decide when and how they deploy AI systems. They are accountable to elected Police and Crime Commissioners.

AI deployment must be lawful, transparent, ethical and underpinned by robust data and governance arrangements. These principles are set out in the ‘Covenant for Using AI in Policing’ which all Chief Constables have signed. The Home Office is working closely with the AI portfolio of the National Police Chief’s Council and the Police Chief Scientific Advisor to ensure policing has the resources and support it needs to abide by these principles consistently. This includes working with a range of academics from leading universities on a ‘responsible AI checklist’ and producing a detailed ‘AI playbook for policing’, akin to those produced for other government departments.

AI-enabled technologies like facial recognition are valuable tools in modern policing, helping the police to quickly identify suspects and keep our communities safe. While existing laws provide a framework for its use, we recognise the need for clarity and are engaging closely with stakeholders to ensure facial recognition operates on a firm legal footing. We will set out our plans in the coming months alongside a broader package of reforms in our forthcoming White Paper on policing.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with Palantir on the use of its technology by law enforcement.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

It is for operationally independent Chief Constables to decide when and how they deploy AI systems. They are accountable to elected Police and Crime Commissioners.

AI deployment must be lawful, transparent, ethical and underpinned by robust data and governance arrangements. These principles are set out in the ‘Covenant for Using AI in Policing’ which all Chief Constables have signed. The Home Office is working closely with the AI portfolio of the National Police Chief’s Council and the Police Chief Scientific Advisor to ensure policing has the resources and support it needs to abide by these principles consistently. This includes working with a range of academics from leading universities on a ‘responsible AI checklist’ and producing a detailed ‘AI playbook for policing’, akin to those produced for other government departments.

AI-enabled technologies like facial recognition are valuable tools in modern policing, helping the police to quickly identify suspects and keep our communities safe. While existing laws provide a framework for its use, we recognise the need for clarity and are engaging closely with stakeholders to ensure facial recognition operates on a firm legal footing. We will set out our plans in the coming months alongside a broader package of reforms in our forthcoming White Paper on policing.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the deployment of AI systems will be decided by individual police forces.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

It is for operationally independent Chief Constables to decide when and how they deploy AI systems. They are accountable to elected Police and Crime Commissioners.

AI deployment must be lawful, transparent, ethical and underpinned by robust data and governance arrangements. These principles are set out in the ‘Covenant for Using AI in Policing’ which all Chief Constables have signed. The Home Office is working closely with the AI portfolio of the National Police Chief’s Council and the Police Chief Scientific Advisor to ensure policing has the resources and support it needs to abide by these principles consistently. This includes working with a range of academics from leading universities on a ‘responsible AI checklist’ and producing a detailed ‘AI playbook for policing’, akin to those produced for other government departments.

AI-enabled technologies like facial recognition are valuable tools in modern policing, helping the police to quickly identify suspects and keep our communities safe. While existing laws provide a framework for its use, we recognise the need for clarity and are engaging closely with stakeholders to ensure facial recognition operates on a firm legal footing. We will set out our plans in the coming months alongside a broader package of reforms in our forthcoming White Paper on policing.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visas have been issued to Ukrainian children seeking medical evacuation to the UK since February 2022.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The requested information is not held by the Home Office. However, a range of data on Ukraine visa applications can be found at: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK and Migration transparency data - GOV.UK.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the White Paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system, published on 12 May 2025, if she will make it her policy to include consideration of the social contribution of social care workers when determining points-based contributions to reducing the qualifying period for Indefinite Leave to Remain.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year and further details on the proposed scheme will be provided at that time.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will appoint a chair with no (a) political affiliation and (b) prior conflict to lead the grooming gang inquiry.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We will announce further details on the inquiry in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the grooming gang inquiry will link (a) police and (b) council data nationally to create map of (a) grooming gang activity and (b) institutional failure.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We will announce further details on the inquiry in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the grooming gang inquiry will examine (a) internal police complaints, (b) whistleblower evidence and (c) deleted material on grooming gang investigations.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We will announce further details on the inquiry in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a review of police conduct in relation to the treatment of grooming gang survivors.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

On Monday 16 June 2025 the Home Secretary set out the Government’s response to Baroness Casey’s audit on grooming gangs, which includes the Government’s commitment to establish a national inquiry, and our support for the police in launching a new national criminal operation in.

Any evidence of police wrongdoing identified through the work of the new national operation should be fully investigated and referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) as required. The national inquiry will also direct local investigations and hold institutions to account for past failures. Further detail on the new national operation and the inquiry will be announced in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, by which date she will (a) appoint a Chair and (b) agree a Terms of Reference for the national inquiry into grooming gangs.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Further details will be announced in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Law Commission’s report entitled Hate crime laws: Final report, published on 7 December 2021, whether her Department is taking steps to implement the recommendation to extend aggravated offence provisions to include hostility based on (a) sexual orientation and (b) gender identity.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We have a robust legislative framework in place to respond to hate crimes.

The Government has committed to ensuring parity of protection for aggravated offences and will bring forward a suitable amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill at the Lords' Committee stage to give effect to that commitment.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether whistleblowers who were (a) disciplined, (b) dismissed and (c) ignored for raising concerns on grooming gangs will receive (i) an official apology and (ii) compensation.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We will announce further details on the inquiry in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the grooming gang inquiry will publish demographic breakdowns of (a) perpetrators and (b) victims by (i) race, (ii) gender, (iii) nationality and (iv) immigration status.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We will announce further details on the inquiry in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether (a) independent whistleblowers, (b) frontline professionals, (c) survivor-led organisations and (d) journalists will be formally included in the grooming gang inquiry.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We will announce further details on the inquiry in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department can compel local authorities to release safeguarding files on group-based child sexual exploitation.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We will announce further details on the inquiry in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will review the adequacy of data collection by (a) police, (b) councils and (c) government in identifying systemic abuse.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We will announce further details on the inquiry in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the grooming gang inquiry will release historic exploitation data back to the 1960s on a rolling basis.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We will announce further details on the inquiry in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will commit to implementing all recommendations from the grooming gang inquiry within 12 months.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We will announce further details on the inquiry in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will ensure that (a) FOI returns, (b) court transcripts, (c) internal memos, (d) inter-agency communications and (e) other evidence submitted to the grooming gang inquiry is published.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We will announce further details on the inquiry in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the grooming gang inquiry will include the role of (a) ethnicity, (b) culture and (c) religion in (i) enabling and (ii) concealing group-based child sexual exploitation.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We will announce further details on the inquiry in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) resources and (b) funding her Department will provide to the new commission into grooming gangs and child sexual exploitation.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Government will resource the national inquiry into group-based child sexual exploitation. Further details will be set out in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether there will be a limit on the number of local inquiries overseen by the new commission into grooming gangs and child exploitation.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

An independent chair will determine the conduct and procedure of the inquiry. We will announce further details on the inquiry, including the appointment of an independent chair, in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with retailers on the prevention of shoplifting.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

Shop theft continues to increase at an unacceptable level and we will not stand for it. That’s why our Crime and Policing Bill introduces a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores. Also included as part of the Bill, we will be repealing the legislation which makes shop theft of and below £200 a summary-only offence, which means it can only be tried in a magistrate’s court, sending a clear message that any level of shop theft is illegal and will be taken seriously.

Retail crime is regularly discussed with the sector at both Ministerial and official level. I am committed to chairing the Retail Crime Forum, which has held two very productive meetings to date. The Forum brings together representatives from the retail sector, security providers and law enforcement agencies to promote collaboration, share best practice and to work collectively to tackle the serious issue of retail crime.

This work includes the development of a new strategy to tackle shop theft published by retail sector representatives and policing. The strategy builds on previous progress made by police and retailers but provides a more comprehensive and intelligence-led approach to tackle all perpetrators of shop theft – not just organised criminal gangs.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) migrants and (b) asylum seekers are housed in (i) hotel accommodation and (ii) other temporary accommodation in (A) Fylde and (B) Lancashire.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

Data is published quarterly, on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including hotels, in each local authority area, at: Asylum seekers in receipt of support detailed datasets, year ending March 2025.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many hotels are being used for the housing of migrants and asylum seekers in (a) Fylde and (b) Lancashire.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

Data is published quarterly, on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including hotels, in each local authority area, at: Asylum seekers in receipt of support detailed datasets, year ending March 2025.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will increase the use of stop and search to tackle knife crime.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

Stop and search remains a fundamental tool for tackling knife crime, exercised fairly and effectively. Police officers have the power to stop and search individuals or vehicles for offensive weapons, provided they have reasonable grounds to suspect they will find the item.

In addition, where serious violence has occurred, or where intelligence suggests it may occur, a senior police officer may authorise police to stop and search any individual or vehicle for weapons, with or without reasonable suspicion. These authorisations are limited to a particular area for a specific period of time, usually no longer than 24 hours but may be extended to up to 48 hours in certain circumstances.

The operational use of these powers is a matter for individual police forces, based on local intelligence and community needs. Police powers must always be exercised fairly and effectively.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Justice on tackling anti-social car driving.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

Ministers and officials meet with their counterparts on a regular basis and discuss a wide range of topics.

Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for the Government, and a key part of the Safer Streets Mission.

On 25 February 2025, the Crime and Policing Bill was introduced to Parliament. The Bill includes proposals to give the police greater powers to clamp down on all vehicles involved in anti-social behaviour, with officers no longer required to issue a warning before seizing these vehicles.

On 28 May, the Government launched a 6-week consultation on proposals to allow the police to dispose of seized vehicles which have been used anti-socially from 14 days to 48 hours.

These measures will strengthen the law and send a clear message that antisocial car driving will not be tolerated.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who have had their asylum application rejected are still living in the UK.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes data on asylum-related returns in Ret_04 and Ret_05 of the ‘Returns summary tables’. The latest data is up to March 2025.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many victims of trafficking referred to the National Referral Mechanism received a positive conclusive grounds decision at any time, and 'temporary permission to stay for victims of human trafficking or slavery’ in 2024.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

Statistics on modern slavery are published quarterly. The table sets out the number of positive conclusive grounds decisions issued annually between 2009 and 2024 and the proportion of overall decisions that were positive.

The requested data on temporary permission to stay for victims of human trafficking or slavery is not currently available in a verified and published form.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) internal and (b) external Prevent guidance her Department has drafted on cultural nationalism; and what her Department’s definition is of cultural nationalism.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)

The current Prevent duty guidance, including reference to cultural nationalism, was last revised under the previous Government on 6 March 2024, and is available at: Prevent duty guidance: Guidance for specified authorities in England and Wales

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2025 to Question 53973 on Defending Democracy Taskforce, if she will publish the assessment on Transnational Repression in the UK.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)

Owing to the classified nature of the findings, the Transnational Repression Review will not be a publicly available document.

My Written Ministerial Statement on 14 May provides an overview of the Review’s key findings and recommendations.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Bedfordshire Police consulted her Department on appointing Palantir for a pilot scheme trialling AI technology.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government is committed to ensuring that law enforcement has the resources it needs to tackle crime effectively. AI presents an opportunity to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of policing and law enforcement – from automating back-office tasks freeing up time for officers to be on the front line and live language translation enabling better interactions with those unable to speak English, through to applications like facial recognition and CCTV analysis, helping police to catch more criminals and speed up investigations to bring offenders to justice.

Bedfordshire Police consulted the Home Office on appointing Palantir for a pilot scheme trialling AI technology, and this was agreed. While it remains the responsibility of individual police forces to comply with the ‘Covenant for Using AI in Policing’, the Home Office received assurances that Bedfordshire Police are meeting these requirements.

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 the Spending Review 2025 on funding allocated to national Violence Against Women and Girls (a) helplines and (b) charities supporting victims in 2025-26.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

In May 2025, the Home Office announced a £19.9m investment in the 2025/2026 financial year to provide vital support to victims of VAWG as well as other projects across the country that help prevent these crimes.

This includes over £6 million for national helplines supporting victims of domestic abuse, 'honour'-based abuse, revenge porn and stalking. This is in addition to £2.5m on prevention and early intervention to help stop VAWG happening in the first place, to identify what works to prevent VAWG and improve multi-agency working.

The upcoming VAWG Strategy will be published later this year and will set out the strategic direction and concrete actions to deliver on the Government’s VAWG ambition.

Found: TRUK0181 - Transnational repression in the UK Home Office Written Evidence

Found: The Committee asked the Home Office to explain whether this consultation took place. 1.3 In a memorandum

Found: We look forward to further Home Office engagement to ensure that the UK can successfully attract and

Found: the retail sector HC 355 8th Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage HC 351 7th Asylum accommodation: Home Office

Found: Dan Jarvis MBE MP Security Minister 2 Marsham Street London SW1P 4DF www.gov.uk/home-office

Found: supported by the Home Office.

Found: the retail sector HC 355 8th Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage HC 351 7th Asylum accommodation: Home Office

Found: the retail sector HC 355 8th Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage HC 351 7th Asylum accommodation: Home Office

Found: MP Minister for Migration & Citizenship 2 Marsham Street London SW1P 4DF www.gov.uk/home-office

Found: David Bolt: The Home Office would argue that that is what the legislation says.

Found: On a separate point, I did a review that showed how that is the case and why the Home Office for successive

Found: This is to either the Minister or the Secretary of State: when do you think the Home Office will be

Found: Cases may involve immigration issues requiring co-operation from the Home Office.

Found: The Home Office has a statutory duty under section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act

Found: This also, however, will have a wider economic and social impact, which out not to be ignored. 14 Home Office

Found: take measures to help individuals facing homelessness sustain tenancies, you told us that the Home Office

Found: This means that if a person making a human rights or asylum claim does not allow the Home Office to

Found: the retail sector HC 355 8th Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage HC 351 7th Asylum accommodation: Home Office

Found: 0.5% to 0.3%, and you are spending north of £2 billion a year on asylum accommodation via the Home Office

Found: the costs of which are skyrocketing and local authorities are competing with each other and the Home Office

Found: There is also how crime is recorded and the Home Office counting rules.

Found: Rather like plug and play in our home office, the combat system enables these new capabilities to be

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will have discussions with his French counterparts on recent reported violent incidents in migrant camps from where a number of attempted boat crossings to the UK have occurred.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

I am aware of worrying recent incidents in migrant camps in France and extend my sympathies to the victims. I condemn these instances of violence which are often fuelled by criminal people-smuggling gangs responsible for small boat crossings. The Foreign Secretary and I, as well as Home Office colleagues, have regular contact with our French counterparts on a range of topics, including strengthening cooperation to combat these gangs, end dangerous crossings, and save lives.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to encourage Commonwealth citizens to join the British Army.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

Commonwealth citizens have long made a valued contribution to the British Army and continue to be an important part of its structure and capability. There is always a strong interest in joining the Army. This can result in thousands of applications being received, which must be managed against the Army’s annual limit of 1,000 Basic Training starts for Commonwealth applicants and the 15% limit on the number of Commonwealth citizens who can serve in each cap badge.

In August 2024, the Army re-opened the recruitment window, accepting applications from Commonwealth citizens sponsored by Serving personnel under the Recruit Bounty Scheme. This was limited to specific roles, including Musician, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineer, Royal Engineer Technician and Tradesman, and the Parachute Regiment. This initiative generated a high volume of applications from across the Commonwealth.

The recruitment of Commonwealth citizens is subject to regular review by the Army to ensure it remains aligned with operational requirements. At present, the Commonwealth recruiting pipeline is forecast to remain closed in the medium term due to the sheer volume of applications during the 2024-25 recruitment window, which Capita continue to process.

The Ministry of Defence also works closely with the Home Office to ensure that Commonwealth personnel and their families benefit from specific immigration rules which enable them to enter, live, work and settle in the UK and become British citizens.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had the (a) Ministry of Justice, (b) Home Office, (c) ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government on improving information sharing between (i) prisons, (ii) the police, (iii) courts, (iv) social services, (v) local housing authorities and (vi) schools when a parent is sentenced to custody.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Officials at the Department for Education (DfE) and Ministry of Justice (MoJ) are working closely to deliver on the government’s manifesto commitment to identify children affected by parental imprisonment so as to ensure they get the support they need to achieve and thrive.

In April 2025 a Ministerial roundtable meeting brought together those with lived experience of parental imprisonment, expertise on local authority family support, safeguarding, prisons, housing, social work, courts and schools.

A cross-government workshop in June 2025 brought together officials from several other government departments. Officials from both the DfE and MoJ have visited local authorities, met with children and their families in the community, with parents and social workers in prisons, and participated in several focus groups.

The department will continue to engage external stakeholders with a broad range of expertise to help shape our policy to better identify and support children affected by parental imprisonment.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to introduce emergency accommodation schemes for the transition from hotel accommodation for asylum seekers that have been granted status.

Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

When newly recognised refugees leave Home Office accommodation, they are entitled to help with finding accommodation from their local authority if homeless. If in priority need, they will be provided with temporary accommodation.

The Government recognises the importance of a smooth transition out of asylum support accommodation for newly recognised refugees. Support is available to all individuals through Migrant Help and their partners. This includes providing guidance on entering the workforce, applying for Universal Credit, and connecting individuals with local authorities for housing assistance.

Since 9 December 2024, newly recognised refugees have 56 days to move on from asylum accommodation. This increases the support grace period from 28 days and is intended to support individuals and local authorities during the period of increased decision making.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to introduce further legislative measures to enhance road and pedestrian safety in relation to (a) electrically assisted pedal cycles and (b) electric scooters.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

This Government takes road safety very seriously and reducing those killed and injured on our roads is a key priority. There are already strict laws in place for e-cyclists and e-scooter users, and police have the power to prosecute if these laws are broken.

The Department is working with the Home Office on new offences intended to tackle those rare instances where a user’s behaviour is dangerous or careless, and results in the death or serious injury of another road user.

This is in addition to the new powers for the police to seize any vehicle, including e-cycles and e-scooters, being used in an anti-social manner and without first being required to give a warning.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial consequences of ending the overseas care worker visa route; and how many vacancies are likely to arise in the care sector as a result.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department considered the potential impact of the Immigration White Paper (IWP) as part of its assessment to inform the Spending Review. The Home Office made an assessment in the technical annex of the IWP that closing the route could by reduce net migration by 7,000 people per year. As a guide to scale, there were nearly one million filled posts for care workers and senior care workers in the sector in 2023/24. Therefore, while the Department does not project the number of vacancies advertised by independent providers in the adult social care (ASC) sector, any direct impact on capacity is likely to be limited. This is partly because there will be a transition period until 2028, to be kept under review, where in-country switching for those already in the United Kingdom will continue to be permitted.

The Spending Review allows for an increase of over £4 billion of funding for ASC in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26. This includes additional grant funding, growth in other sources of income available to support ASC, and an increase to the National Health Service contribution to ASC via the Better Care Fund compared to 2025/26. The Department continues to monitor ASC workforce capacity, bringing together national data sets from Skills for Care’s monthly tracking data, the Capacity Tracker tool, and intelligence from key sector partners. The Department primarily uses filled posts as the most accurate measure of ASC workforce capacity rather than the number of vacancies. As vacancies are the total number of posts advertised by the ASC sector’s independent and competing providers, they don’t reflect the number of workers required to meet ASC needs and are not necessarily a good indicator of capacity pressures.

In England, as per the Care Act (2014), it is the responsibility of local government to develop a market that delivers a wide range of sustainable high-quality care and support services, that will be available to their communities. English local authorities have responsibility under the Care Act 2014 to meet ASC needs, and statutory guidance directs them to ensure there is sufficient workforce in ASC.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions he has had with academics on the (a) development, (b) validation and (c) uptake of alternative methods to animal testing.

Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Secretary of State has had no meetings on alternative methods. However, as the Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation, Minister Vallance and officials have met with academics including at Alternative Methods to Animals in Science Strategy Roundtables and at meetings run by the Home Office. Lord Vallance has also engaged with academics developing non-animal alternatives, including the Harries lab at the University of Exeter.

The Government is committed to supporting non-animal alternatives and will publish a strategy to support their development, validation and adoption later this year.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to increase police powers to help tackle anti-social behaviour linked to drone use.

Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

There are a range of existing powers to tackle anti-social drone behaviour, this includes the police powers under the Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Act 2021 to require a person to land a drone and to carry out stop and search for certain drone-related offences; and under the Air Navigation Order 2016, it is an offence to endanger an aircraft through non-compliant drone use, punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment.

We work closely with the police and home office to keep the need for powers under review, and from 1 January 2026, Direct Remote ID requirements will come into force for some types of drones (UK1, UK2, UK3, UK5 and UK6 UAS), enabling the police to access location information during flight to support more effective enforcement and deterrence. Remote ID will also increase operator accountability by allowing the unique ID of a drone to be reported and linked to a registered individual, supporting police investigations into misuse.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to page 19 of the Government Strategy for Grants Management 2023–2025 published in September 2023, what are (1) the current total budget, (2) staffing level, and (3) key performance indicators, for the Government Grants Managed Service; and which government departments and arm’s-length bodies currently use the Government Grants Managed Service.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The current year budget is cost-neutral to the Cabinet Office. Operational costs depend upon the value of grants which go through the pilot, as resources are flexed according to demand. Customer departments and ALBs pay for the administration of these pilot grants.

There is currently a central programme team of 7 FTE, with operations staff numbers variable, according to demand.

A monitoring and evaluation approach and plan was developed in December 2023 and agreed with the Evaluation Task Force (ETF). A set of KPIs was agreed, focused on the cost to serve of grant administration in GGMS, versus departments’ usual approaches to grant and the median baseline cost. There are also KPIs related to the identification of fraud and error through the Spotlight due diligence tool.

Eight departments, arm’s-length bodies or other public bodies are participating in the pilot: the Home Office, the Department for Transport, the Department for Science, Innovation, & Technology, the Money & Pensions Service, the Department for Education, the Northern Ireland Office, UK Space Agency and UK Atomic Energy Authority.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will provide a breakdown of offences by the nationality of the serving inmate.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

Our current approach to publication of nationality data is in line with that used during the previous Conservative Government and does not include a breakdown of offences by nationality of prisoners. However, we are monitoring the data that we collect and publish on the prison population and will keep this under review.

Foreign nationals who commit crime should be in no doubt that the law will be enforced. Where appropriate, the Ministry of Justice will work with the Home Office to pursue their deportation. Since 5 July 2024, more FNOs have been returned than in the same period 12 months prior.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign-born prisoners are currently serving sentences for knife crime offences.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

Statistics of this nature do not currently form part of our published statistics. Our current approach to publication of nationality data is in line with that used during the previous Conservative Government. However, we are monitoring the data that we collect and publish on the prison population and will keep this under review.

Foreign nationals who commit crime should be in no doubt that the law will be enforced. The Ministry of Justice will work with the Home Office to pursue their deportation. Since 5 July 2024, more FNOs have been returned than in the same period 12 months prior.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of closing social care visas for carers from overseas on vacancies in the care workforce.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

As set out in the Immigration White Paper, visa extensions and in-country switching for those already in the country with working rights will be permitted for a transition period until 2028. This will be kept under review.

Care workers are essential to those who draw on care and support, helping them to maintain their quality of life, independence and connection to the things that matter to them. In England, as per the Care Act 2014, it is the responsibility of local government to develop a market that delivers a wide range of sustainable high-quality care and support services, that will be available to their communities. English local authorities have responsibility under the Care Act 2014 to meet social care needs and statutory guidance directs them to ensure there is sufficient workforce in adult social care.

The care worker route has seen unacceptable levels of abuse and exploitation, between July 2022 and December 2024 the Home Office revoked over 470 sponsor licences, impacting around 40,000 workers in the care sector. The Department of Health and Social Care is providing up to £12.5 million to regional partnerships in 2025/26 to respond to unethical international recruitment practices in the adult social care sector. This includes supporting international recruits impacted by sponsor licence revocations to find alternative employment.

In the technical annex published alongside the Immigration White Paper on 12 May 2025, the Home Office has estimated an annual reduction of approximately 7,000 main visa applicants as a result of ending overseas recruitment for care workers and senior care workers. This is based on their internal management information for entry visas granted covering the period March 2024 to February 2025. This estimate reflects that there was a drop in visa grants of more than 90% compared with the 12 months ending in March 2024. This analysis will be refined and included within the relevant Impact Assessments accompanying the rule changes, as appropriate.

The Department of Health and Social Care continues to monitor adult social care workforce capacity, bringing together national data sets from Skills for Care’s monthly tracking data, the Capacity Tracker tool and intelligence from key sector partners. The Department of Health and Social Care primarily uses filled posts as the most accurate measure of adult social care workforce capacity rather than number of vacancies. As vacancies are the total number of posts advertised by the adult social care sector’s independent and competing providers, they don’t necessarily reflect the number of workers required to meet adult social care needs. Vacancies are ultimately impacted by other factors such as providers’ ambitions to grow and are not necessarily a good indicator of capacity pressures as a result.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the discontinuation of care worker visas on care provision.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

As set out in the Immigration White Paper, visa extensions and in-country switching for those already in the country with working rights will be permitted for a transition period until 2028. This will be kept under review.

Care workers are essential to those who draw on care and support, helping them to maintain their quality of life, independence and connection to the things that matter to them. In England, as per the Care Act 2014, it is the responsibility of local government to develop a market that delivers a wide range of sustainable high-quality care and support services, that will be available to their communities. English local authorities have responsibility under the Care Act 2014 to meet social care needs and statutory guidance directs them to ensure there is sufficient workforce in adult social care.

The care worker route has seen unacceptable levels of abuse and exploitation, between July 2022 and December 2024 the Home Office revoked over 470 sponsor licences, impacting around 40,000 workers in the care sector. The Department of Health and Social Care is providing up to £12.5 million to regional partnerships in 2025/26 to respond to unethical international recruitment practices in the adult social care sector. This includes supporting international recruits impacted by sponsor licence revocations to find alternative employment.

In the technical annex published alongside the Immigration White Paper on 12 May 2025, the Home Office has estimated an annual reduction of approximately 7,000 main visa applicants as a result of ending overseas recruitment for care workers and senior care workers. This is based on their internal management information for entry visas granted covering the period March 2024 to February 2025. This estimate reflects that there was a drop in visa grants of more than 90% compared with the 12 months ending in March 2024. This analysis will be refined and included within the relevant Impact Assessments accompanying the rule changes, as appropriate.

The Department of Health and Social Care continues to monitor adult social care workforce capacity, bringing together national data sets from Skills for Care’s monthly tracking data, the Capacity Tracker tool and intelligence from key sector partners. The Department of Health and Social Care primarily uses filled posts as the most accurate measure of adult social care workforce capacity rather than number of vacancies. As vacancies are the total number of posts advertised by the adult social care sector’s independent and competing providers, they don’t necessarily reflect the number of workers required to meet adult social care needs. Vacancies are ultimately impacted by other factors such as providers’ ambitions to grow and are not necessarily a good indicator of capacity pressures as a result.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on establishing Young Futures Hubs.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Officials and Ministers from seven government departments (Department for Education, Home Office, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Work and Pensions, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and Department for Health and Social Care) have been working together, using evidence of what works, to start to shape Young Futures Hubs.

To roll-out Young Futures Hubs, building on the success of existing infrastructure and provision, the government will establish a number of early adopter hubs, the locations of which will be determined by where they will have the most impact. This will inform the longer term development of the programme, including how quickly we move to a greater number of hubs and where they may be located. The government will set out more details on timelines and locations in due course.

Young Futures Hubs are just one part of delivering support within a much wider youth landscape and they will work closely with core services and wider initiatives spanning youth, education, employment, social care, mental health, youth justice and policing. The government is developing a National Youth Strategy to set out a new long term vision for young people and an action plan for delivering this.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions is she having with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on (a) the consultation on a new National Youth Strategy and (b) the implications of the strategy for Young Futures Hubs.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Officials and Ministers from seven government departments (Department for Education, Home Office, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Work and Pensions, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and Department for Health and Social Care) have been working together, using evidence of what works, to start to shape Young Futures Hubs.

To roll-out Young Futures Hubs, building on the success of existing infrastructure and provision, the government will establish a number of early adopter hubs, the locations of which will be determined by where they will have the most impact. This will inform the longer term development of the programme, including how quickly we move to a greater number of hubs and where they may be located. The government will set out more details on timelines and locations in due course.

Young Futures Hubs are just one part of delivering support within a much wider youth landscape and they will work closely with core services and wider initiatives spanning youth, education, employment, social care, mental health, youth justice and policing. The government is developing a National Youth Strategy to set out a new long term vision for young people and an action plan for delivering this.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to identify early adopter areas for Young Future Hubs; and what her planned timetable is for launching these.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Officials and Ministers from seven government departments (Department for Education, Home Office, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Work and Pensions, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and Department for Health and Social Care) have been working together, using evidence of what works, to start to shape Young Futures Hubs.

To roll-out Young Futures Hubs, building on the success of existing infrastructure and provision, the government will establish a number of early adopter hubs, the locations of which will be determined by where they will have the most impact. This will inform the longer term development of the programme, including how quickly we move to a greater number of hubs and where they may be located. The government will set out more details on timelines and locations in due course.

Young Futures Hubs are just one part of delivering support within a much wider youth landscape and they will work closely with core services and wider initiatives spanning youth, education, employment, social care, mental health, youth justice and policing. The government is developing a National Youth Strategy to set out a new long term vision for young people and an action plan for delivering this.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she is having with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the role of Young Futures Hubs in the prevention of serious youth violence.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Officials and Ministers from seven government departments (Department for Education, Home Office, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Work and Pensions, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and Department for Health and Social Care) have been working together, using evidence of what works, to start to shape Young Futures Hubs.

To roll-out Young Futures Hubs, building on the success of existing infrastructure and provision, the government will establish a number of early adopter hubs, the locations of which will be determined by where they will have the most impact. This will inform the longer term development of the programme, including how quickly we move to a greater number of hubs and where they may be located. The government will set out more details on timelines and locations in due course.

Young Futures Hubs are just one part of delivering support within a much wider youth landscape and they will work closely with core services and wider initiatives spanning youth, education, employment, social care, mental health, youth justice and policing. The government is developing a National Youth Strategy to set out a new long term vision for young people and an action plan for delivering this.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Home Affairs on protecting (a) elderly and (b) vulnerable people against AI scams using deepfake content; and what steps he is taking to tackle such scams.

Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

DSIT regularly engages with Home Office on ongoing efforts to protect users from online harms, including AI-generated scams. AI generated content is regulated by the Online Safety Act where it is shared on an in-scope service and constitutes either illegal content or content which is harmful to children.

In March this year the Act’s illegal harms duties came into force, with fraud captured as a priority offence. User-to-user services must take preventative measures to stop fraudulent content from appearing and swiftly remove it where it does. Search services must minimise fraudulent content from appearing in results. This includes AI generated deepfake scams.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will review Indefinite Leave to Remain visa fees for family members of non-UK armed forces personnel.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

This Government is committed to removing visa fees for non-UK veterans who have served our country for four or more years, and their dependents. The Ministry of Defence is actively working with the Home Office to take this forward.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to help tackle the use of catapults to maim (a) animals and (b) wildlife in Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protects all wild birds and some wild animals in England and Wales. While the Act does not specifically include catapults in the list of weapons that a person must not use to kill wildlife, it is still illegal under this Act to deliberately attempt to kill, injure, or harm protected species. There are a range of other offences found in further legislation to protect animals from cruelty such as the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 and the Animal Welfare Act 2006. Significant sanctions are available to judges to hand down to those convicted of crimes under these Acts. Aside from legislation, a national police-led group named Operation Lakeshot is working in partnership with organisations including the RSPCA and Nature Watch to address the catapulting of wildlife, focusing on education, prevention, detection and justice.

The Government takes crimes against animals seriously but there is already sufficient legislation in place which protects them from targeted use of catapults. Defra therefore has no current plans to take further steps to tackle the use of catapults and nor does the Home Office have any plans to change the law to make a catapult a specified prohibited weapon.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of further integrating artificial intelligence into the civil service, following the recent Government-led trial of artificial intelligence software.

Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

As referenced in the GDS Digital Government Blueprint, AI Opportunities Action Plan, and more recently, the Spending Review, integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the civil service is a core priority of this government, with the goal of delivering a lean and agile state, where expenditure is focussed towards services on which the public rely.

The model for delivering AI into the civil service includes both central focus from GDS, and also dispersed expertise within departments who understand the complex landscape of public service delivery. Tools are also being trialled across GDS, as well as within departments such as MHCLG, Home Office, HMRC, DHSC and MoJ. Many of these trials are underpinned by technology and tools created by the government's incubator for Artificial Intelligence (i.AI).

Found: review of the legislation.197 Stephanie Peacock said the 1985 act was the responsibility of the Home Office

Found: order to put the higher education sector on a more secure financial footing.110 In May 2025, the Home Office

Found: The bill is accompanied by explanatory notes (PDF), prepared by the Home Office with the consent of

Many care worker dependents are childless due to personal, financial, or health reasons. Recent visa changes now threaten to separate families who arrived before the rules changed.

Found: We urge the Parliament to direct the Home Office to grant visas to childless care worker dependents.

Found: review of the legislation.197 Stephanie Peacock said the 1985 act was the responsibility of the Home Office

Found: current purposes Net resources authorised for capital purposes Net Cash Requirement (£) (£) (£) Home Office

Found: Construction Industry Training Board and the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board.15 Home Office

Found: cases, there have been 176 cases over the past 15 years with a known outcome. 200 Home Office

Found: [22] Ministry of Justice (2018) Female Offender Strategy ; Home Office (2007) The Corston Report

Found: capacity, resourcing to improve care prior to transfer and improved communication between HMPPS, the Home Office

Found: Fear of Engagement Due to Surveillance and Deportation Risks: Data-sharing between the NHS and the Home Office

Found: The other government departments with the largest shares of ODA expenditure are: • the Home Office,

Found: for Education 26.4 243 Immigration Advice Authority2 NDPB supporting a statutory office holder Home Office

Found: The Home Office was aware that if it sets visa fees too high, it can discourage people from applying

ClimateTech APPG
Thursday 26th June 2025

Found: deploy heat pumps and DAC ○ Incentives for ‘rural growth zones’ around wastewater ○ Home Office

Aid Match APPG
Monday 23rd June 2025

Found: budget on aid matching policies in contrast to a circa 30% of ODA here in the UK through the Home Office

Found: , from FCDO, Department for Business and Trade (DBT), Department for Education (DfE), and the Home Office

Found: UK Train Standard 375.40 161.86 N/A 537.26 Richard Vince 2025-02-24 2025-02-26 Shadowing in the Home Office

Found: govuk-table__cell">2025-02-26

Found: Transport Department for Transport 03/01/2025 Support Services DG Aviation, Maritime & Security Group HOME OFFICE

Found: cell">DG Aviation Maritime & Security Group

Found: cell">DG Aviation Maritime & Security Group

Found: Transport Department for Transport 04/02/2025 Support Services DG Aviation, Maritime & Security Group HOME OFFICE

Found: Requirements: CAPEX Costs (£) Start of Procurement End of Procurement  Notes Border Force Maritime Home Office

Found: The most recent version of the Home Office landlord’s guide to right to rent checks was published on

Found: The most recent version of the Home Office employer’s guide to right to work checks was published on

Found: Stopping criminal activity at UK borders Source: Border Force: Transparency Data Q1 2025; Home Office

Found: Zero (DESNZ) for six weeks, having previously worked for the Department for Transport and the Home Office

Found: log into SMS, change your password, manage SMS users and view important messages posted by the Home Office

Found: The most recent version of the Home Office landlord’s guide to right to rent checks was published on

Found: The most recent version of the Home Office employer’s guide to right to work checks was published on

Found: Further information about immigration issues can be obtained from the Home Office.

Found: We will verify your details with the Home Office to confirm your identity, nationality, and residency

Found: Settlement Scheme ‘Settled status’ means that you can live in the UK permanently without the Home Office

Found: We will verify your details with the Home Office to confirm your identity, nationality, and residency

Found: The packed agenda addressed the most pressing challenges, including direct updates from the Home Office

Found: The Home Office encourages agencies to invest ARIS funds to drive up performance on asset recovery or

Found: 4,600 Project Servator deployments were completed as well as continued partnership working with Home Office

Found: The basis for selection of the principal offence is laid down in rules issued by the Home Office; the

Found: The basis for selection of the principal offence is laid down in rules issued by the Home Office and

Found: This will be enhanced by the UK Home Office-led Emergency Services Mobile Communication Programme (ESMCP

Found: I had a meeting with the Home Office Bill team today where they highlighted an SNP reasoned amendment

Found: Delivery of this proposal would require agreement from Home Office Ministers. 5.

Found: relate to sensitive issues such as such as specific immigration cases and decisions made by the Home Office

Found: application of the Barnett formula. 22 For example, reductions to Department for Transport and Home Office

Found: subject to statutory inspection, in receipt of public funding, and under the direction of the Home Office

Found: The Home Office classifies the following as the main forms of criminal exploitation: forced gang related

Found: The Home Office and Police Scotland have both described ASWs as the most significant enabler of commercial

Found: pressure on public services.” 1 The personal and societal costs of VAW are alarmingly high.9 Home Office

Found: 2.304 Main Estimates 2025-26 National Insurance Contributions Health & Social Care Education Home Office