Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's proposed timetable is for responding to the A Fairer Pathway to Settlement consultation.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The consultation for the earned settlement model, as proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, was open to the public between 20 November 2025 and 12 February 2026. Working at pace, the contributions will now be analysed, and the findings will support the development of the final model. The public will be informed when a response is produced.

Economic and equality impact assessments will be conducted on the final model and published in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which nationalities are included in the Enhanced Voluntary Returns offer pilot.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

This pilot is about fairness and control. The scheme is designed to get families out of costly hotels faster, remove incentives to delay, and save taxpayers money. We will see if it works and scale if it does.

We expect people to take the offer and leave the country voluntarily but, where they do not, Immigration Enforcement will seek to enforce their departure

The offer is directed at failed asylum seeker families with no right to stay, who are currently being housed at public expense. It is not targeted at particular nationalities.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on which date will the Enhanced Voluntary Returns offer pilot end.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

This pilot is about fairness and control. The scheme is designed to get families out of costly hotels faster, remove incentives to delay, and save taxpayers money. We will see if it works and scale if it does.

We expect people to take the offer and leave the country voluntarily but, where they do not, Immigration Enforcement will seek to enforce their departure

The offer is directed at failed asylum seeker families with no right to stay, who are currently being housed at public expense. It is not targeted at particular nationalities.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of trends in cyber-enabled fraud in the last three years.

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

Using the latest data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, the survey estimates that 42% of fraud was cyber enabled in the year ending March 2023, rising to 48% in the year ending March 2024. However, this is likely to be an underestimate. The survey relies on victims self identifying whether the fraud they experienced involved any online or cyber element, and many victims may be unaware of how the offence was committed.

To tackle the levels of fraud in the UK, the Government launched a new Fraud Strategy on 9^th March which will focus on disrupting fraud before it reaches a target, safeguarding individuals and businesses by building resilience and responding with victim support and justice.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to paragraph 88 of the policy paper entitled UK Government Resilience Action Plan, published on 14 July 2025, how many meetings have been attended by civil servants within their Department in relation to the Home Defence Programme; which directorate in the Department owns the Departmental contribution to the Home Defence Programme; and what the job title is of the civil servant leading and cohering the Departmental contribution to the Home Defence Programme.

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

The Resilience Action Plan sets out the Government’s strategic approach to how we will strengthen our domestic resilience and invest to protect the nation. Home Office officials regularly attend meetings to discuss the implementation of the Resilience Action Plan as well as matters of national security and defence.

The Home Office is actively contributing to this work, with a range of directorates across the department engaging in matters related to defence and security, including in Homeland Security Group and Public Safety Group.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of conflicts between protesters in Manchester following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, including reports of men on horseback wearing armbands and threatening individuals.

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

This government upholds the democratic right that people must be free to peacefully express their views, but they must do so within the bounds of the law.

Where the activity of protestors breaks the law, the police have the government’s backing to use their powers to respond.

It would not be appropriate for Ministers to intervene in those operational decisions, but we continue to work closely with policing to ensure they have the right capabilities and support in place to keep the public safe and uphold the law.

The Home Secretary launched an independent review of public order and hate crime legislation on 5 October 2025 led by Lord Ken Macdonald of River Glaven KC. The review will ensure police powers remain fit for purpose, are used consistently, and strike the right balance between protecting the public and upholding the right to lawful protest.  It is expected to report in the spring.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact from the recently-announced package of changes to the Immigration Rules (1) on refugee children who have grown up in the UK, (2) on refugees who have already faced prolonged separation from their families, and (3) for the integration of refugees.

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

Those who claimed asylum or made further submissions before 2 March 2026, and who are eligible for protection, will receive 5 years’ permission to stay in accordance with the transitional arrangements included in the Immigration Rules laid on 5 March 2026.

Refugees approaching the end of their 5 years’ permission remain eligible to apply under Appendix Settlement Protection.

The family reunion route was suspended to ease the pressures that local authorities and public services have been placed under due to the recent significant increase in people arriving under this route in recent years. Other family routes remain available including Appendix FM, and cases lodged before the suspension continue to be considered on a case-by-case basis. During the suspension, we are undertaking a review of the route, along with the wider family rules, to place the system on a more sustainable footing. Further information about forthcoming changes will follow in due course

The Home Office maintains regular engagement with a wide range of stakeholders on asylum and immigration matters, including providing updates on policy developments. As with any change, we recognise that there may be impacts arising from the package of reforms on organisations supporting asylum seekers and refugees.  We will maintain our regular engagement and on-going work with, for example, local authorities, Non-Government Organisations and other stakeholders.

Children are not a homogeneous cohort, and careful consideration will be given as to how children will be impacted when policy frameworks are applied in respect of them, in line with Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). We will work with external stakeholders to shape policy development, including elements which will impact children. Whilst the changes take place the Government will continue to protect the welfare and best interests of children, including refugees

This Government is committed to supporting refugees and those granted protection in the UK to fully integrate and contribute to British economy and society, in a way that promotes community cohesion. All refugees and those granted protection in the UK should be able to fully integrate into life here and become self-sufficient, providing for themselves and their families, and contributing to the economy.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government when the temporary pause on new applications for family reunion will be lifted and new family reunion rules announced.

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

Those who claimed asylum or made further submissions before 2 March 2026, and who are eligible for protection, will receive 5 years’ permission to stay in accordance with the transitional arrangements included in the Immigration Rules laid on 5 March 2026.

Refugees approaching the end of their 5 years’ permission remain eligible to apply under Appendix Settlement Protection.

The family reunion route was suspended to ease the pressures that local authorities and public services have been placed under due to the recent significant increase in people arriving under this route in recent years. Other family routes remain available including Appendix FM, and cases lodged before the suspension continue to be considered on a case-by-case basis. During the suspension, we are undertaking a review of the route, along with the wider family rules, to place the system on a more sustainable footing. Further information about forthcoming changes will follow in due course

The Home Office maintains regular engagement with a wide range of stakeholders on asylum and immigration matters, including providing updates on policy developments. As with any change, we recognise that there may be impacts arising from the package of reforms on organisations supporting asylum seekers and refugees.  We will maintain our regular engagement and on-going work with, for example, local authorities, Non-Government Organisations and other stakeholders.

Children are not a homogeneous cohort, and careful consideration will be given as to how children will be impacted when policy frameworks are applied in respect of them, in line with Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). We will work with external stakeholders to shape policy development, including elements which will impact children. Whilst the changes take place the Government will continue to protect the welfare and best interests of children, including refugees

This Government is committed to supporting refugees and those granted protection in the UK to fully integrate and contribute to British economy and society, in a way that promotes community cohesion. All refugees and those granted protection in the UK should be able to fully integrate into life here and become self-sufficient, providing for themselves and their families, and contributing to the economy.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of her Department's measures to tackle organised crime.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government is committed to tackling SOC in all its forms in line with the priorities we have set out on crime and policing and security, including the Safer Streets mission and border security. Due to the nature of the threat from SOC requires a whole system approach in tackling it.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) plays a pivotal role in leading the operational response at the national and international level, protecting the public by targeting and pursuing criminals who pose the greatest risk to the UK. That is why as part of the recent Spending Review, the Government has increased the NCA core budget by £120m from 2025/26 to 2026/27, to ensure that the Agency is well-equipped to tackle SOC. A review of the effectiveness and efficiency of NCA by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services is underway and will be published later in the Spring.

As set out in the Government’s Police Reform White Paper, the Department will further strengthen the response to SOC and other threats by creating a National Police Service (NPS). The NPS will bring together the NCA, Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) and the national facing capabilities of ROCUs. This will create a stronger, more coherent centre, delivering real benefit to the public. It will also improve efficiency and increase productivity, saving money to reinvest in local policing.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of resources available to police forces to address antisocial behaviour in local communities.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Antisocial behaviour causes misery in towns and communities across the country, often hitting the most vulnerable hardest. Under our Plan for Change, we have committed to cracking down on anti-social behaviour, including in local communities.

The central aim of our police reforms is to protect and revitalise neighbourhood policing. We are lifting national responsibilities off local forces, so they focus on tackling local issues, like fighting anti-social behaviour.

Under the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee every police force in England and Wales now has a dedicated lead officer for anti-social behaviour, who will work with communities to develop an action plan to tackle ASB, these will be published in early April.

The 2026–27 final police funding settlement provides up to £21.0 billion for the policing system in England and Wales. This is an increase of up to £1.3 billion compared with the 2025–26 settlement, representing a 6.7% cash increase and a 4.4% real terms increase.

Total funding to police forces will be up to £18.4 billion, an increase of up to £796 million compared to the 2025-26 police funding settlement. This equates to a 4.5% cash increase and a 2.3% real terms increase in funding.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of trends in the levels of reported violent crime in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes official statistics on violent crime recorded by the police in England Wales at the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) Area level.

Figures for the CSP areas of St Albans and Dacorum can be found in Open Data Tables, available here: Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK

Given the relatively low volume of offences involving knives or sharp instruments, such statistics are only published at the Police Force Area (PFA) level and those for Hertfordshire PFA can also be found at the weblink given above.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether refugees who have already been granted status in the UK will remain on a five-year route to settlement, or whether they will be put on a 20-year route along with refugees with core protection.

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

Those who claimed asylum or made further submissions before 2 March 2026, and who are eligible for protection, will receive 5 years’ permission to stay in accordance with the transitional arrangements included in the Immigration Rules laid on 5 March 2026.

Refugees approaching the end of their 5 years’ permission remain eligible to apply under Appendix Settlement Protection.

The family reunion route was suspended to ease the pressures that local authorities and public services have been placed under due to the recent significant increase in people arriving under this route in recent years. Other family routes remain available including Appendix FM, and cases lodged before the suspension continue to be considered on a case-by-case basis. During the suspension, we are undertaking a review of the route, along with the wider family rules, to place the system on a more sustainable footing. Further information about forthcoming changes will follow in due course

The Home Office maintains regular engagement with a wide range of stakeholders on asylum and immigration matters, including providing updates on policy developments. As with any change, we recognise that there may be impacts arising from the package of reforms on organisations supporting asylum seekers and refugees.  We will maintain our regular engagement and on-going work with, for example, local authorities, Non-Government Organisations and other stakeholders.

Children are not a homogeneous cohort, and careful consideration will be given as to how children will be impacted when policy frameworks are applied in respect of them, in line with Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). We will work with external stakeholders to shape policy development, including elements which will impact children. Whilst the changes take place the Government will continue to protect the welfare and best interests of children, including refugees

This Government is committed to supporting refugees and those granted protection in the UK to fully integrate and contribute to British economy and society, in a way that promotes community cohesion. All refugees and those granted protection in the UK should be able to fully integrate into life here and become self-sufficient, providing for themselves and their families, and contributing to the economy.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what impact they expect the recently-announced package of changes to the Immigration Rules to have on organisations supporting refugees and asylum seekers.

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

Those who claimed asylum or made further submissions before 2 March 2026, and who are eligible for protection, will receive 5 years’ permission to stay in accordance with the transitional arrangements included in the Immigration Rules laid on 5 March 2026.

Refugees approaching the end of their 5 years’ permission remain eligible to apply under Appendix Settlement Protection.

The family reunion route was suspended to ease the pressures that local authorities and public services have been placed under due to the recent significant increase in people arriving under this route in recent years. Other family routes remain available including Appendix FM, and cases lodged before the suspension continue to be considered on a case-by-case basis. During the suspension, we are undertaking a review of the route, along with the wider family rules, to place the system on a more sustainable footing. Further information about forthcoming changes will follow in due course

The Home Office maintains regular engagement with a wide range of stakeholders on asylum and immigration matters, including providing updates on policy developments. As with any change, we recognise that there may be impacts arising from the package of reforms on organisations supporting asylum seekers and refugees.  We will maintain our regular engagement and on-going work with, for example, local authorities, Non-Government Organisations and other stakeholders.

Children are not a homogeneous cohort, and careful consideration will be given as to how children will be impacted when policy frameworks are applied in respect of them, in line with Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). We will work with external stakeholders to shape policy development, including elements which will impact children. Whilst the changes take place the Government will continue to protect the welfare and best interests of children, including refugees

This Government is committed to supporting refugees and those granted protection in the UK to fully integrate and contribute to British economy and society, in a way that promotes community cohesion. All refugees and those granted protection in the UK should be able to fully integrate into life here and become self-sufficient, providing for themselves and their families, and contributing to the economy.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to announce transitional arrangements for people awaiting the outcome of an asylum claim submitted before 2 March.

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

Those who claimed asylum or made further submissions before 2 March 2026, and who are eligible for protection, will receive 5 years’ permission to stay in accordance with the transitional arrangements included in the Immigration Rules laid on 5 March 2026.

Refugees approaching the end of their 5 years’ permission remain eligible to apply under Appendix Settlement Protection.

The family reunion route was suspended to ease the pressures that local authorities and public services have been placed under due to the recent significant increase in people arriving under this route in recent years. Other family routes remain available including Appendix FM, and cases lodged before the suspension continue to be considered on a case-by-case basis. During the suspension, we are undertaking a review of the route, along with the wider family rules, to place the system on a more sustainable footing. Further information about forthcoming changes will follow in due course

The Home Office maintains regular engagement with a wide range of stakeholders on asylum and immigration matters, including providing updates on policy developments. As with any change, we recognise that there may be impacts arising from the package of reforms on organisations supporting asylum seekers and refugees.  We will maintain our regular engagement and on-going work with, for example, local authorities, Non-Government Organisations and other stakeholders.

Children are not a homogeneous cohort, and careful consideration will be given as to how children will be impacted when policy frameworks are applied in respect of them, in line with Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). We will work with external stakeholders to shape policy development, including elements which will impact children. Whilst the changes take place the Government will continue to protect the welfare and best interests of children, including refugees

This Government is committed to supporting refugees and those granted protection in the UK to fully integrate and contribute to British economy and society, in a way that promotes community cohesion. All refugees and those granted protection in the UK should be able to fully integrate into life here and become self-sufficient, providing for themselves and their families, and contributing to the economy.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment has been made of the potential merits of expanding access to Standard DBS checks for locksmiths through additional recognised industry bodies.

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

The Government encourages consumers to use providers that operate under a regulated trusted trader scheme, such as the Master Locksmiths Association (MLA), which has a licensing scheme in place. This licensing scheme ensures locksmiths are appropriately vetted, inspected and qualified, which includes a satisfactory standard DBS check.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help support police forces in addressing rural crime.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Our police reforms will end the postcode lottery of provision by setting central targets, increasing transparency so people can see how their force is performing, and taking robust action where forces are not performing.

With our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee every neighbourhood, rural or urban, now gets a named contactable officer and a response to non-urgent queries in 72 hours.

Every rural area will be covered by a Local Policing Area under a commander responsible for emergency response, local crime investigation and neighbourhood policing. They will be set targets to ensure they answer 90% of 999 calls within 10 seconds and attend 90% of the most serious incidents within 15 minutes in urban area or 20 minutes in rural areas.

We are ensuring forces have the tools and resources they need to deal with rural crime like equipment theft and livestock rustling. We are on track to deliver an additional 3,000 neighbourhood officers by March.

We are equipping those officers with tougher measures to clamp down on equipment theft and anti-social behaviour, and to prevent farm theft and fly-tipping. We are finally implementing the Equipment Theft Act, which will make it harder to steal All-Terrain Vehicles and GPS units used in an agricultural setting and easier for the police to identify the owners when such items are recovered.

We are ensuring the police have the capability to pursue the organised criminal gangs behind some rural crime. This financial year the Home Office has provided the first Government funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (£365,000) as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (£450,000) to help them target organised crime groups stealing farm equipment and to disrupt networks exploiting endangered species in the UK and abroad.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to review the adequacy of her Department's enforcement of section 2A of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office maintains a rigorous approach to enforcing Section 2A of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, which embeds the statutory principles of replacement, reduction and refinement (the 3Rs). All applications proposing the use of animals undergo a robust assessment to ensure that non-animal alternatives have been fully explored, that any animals use is fully justified and that potential harms are minimised. Compliance with the 3Rs is actively monitored through a programme of audit and follow-up enforcement activity.

Animal Welfare and Ethical Review bodies (AWERBs) have an essential and statutory responsibility under ASPA in challenging the need for animal use and advising on the application of the 3Rs within establishments. The Home Office has commissioned the Animals in Science Committee for advice on enhancing the effectiveness and consistency of AWERBs across the system.

In November 2025, the Government published “Replacing animals in science: a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods”. This strategy commits to delivery of recommendations published in the ‘Rawle Report’, which involve strengthening Home Office processes for assuring full implementation of the 3Rs. The report is available here: The role of review and regulatory approvals processes for animal research in supporting implementation of the 3Rs

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to improve cooperation between law enforcement agencies in tackling cross-border criminal activity.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office works closely with domestic and international partners to strengthen cooperation between law enforcement agencies in tackling cross‑border criminal activity. This includes supporting UK law enforcement’s use of established international frameworks and operational channels, including the UK’s arrangements with the European Union under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, as well as cooperation through organisations such as Europol and INTERPOL.

In line with the Common Understanding agreed at the 2025 UK‑EU Summit, the Department is continuing to build on the strong existing relationship with EU partners to improve practical cooperation against international criminality. This includes improved data‑exchange and operational capabilities, such as strengthened biometrics and criminal records sharing.

The Home Office also continues to develop bilateral and multilateral agreements with international partners to further improve law enforcement and judicial cooperation, where there is a need to do so, ensuring that UK law enforcement agencies are well equipped to prevent, investigate and disrupt criminal activity that operates across borders.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made in trends in the level of reported knife offences in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes official statistics on violent crime recorded by the police in England Wales at the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) Area level.

Figures for the CSP areas of St Albans and Dacorum can be found in Open Data Tables, available here: Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK

Given the relatively low volume of offences involving knives or sharp instruments, such statistics are only published at the Police Force Area (PFA) level and those for Hertfordshire PFA can also be found at the weblink given above.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2026 to Question 104873, what additional steps her Department is taking beyond existing licensing‑authority and police powers to prevent glassware attacks; whether she is considering any new enforceable national measures; and what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of current Home Office‑led actions in reducing such incidents.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

As set out in my earlier response, the police have a responsibility to protect the public by detecting and preventing crime, including violent crime within the nighttime economy. They already have a wide range of powers to do this effectively, including those provided under the Prevention of Crime Act 1953 in relation to the possession and use of offensive weapons.

The Home Office keeps existing powers under review and would consider any new or emerging evidence as appropriate.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people aged 17 have applied to join the police in each of the last ten years.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office does not collect information on the number of individuals aged 17 years old who have applied to join the police service.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many animals were used in LD50 tests to evidence compliance with UK-only regulations in each of the last five years.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes detailed annual statistics on the use of animals in science, including procedures for acute and subacute toxicity testing which covers tests such as LD50 (Lethal Dose 50) and LC50 (Lethal Concentration 50). These figures represent the total number of procedures carried out in this category each year.

The Home Office does not collect information on whether individual procedures were conducted specifically to meet UK only regulatory requirements, so the data is not available in the form requested.

Based on the published annual statistics, the total number of procedures in the acute and sub‑acute toxicity category (which includes LD50 and LC50 tests) in each of the last five years is as follows:

2024: 11,992

2023: 11,519

2022: 12,651

2021: 11,758

Statistics for 2025 have not yet been published. Official statistics on the use of animals in science are released annually and are available here:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-statistics

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 aligning Section 2 shotgun licensing with Section 1 firearms licensing on (a) participation in shooting sports and (b) rural businesses; whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of alternative measures to improve public safety and licensing consistency; and what evidence base informed the decision to consult on merging these licensing regimes.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February 2025, included a commitment to having a public consultation on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns to bring them more into line with the controls on other firearms in the interests of public safety. The Government response set out the reasons why the Government considers this consultation to be important, and we intend to publish this shortly.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish a list of serving police officers by nationality for each of the last ten years.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office does not collect information on the nationality of police officers.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information their Department holds on (a) the proportion of tyres procured that were re-tread tyres for (i) Department-operated and (ii) commercially contracted heavy vehicle fleets, including lorries, buses and refuse vehicles and (b) the volume of tyres procured for those fleets that were single-use imported tyres in the last 12 months; and whether such information is held centrally or by individual contractors.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office does not hold or collate the information requested.

The Motor Vehicle Tyres (Safety) Regulations 1994, set out requirements for re-treaded tyres, as well as brand new tyres. Consumers can be confident in the safety of any tyre that complies with these requirements.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many directors with responsibility for human resources are employed across their department and its executive agencies; and how many of those directors hold professional HR qualifications from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development or equivalent professional bodies.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office has two Directors with responsibility for human resources, both of which hold qualifications from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the written statement of 21 July 2025, HCWS855, on Events at Orgreave, whether the Chair of the inquiry has provided a declaration of interests, including any declaration of political activity; and what is his remuneration.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Section 17 of the Inquiries Act 2005 requires the Chair of an Inquiry established under the Act to act with fairness and with regard to the need to avoid any unnecessary cost. Once the Orgreave Inquiry is established, it will be expected to publish its costs periodically. Ministers will meet with the Chair to discuss budgets and timetables in more detail once the terms of reference have been published, at which point it will be possible to make more reliable estimates on the inquiry’s time and cost.

Under the 2005 Act, there are legal requirements concerning the expertise, balance and impartiality of the Chair. The previous Home Secretary made the decision to appoint the Chair of the Inquiry on the basis of those requirements being met.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to question 85264 answered on 5 November 2025, whether her Department has had recent discussions with the Office for National Statistics on the linking of Census data to hate crime data.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Home Office officials have started conversations with the Office for National Statistics to investigate the technical feasibility of linking anonymised person-level data Census data to police recorded hate crime to improve its data quality.

I will write to you once these discussions have concluded.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of animals that have been used for animal testing in each year since 2022.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes annual statistics on the use of animals in science which contain information on the number of procedures conducted each year. The number of procedures is not equal the number of animals that have been used in procedures that year because some animals may be used more than once in certain circumstances.The published annual statistics are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-statistics

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/replacing-animals-in-science-strategy/replacing-animals-in-science-a-strategy-to-support-the-development-validation-and-uptake-of-alternative-methods

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2026 to Question 114904 on Firearms: Licensing, by what date he will be required to (a) make changes to improve the situation and (b) report back to HMICFRS.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Chief Constables of the three forces involved in the tripartite firearms licensing arrangement involving Bedfordshire Police, Cambridgeshire Constabulary and Hertfordshire Constabulary received an accelerated cause of concern notice from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) on 9 January 2026 relating to the management of firearms licensing.

HMICFRS requested that the Chief Constables of the three police forces set out in an action plan how they intended to address the issues in the accelerated cause of concern within 28 working days. The response to HMICFRS has since been sent within the deadline set out in the notice.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion and amount of the (a) £18.3 billion police funding settlement and (b) the £746 million increase, is made up of council tax in England in 2026-27, according to the estimates made by the Home Office used to calculate the figures stated in the written statement of 28 January 2026, HCWS1285.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The final 2026-27 Police Funding Settlement confirmed funding to police forces in England and Wales of up to £18.4 billion, an increase of up to £796 million compared to the 2025-26 police funding settlement. Across England and Wales, this increase includes up to £364 million of additional funding from council tax precept.

In England specifically, up to £5.9 billion of funding will come from the police precept. This is an increase of up to £342 million compared to 2025-26.

As the police funding settlement precedes final decisions by policing bodies’ on their actual precept levels, published settlement figures are based on the referendum limit for policing bodies in England. The referendum limit determines the level of increase in Council Tax Band D bill levels above which a local referendum must be held. A £15 increase has been assumed for all policing bodies based on the referendum limits set out in MHCLG’s Local Government Finance Settlement. Published settlement figures are also based on tax base growth in line with the Autumn 2025 Office for Budget Responsibility forecast.

The tables accompanying the Written Ministerial Statement of 28 January 2026 provide a breakdown of precept funding for individual police forces. The overall precept funding, and increase compared to the 2025-26 settlement can also be calculated using these tables. The Written Ministerial Statement and accompanying tables can be found here: Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of police powers to help prevent charity fundraisers using aggressive tactics to raise money in public areas.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Police forces have a range of statutory and common law powers to deal with matters in public places. These include common law powers to prevent a breach of the peace, which allow officers to intervene where there is a reasonable belief that harm may occur to a person or property, or where public order is threatened.

Charitable fundraising is a legitimate means of raising money for relevant causes. All fundraising activity must be conducted lawfully and in a way that does not cause harm, intimidation, or public disorder. Where behaviour crosses the threshold into unlawful activity or risks a breach of the peace, the police are able to take appropriate action using their existing powers.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with regard to the Animals in Science Regulation Unit Annual Report 2024, published in December 2025, how many unannounced audits were there in 2024; and whether she plans to increase the number of unannounced audits by inspectors.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

There were 10 unannounced audits in 2024, as reported in the published Animals in Science Regulation Unit (ASRU) 2024 Annual Report.

ASRU will increase the number of unannounced audits as part of its programme of regulatory strengthening. The inspectorate is being expanded from an average of 14.5 inspectors in 2023 to 22 by March 2026, enabling a greater volume of risk‑based audits across the system.

Both announced and unannounced audits play an important role in providing regulatory assurance. The number of audits alone should not be taken as a measure of regulatory impact: audit quality, depth and scope are central to assessing compliance effectively.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, between 1 January 2026 and 28 February 2026, how many licences have been granted under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 for projects that use a) cats b) dogs c) horses and d) non-human primates.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Between 1 January 2026 and 28 February 2026, one project licence was granted which authorised the use of dogs, and one was granted that authorised the use of non-human primates under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. No project licences were granted within this period that authorised the use of cats or horses.

Official statistics are published on an annual basis and are available here: www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-statistics

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 lowering the age for alcohol purchasing to 16.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government has no plans to lower the legal age for purchasing alcohol from 18 in England and Wales.

This is consistent with the Licensing Act 2003 objective of protecting children from harm.

It remains an offence to sell alcohol to under-18s and licensed premises must operate robust age-verification policies, as set out in the mandatory licensing conditions and statutory guidance.

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 terror threat posed by the forthcoming Universal Studios theme park on (a) traffic, (b) firearms and (c) neighbourhood policing in the tri-force area of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, also known as Martyn’s Law, will require certain public premises and events to be prepared and ready to keep the public safe in a terrorist attack. The Act applies to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and establishes a minimum legal security standard of protective security at larger premises and events for the first time.

Decisions around the types and numbers of officers deployed, including traffic, firearms and neighbourhood police officers, are operational decisions for Chief Officers to determine in line with their strategic assessment of threat and risk.

In line with the British model of policing by consent, the use of firearms by the police should always be a last resort, however, where an operational need arises, specialist armed officers are available to be deployed. National capability is kept under constant review by the National Police Chiefs’ Council.

Forces in England and Wales regularly review their Neighbourhood Policing resources based on the current and planned risks and threats in their local policing area.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of their decision to end study visas from certain countries, what consideration they have given to excepting from those restrictions, students at British international schools.

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

The decision to introduce a visa brake on the Student visa route for these nationalities was based on data-driven migration and border security considerations. While we recognise that most people who apply to study in the UK do so genuinely, the evidence is clear that the Student route for these nationalities has been a source of a high number and high proportion of visa-linked asylum claims. We have therefore acted to halt this unacceptable strain on our asylum system, and to ensure that the system remains fair, credible, and sustainable.

We have no plans to provide exceptions for individuals who studied at specific institutions or types of institution.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they collect figures on the number of children (1) seeking to register their entitlement to, and (2) refused a request for, British citizenship under each section of the British Nationality Act 1981 broken down by age group; and if not, whether they have any plans to collect and publish such data.

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

The Home Office publishes quarterly transparency data showing the number of applications for citizenship.

There are currently no plans to publish data with the level of detail mentioned in the question.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to ensure that forced marriages do not take place in Sharia councils in the UK.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The joint Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Forced Marriage Unit (FMU), provides support and advice to victims, those at risk, and professionals.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has been made of the potential impact on local authorities of families remaining on temporary immigration status for up to 10 or 15 years.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

From 8 April 2026, the English language requirement for settlement will be raised from level B1 to level B2 under the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) for most routes that currently require B1. This increase will take effect on 26 March 2027, allowing those already on a pathway to settlement a 12-month period in which to undertake any necessary learning or preparation. We believe this will strengthen long-term integration outcomes.

The consultation for the earned settlement model, as proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, was open to the public between 20 November 2025 and 12 February 2026.

We are now reviewing and analysing all responses received. This analysis will help inform the development of the final earned settlement model, including consideration of any transitional measures for those already on a pathway to settlement.

As part of this consultation, we sought views on the potential impact of the proposed changes, including the impact on changes to the qualifying residence period for settlement; and the proposal for those working in roles below RQF level 6 to have a 15-year qualifying period for settlement.

Once the final model has been decided, the Government will communicate the outcome publicly.  As with all significant policy changes, the proposals will be subject to both economic and equality impact assessments.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of earned settlement proposals requiring applicants to meet B2 English proficiency on lower income groups.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

From 8 April 2026, the English language requirement for settlement will be raised from level B1 to level B2 under the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) for most routes that currently require B1. This increase will take effect on 26 March 2027, allowing those already on a pathway to settlement a 12-month period in which to undertake any necessary learning or preparation. We believe this will strengthen long-term integration outcomes.

The consultation for the earned settlement model, as proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, was open to the public between 20 November 2025 and 12 February 2026.

We are now reviewing and analysing all responses received. This analysis will help inform the development of the final earned settlement model, including consideration of any transitional measures for those already on a pathway to settlement.

As part of this consultation, we sought views on the potential impact of the proposed changes, including the impact on changes to the qualifying residence period for settlement; and the proposal for those working in roles below RQF level 6 to have a 15-year qualifying period for settlement.

Once the final model has been decided, the Government will communicate the outcome publicly.  As with all significant policy changes, the proposals will be subject to both economic and equality impact assessments.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has been made of the potential economic impact of introducing longer qualifying periods for settlement, including the proposed 15‑year period, for roles below RQF Level 6.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

From 8 April 2026, the English language requirement for settlement will be raised from level B1 to level B2 under the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) for most routes that currently require B1. This increase will take effect on 26 March 2027, allowing those already on a pathway to settlement a 12-month period in which to undertake any necessary learning or preparation. We believe this will strengthen long-term integration outcomes.

The consultation for the earned settlement model, as proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, was open to the public between 20 November 2025 and 12 February 2026.

We are now reviewing and analysing all responses received. This analysis will help inform the development of the final earned settlement model, including consideration of any transitional measures for those already on a pathway to settlement.

As part of this consultation, we sought views on the potential impact of the proposed changes, including the impact on changes to the qualifying residence period for settlement; and the proposal for those working in roles below RQF level 6 to have a 15-year qualifying period for settlement.

Once the final model has been decided, the Government will communicate the outcome publicly.  As with all significant policy changes, the proposals will be subject to both economic and equality impact assessments.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to open new community sponsorship safe routes for refugees and whether they will consult on these beforehand.

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

In the Restoring Order and Control policy statement, the Government committed to transforming its approach to safe and legal routes. This included the creation of a named sponsorship scheme to enable community groups to sponsor refugees and displaced persons.

The Government is working with a range of stakeholders to design and develop the new pathways. Stakeholder engagement will continue throughout the design process.

Further details, including timeframes for the launch of the route, will be provided in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will ask the a) College of Policing and b) Independent Office for Police Conduct to respond to the coroner's Prevention of Future Death report following the death of Ashley Crews.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Recipients of Prevent Future Death reports are under a statutory obligation to respond within 56 days.

In the cases named, it would be a matter for the College of Policing and Independent Office for Police Conduct respectively to respond accordingly as they have to previous such reports.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will ask the College of Policing to respond to the coroner's Prevention of Future Death report following the death of Oladeji Omishore.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Recipients of Prevent Future Death reports are under a statutory obligation to respond within 56 days.

In the cases named, it would be a matter for the College of Policing and Independent Office for Police Conduct respectively to respond accordingly as they have to previous such reports.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will ask the College of Policing to respond to the coroner's Prevention of Future Death report following the death of Sean Fitzgerald.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Recipients of Prevent Future Death reports are under a statutory obligation to respond within 56 days.

In the cases named, it would be a matter for the College of Policing and Independent Office for Police Conduct respectively to respond accordingly as they have to previous such reports.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2026 to Question 101773 on Political Parties: Conferences, if she will set out the timetable for the (a) internal review and (b) consultation of relevant stakeholders.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office has now completed the initial scoping phase of the internal review and will shortly be reaching out to relevant stakeholders, including political parties, to arrange meetings in April to gather their views.

An internal report is expected to be completed by the end of May.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the expiry of temporary Covid-era provisions that allowed for more flexible and timely death registration on bereaved families.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

No assessment has been made. Since the repeal of the Coronavirus Act easements, Death Certification Reform provisions came into force on 9 September 2024 which introduced more effective processes for death certification and registration, alongside a strengthened system of medical scrutiny for all deaths.

The Home Office is also committed to delivering the Civil Registration Service Transformation Programme which will provide the bereaved with greater flexibility and choice on how deaths are registered.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what training is provided on the use of non-animal methods to inspectors in the Animals in Science Regulation Unit who are responsible for assessing project licence applications.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

All Home Office Inspectors are specifically trained to assess licence applications rigorously and robustly and thereby assure compliance with the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA). The National Centre for the 3Rs (NC3Rs) are providing training for all Inspectors which includes accessing 3Rs knowledge. Inspectors are also signposted to further resources, including Replacing Animal Research’s “Replacement Checklist”.

The responsibility of ensuring the principles of the 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) have been fully applied in applications belongs to the applicant. The role of the Home Office is to assure that the applicant has conducted the necessary activity to maximally apply each of the 3Rs.

Establishments which test on animals must establish an Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body (AWERB). AWERBs have a statutory responsibility under ASPA to advise on the application of the 3Rs within establishments. Home Office guidance stipulates that all applications for a new project licence must be evaluated by the local AWERB.

The Government is committed to non-animal alternatives in science and has published a strategy which sets out our long-term vision for a world where the use of animals in science is eliminated in all but exceptional circumstances. The strategy is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/replacing-animals-in-science-strategy/replacing-animals-in-science-a-strategy-to-support-the-development-validation-and-uptake-of-alternative-methods

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her department has had with local authorities regarding potential service pressures in children's services and housing as a result of the earned settlement proposals.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

From 8 April 2026, the English language requirement for settlement will be raised from level B1 to level B2 under the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) for most routes that currently require B1. This increase will take effect on 26 March 2027, allowing those already on a pathway to settlement a 12-month period in which to undertake any necessary learning or preparation. We believe this will strengthen long-term integration outcomes.

The consultation for the earned settlement model, as proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, was open to the public between 20 November 2025 and 12 February 2026.

We are now reviewing and analysing all responses received. This analysis will help inform the development of the final earned settlement model, including consideration of any transitional measures for those already on a pathway to settlement.

As part of this consultation, we sought views on the potential impact of the proposed changes, including the impact on changes to the qualifying residence period for settlement; and the proposal for those working in roles below RQF level 6 to have a 15-year qualifying period for settlement.

Once the final model has been decided, the Government will communicate the outcome publicly.  As with all significant policy changes, the proposals will be subject to both economic and equality impact assessments.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the increase in income generated by West Midlands Police from escorting abnormal loads over the past five years; and what guidance her Department provides to police forces on charging haulage operators for such escorts.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

West Midlands Police is responsible for how guidance on charging for abnormal roads is implemented in its area. Local variation in the management of abnormal loads may be necessary to account for factors such as geography and road infrastructure.

NPCC guidance for police forces on managing abnormal loads, and the charging framework, were updated in March and May 2025 respectively. These seek to promote greater national alignment across forces, where possible, noting the need for variations. The NPCC has committed to review this guidance twelve months after publication to ensure it remains fit for purpose.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions his Department has had with Highland Council on the use of Cameron Barracks to house Asylum Seekers.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office has engaged with Highland Council, as well as other local stakeholders including the Police, NHS, Scottish Fire & Rescue Service and others since plans were announced in October 2025.

The department continues to engage regularly with all statutory partners as plans progress. Key information about the plans discussed with local partners can be found on the factsheet Cameron Barracks, Inverness: factsheet - GOV.UK, which will be updated as further information becomes available.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign national offenders in the UK are currently living in the community while liable for deportation after completing prison sentences.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

Latest published information shows that at the end of Q4 2025 there were 19,470 foreign national offenders (FNOs) living in the community having completed their custodial sentences and subject to deportation or administrative removal. The published information can be found at: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK.

Any FNO convicted of a crime who receives a custodial sentence in the UK is referred to the Home Office for deportation consideration following sentencing. We are focussing resource on those cases currently serving custodial sentences to maximise removals directly from prison.

Where removal is not immediately possible, electronic monitoring can be used to manage FNOs.

We will pursue deportation action against individuals living in the community rigorously, actively monitoring and managing cases through the legal process and negotiating barriers to removal.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many UK visas were granted to Jeffrey Epstein following his conviction on 30 June 2008.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We do not routinely comment on individual cases. The Government stands ready to support the police in whatever way it can.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect the Iranian diaspora and journalists in the UK from transnational repression by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

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

The first duty of this Government is to keep the country safe. We will not tolerate any Iran-backed threats on UK soil. We continually assess potential threats to the UK, and take the protection of individuals’ rights, freedoms, and safety incredibly seriously. Attempts by foreign Governments to intimidate, harass or harm individuals, are unacceptable.

The Home Office works closely with other government departments as well as relevant agencies and law enforcement to protect those identified as being at risk. The National Protective Security Authority and Counter Terrorism Policing continue to provide protective security advice and support to individuals and organisations threatened by the Iranian regime and its criminal proxies.

It is vital that journalists are able to continue their jobs without the fear of attack or threat. A free and robust media is essential - for national security, for human rights, and for democratic governance. That is why we remain an important member of the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC), which we co-founded in 2019.

Anyone who thinks they might be a victim should report incidents or suspicious activity to the Police via 101, a local police station, or 999 in emergencies.

We will continue to prioritise the safety and security of UK citizens and interests, working swiftly and in partnership to confront all aspects of Iran’s hostile actions.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to help tackle the use of cash intensive businesses for money laundering.

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

The Government is committed to tackling the use of cash intensive businesses for money laundering.

As part of the Economic Crime Plan 2 commitment, the Government has worked with the National Crime Agency, The Financial Conduct Authority and UK Finance to develop a set of economic crime priorities, which include cash-based money laundering. This will ensure that public and private sectors allocate resources to where they can have the most impact on a threat. The Government has also committed to recruit 475 new roles by March 2026 to help clamp down on money laundering- increasing prevention, detection and disrupting illegal activity.

In the 2025 Autumn Budget, the Government allocated £10 million per year for three years to tackle high street illegality. This funding includes the creation of the High Streets Illegality Taskforce, enhancements to Trading Standards capabilities and support for at least 45 additional law enforcement officers. Hosted by the Home Office, the cross-government Taskforce will develop a strategic long-term policy response to money laundering and associated illegality on UK high streets, including other forms of economic crime, tax evasion, and illegal working, and tackling the systemic vulnerabilities that criminals exploit.

More broadly, we expect to publish a new Anti-Money Laundering and Asset Recovery (AMLAR) strategy in the 2026. Developed jointly with HMT and in partnership with the private sector, the strategy will set a clear direction for strengthening the UK’s approach to tackling money laundering and boosting asset recovery.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department’s report entitled The independent review into the application of sharia law in England and Wales of February 2018, if she will take steps to conduct an assessment into the number of sharia councils operating in the UK.

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

The independent review into the application of sharia law in England and Wales was published under the 2016 to 2018 May Conservative government.

The Government is clear: Sharia law has no jurisdiction in England and Wales. Regardless of religious belief, we are all equal before the law. The Government has no intention of changing this position.

Religious communities, including Muslim communities, can operate arbitration councils and boards which seek to resolve disputes. The overriding principle is that they must operate within the rule of law.

The Government doesn’t prevent individuals from seeking to regulate their lives through religious beliefs and nothing in law prevents people abiding by Sharia principles, provided their actions don’t conflict with the law. If they do, rule of law prevails.

The decisions of Sharia councils are not binding in law – they are not part of the court system in this country.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme in regulating the activities of foreign actors seeking to advance political agendas in the UK.

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

The Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS) enhances transparency and early disruption by requiring individuals and organisations acting at the direction of specified foreign powers or foreign power controlled entities to register certain activities. It does not regulate the activity of foreign actors.

The Government will keep the effectiveness of the scheme under close review. We will be publishing an annual report setting out, among other things, the number of registrations across both tiers, number of information notices issued, the number of persons charged with an offence and the number of persons convicted of an offence. The first report will be published as soon as practicable after 30 June 2026.

A statutory review of the legislation will be undertaken after five years in the usual way, which will consider how the scheme has worked in practice and how far its objectives have been met.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effectiveness of the Foreign Enlistment Act 1870 in relation to British nationals serving with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

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

Travel advice for Ukraine, issued by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, makes clear that if a British national travels to Ukraine to fight, or to assist others engaged in the war, their activities may amount to offences under UK legislation.

Anyone, regardless of their citizenship, who travels from the UK to take part in conflicts overseas may be investigated by the police on return to determine if they have committed criminal offences, and to ensure that they do not pose a threat to our national security.

The UK remains steadfast in its support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. That commitment has never wavered. Together with our partners and allies, we continue to stand firmly with Ukraine in the face of Russia’s aggression.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help provide legal clarity to British nationals who volunteer to serve in Ukraine.

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

Travel advice for Ukraine, issued by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, makes clear that if a British national travels to Ukraine to fight, or to assist others engaged in the war, their activities may amount to offences under UK legislation.

Anyone, regardless of their citizenship, who travels from the UK to take part in conflicts overseas may be investigated by the police on return to determine if they have committed criminal offences, and to ensure that they do not pose a threat to our national security.

The UK remains steadfast in its support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. That commitment has never wavered. Together with our partners and allies, we continue to stand firmly with Ukraine in the face of Russia’s aggression.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Hanson of Flint on 4 March (HL Deb col 1399), what the timeline is for developing technical solutions with technology companies and partners; and what form those solutions will take.

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

Operation Reckoning is delivering a surged enforcement response aimed at tackling all layers of criminal activity associated with the model of phone theft in London, including street level offenders, middle market handlers and those responsible for the export of stolen devices. It is delivering significant results: in the 12 months to February, mobile phone theft in the capital fell by 12.3% on the previous year.

We welcome this significant progress, but too many people are still being subjected to the considerable distress and disruption caused by these criminals and we are determined to bring these numbers down further.

To break the business model that drives mobile phone theft, we need to reduce the value of a stolen device. The Metropolitan Police are leading work with technology partners to look at the quickest and most effective ways of achieving this outcome and we are working in close support of this collaboration.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they will next convene a summit with (1) mobile phone operators, (2) mobile phone manufacturers, and (3) law enforcement professionals, to discuss strategies to disrupt and curtail the organised crime business model for stolen mobile phone devices; and what the format of that summit will be.

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

Operation Reckoning is delivering a surged enforcement response aimed at tackling all layers of criminal activity associated with the model of phone theft in London, including street level offenders, middle market handlers and those responsible for the export of stolen devices. It is delivering significant results: in the 12 months to February, mobile phone theft in the capital fell by 12.3% on the previous year.

We welcome this significant progress, but too many people are still being subjected to the considerable distress and disruption caused by these criminals and we are determined to bring these numbers down further.

To break the business model that drives mobile phone theft, we need to reduce the value of a stolen device. The Metropolitan Police are leading work with technology partners to look at the quickest and most effective ways of achieving this outcome and we are working in close support of this collaboration.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Hanson of Flint on 4 March (HL Deb col 1399), what aspects of Operation Reckoning are focused on disrupting or removing the organised crime business model for stole mobile phone devices.

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

Operation Reckoning is delivering a surged enforcement response aimed at tackling all layers of criminal activity associated with the model of phone theft in London, including street level offenders, middle market handlers and those responsible for the export of stolen devices. It is delivering significant results: in the 12 months to February, mobile phone theft in the capital fell by 12.3% on the previous year.

We welcome this significant progress, but too many people are still being subjected to the considerable distress and disruption caused by these criminals and we are determined to bring these numbers down further.

To break the business model that drives mobile phone theft, we need to reduce the value of a stolen device. The Metropolitan Police are leading work with technology partners to look at the quickest and most effective ways of achieving this outcome and we are working in close support of this collaboration.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether additional resources will be allocated to counter-terrorism policing to address state-backed espionage activities linked to Iran.

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

Funding for counter-terrorism policing increased by £140 million in 2025-26 and will increase by a further £52 million in 2026-27, taking the budget to a record £1.2 billion.

This funds a range of capabilities, as well as approximately 800 live investigations, which allows policing to respond swiftly and decisively to hostile state and terrorist threats.

We do not disclose specific breakdowns of funding for security reasons.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how often UK employer sponsors are reassessed for their suitability to assign certificates of sponsorship for a skilled worker visa.

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

On each occasion a sponsor wishes to recruit a skilled worker and bring them to the UK from overseas, they must apply for a defined certificate of sponsorship. Every request is assessed against specific criteria, including ensuring the role is genuine and that appropriate salary levels will be paid.

Where a sponsor wishes to employ a skilled worker that is already working or studying legally in the UK, they require an undefined certificate of sponsorship. Some trusted sponsors receive an automated annual allocation of undefined certificates of sponsorship. Trusted sponsors are those that have robust HR systems and a positive track record of compliance with our policies and procedures. This is kept under constant review

However, any requests from those without an automated allocation or for additional certificates, requested in-year, are assessed in line with the process set out above

At each touch point a sponsor makes with the Immigration System, including the application for Certificates of Sponsorship, their suitability is assessed and if concerns are identified they are fully investigated. This has led to record numbers of revocations of Sponsor Licences during the tenure of this Government.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the threat posed by charities and cultural centres operating in the UK with known or suspected links to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

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

The Government does not routinely comment on the detail of operational matters or specific threats. But we have been clear that we take threats to, and interference in, the functioning of our democracy and our civil society extremely seriously.

We work closely with a range of partners to tackle malign state-backed influence in our society. Where there is clear evidence that Iranian-linked or aligned organisations are undertaking unacceptable activity, the Government will respond accordingly.

Ministers and officials regularly meet with the Charity Commission to discuss a range of issues relating to the regulation of charities. The Charity Commission is alive to the risks of state threats to the charity sector and works with other agencies to protect the sector from the risks of being exploited. The Charity Commission has consistently been clear that it will respond robustly where there has been wrongdoing.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many times the Defending Democracy Taskforce has met in the past 12 months.

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

The Defending Democracy Taskforce has met six times in the last 12 months.

The Taskforce comprises of Ministers and senior officials from multiple government departments, alongside representatives from law enforcement, the Parliamentary authorities, the Electoral Commission, and the UK Intelligence Community.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what engagement they have had with Jewish community organisations following the arrests of four men on suspicion of assisting Iranian intelligence by spying on individuals linked to the Jewish community in London.

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

The Government have engaged with multiple Jewish leaders following the arrests of four men under the National Security Act. We continue to engage closely with these leaders to ensure that our communities are supported.

The Jewish community and the wider public will understandably be concerned by the arrests on Friday 6 March. We continue to monitor the situation closely and engage with those affected.

Our police and security services are world leading and won’t hesitate to take action to counter any threat to the UK. They will continue to use the full range of tools and powers available to them to keep this country safe. They have the government’s full support as they carry out their vital work. Given the investigation is ongoing, it would not be appropriate for the Government to comment further.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current operational capabilities of the Iranian intelligence services in the UK.

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

Since the start of 2022, the UK has responded to over 20 Iran-backed plots presenting potentially lethal threats to British citizens and UK residents. We recognise the serious threat posed by the Iranian Intelligence Services and will not hesitate to take the most effective measures against the Iranian regime and its proxies.

Last year the Security Minister outlined the government’s response to the unacceptable threat we face from the Iranian state, and the steps we are taking to ensure that our intelligence and law enforcement agencies have the tools they need to disrupt and degrade Iran’s malign activity on UK soil.

The National Security Act 2023 provides a significant toolkit for our intelligence services and law enforcement agencies in the fight against state threats, including those posed by Iran. This means that the UK is now a harder target for those states which seek to conduct hostile acts against the UK, including espionage, interference in our political system, sabotage and assassination.

The UK now has over 550 sanctions against Iranian linked individuals and entities, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which has been sanctioned in its entirety. Over 220 designations have been imposed since Government came into office reflecting our ongoing commitment to countering Iran’s malign activity and safeguarding British citizens.

We take the protection of individuals’ rights, freedoms and safety in the UK very seriously. We will continue to use all appropriate tools at our disposal to protect the UK, and its people, from any Iran-linked threats.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the threat posed by Iranian intelligence operations in the United Kingdom to the Jewish community.

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

The UK Government continually assesses potential threats to the UK and its residents. Since the start of 2022, the UK has responded to over 20 Iran-backed plots presenting potentially lethal threats to British citizens and UK residents. It is no secret that there is a long-standing pattern of targeting Jewish and Israeli people internationally by the Iranian Intelligence Services.

We take any threat to these threats extremely seriously. Through the police and the security and intelligence agencies, we will continue to use all the tools at our disposal to address any threat.

Last year, the Security Minister outlined the government’s response to the unacceptable threat we face from the Iranian state, and the steps we are taking to ensure that our intelligence and law enforcement agencies have the tools they need to disrupt and degrade Iran’s malign activity on UK soil.

The UK now has over 550 sanctions against Iranian linked individuals and entities, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which has been sanctioned in its entirety. Over 220 designations have been imposed since Government came into office reflecting our ongoing commitment to countering Iran’s malign activity and safeguarding British citizens.

More broadly, we are taking action to protect our Jewish communities including allocating up to £28 million to the Community Security Trust this year- providing security to schools, synagogues and Jewish communities.

The Government's top priority is national security, and we will continue to use all appropriate tools at our disposal to protect the UK, and its people, from any Iran-linked threats.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the duplication of safeguarding requirements for volunteers working across schools, charities and community organisations.

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

It is for employers and the sectors involved to set requirements for criminal record checks as part of their safeguarding requirements. However, the disclosure and barring regime does allow for transfer of criminal record certificates, provided by the Disclosure and Barring Service, if the certificate is for the same workforce and at the same level.

For further information, I would refer the hon member to the response previously provided by the Home Office, UIN: 119660.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the remit of the Defending Democracy Taskforce will be extended to consider what action may be required to protect democratic integrity in the UK from sectarianism.

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

The Defending Democracy Taskforce (DDTF) has a mandate from the Prime Minister to coordinate and drive forward a whole of government response to the full range of threats to our democracy, including protecting democratic integrity.

The Taskforce monitors evolving threats as they arise and remains flexible to respond effectively and promptly where necessary.

For example, the Joint Election Security and Preparedness (JESP) Unit, which sits jointly between Cabinet Office and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government is standing up an election cell ahead of upcoming local elections in England and devolved elections in Scotland and Wales.

This brings together government departments, the police, the intelligence agencies, the Devolved Governments, and external partners to monitor and respond to any emerging issues across physical, cyber and information security.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Written Statement of 2 March 2026 on Asylum changes, HCWS1373, what recent steps her Department has taken to introduce community sponsorship.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

In the Restoring Order and Control policy statement, the Government committed to transforming its approach to safe and legal routes. This included the creation of a named sponsorship scheme to enable community groups to sponsor refugees and displaced persons.

Work is underway to deliver the named community sponsorship route. The Government is working with a range of stakeholders to design and develop the new pathway.

Further details, including timeframes for the launch of the route, will be provided in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of Chevening scholars from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan have claimed asylum in the United Kingdom following the completion of their scholarships.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of people claiming asylum where the latest leave held prior to claim was a study visa is published in table Asy_D01a of the ‘Asylum claims and initial decisions datasets’. The number of student entry clearance visas issued is published in table Vis_D02 of the 'Entry clearance visas datasets'.

A full Impact Assessment has been published for the Visa Brake policy; see Table 1 for historic volumes of asylum claims linked to visa for the relevant nationalities and routes in scope of the Brake.

The requested information on asylum claims from Chevening scholars is not available from published statistics.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data. These reviews allow us to balance the production of our regular statistics whilst developing new statistics for future release.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for the number of (a) enforced and (b) voluntary asylum-related removals in 2025 for all nationalities.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes data on returns in the ’Immigration System Statistics quarterly release’. Data on enforced and voluntary asylum-related returns in 2025 can be found in Ret_05 with a further breakdown by top 10 nationalities in Ret_04 of the ‘Returns summary tables’.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to announce transitional arrangements for people who are awaiting the outcome of an asylum claim submitted before 2 March 2026.

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

The family reunion route was suspended to ease the pressures that local authorities and public services have been placed under due to the recent significant increase in people arriving under this route in recent years.

Outstanding applications will continue to be considered under the family reunion rules in place prior to the commencement of the suspension, including those that are at appeal.

During the suspension, the Government is taking forward wider asylum and family reforms to place the system on a fairer, controlled and sustainable footing. Further information on forthcoming changes will be set out in due course. In the meantime, other family routes remain available, including Appendix FM.

Those who claimed asylum or made further submissions before 2 March 2026, and who are eligible for protection, will receive 5 years’ permission to stay in accordance with the transitional arrangements included in the Immigration Rules laid on 5 March 2026.

We will encourage refugees to switch out of the Core Protection route wherever possible into a new, bespoke work and study route to access family reunion and settlement rights with new fees and conditions in accordance with the rules of that route.

Refugees granted refugee status or humanitarian protection (as well as those arriving under one of the UK’s resettlement schemes) have immediate access to the labour market and benefits, including employment support from Department for Work and Pensions work coaches. Unemployed refugees are eligible for full funding for English for Speakers of Other Languages learning.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how refugees on the core protection route will be supported to transition on to work and study visas.

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

The family reunion route was suspended to ease the pressures that local authorities and public services have been placed under due to the recent significant increase in people arriving under this route in recent years.

Outstanding applications will continue to be considered under the family reunion rules in place prior to the commencement of the suspension, including those that are at appeal.

During the suspension, the Government is taking forward wider asylum and family reforms to place the system on a fairer, controlled and sustainable footing. Further information on forthcoming changes will be set out in due course. In the meantime, other family routes remain available, including Appendix FM.

Those who claimed asylum or made further submissions before 2 March 2026, and who are eligible for protection, will receive 5 years’ permission to stay in accordance with the transitional arrangements included in the Immigration Rules laid on 5 March 2026.

We will encourage refugees to switch out of the Core Protection route wherever possible into a new, bespoke work and study route to access family reunion and settlement rights with new fees and conditions in accordance with the rules of that route.

Refugees granted refugee status or humanitarian protection (as well as those arriving under one of the UK’s resettlement schemes) have immediate access to the labour market and benefits, including employment support from Department for Work and Pensions work coaches. Unemployed refugees are eligible for full funding for English for Speakers of Other Languages learning.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to resume refugee family reunion.

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

The family reunion route was suspended to ease the pressures that local authorities and public services have been placed under due to the recent significant increase in people arriving under this route in recent years.

Outstanding applications will continue to be considered under the family reunion rules in place prior to the commencement of the suspension, including those that are at appeal.

During the suspension, the Government is taking forward wider asylum and family reforms to place the system on a fairer, controlled and sustainable footing. Further information on forthcoming changes will be set out in due course. In the meantime, other family routes remain available, including Appendix FM.

Those who claimed asylum or made further submissions before 2 March 2026, and who are eligible for protection, will receive 5 years’ permission to stay in accordance with the transitional arrangements included in the Immigration Rules laid on 5 March 2026.

We will encourage refugees to switch out of the Core Protection route wherever possible into a new, bespoke work and study route to access family reunion and settlement rights with new fees and conditions in accordance with the rules of that route.

Refugees granted refugee status or humanitarian protection (as well as those arriving under one of the UK’s resettlement schemes) have immediate access to the labour market and benefits, including employment support from Department for Work and Pensions work coaches. Unemployed refugees are eligible for full funding for English for Speakers of Other Languages learning.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether their department plans to collect and publish data on the number of modern slavery and human trafficking police investigations, after this is no longer done by the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime Unit.

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

The Department has been working closely with the Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime Unit (MSOICU) to review the programme’s functions and agree contingency arrangements to ensure key functions are preserved following the programme’s closure. This includes the collection of modern slavery police investigation data.

The current investigations data only provides a partial and incomplete picture, as not all forces submit returns. Once in post, we will work with the new National Police Chiefs Council lead to consider the most effective approach to collecting consistent data on modern slavery investigations in the future.

As part of the wider police reforms, national strategic policing priorities will be developed to improve policing standards and performance. The Home Office will consider how modern slavery measures and data collection can be reflected within these.

We will continue to draw on data already collected by the Home Office, Crown Prosecution Service and the Ministry of Justice, including data on recorded offences and criminal justice outcomes, to support our understanding of modern slavery trends and performance.

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 creating a national register for people found guilty of exploiting children for criminal activity.

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

This Government is committed to tackling child criminal exploitation and going after the gangs who are luring children into violence and crime. That is why we are introducing a new offence of child criminal exploitation (CCE) and new civil preventative orders (CCE prevention orders) in the Crime and Policing Bill to target those responsible for criminally exploiting children and to help ensure that children are identified as victims and receive the support and protection they need.

CCE prevention orders are designed to specifically target the criminal exploitation of children and will include tailored restrictions and/or requirements the court deems necessary to manage the risk posed to a specific child or children generally. The orders will be able to impose a notification requirement, on the subject of the order, where the court deems it necessary. This will require someone to notify their name and address (and any subsequent changes) to the local police force, to ensure that police are aware of, and able to monitor, individuals who pose a CCE threat.

County Lines is the most violent model of drug supply and a harmful form of child criminal exploitation. Through the County Lines Programme, we continue to target exploitative drug dealing gangs and break the organised crime groups behind the trade. Since July 2024, law enforcement activity through the County Lines Programme taskforces has resulted in more than 3,000 deal lines closed, 8,200 arrests, (including the arrest and subsequent charge of over 1,600 deal line holders) 4,300 safeguarding referrals of children and vulnerable people, and 900 knives seized.

While the majority of county lines originate from the areas covered by the Metropolitan Police Service, West Midlands Police, Merseyside Police, Greater Manchester Police and West Yorkshire Police, we recognise that this is a national issue which affects all forces. This is why we fund the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre (NCLCC) to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response. The County Lines Programme forces (MPS, West Midlands, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and British Transport Police) also regularly conduct joint operations with importing forces. In addition, we have established a dedicated fund which provides local police forces, including Leicestershire and other forces in the East Midlands, with additional funding and support to tackle county lines.

As part of the County Lines Programme we also provide specialist support for children and young people to escape county lines and child criminal exploitation. Since July 2024 more than 620 children and young people have received dedicated specialist support through our county lines support service. To support parents, we also fund a national confidential helpline and support service, SafeCall, for young people and their families or carers affected by county lines exploitation.

In addition, the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is the UK’s framework for identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery and human trafficking. This includes victims of criminal and sexual exploitation. First Responder Organisations (FROs), including the police and local authorities, have a statutory duty to refer any child who is a potential victim of modern slavery and human trafficking into the NRM to ensure they are effectively identified and supported.

Whilst child victims of exploitation are supported by local authorities who have primary responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children, the Government-funded County Lines Programme and Independent Child Trafficking Guardian (ICTG) service provide additional support. The ICTG service currently covers two-thirds of local authorities across England and Wales, including the East Midlands, and we are in the process of expanding the service to provide national coverage across England and Wales, which will begin in 2027.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to prevent children from being exploited by drug gangs in (a) Leicester, (b) the East Midlands and (c) the UK.

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

This Government is committed to tackling child criminal exploitation and going after the gangs who are luring children into violence and crime. That is why we are introducing a new offence of child criminal exploitation (CCE) and new civil preventative orders (CCE prevention orders) in the Crime and Policing Bill to target those responsible for criminally exploiting children and to help ensure that children are identified as victims and receive the support and protection they need.

CCE prevention orders are designed to specifically target the criminal exploitation of children and will include tailored restrictions and/or requirements the court deems necessary to manage the risk posed to a specific child or children generally. The orders will be able to impose a notification requirement, on the subject of the order, where the court deems it necessary. This will require someone to notify their name and address (and any subsequent changes) to the local police force, to ensure that police are aware of, and able to monitor, individuals who pose a CCE threat.

County Lines is the most violent model of drug supply and a harmful form of child criminal exploitation. Through the County Lines Programme, we continue to target exploitative drug dealing gangs and break the organised crime groups behind the trade. Since July 2024, law enforcement activity through the County Lines Programme taskforces has resulted in more than 3,000 deal lines closed, 8,200 arrests, (including the arrest and subsequent charge of over 1,600 deal line holders) 4,300 safeguarding referrals of children and vulnerable people, and 900 knives seized.

While the majority of county lines originate from the areas covered by the Metropolitan Police Service, West Midlands Police, Merseyside Police, Greater Manchester Police and West Yorkshire Police, we recognise that this is a national issue which affects all forces. This is why we fund the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre (NCLCC) to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response. The County Lines Programme forces (MPS, West Midlands, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and British Transport Police) also regularly conduct joint operations with importing forces. In addition, we have established a dedicated fund which provides local police forces, including Leicestershire and other forces in the East Midlands, with additional funding and support to tackle county lines.

As part of the County Lines Programme we also provide specialist support for children and young people to escape county lines and child criminal exploitation. Since July 2024 more than 620 children and young people have received dedicated specialist support through our county lines support service. To support parents, we also fund a national confidential helpline and support service, SafeCall, for young people and their families or carers affected by county lines exploitation.

In addition, the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is the UK’s framework for identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery and human trafficking. This includes victims of criminal and sexual exploitation. First Responder Organisations (FROs), including the police and local authorities, have a statutory duty to refer any child who is a potential victim of modern slavery and human trafficking into the NRM to ensure they are effectively identified and supported.

Whilst child victims of exploitation are supported by local authorities who have primary responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children, the Government-funded County Lines Programme and Independent Child Trafficking Guardian (ICTG) service provide additional support. The ICTG service currently covers two-thirds of local authorities across England and Wales, including the East Midlands, and we are in the process of expanding the service to provide national coverage across England and Wales, which will begin in 2027.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support children and families who have been victims of child exploitation by organised crime.

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

This Government is committed to tackling child criminal exploitation and going after the gangs who are luring children into violence and crime. That is why we are introducing a new offence of child criminal exploitation (CCE) and new civil preventative orders (CCE prevention orders) in the Crime and Policing Bill to target those responsible for criminally exploiting children and to help ensure that children are identified as victims and receive the support and protection they need.

CCE prevention orders are designed to specifically target the criminal exploitation of children and will include tailored restrictions and/or requirements the court deems necessary to manage the risk posed to a specific child or children generally. The orders will be able to impose a notification requirement, on the subject of the order, where the court deems it necessary. This will require someone to notify their name and address (and any subsequent changes) to the local police force, to ensure that police are aware of, and able to monitor, individuals who pose a CCE threat.

County Lines is the most violent model of drug supply and a harmful form of child criminal exploitation. Through the County Lines Programme, we continue to target exploitative drug dealing gangs and break the organised crime groups behind the trade. Since July 2024, law enforcement activity through the County Lines Programme taskforces has resulted in more than 3,000 deal lines closed, 8,200 arrests, (including the arrest and subsequent charge of over 1,600 deal line holders) 4,300 safeguarding referrals of children and vulnerable people, and 900 knives seized.

While the majority of county lines originate from the areas covered by the Metropolitan Police Service, West Midlands Police, Merseyside Police, Greater Manchester Police and West Yorkshire Police, we recognise that this is a national issue which affects all forces. This is why we fund the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre (NCLCC) to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response. The County Lines Programme forces (MPS, West Midlands, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and British Transport Police) also regularly conduct joint operations with importing forces. In addition, we have established a dedicated fund which provides local police forces, including Leicestershire and other forces in the East Midlands, with additional funding and support to tackle county lines.

As part of the County Lines Programme we also provide specialist support for children and young people to escape county lines and child criminal exploitation. Since July 2024 more than 620 children and young people have received dedicated specialist support through our county lines support service. To support parents, we also fund a national confidential helpline and support service, SafeCall, for young people and their families or carers affected by county lines exploitation.

In addition, the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is the UK’s framework for identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery and human trafficking. This includes victims of criminal and sexual exploitation. First Responder Organisations (FROs), including the police and local authorities, have a statutory duty to refer any child who is a potential victim of modern slavery and human trafficking into the NRM to ensure they are effectively identified and supported.

Whilst child victims of exploitation are supported by local authorities who have primary responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children, the Government-funded County Lines Programme and Independent Child Trafficking Guardian (ICTG) service provide additional support. The ICTG service currently covers two-thirds of local authorities across England and Wales, including the East Midlands, and we are in the process of expanding the service to provide national coverage across England and Wales, which will begin in 2027.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what action is being taken to help improve the availability of domestic abuse services in rural areas.

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

In the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy, 'Freedom from Violence and Abuse’, we committed to developing a new cross-government statement on the commissioning of VAWG services. This will update the National Statement of Expectation, refresh the VAWG Commissioning Toolkit, and will improve the quality of commissioning. For England, the Safe Accommodation Duty for victims of domestic abuse, and the upcoming Duty to Collaborate for victims of domestic abuse, sexual violence, and serious violence, will ensure local areas are able to tailor their provision to their local community and duty holders should consider the needs of rural victims as part of this.

This financial year (2025/26) the Home Office has invested £6m into specialist helplines to support victims in their greatest time of need. The VAWG Helplines are established to be accessible wherever you are across England and Wales. They provide advice and support to victims and assist in signposting and referrals to appropriate local services.

Last year, the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) commenced a call for evidence across a network of rural stakeholders to inform understanding of the availability of support services and delivery methodologies that might be effective in rural areas. Defra will work to understand the findings of this evidence to help to confront the disparities in the provision of support so that every victim, whether in a city or a rural village, can access the help they need.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress her Department has made towards meeting the Government’s target to halve violence against women and girls within the next decade.

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

“Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls” was published on 18th December 2025 and sets out the strategic direction and concrete actions to prevent violence and abuse, pursue perpetrators, and support victims, and to deliver our commitment to halve VAWG in a decade.

Since July 2024, the Home Office has delivered a series of measures to tackle these crimes including: establishing the National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection; commencing the rollout of Raneem’s Law to strengthen protections for victims of domestic abuse; introducing Domestic Abuse Protection Orders in the first pilot areas; announcing £53 million of funding over four years to expand the Drive Project across England and Wales; and rolling out the Steps to Safety referral initiative.

Throughout 2026, we will begin delivering many of the commitments set out in the Strategy. This includes the publication of new statutory guidance on Domestic Homicide Reviews, as well as the further rollout of Raneem’s Law to improve the police response to victims and survivors of domestic abuse. Together, these measures represent significant steps towards meeting our ambition to halve VAWG within the next decade.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 2 October 2025 (HL10716), when they intend to publish the statutory guidance to accompany the Protection from Sex-based Harassment in Public Act 2023.

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

Public sexual harassment is a crime that often leaves victims, who are disproportionately likely to be women, feeling very unsafe. That is why tackling it is an important part of our mission on VAWG.

The “Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls”, published on 18th December 2025, committed to commence the Protection from Sex-Based Harassment in Public Act 2023 on 1 April 2026. This includes publication of the statutory guidance for police on the same day, which is a requirement of Section 2 of the Act. We are working directly with policing to ensure everything in is in place to support them in enforcing the aggravated offence from 1 April 2026.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of women killed in domestic homicides in their own homes.

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

This Government is committed to protecting women and girls in all environments, public or private. The recently published ‘Freedom from violence and abuse: a cross-government strategy’ sets out the steps we are taking to drive system-wide change, so that no life is lost to violence and abuse that could have been prevented.

The Home Office is working to develop the evidence base on domestic abuse related deaths by funding the Domestic Homicide Project, which captures information all domestic abuse related deaths, including homicides, from all 43 police forces in England and Wales. The project aims to improve our understanding of these deaths and identify how the response to domestic abuse can be improved.  Further information can be found at the following link: https://www.vkpp.org.uk/vkpp-work/domestic-homicide-project/.

In addition, Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) offer a vital opportunity for national and local agencies, local communities and society as a whole to learn lessons from domestic abuse related deaths and treat every death as preventable. We are currently reforming the DHR process to ensure learning is effectively identified and implemented to improve policy and practice and ultimately, prevent future deaths.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the proposed changes to make refugee protection time-limited are compatible with the United Kingdom’s obligations under Article 34 of the 1951 Refugee Convention to facilitate the naturalisation and integration of refugees.

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

We take our international obligations, including those under the Refugee Convention 1951, very seriously. The proposed changes to reduce refugee permission to stay to 30 months are entirely in accordance with our international obligations.

This Government is committed to supporting refugees and those granted protection in the UK to fully integrate and contribute to the British economy and society, in a way that promotes community cohesion. All refugees and those granted protection in the UK should be able to fully integrate into life here and become self-sufficient, providing for themselves and their families, and contributing to the economy, aligning with Article 34 of the 1951 Refugee Convention. We will not remove anyone to their own or any other country where they have a well-founded fear of persecution or are at risk of serious harm.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what metrics are being used to measure progress on reducing violence against women and girls.

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

We will measure progress against our ambition to halve VAWG is through a headline metric of the combined prevalence estimate of the proportion of people (aged 16 and over) who experienced any of domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking in the previous 12 months, as measured by the Crime Survey for England and Wales.

Given the complexity and breadth of these crimes, a single metric cannot fully capture progress. We will therefore track a set of supporting headline metrics, focused on female homicide, repeat domestic abuse, and the prevalence of sexual harassment.

These measures will be underpinned by a wider range of sub-metrics, such as measures of online harms, to assess progress across government against the pillars of the Strategy.

Further detail on our performance framework can be found on page 70 of Freedom from violence and abuse: a cross-government strategy.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 3 March 2026 to question 115217, what timeline the Government is working to in considering the best way to measure the prevalence of VAWG among children and young people in the Freedom from Violence and Abuse Strategy.

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

As stated in response to your question on 3^rd March, we recognise the importance of understanding the experiences of children and young people. As such the performance framework in the Freedom from Violence and Abuse Strategy includes a sub-metric on the prevalence of VAWG among children and young people and work is ongoing to determine the most robust and appropriate way to measure this. We will continue to develop this approach as the wider framework evolves.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many additional caseworkers they estimate will be required to conduct periodic reviews of refugees' status, and whether additional funding has been allocated for this purpose.

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

We want to encourage refugees to integrate more fully into the communities providing them sanctuary and we will encourage refugees to switch out of the Core Protection route wherever possible into a new, bespoke work and study route. In addition to the wider the socio-economic advantages, this will also enable them to access family reunion and settlement rights with new fees and conditions in accordance with the rules of that route.

We are committed to ensuring our policies are sustainable and do not place unnecessary burdens on the taxpayer, and this policy is no different. In terms of resources and processing, only those who do remain on Core Protection will have their protection needs regularly reviewed. Reviews will be targeted based on objective country information, and any other new information that comes to light, allowing us to make the most efficient use of resources. We will continue to monitor staffing levels and will deploy our workforce flexibly subject to business needs as we have done in the past.

The approach to reviewing status will be efficient and targeted; we will reassess where country conditions or personal circumstances have changed significantly.

To do this we will build on the efficiencies that have already seen record levels of initial decisions being made, including use of AI, such as our policy search tool or case summarisation which are already assisting asylum decision makers.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the administrative and staffing resources required within the Home Office to review the protection needs of refugees at 30-month intervals.

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

We want to encourage refugees to integrate more fully into the communities providing them sanctuary and we will encourage refugees to switch out of the Core Protection route wherever possible into a new, bespoke work and study route. In addition to the wider the socio-economic advantages, this will also enable them to access family reunion and settlement rights with new fees and conditions in accordance with the rules of that route.

We are committed to ensuring our policies are sustainable and do not place unnecessary burdens on the taxpayer, and this policy is no different. In terms of resources and processing, only those who do remain on Core Protection will have their protection needs regularly reviewed. Reviews will be targeted based on objective country information, and any other new information that comes to light, allowing us to make the most efficient use of resources. We will continue to monitor staffing levels and will deploy our workforce flexibly subject to business needs as we have done in the past.

The approach to reviewing status will be efficient and targeted; we will reassess where country conditions or personal circumstances have changed significantly.

To do this we will build on the efficiencies that have already seen record levels of initial decisions being made, including use of AI, such as our policy search tool or case summarisation which are already assisting asylum decision makers.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of temporary protection status on refugee integration, including access to employment, housing, and higher education.

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

We want to encourage refugees to integrate more fully into the communities providing them sanctuary and we will encourage refugees to switch out of the Core Protection route wherever possible into a new, bespoke work and study route. In addition to the wider the socio-economic advantages, this will also enable them to access family reunion and settlement rights with new fees and conditions in accordance with the rules of that route.

We are committed to ensuring our policies are sustainable and do not place unnecessary burdens on the taxpayer, and this policy is no different. In terms of resources and processing, only those who do remain on Core Protection will have their protection needs regularly reviewed. Reviews will be targeted based on objective country information, and any other new information that comes to light, allowing us to make the most efficient use of resources. We will continue to monitor staffing levels and will deploy our workforce flexibly subject to business needs as we have done in the past.

The approach to reviewing status will be efficient and targeted; we will reassess where country conditions or personal circumstances have changed significantly.

To do this we will build on the efficiencies that have already seen record levels of initial decisions being made, including use of AI, such as our policy search tool or case summarisation which are already assisting asylum decision makers.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what modelling they have undertaken of the likely impact of 30-monthly reviews on asylum decision backlogs and processing times.

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

We want to encourage refugees to integrate more fully into the communities providing them sanctuary and we will encourage refugees to switch out of the Core Protection route wherever possible into a new, bespoke work and study route. In addition to the wider the socio-economic advantages, this will also enable them to access family reunion and settlement rights with new fees and conditions in accordance with the rules of that route.

We are committed to ensuring our policies are sustainable and do not place unnecessary burdens on the taxpayer, and this policy is no different. In terms of resources and processing, only those who do remain on Core Protection will have their protection needs regularly reviewed. Reviews will be targeted based on objective country information, and any other new information that comes to light, allowing us to make the most efficient use of resources. We will continue to monitor staffing levels and will deploy our workforce flexibly subject to business needs as we have done in the past.

The approach to reviewing status will be efficient and targeted; we will reassess where country conditions or personal circumstances have changed significantly.

To do this we will build on the efficiencies that have already seen record levels of initial decisions being made, including use of AI, such as our policy search tool or case summarisation which are already assisting asylum decision makers.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to establishing additional safe and legal routes for refugees to the United Kingdom alongside the Community Sponsorship Scheme.

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

The Restoring Order and Control policy statement set out how the Government would transform its approach to safe and legal routes. Alongside the new community sponsorship route, the Government committed to the creation of capped routes for refugee and displaced students to study in the UK, and for skilled refugees and displaced people to come to the UK for work.

Work is underway to operationalise these new routes and further details will be provided in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help support refugee integration.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Refugees can already access the labour market, benefits, employment support and funded English language support.

After the introduction of our asylum reforms, we will create new work and study routes for those who are receiving protection, which will provide a faster path to lifetime settlement.

And we will introduce new safe and legal routes – again, with a faster path to settlement – as we move away from unsafe and illegal routes into this country

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle coercive control by ex-partners.

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

Controlling or coercive behaviour is an insidious and often under-recognised form of domestic abuse.

To improve the multi-agency response to coercive or controlling behaviour and reflect latest policy and practice, we will update statutory guidance by the end of this year.

We will also improve the policing response to all VAWG, through our £13m investment in the new National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection.

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 European Convention on Human Rights on levels of illegal immigration.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

We are committed to the ECHR. But it must evolve to reflect modern challenges like mass migration and ability to protect the public. That is why we are working with international partners to modernise its application.

We will also tighten how Article 8 is applied at domestic level to prevent gaming of the system and ensure the public interest is given proper weight in immigration decisions.

Found: The Home Office does not monitor how many DHRs involve suicide rather than homicide, or how many suicide

Found: deliver a targeted influencing behaviour communication campaign pilot in partnership with the Home Office

Found: There are also Home Office police perpetrator Domestic Abuse panels, which cover the compounding factors

Found: that in April 2025, MHCLG was made the lead department for wildfire in England, as opposed to the Home Office

Found: that in April 2025, MHCLG was made the lead department for wildfire in England, as opposed to the Home Office

Found: First, he noted “a significant volume of files in the Home Office archive” documenting cases in which

Found: recovery arrangements are in place.”50 However, beyond the role of the Security Minister in the Home Office

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

Found: Domestically, the Home Office,226 leads on addressing malign information activity aimed at UK audiences

Found: civil contingencies has resided with Dan Jarvis who has a joint Minister of State role in the Home Office

Found: Since the advent of democratic devolution, numerous Home Office and Ministry of Justice policies have

Found: co-chaired by HMPPS and Welsh Government, which brings together policy officials from MoJ, HMPPS, Home Office

Found: of a Review of Women with Particular Vulnerabilities in the Criminal Justice System, London: Home Office

Found: Changes in Immigration Rules (HC 1691) and one linked instrument and Further Information from the Home Office

Found: Correspondence to and from the Home Office, relating to withdrawal of the visa concession for temporary

Found: PSNI0029 - Policing and security in Northern Ireland Home Office Written Evidence

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

Found: to inform establishments, HM Prison and Probation Service and the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office

Found: I hope, for many, many, many reasons, that the Home Office is successful in its work to get the costs

Found: We hope that the Home Office takes this forward along with groups like the DFE and DWP as well.

Found: Anne Marie Chebib: I am sure you are aware of the Home Office work being done at the moment in terms

Found: parents generally cannot work and must rely on below-poverty-level asylum support payments from the Home Office

Found: doi:10.1016/J.JVB.2009.01.001 12 Home Office & Mahmood, S. (2026) Home Secretary’s speech on immigration

Found: led by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, alongside Prevention Partnerships led by the Home Office

Found: The Home Office Families that were interviewed for The Children’s Society’s report A Lifeline for All

Found: However, the recent consultation on earned settlement from the Home Office runs counter to this, consulting

Found: Benefit, while improving educational and developmental outcomes.23 The Strategy does note that the Home Office

Found: Strengthening data linkage between Home Office, DWP and local authorities would improve visibility of

Found: Moreover, the situation is likely to worsen significantly as a result of new Home Office policies on

Found: We hope that the Home Office takes this forward along with groups like the DFE and DWP as well.

Found: Anne Marie Chebib: I am sure you are aware of the Home Office work being done at the moment in terms

Found: Steve Smart: We were engaged with the Home Office in the creation of the national fraud strategy.

Found: Steve Smart: We were engaged with the Home Office in the creation of the national fraud strategy.

Found: We speak to the Home Office.

Found: Home Office visa concession for sheep shearers We were pleased to receive your post-session update confirming

Found: Minister: We discussed that this morning and I have already actioned some discussions with the Home Office

Found: At our most recent meeting on 12 February, we welcomed attendance from the Home Office, Ministry of

Found: As with the Home Office policy that led to the Windrush Scandal, to date no justification has been offered.as

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what progress officials in UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has made on developing target areas of research for alternative methods for animal testing; and whether UKRI has any plans to consult with civil society organisations who have expertise in this area as part of this process.

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

On 11 November 2025 the Government published Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, which outlines the steps we will take to achieve this. The Labour Manifesto commits to partnering with scientists, industry and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing. The Government consulted civil society, industry and academia during development of the strategy and continues to do so during delivery, including through regular Home Office meetings. We also intend to publish areas of research interest later this year. UKRI has an important role in this but is not the only delivery partner

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of student loans issued in each of last five years for which data is available were for students with settled status, expressed in (a) monetary terms and (b) number of students.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department is not able to provide the requested data on settled status in the required timescale.

Settled status is a residency category, which is data held by the Student Loans Company (SLC).

However, changes in the application process over time, including the transition to electronic applications and introduction of new products, systems and processes in line with the legislation, mean that data held for earlier cohorts is held differently across multiple SLC systems.

As a result, it is not currently possible to produce robust settled status data within the required timescales. The department and the SLC are undertaking work to improve the quality and consistency of data provided.

Once this work is complete, the department expects to be able to provide information in response to such questions.

The department is not able to provide the requested data on immigration status. The SLC does not hold immigration status data. Immigration status data is held by the Home Office and is used by the SLC as part of the assessment for loan eligibility. However, as the SLC does not hold immigration status data in their own systems, this breakdown cannot be provided.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of student loans issued in each of the last five years for which data is available were for students with a non-Common Travel Area immigration status.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department is not able to provide the requested data on settled status in the required timescale.

Settled status is a residency category, which is data held by the Student Loans Company (SLC).

However, changes in the application process over time, including the transition to electronic applications and introduction of new products, systems and processes in line with the legislation, mean that data held for earlier cohorts is held differently across multiple SLC systems.

As a result, it is not currently possible to produce robust settled status data within the required timescales. The department and the SLC are undertaking work to improve the quality and consistency of data provided.

Once this work is complete, the department expects to be able to provide information in response to such questions.

The department is not able to provide the requested data on immigration status. The SLC does not hold immigration status data. Immigration status data is held by the Home Office and is used by the SLC as part of the assessment for loan eligibility. However, as the SLC does not hold immigration status data in their own systems, this breakdown cannot be provided.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the student loan outlay is by immigration status of the student cohort for the last five years for which data is available.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department is not able to provide the requested data on settled status in the required timescale.

Settled status is a residency category, which is data held by the Student Loans Company (SLC).

However, changes in the application process over time, including the transition to electronic applications and introduction of new products, systems and processes in line with the legislation, mean that data held for earlier cohorts is held differently across multiple SLC systems.

As a result, it is not currently possible to produce robust settled status data within the required timescales. The department and the SLC are undertaking work to improve the quality and consistency of data provided.

Once this work is complete, the department expects to be able to provide information in response to such questions.

The department is not able to provide the requested data on immigration status. The SLC does not hold immigration status data. Immigration status data is held by the Home Office and is used by the SLC as part of the assessment for loan eligibility. However, as the SLC does not hold immigration status data in their own systems, this breakdown cannot be provided.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2026 to Question 119270 on Ammunition: Lead, if she will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of a decrease in demand for ammunition containing lead following the introduction of proposed restrictions on commercial ammunition on a) the availability, b) the price, and c) the reliability of ammunition containing lead intended to be used for law enforcement purposes.

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

The decision to restrict the use of Lead in Ammunition under UK REACH was made following a consideration of the risk, the availability of alternatives and the socio-economic impacts. The UK REACH Restriction on lead in ammunition does not include the use of lead ammunition by the military, police, government security services, private maritime security companies and for border force purposes including storage. My officials have engaged with the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence on this restriction.

The UK REACH restriction gives a three-year transition period for most uses to allow users and suppliers time to adapt to the restriction. There are also several derogations and exemptions for continued use of lead ammunition after the ban comes into effect. Lead bullets can continue to be used at outdoor shooting ranges that meet the conditions necessary for the derogation. It is estimated that over 90% of shooting ranges will be able to meet these conditions. The majority of lead bullets used in the UK are used at outdoor shooting ranges. The use of small calibre bullets for live quarry shooting is not included in the restriction.

GB manufacturers can continue to manufacture and sell lead ammunition for non-civilian purposes that are not in scope of the restriction. GB manufacturers will be able to continue to export lead ammunition overseas. Lead ammunition can be imported for unrestricted uses.

The existing UK supply of lead rimfire bullets is a mix of domestic production and imports, while the supply of UK lead centrefire bullets is understood to be imported from abroad.

There is an opportunity for GB companies to innovate and secure economic growth in manufacturing non-lead ammunition more widely.

I would be happy to meet with the Rt Hon. Member.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2026 to Question 119270 on Ammunition: Lead, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of a decrease in the size of UK orders for ammunition containing lead following the introduction of proposed restrictions on commercial ammunition on a) the ability for the UK to attract overseas orders of ammunition containing lead used for law enforcement purposes, and b) the price of such orders.

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

The decision to restrict the use of Lead in Ammunition under UK REACH was made following a consideration of the risk, the availability of alternatives and the socio-economic impacts. The UK REACH Restriction on lead in ammunition does not include the use of lead ammunition by the military, police, government security services, private maritime security companies and for border force purposes including storage. My officials have engaged with the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence on this restriction.

The UK REACH restriction gives a three-year transition period for most uses to allow users and suppliers time to adapt to the restriction. There are also several derogations and exemptions for continued use of lead ammunition after the ban comes into effect. Lead bullets can continue to be used at outdoor shooting ranges that meet the conditions necessary for the derogation. It is estimated that over 90% of shooting ranges will be able to meet these conditions. The majority of lead bullets used in the UK are used at outdoor shooting ranges. The use of small calibre bullets for live quarry shooting is not included in the restriction.

GB manufacturers can continue to manufacture and sell lead ammunition for non-civilian purposes that are not in scope of the restriction. GB manufacturers will be able to continue to export lead ammunition overseas. Lead ammunition can be imported for unrestricted uses.

The existing UK supply of lead rimfire bullets is a mix of domestic production and imports, while the supply of UK lead centrefire bullets is understood to be imported from abroad.

There is an opportunity for GB companies to innovate and secure economic growth in manufacturing non-lead ammunition more widely.

I would be happy to meet with the Rt Hon. Member.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2026 to Question 119270 on Ammunition: Lead, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to ensure, following the introduction of restrictions on the production of ammunition containing lead for commercial purposes, that ammunition containing lead intended to be used for law enforcement purposes is a) available, b) affordable, and c) timely.

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

The decision to restrict the use of Lead in Ammunition under UK REACH was made following a consideration of the risk, the availability of alternatives and the socio-economic impacts. The UK REACH Restriction on lead in ammunition does not include the use of lead ammunition by the military, police, government security services, private maritime security companies and for border force purposes including storage. My officials have engaged with the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence on this restriction.

The UK REACH restriction gives a three-year transition period for most uses to allow users and suppliers time to adapt to the restriction. There are also several derogations and exemptions for continued use of lead ammunition after the ban comes into effect. Lead bullets can continue to be used at outdoor shooting ranges that meet the conditions necessary for the derogation. It is estimated that over 90% of shooting ranges will be able to meet these conditions. The majority of lead bullets used in the UK are used at outdoor shooting ranges. The use of small calibre bullets for live quarry shooting is not included in the restriction.

GB manufacturers can continue to manufacture and sell lead ammunition for non-civilian purposes that are not in scope of the restriction. GB manufacturers will be able to continue to export lead ammunition overseas. Lead ammunition can be imported for unrestricted uses.

The existing UK supply of lead rimfire bullets is a mix of domestic production and imports, while the supply of UK lead centrefire bullets is understood to be imported from abroad.

There is an opportunity for GB companies to innovate and secure economic growth in manufacturing non-lead ammunition more widely.

I would be happy to meet with the Rt Hon. Member.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2026 to Question 119270 on Ammunition: Lead, if she will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of the proposed restrictions on commercial ammunition containing lead on UK sovereign capability to supply ammunition for law enforcement purposes.

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

The decision to restrict the use of Lead in Ammunition under UK REACH was made following a consideration of the risk, the availability of alternatives and the socio-economic impacts. The UK REACH Restriction on lead in ammunition does not include the use of lead ammunition by the military, police, government security services, private maritime security companies and for border force purposes including storage. My officials have engaged with the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence on this restriction.

The UK REACH restriction gives a three-year transition period for most uses to allow users and suppliers time to adapt to the restriction. There are also several derogations and exemptions for continued use of lead ammunition after the ban comes into effect. Lead bullets can continue to be used at outdoor shooting ranges that meet the conditions necessary for the derogation. It is estimated that over 90% of shooting ranges will be able to meet these conditions. The majority of lead bullets used in the UK are used at outdoor shooting ranges. The use of small calibre bullets for live quarry shooting is not included in the restriction.

GB manufacturers can continue to manufacture and sell lead ammunition for non-civilian purposes that are not in scope of the restriction. GB manufacturers will be able to continue to export lead ammunition overseas. Lead ammunition can be imported for unrestricted uses.

The existing UK supply of lead rimfire bullets is a mix of domestic production and imports, while the supply of UK lead centrefire bullets is understood to be imported from abroad.

There is an opportunity for GB companies to innovate and secure economic growth in manufacturing non-lead ammunition more widely.

I would be happy to meet with the Rt Hon. Member.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2026 to Question 119270 on Ammunition: Lead, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of restrictions on the production of ammunition containing lead for commercial purposes on the number of ammunition manufacturers who continue to produce bullets containing lead.

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

The decision to restrict the use of Lead in Ammunition under UK REACH was made following a consideration of the risk, the availability of alternatives and the socio-economic impacts. The UK REACH Restriction on lead in ammunition does not include the use of lead ammunition by the military, police, government security services, private maritime security companies and for border force purposes including storage. My officials have engaged with the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence on this restriction.

The UK REACH restriction gives a three-year transition period for most uses to allow users and suppliers time to adapt to the restriction. There are also several derogations and exemptions for continued use of lead ammunition after the ban comes into effect. Lead bullets can continue to be used at outdoor shooting ranges that meet the conditions necessary for the derogation. It is estimated that over 90% of shooting ranges will be able to meet these conditions. The majority of lead bullets used in the UK are used at outdoor shooting ranges. The use of small calibre bullets for live quarry shooting is not included in the restriction.

GB manufacturers can continue to manufacture and sell lead ammunition for non-civilian purposes that are not in scope of the restriction. GB manufacturers will be able to continue to export lead ammunition overseas. Lead ammunition can be imported for unrestricted uses.

The existing UK supply of lead rimfire bullets is a mix of domestic production and imports, while the supply of UK lead centrefire bullets is understood to be imported from abroad.

There is an opportunity for GB companies to innovate and secure economic growth in manufacturing non-lead ammunition more widely.

I would be happy to meet with the Rt Hon. Member.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2026 to Question 119270 on Ammunition: Lead, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of restrictions on the production of ammunition containing lead for commercial purposes on a) the availability, b) the price, and c) the reliability of ammunition containing lead intended to be used for law enforcement purposes.

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

The decision to restrict the use of Lead in Ammunition under UK REACH was made following a consideration of the risk, the availability of alternatives and the socio-economic impacts. The UK REACH Restriction on lead in ammunition does not include the use of lead ammunition by the military, police, government security services, private maritime security companies and for border force purposes including storage. My officials have engaged with the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence on this restriction.

The UK REACH restriction gives a three-year transition period for most uses to allow users and suppliers time to adapt to the restriction. There are also several derogations and exemptions for continued use of lead ammunition after the ban comes into effect. Lead bullets can continue to be used at outdoor shooting ranges that meet the conditions necessary for the derogation. It is estimated that over 90% of shooting ranges will be able to meet these conditions. The majority of lead bullets used in the UK are used at outdoor shooting ranges. The use of small calibre bullets for live quarry shooting is not included in the restriction.

GB manufacturers can continue to manufacture and sell lead ammunition for non-civilian purposes that are not in scope of the restriction. GB manufacturers will be able to continue to export lead ammunition overseas. Lead ammunition can be imported for unrestricted uses.

The existing UK supply of lead rimfire bullets is a mix of domestic production and imports, while the supply of UK lead centrefire bullets is understood to be imported from abroad.

There is an opportunity for GB companies to innovate and secure economic growth in manufacturing non-lead ammunition more widely.

I would be happy to meet with the Rt Hon. Member.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential implications for its policies of the contribution of Sudanese diaspora student activists in atrocity prevention initiatives in Sudan.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Ministers and officials continue to meet on a regular basis with a wide range of Sudanese civil society and diaspora groups in the UK and across the region to listen to their concerns, gain their valuable insights, and help to build an inclusive, united approach for transitioning to a civilian-led government once a lasting ceasefire is in place.

Most recently, on 9 March, Minister for International Development and Africa, Baroness Chapman, met with a number of NGOs, including diaspora representatives, to discuss how to strengthen humanitarian access and overcome restrictions on the entry of aid, as well as how best to drive forward our work to protect civilians and hold perpetrators to account in Sudan, through the UK-led Coalition for Atrocity Prevention.

On 24 February, the UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls, Baroness Harriet Harman, also hosted an event in Berlin to discuss how to stop Violence Against Women and Girls in Sudan, consulting Sudanese activists and diaspora members, civil society representatives, UK and German policymakers and international partners. The event provided a platform for Sudanese women to inform UK and German thinking ahead of the April International Sudan Conference in Berlin.

The policy changes raised by the Rt Hon Member are a matter for the Home Office, along with any assessment of their impact.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential implications for its policies of the contribution of Sudanese diaspora student activists in pro-peace initiatives in Sudan.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Ministers and officials continue to meet on a regular basis with a wide range of Sudanese civil society and diaspora groups in the UK and across the region to listen to their concerns, gain their valuable insights, and help to build an inclusive, united approach for transitioning to a civilian-led government once a lasting ceasefire is in place.

Most recently, on 9 March, Minister for International Development and Africa, Baroness Chapman, met with a number of NGOs, including diaspora representatives, to discuss how to strengthen humanitarian access and overcome restrictions on the entry of aid, as well as how best to drive forward our work to protect civilians and hold perpetrators to account in Sudan, through the UK-led Coalition for Atrocity Prevention.

On 24 February, the UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls, Baroness Harriet Harman, also hosted an event in Berlin to discuss how to stop Violence Against Women and Girls in Sudan, consulting Sudanese activists and diaspora members, civil society representatives, UK and German policymakers and international partners. The event provided a platform for Sudanese women to inform UK and German thinking ahead of the April International Sudan Conference in Berlin.

The policy changes raised by the Rt Hon Member are a matter for the Home Office, along with any assessment of their impact.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the outcomes from the Chevening Scholarship program for Sudanese nationals.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Ministers and officials continue to meet on a regular basis with a wide range of Sudanese civil society and diaspora groups in the UK and across the region to listen to their concerns, gain their valuable insights, and help to build an inclusive, united approach for transitioning to a civilian-led government once a lasting ceasefire is in place.

Most recently, on 9 March, Minister for International Development and Africa, Baroness Chapman, met with a number of NGOs, including diaspora representatives, to discuss how to strengthen humanitarian access and overcome restrictions on the entry of aid, as well as how best to drive forward our work to protect civilians and hold perpetrators to account in Sudan, through the UK-led Coalition for Atrocity Prevention.

On 24 February, the UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls, Baroness Harriet Harman, also hosted an event in Berlin to discuss how to stop Violence Against Women and Girls in Sudan, consulting Sudanese activists and diaspora members, civil society representatives, UK and German policymakers and international partners. The event provided a platform for Sudanese women to inform UK and German thinking ahead of the April International Sudan Conference in Berlin.

The policy changes raised by the Rt Hon Member are a matter for the Home Office, along with any assessment of their impact.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she had with Cabinet colleagues prior to the recent decision concerning Sudanese student visas.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Ministers and officials continue to meet on a regular basis with a wide range of Sudanese civil society and diaspora groups in the UK and across the region to listen to their concerns, gain their valuable insights, and help to build an inclusive, united approach for transitioning to a civilian-led government once a lasting ceasefire is in place.

Most recently, on 9 March, Minister for International Development and Africa, Baroness Chapman, met with a number of NGOs, including diaspora representatives, to discuss how to strengthen humanitarian access and overcome restrictions on the entry of aid, as well as how best to drive forward our work to protect civilians and hold perpetrators to account in Sudan, through the UK-led Coalition for Atrocity Prevention.

On 24 February, the UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls, Baroness Harriet Harman, also hosted an event in Berlin to discuss how to stop Violence Against Women and Girls in Sudan, consulting Sudanese activists and diaspora members, civil society representatives, UK and German policymakers and international partners. The event provided a platform for Sudanese women to inform UK and German thinking ahead of the April International Sudan Conference in Berlin.

The policy changes raised by the Rt Hon Member are a matter for the Home Office, along with any assessment of their impact.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of the prison population is made up of foreign national offenders; and how many foreign national offenders have been removed from the UK in the last 12 months.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

As of 31 December 2025, Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) made up 12% of the prison population of England and Wales. This is the latest available published data and can be found at Table 1_Q_11 in the attached link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6978d8c475d4437096552064/prison-population-31-Dec-2025.ods

The Home Office are responsible for the removal of FNOs, and their latest published data shows that between 1 February 2025 and 31 January 2026 there were 5,689 FNOs removed of which 3,044 were removed under the Early Removal Scheme. The full data can be found here: Returns from the UK between 1 December 2022 and 31 January 2026 - GOV.UK

All Foreign National Offenders who receive a prison sentence in the UK are referred for deportation at the earliest opportunity and will be barred from ever returning to the UK. Deportations of foreign national offenders including murderers and rapists are up 32%, with more than 8,700 deported since this Government came into power.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's policy paper entitled A National Plan to End Homelessness, published on 11 December 2025, what assessment she has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of adding homelessness prevention targets for (a) the Home Office (b) the Department for Work and Pensions.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The National Plan to End Homelessness announces a long-term ambition that no one should leave a public institution into homelessness. This parliament we will take the first steps towards this through joint cross-government targets to reduce the number of people leaving institutions into homelessness.

The Home Office have committed to strengthen data sharing processes with councils for 100% of newly granted refugees at risk of homelessness within two days of an asylum discontinuation of support notification. This supports early intervention by enabling councils to commence homelessness assessments.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the Home Office on the number of children in care going missing due to child exploitation.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government takes the issue of any child going missing, from home or care, extremely seriously. Local safeguarding partners should work together to reduce the chances of children going missing and respond effectively when they do. The department has provided statutory guidance about responsibilities for children who go missing. Our ‘Working together to safeguard children’ statutory guidance sets out the importance of sharing information and that practitioners should be alert to those who frequently go missing.

The latest relevant publication covers 2021 to 2025 and is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions/2025 (data for earlier years is in previous releases, changes in the way data is reported means comparisons over time should not be made). In 2025, 86,900 missing incidents were reported for 12,720 looked after children (11%), an average (mean) of 6.8 missing incidents per child who went missing. Most (91%) missing incidents lasted for two days or less.

The department also published ad hoc statistics, which indicated that going or being missing may be a co-occurring factor for some children who have experienced sexual exploitation. Just over a third (34%) of children assessed as having been affected by sexual exploitation were also assessed as at risk of going missing.

The department is working to reduce the number of children who go missing. Measures from the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill and Crime and Policing Bill, reforms being delivered through the Families First Partnership Programme (supported by £2.4 billion), updates to the ‘Working together to safeguard children’ statutory guidance, and oversight from the Keeping Children Safe ministerial board will ensure that we better respond when children go missing and intervene earlier to tackle the underlying drivers.

Officials engage with stakeholders, including Missing. A senior civil servant from the department attended the recent All-Party Parliamentary Group for Missing Children and Adults interactive parliamentary session.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the Child Poverty Strategy, published on 5 December 2025, what steps they are taking to ensure that the target to end the discharge of newborn babies into bed and breakfast accommodation or other unsuitable shared housing applies to all families, including those seeking asylum and those subject to no recourse to public funds.

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

The Government has committed to ending the practice of discharging newborn babies into bed and breakfast or other unsuitable shared accommodation through the Child Poverty Strategy, which has now been published. We are working closely across the Government, including with the Home Office, to consider its implementation and any other associated impacts.

Asylum seeking families can access some of the support set out in the Child Poverty Strategy, including Best Start Family Hubs in England.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to introduce a formalised interdepartmental framework to help prevent gaps in planning between her Department and the Home Office on issues with potential animal‑welfare impacts.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

A formalised interdepartmental framework is not required. Defra works closely with the Home Office across a range of policy areas where there are potential animal welfare impacts. Moreover, Government policy proposals are subject to the standard processes of collective agreement which provides a further opportunity for departments to coordinate effectively and ensure that any cross-cutting issues are fully considered.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the non-technical summaries for project licences granted in October – December 2025, what steps she is taking to phase out the use of animals in science.

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

On 11th November 2025 the government published “Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods” which outlines the steps we will take to achieve this. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/replacing-animals-in-science-strategy/replacing-animals-in-science-a-strategy-to-support-the-development-validation-and-uptake-of-alternative-methods(opens in a new tab) ).

The Home Office publishes non-technical summaries (NTS) for every project licence granted under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. The non-technical summaries include the species and number of animals expected to be used over the duration of the project licence.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what checks have been carried out in the last twelve months on student loans awarded to people enrolling at UK Universities whose country of origin was Romania.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

To qualify for support, applicants must provide the Student Loans Company (SLC) with evidence of their eligibility. This includes evidence of their identity, immigration status and ordinary residence.

SLC have robust procedures in place to check student finance eligibility, including data-sharing with the Home Office and HM Passport Office. When required, the SLC will contact the Home Office to confirm an applicant’s immigration status and ordinary residence.

SLC makes payments of loans to students on courses at higher education providers (HEPs) and HEPs in England must be registered with the Office for Students (OfS) before students are eligible to access funding. SLC monitors applications for student finance and works with the department and the OfS to protect public money.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support he is giving to local authorities in Staffordshire to take enforcement action against the sale of a) tobacco b) fruit flavoured vapes and c) alcohol to under 18s.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is supporting local authorities to take enforcement action against the underage sales of tobacco, vapes, and alcohol.

On tobacco and vapes, the Government is providing up to £10 million annually until 2028/29 for Trading Standards, to support the enforcement of illicit and underage sales in England. This funding is being used to boost the Trading Standards workforce by recruiting 120 new apprentices, including one apprentice in Staffordshire, enabling more underage sales test purchases and swifter enforcement action against illicit activity.

Alongside this, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will introduce £200 fixed penalty notices in England and Wales for certain tobacco and vape offences, including underage sales, to empower Trading Standards to take swifter action to fine those who choose to break the law and sell to anyone underage, putting the public’s health at risk. The bill will also provide ministers in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland with regulation making powers to introduce a licensing scheme for the retail sale of tobacco, vapes, and nicotine products. This will strengthen enforcement against retailers who breach tobacco and vape age of sale regulations.

On alcohol, the Home Office supports local authorities through the Licensing Act 2003 and Section 182 guidance, which require licensed premises to operate a mandatory age verification policy at the point of sale. Enforcement of underage sales rests with local licensing authorities, Trading Standards, and the police, who can prosecute, including for persistent sales, and seek licence reviews or revocation to protect children from harm.

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