Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to reduce the time taken for decisions to be made on applications for the (a) Protective Security for Mosques Scheme and (b) Places of Worship Protective Security Scheme.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
This Government is committed to protecting the right of individuals to freely practise their religion at their chosen place of worship, and to making our streets and communities safer.
Global and domestic events have heightened security concerns within faith communities, which has led to a significant increase in demand for protective security schemes offered by the Home Office. Additionally, following the violent disorder last year, the Home Office set up rapid security services to safeguard mosques and other places of worship. Delivering this support to a large number of places of worship has unfortunately also contributed to delays in processing applications for longer-term security measures.
I can assure you the Home Office is working as quickly as it can to process applications.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the West Midlands Police relied on false intelligence when banning Maccabi Tel Aviv football fans from an Aston Villa match.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
To ensure full independent scrutiny, the Home Secretary has commissioned His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to inspect how police forces in England and Wales provide risk assessment advice to local Safety Advisory Groups and other bodies responsible for licensing high-profile public events. HMICFRS has been asked to provide an initial response on the Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv match by 31 December.
Additionally, the Home Affairs Select Committee held an evidence session on 1 December to examine the decision-making process and intelligence assessments. The government awaits the Committee’s findings.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of measures to deter small boat crossings in the English Channel.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government’s Plan for Change sets out our ambition to secure borders and control immigration. We are committed to tackling illegal migration and the criminal networks behind it.
The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 has now received Royal Assent and the overarching impact assessment for this can be found here:
The Government is continuously monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of our measures in place to tackle small boats. As stated in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act, the Border Security Command will be publishing an annual report, which must state the Commander’s views on the performance in the financial year of the border security system. This is set out in the Act here:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/31/section/4/enacted
Border security is fundamental to both our national security and economic security and evaluating our approach is a critical part of that.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to improve border security technology at ports of entry.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Immigration White Paper, published in May 2025, sets out a range of measures to transform the border, including using technology to maintain security at ports of entry.
The introduction of a ‘universal permission to travel’ requirement means that we know more about everyone wishing to travel to the UK including Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) and eVisa holders. This will allow for more interventions to take place upstream, with enhanced data and intelligent technologies also being used to target interventions on arrival, as well as using facial comparison technology to deliver consistent identity verification. We are currently reviewing the findings of a contactless eGate pilot and will announce further information on its implementation in due course.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to address cases where DWP staff meet the annual Skilled Worker Visa salary threshold but are affected by the method used to calculate hourly pay.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
When assessing salaries for visa purposes, our approach is consistent with that taken in national minimum wage guidance, which states:
‘If you pay a salaried worker their normal salary while they are absent from work and this forms a part of their employment contract, the time of the absence counts towards the worker’s time worked for minimum wage purposes. For example, during rest breaks, lunch breaks, holidays, sickness absence or maternity / paternity / adoption leave.’
We do not plan to change our approach, as it could open up inconsistencies with wider employment regulation.
A decision on whether to amend employment contracts, so that salaries reflect the actual hours worked, would be for an employer to make.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the impact of the recent visa reforms on workforce shortages in key sectors.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government’s approach is to link migration policy and visa controls to skills and labour market policies, so that immigration is not used as an alternative to training or tackling workforce problems in the UK. This approach will be important to enabling delivery of the Government’s broader agenda.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support the freedom to pray silently in public places.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Freedom of religion or belief, and freedom of expression are fundamental human rights. The government is committed to ensuring that individuals are protected from discrimination on the basis of religion or belief, and that they are able to hold and manifest their beliefs in a reasonable and lawful manner.
Section 9 of the Public Order Act 2023 introduced safe access zones of 150 metres around all abortion clinics in England and Wales. Within these zones, it is an offence to intentionally or recklessly influence someone’s decision to use or provide abortion services, obstruct them, or cause harassment or distress.
The legislation on safe access zones does not specify behaviours; it is for the police, Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and courts, who are operationally independent, to determine whether an act meets the threshold. CPS guidance confirms that vigils or silent prayer could fall within scope depending on intent and circumstances (in annex A): https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/offences-during-protests-demonstrations-or-campaigns.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of making it a statutory requirement for police officers to record how many suicides they attend.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not collect data from police about suicides they have attended and has no current plans to do so.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been (a) investigated and (b) prosecuted for attempting to impersonate someone else on a Secure English language test in each of the last five years.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The cost of providing the information requested would result in disproportionate cost.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been (a) investigated and (b) prosecuted for cheating on Secure English language tests in each of the last five years.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The cost of providing the information requested would result in disproportionate cost.