Home Office

The Home Office uses its Escorting and Related Services Contract with Mitie Care and Custody to effect Returns of persons with no right to remain within the UK. The costs of this contract are routinely published as part of the Home Office Transparency data, and can be found at Home Office spending - GOV.UK.

The information you have required is not available from published statistics.

When an individual claims asylum, the Home Office will conduct mandatory identity, criminality and security checks. Biographic and biometric data are checked against relevant Home Office systems and police criminality databases including domestic and international data.

No one in the UK, including foreign nationals, asylum seekers or refugees, is above the law. Asylum seekers are clearly advised of the expectations the Home Office and accommodation providers have for them to behave responsibly while they are accommodated in Home Office properties and not to engage in any form of criminal or anti-social activity.

Criminality in the UK would normally be an operational matter for local law enforcement. Police forces do work with a wide range of partner agencies including the National Crime Agency as appropriate to investigate and disrupt crime as or when it occurs so as to protect local communities from harm.

All asylum seekers processed through Manston undergo mandatory identity and security checks before they are bailed to appropriate asylum accommodation. We capture the given identity, and biometric (facial and fingerprint) data. This biographic and biometric data is checked and compared against relevant Home Office systems and police criminality databases, including domestic and international data so we can establish whether the person is a threat to public safety.

When bailing asylum seekers from Manston, the Home Office assesses each case individually to impose appropriate bail conditions. Further information on the powers to grant immigration bail and impose bail conditions can be found in published guidance: Immigration bail (accessible) - GOV.UK.

Detention plays a key role in maintaining effective immigration controls and securing the UK’s borders, particularly in connection with the removal of people who have no right to remain in the UK but who refuse to leave voluntarily.

A range of safety and security safeguards operate in all immigration removal centres (IRCs) to ensure the safety of all individuals detained, staff and visitors. This includes physical security measures, dynamic security, use of intelligence and a range of strategies and policies to deal with anti-social behaviour, bullying, self-harm and violence.

We do not tolerate any kind of criminal activity in our IRCs, and any allegation of crime is immediately reported to the police for investigation.

Every project application to use animals in science is subject to a robust and rigorous harm benefit assessment by a trained Home Office Inspector whom is a member of either the veterinary or medical profession. This ensures that any harm that may be caused to the animals is justified by the likely expected benefits for humans, animals or the environment. This project is researching basic neuroscience. The research aims to inform fundamental understanding of how neural networks work in healthy adults, and how this is altered by experience during adolescence.

Applications for animal research must conform with all legal requirements set out in the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. This includes, applying the principles of the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement).

The Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) is engaging with stakeholders to finalise a strategy to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of alternatives to animal testing which is scheduled for publication later this year.

AI is being used for a range of purposes in the Home Office to improve business delivery as part of overall digital improvements in the department with well-established systems such as e-Gates, to allow entry at the Border; in our passport service, to support online applications; triage tools, which route cases to the appropriate teams; and the Child Abuse Image Database (CAID) Classifier, which helps police officers grade child sexual abuse material (CSAM) more swiftly and reduces their exposure time to harmful content

The Home Office continues to introduce AI tools, including the rollout of Microsoft Copilot to assist in day-to-day activities. We have also provided bespoke tools to specific teams to support asylum decision making.

We are also running several AI trials to test their potential for wider productivity and quality improvements in existing business processes.

The requested information on asylum claims being accepted based on religious conversion is not available from published statistics and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

The Home Office publishes data on initial decisions on asylum claims in table Asy_D02 of the 'Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release' on GOV.UK. The latest data relates to the year ending June 2025. Between July 2020 and June 2025, 165,551 people have been granted protection or other leave at initial decision. There is no breakdown by religion available.

All asylum claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with the Immigration Rules. This means that religious conversions do not guarantee a grant of refugee status.

All asylum and human rights claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations, meaning religious conversions do not guarantee a grant of refugee status.

Home Office policy guidance provides a framework for considering asylum claims and assessing credibility. When assessing claims based on religious persecution, caseworkers are expected to ask appropriate and sensitive questions to explore a claimant’s personal experiences and journey to their new faith and gather evidence of current religious practice.

Our processes are underpinned by a robust quality assurance review process. Decision makers and quality assessors must adhere to the interview and decision marking standards, which are shared with caseworkers to improve understanding when receiving feedback.

We have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders to help us to improve our policy guidance, training for asylum decision-makers, and to ensure we approach claims involving religious conversion in the appropriate way.

All asylum and human rights claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations, meaning religious conversions do not guarantee a grant of refugee status.

Home Office policy guidance provides a framework for considering asylum claims and assessing credibility. When assessing claims based on religious persecution, caseworkers are expected to ask appropriate and sensitive questions to explore a claimant’s personal experiences and journey to their new faith and gather evidence of current religious practice.

Our processes are underpinned by a robust quality assurance review process. Decision makers and quality assessors must adhere to the interview and decision marking standards, which are shared with caseworkers to improve understanding when receiving feedback.

We have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders to help us to improve our policy guidance, training for asylum decision-makers, and to ensure we approach claims involving religious conversion in the appropriate way.

This Government recognises that men and boys experience abusive and violent crimes, such as stalking, domestic abuse, and sexual violence, and we are committed to ensuring that male victims and survivors get the support that they need. The Home Office and the Ministry of Justice fund organisations such as Respect, Galop, SignHealth, and Hourglass, which provide essential support to male victims. This includes the Men’s Advice Line, run by Respect, which offers vital support to male victims of domestic abuse.

Following the Chancellor’s announcement on 11 June, we are continuing to work through the details of government funding for tackling VAWG over the 2026–2029 Spending Review period.

We are working tirelessly across government to deliver the VAWG Strategy. It is vital that we get this right, and we are committed to publishing the Strategy as soon as possible.

This Government recognises that men and boys experience abusive and violent crimes, such as stalking, domestic abuse, and sexual violence, and we are committed to ensuring that male victims and survivors get the support that they need. The Home Office and the Ministry of Justice fund organisations such as Respect, Galop, SignHealth, and Hourglass, which provide essential support to male victims. This includes the Men’s Advice Line, run by Respect, which offers vital support to male victims of domestic abuse.

Following the Chancellor’s announcement on 11 June, we are continuing to work through the details of government funding for tackling VAWG over the 2026–2029 Spending Review period.

We are working tirelessly across government to deliver the VAWG Strategy. It is vital that we get this right, and we are committed to publishing the Strategy as soon as possible.

We know that most abuse is perpetrated by someone known to the victim. The Office for National Statistics published data from its Crime Survey for England and Wales in relation to child sexual abuse. The survey found that most abuse was perpetrated by someone known to the victim. Just over a third (35%) reported abuse by a family member taken as a: mother, father, step-parent, carer/guardian, or other family member.

Furthermore, 37% of those who had been a victim of contact sexual abuse said it had happened in their own home, and a further 40% in someone else’s home. This broadly aligns with data from IICSA’s Truth Project where 42% of victims and survivors who shared their experience said the abuse happened in the family home.

The Government is taking swift, decisive action to address all form of child sexual abuse and ensure perpetrators are brought to justice. As part of this, we recognise the need to improve how safeguarding agencies protect and support children at risk of sexual abuse within the family home.

We have committed to implementing the seven recommendations from the national Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel’s review into child sexual abuse in the family environment. In doing so, we will:

• Implement new standards for child and family social work practice, placing greater emphasis on child protection, through delivering a national rollout of a new social work induction programme for all those entering the profession.
• Develop new standards and training for advanced child protection social work to build expertise and help embed lead child protection practitioner roles.
• Develop specialist child sexual abuse and exploitation training for social workers and other key members of the children’s services workforce, including family help workers.
• Commission two Practice Guides for leaders and practitioners on how to prevent child sexual abuse and exploitation and how to support victims.
• Legislate for multi-agency child protection teams (MACPTs) to strengthen multi- agency working and decision making.
• Make any necessary amendments to Working Together 2023 at its next update, which includes clear guidance on multi-agency child protection expectations and standards, as well as on section 47 enquiries and other child protection processes.
• Deliver the national roll out of family help and child protection reforms from April 2025, supported by guidance which includes expectations around multi- agency leadership, practice and information, including in the child protection system.
• Improve multi-agency information sharing, including through introducing provision for a single unique identifier for children and information sharing duty that provides a clear legal basis to share information for the purposes of safeguarding.
• Work with NHS England and public health commissioners to audit pathways and services for child sexual abuse victims within relevant health settings.

Through the Crime and Policing Bill we are introducing a mandatory duty to report child sexual abuse. It will require anyone taking part in relevant activity with children in England (such as teachers, healthcare professionals and sports coaches) to report to the authorities if they are made aware that a child is being sexually abused.

The new National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection launched in April 2025 will improve the police response to child protection and violence against women and girls.

We have committed further funding to the independent Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse to improve the ability of professionals in policing, health, local authorities, and multi-agency partnerships, to identify and respond effectively to all forms of child sexual abuse through the provision of evidence-based training and practice resources.

The scale of violence against women and girls in our country is intolerable and this Government is treating it as the national emergency that it is.

The Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy will set out the Government’s strategic direction and the concrete actions required to deliver on our ambition to halve VAWG within a decade. This has been underpinned by a robust analytical sprint and a Theory of Change, ensuring our approach is grounded in the best available evidence.

The Strategy recognises the need for a whole-system approach to tackling VAWG. We have worked collaboratively across government departments to develop policies that support this ambition and drive meaningful change.

Following the Chancellor’s announcement on 11 June, we are continuing to work through the details of government funding for tackling VAWG over the 2026–2029 Spending Review period.

We are working tirelessly across government to deliver the VAWG Strategy. It is vital that we get this right, and we are committed to publishing the Strategy as soon as possible.

The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the number of police officer leavers in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin.

Information on the length of service of leavers is available in table JL6 of the data tables accompanying the publication.

Table 1: Police officer leavers (headcount) by length of service in the year ending 31 March 2025, England and Wales.

Note:

1. Excludes transfers to another force

The retention of all officers, both new recruits and experienced officers remain essential to increasing public confidence in policing. This is why forces should be using strong evidence-based strategies to support retention and progression of existing officers, as well as continuing to recruit new officers using high quality recruitment processes that maintain standards.

The Home Office is committed to ensuring that the use of animals in scientific research is strictly regulated and is only permitted where no suitable alternatives are available. In parallel, the Government is committed to working towards a vision of phasing out the use of animals in science. The Government will publish a strategy that describes how it will accelerate the development and uptake of alternative methods to animal research and testing later this year.

The Home Office has not made such an assessment. The police have a duty to pursue all reasonable lines of enquiry, as set out in The Code of Practice to The Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996.

However, the police are operationally independent from Government and would be best placed to make decisions on the most appropriate course of action according to the specific circumstances of a case they are investigating.

Visa penalties, as outlined in section 70 of Nationality and Borders Act 2022 (Nationality And Borders Act 2022), may be imposed on a country which, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, does not cooperate with the UK in relation to the return of its nationals who do not have a legal right to be in the UK.

These provisions have not been used since their introduction in 2022. But we will use all levers available to ensure the removal of those with no right to remain in the UK, including visa penalties where necessary, and will do whatever it takes to secure the UK’s border.

The Government is committed to making the state more efficient and easier to interact with through harnessing technology. We want to learn from countries who have digitised government services for the benefit of their citizens.

The Government will announce further details in due course.

The Government is committed to ensuring high street businesses such as candy retail stores are not exploited by criminals conducting illicit activity such as money laundering or tax evasion.

The Government’s approach to tackling money laundering is set out in the Economic Crime Plan 2 which includes action to disrupt cash-based money laundering and strengthen system wide coordination. The Government, working in partnership with law enforcement and other agencies, is closely monitoring the level of illicit activity in the high street and actively considering whether further systemic interventions are needed to tackle this threat.

Operationally, in March 2025, the National Economic Crime Centre in the National Crime Agency, coordinated a three-week crackdown against barbershops and other cash intensive businesses involving 19 different police forces and Regional Organised Crime Units, as well as national agencies including HMRC, Trading Standards and Home Office Immigration Enforcement. In total, 380 premises were visited across the three-week operation, with officers securing freezing orders over bank accounts totalling more than £1m, executing 84 warrants and arrested 35 individuals. Officers also seized more than £40,000 in cash, 200,000 cigarettes, 7,000 packs of tobacco, over 8,000 illegal vapes and two vehicles.

This is the first phase of targeted action against criminals and organised crime groups who use high-street businesses to launder criminal monies.

The Statutory Guidance does not require medical assessments for firearms certificate holders every six months. When applying for a certificate, or making a renewal every five years, an applicant is required to supply a medical report from their GP or another doctor. Subsequently, certificate holders must advise the police if they are diagnosed with, or treated for, a relevant medical condition.

In addition, and as part of the medical arrangements for firearms licensing, GPs are asked to place a marker on the medical records of those who hold a firearms certificate. This marker prompts the GP to alert the police if the certificate holder is diagnosed with a relevant medical condition at any time during the validity the certificate.

All police forces in England and Wales are subject to the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA) which requires employers to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of their employees and to ensure their activities do not adversely affect the health and safety of other people. Since 1998, Chief Constables are deemed the employers of police officers and police staff and it is therefore their responsibility to ensure their force complies with the HSWA.

The HSWA places a duty on the police to carry out robust risk assessments which identify significant risks to both policing personnel and the public and set out safe systems of work which specify appropriate control measures, equipment and competencies. This duty applies to police operations in older and derelict buildings where asbestos may be present.

Asylum-seeking victims must be treated as victims, first and foremost. We recognise the challenges asylum-seeking victims of VAWG can face and the VAWG Strategy will include more detail on our approach to migrant victims of VAWG. It is vital that we get this right, and we are committed to publishing the Strategy as soon as possible.

There is no published data for the costs of the evacuation and relocation of Palestinian students from Gaza to the UK in 2025.

On 12 May, the Government published our Immigration White Paper, outlining our future approach to legal migration routes. On 22 July the first phase of changes took effect, including raising the threshold for Skilled Worker visas to graduate level occupations.

Prison service officers are classed as a medium skilled role and are not on the Temporary Shortage List (TSL) or Immigration Salary List (ISL). Therefore, workers with general work rights will not be able to switch to the Skilled Worker route.

Those on Skilled Worker visas before 22 July 2025 and who need to extend their stay can continue to apply in medium skilled roles and will have to meet the salary requirements in place at the time they apply.

It is our intention to publish an Impact Assessment (IA) at the earliest opportunity. A technical annex (www.gov.uk/government/publications/restoring-control-over-the-immigration-system-white-paper/restoring-control-over-the-immigration-system-technical-annex) was published alongside the Immigration White Paper setting out the impact of some of the key policy changes.

The suspension of the refugee family reunion route is temporary while the Government undertakes a full review and reform of the current family rules to ensure we have a fair and properly balanced system. In the meantime, those with protection status can use other family routes to sponsor a partner and child to come to the UK. Information relating to these changes are published on gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statement-of-changes-to-the-immigration-rules-hc-1298-4-september-2025.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) applies strict compliance and benefit eligibility checks to all claimants regardless of their nationality. In addition to verifying a claimant’s identity, DWP always checks a person’s immigration status before paying them benefits if they are a foreign national. The DWP verify this information with the Home Office, including through automatic system-to-system checks, which the Home Office is increasingly rolling out to other Government departments and public authorities.

The data made available through those system-to-system checks is specific to the need of each department and contains only the necessary information to inform their decision making.

No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) is a standard condition applied to most categories of temporary immigration permission, which prevents those who are subject to immigration control from accessing certain services or benefits.

Those who are in the UK without lawful status are also prevented from accessing public funds. This includes access to Universal Credit.

The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

The Home Office does publish data on the numbers of sponsor licences that are suspended and revoked each year and can be found under the Sponsorship Transparency Data heading at: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK.

A person does not need to have a criminal conviction to be refused admission on non-conducive grounds. Examples of where a person’s presence may be non-conducive to the public good include where the person is a threat to national security, including involvement in terrorism and membership of proscribed organisation, or where the person has engaged in extremism or other unacceptable behaviour, such as the glorification of terrorism.

The Home Secretary confirmed in a statement to the House of Commons on 1 September that further information regarding Tribunal system reforms will be provided in due course. The statement can be accessed here: Borders and Asylum - Hansard - UK Parliament.

The Home Secretary confirmed in a statement to the House of Commons on 1 September that further information regarding Tribunal system reforms will be provided in due course. The statement can be accessed here: Borders and Asylum - Hansard - UK Parliament.

The Home Secretary confirmed in a statement to the House of Commons on 1 September that further information regarding Tribunal system reforms will be provided in due course. The statement can be accessed here: Borders and Asylum - Hansard - UK Parliament.

The Government is committed to supporting members of the Hong Kong community who have relocated to the UK and those who may come here in future.

I welcomed the opportunity to listen to the views of Members in the recent 8th September Westminster Hall Debate on settlement.

We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year. All will be welcome to participate. We will provide details of how the scheme will work after that consultation.

We regularly engage with representatives of the Hong Kong diaspora in the UK on issues related to the BN(O) visa and will continue to do so.

The SIA is an operationally independent arm’s length body, responsible for the service it provides, including how it manages its private prosecutions.

The organisation is already accountable to Parliament for its activities, including its financial accounts, which are audited by the National Audit Office and laid in Parliament on an annual basis.

The SIA did not bring these proceedings against Mr Bryson and was therefore not involved.

The SIA is an operationally independent arm’s length body, responsible for the service it provides, including how it manages its private prosecutions.

The organisation is already accountable to Parliament for its activities, including its financial accounts, which are audited by the National Audit Office and laid in Parliament on an annual basis.

The SIA did not bring these proceedings against Mr Bryson and was therefore not involved.

The Home Office publishes information on asylum expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts. The latest report records that expenditure on hotels was down almost a billion pounds in the last financial year.

This Government supports strong encryption, which protects our citizens online. However, this must not and need not be at the expense of public safety, which is this Government’s first priority.

Targeted investigatory powers allow the authorities to investigate terrorists, paedophiles and the most serious criminals and are subject to robust safeguards, including judicial authorisations and oversight to protect people’s privacy.

The Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February this year, included a commitment to having a consultation specifically on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns.

When launched we will welcome and carefully consider all the views put forward, including those from businesses.

The Government does not currently publish the amount of cryptocurrency restrained / recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

The Home office is reviewing plans to publish new statistics on Crypto assets as part of future annual stats bulletins on asset recovery in response to the new powers that came into effect in April 2024.

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.

We are considering the results of independent testing and assessments of the Taser 10, as you would expect, before taking a decision on whether to approve it for police use.

The government is committed to giving police the necessary tools to protect the public, prevent harm and save lives.

The management of protest activity is an operational matter for the police, who are independent of government.

While the Government is committed to protecting the public and businesses from serious disruption, ministers cannot intervene in individual cases or direct police decisions, including those relating to protests near defence firms. This operational independence is a fundamental principle of policing in the UK.

Tackling fraud is a clear priority for this Government, and I am committed to working with police forces to ensure resources are in place to effectively combat this crime and support victims.

That is why we are publishing a new, expanded Fraud Strategy to strengthen our national response to this crime.

This Government takes state threats to the UK incredibly seriously, including those posed by Iran. In concert with international partners, we will use all appropriate tools at our disposal to protect the UK, and our interests, from state threats.

In March the Government announced new measures to tackle state threats from Iran. This included placing the Iranian state, including Iran's Intelligence Services, the IRGC and MOIS, on the Enhanced Tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS). FIRS is a critical disruptive tool for the UK and went live on 1 July 2025.

The National Security Act 2023 also provides crucial powers to respond to foreign interference and we will strengthen our legislative framework where necessary, including committing to create a new state threats proscription-style tool that will further help to protect the UK.

The Office for National Statistics Open Geography Portal provides information on Lower Layer Super Output areas in England and Wales. This is available online at: https://geoportal.statistics.gov.uk/search?q=NAC_LSOA&sort=Date%20Created%7Ccreated%7Cdesc.

In relation to deprivation, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published the most recent iteration of the English Indices of Deprivation in September 2019. All data tables and resources are available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-indices-of-deprivation-2019. The Open Data Communities platform provides deprivation data at postcode level or at local authority level. This is available online at: https://imd-by-postcode.opendatacommunities.org/imd/2019.

With regards to how deprivation relates to funding decisions by the Home Office, the Department is responsible for funding a broad range of functions, services and programmes across its policing, national security and immigration remit. Decisions on how funding is deployed may consider factors such as deprivation if that is relevant based on the specific purpose and objectives of the funding stream.