Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing partial refunds for overlapping immigration health surcharges in cases where the applicant has applied to (a) extend and (b) switch their visa from outside the UK and are able to demonstrate evidence of financial harm as a result.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The new guidance being produced by the Home Office is designed to assist local authorities in supporting families with NRPF, as set out in the Child Poverty Strategy. The guidance will provide clarity around statutory duties and key safeguards for local authorities, ensuring a clear and consistent approach. The guidance does not alter the eligibility criteria for any current schemes or benefits.
Children whose families are subject to the ‘no recourse to public funds’ condition (NRPF) can currently access schemes and benefits such as free school meals, 15 hours of free childcare for disadvantaged two-year-olds and15 hours free childcare for three- to four-year-old.
The Home Office will continue to work across government where relevant to ensure that migrant children with NRPF are specifically considered when reviewing or deciding on eligibility for schemes and benefits.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the immigration health surcharge refund policy to allow for partial refunds to be made for periods of overlapping payments in cases where the applicant has applied to (a) extend and (b) switch their visa from outside the UK.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The new guidance being produced by the Home Office is designed to assist local authorities in supporting families with NRPF, as set out in the Child Poverty Strategy. The guidance will provide clarity around statutory duties and key safeguards for local authorities, ensuring a clear and consistent approach. The guidance does not alter the eligibility criteria for any current schemes or benefits.
Children whose families are subject to the ‘no recourse to public funds’ condition (NRPF) can currently access schemes and benefits such as free school meals, 15 hours of free childcare for disadvantaged two-year-olds and15 hours free childcare for three- to four-year-old.
The Home Office will continue to work across government where relevant to ensure that migrant children with NRPF are specifically considered when reviewing or deciding on eligibility for schemes and benefits.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has taken steps to review public safety at protests.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The right to peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy. The government and the police are committed to upholding the rights to freedom of expression and assembly, and for people to do so in a manner that is safe and in keeping with the law.
As part of this commitment, the Home Office continues to keep its public order legislation under constant review and will consider any further changes as may be necessary.
In keeping legislation under review, the government has previously reaffirmed the commitment to expedited post‑legislative scrutiny of the Public Order Act 2023, which began in May 2025. Separately, in November 2025, the Home Secretary announced an independent review of public order and hate crime legislation, led by Lord Macdonald of River Glaven KC. The Review will assess whether existing police powers remain effective, proportionate and used consistently, including in relation to lawful protest.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Part 3 of her Department's White paper entitled From local to national: a new model for policing White Paper, published on 26 January 2026, how many (a) strategic authority mayors and (bi) council leaders will be placed on a Policing and Crime Board.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Policing and Crime Boards will be made up of upper-tier local authority leaders, and where they are present in the force area, Strategic Authority Mayors. This will ensure that the whole force area is represented by elected individuals. The exact number will be influenced by the number of upper-tier local authorities and Strategic Authorities in that area; we anticipate Policing and Crime Boards will be between 5 to 11 members.
Policing and Crime Boards will also include two independent members, to bring unique skills and expertise. They will be required to be supported by a Policing and Crime Lead, who will exercise many of the functions of the Board on their behalf, ensuring that there is a dedicated lead for policing on a day-to-day basis.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 22 of the Police reform white paper, From Local to National: A New Model for Policing (CP1489), by when will she design new standards so that neighbourhood officers are not routinely abstracted to other areas.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Visible and responsive local policing is essential to restoring public confidence. The Government is committed to rebuilding neighbourhood policing and restoring the vital link between police forces and the communities they serve.
As part of our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, we are working with forces to develop national abstraction standards for delivery by the end of this Parliament. These will protect the additional 13,000 neighbourhood officers from being routinely abstracted so they can focus on tackling crime and anti-social behaviour in their neighbourhoods.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 22 of the Police reform white paper, From Local to National: A New Model for Policing (CP1489), by when will every neighbourhood police officer and Police Community Support Officer have completed enhanced additional training.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee (NPG) commitments were met in July 2025, including the start of the national roll out of the College of Policing’s Neighbourhood Policing Programme – Career Pathway (NPP), providing specialist training to police officers and PCSOs.
The NPG confirms by the end of this Parliament, every neighbourhood police officer and PCSO will complete enhanced additional training under the NPP, covering themes such as community engagement, problem solving and tackling ASB.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many non-UK nationals have had their permission to stay refused or cancelled under paragraphs SUI 26.1 and SUI 26.2 of Part Suitability of the Immigration Rules on the grounds of rough sleeping.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This information could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the nationality breakdown was of people subject to decisions under paragraphs SUI 26.1 and SUI 26.2 of the Part Suitability of the Immigration Rules in each year since 1 December 2020.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This information could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many non-UK nationals have been removed from the UK following a decision under paragraphs SUI 26.1 or SUI 26.2 of Part Suitability of the Immigration Rules.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This information could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Pillar 1 entitled Police Back on the Beat within the white paper entitled From local to national: a new model for policing, published on 27 January 2026, CP 1489, how many police officers constitute a team; and whether neighbourhood policing area teams would be assigned to single council wards.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee (NPG) commitments means every neighbourhood now has named, and contactable officers. The commitments were delivered in line with police forces’ existing team structures and neighbourhood areas based on local needs shaped by a range of factors, including geography, crime types, urban or rural context, and population size and density. The constitution of a neighbourhood policing team therefore varies by force.
The White Paper confirms that we will work with police forces to define and implement neighbourhood areas to ensure they are of a size that makes sense locally and are recognisable to communities. Ultimately, we aim to have neighbourhood areas aligned with local council wards.