Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of the funding over the next three years in the Freedom From Violence and Abuse Strategy is a) new funding and b) a continuation of existing funds.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The cross‑government VAWG Strategy, published on 18 December 2025, sets out the strategic direction and concrete actions to prevent violence and abuse, pursue perpetrators, and support victims — delivering our unprecedented commitment to halve VAWG within a decade.
The Strategy is underpinned by at least £1 billion of funding across government over the Spending Review period, alongside wider investment across government and existing commitments such as funding to put thousands more neighbourhood police officers on our streets.
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 data her Department collects on the religion of migrants, other than through the Census.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
UVKI do not request this information as part of the visa application process.
Asylum claimants are asked for information about their religion as part of the asylum screening (registration) process, during the substantive asylum interview and when submitting evidence in support of their claim. This information is recorded on any interview record and within the claimant’s electronic file.
As part of the asylum process, the asylum decision-maker must determine whether the claimant has a characteristic (or be perceived to have a characteristic) which could cause them to fear persecution for a ‘Convention reason’, one of which is ‘religion’. We do not publish the number of asylum claims that were made on the basis of someone’s religion.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessments of the potential impact of approving a new Chines embassy on Hong Kongers in the UK.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The decision on whether or not to approve planning permission for the proposed Chinese Embassy site at the Royal Mint Court is an independent one for the Secretary of State for the Ministry for Housing, Communities, and Local Government in his quasi-judicial role.
Protecting the public and our national security has been the key priority for the Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office during the planning process. We have made this clear in public representations to the inquiry throughout. The Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary confirmed in their 27 November representation to the planning enquiry that the public safety and national security concerns raised in previous representations have been addressed.
This Government stands with members of the Hong Kong community who have relocated to the UK and will continue to support them. Any attempt by China or any other foreign power to intimidate, harass or harm individuals or communities in the UK will not be tolerated. Wherever we identify such threats, we will use any and all measures, including through our world-class intelligence services, to mitigate risk to individuals.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of excluding decapod crustaceans from the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 on the Government's approach to animal sentience.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022 recognises decapod crustaceans as sentient beings. The Government remains committed to an evidence-based and proportionate approach to setting welfare standards for decapod crustaceans, both for those caught for human consumption and those used in scientific research.
The Home Office is carefully considering next steps, in collaboration with other relevant departments, on whether decapod crustaceans should be brought within the scope of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
The Government is committed to non-animal alternatives in science and has published a strategy to support their development, validation and adoption. The strategy is available at:
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to enhance the accessibility of reporting mechanisms for fraud and cyber crime.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
A new and improved national police reporting service for fraud and cyber crime called Report Fraud went live on 4 December 2025, replacing the previous Action Fraud service. The new service will ensure that victims of fraud have the confidence and trust to come forward, report instances of fraud, and know that their case will be dealt with properly.
Report Fraud will speed up the time it takes to report, inform victims about what has happened or is happening with their report and significantly improve the speed and quality of information provided to law enforcement partners, boosting their chances of successful prosecutions.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of attempted re-entries are successfully detected under the reciprocal agreement with France.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Two individuals who had previously been returned from the UK to France under the reciprocal exchange agreement attempted to re-enter. They were detected, detained, and their cases expedited for return. We are not aware of any other attempts to re-enter the UK from those returned to France under the scheme.
We continue to work closely with our French counterparts to ensure that those who are returned under the agreement do not re-enter the UK illegally.
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, whether her department has assessed the potential impact of beach-based police interventions in northern France on recent trends in levels of deaths in the Channel; and what measures she is implementing to help minimise potential risks from such interventions.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Our ongoing partnership with French law enforcement prevented over 22,000 crossing attempts during 2025. We are working closely with the French to reduce the risk to life from these crossings and with partners across Europe to bring the smuggling gangs to justice. We will continue our work with the French Government to explore every avenue to understand what further can be done in the Channel to disrupt and deter small boat crossings.
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, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of UK-funded French police operations on the safety and wellbeing of people attempting to seek asylum; and what steps she is taking to ensure accountability for violence committed by officers funded by the UK.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
It would be inappropriate for the Home Office to comment upon the composition or duties of French law enforcement units. It is important to emphasise that French law enforcement units necessarily operate independently of UK law enforcement, though there is regular liaison, information exchange, and alignment of operational approaches between the two countries.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2025, to Question 94192, on Holiday Accommodation: Taxation, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of applying the levy to asylum seekers in hotels on costs to the public purse.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide support to destitute asylum seekers and as such these are not discretionary overnight stays.
The Government’s position remains that the use of hotels to accommodate asylum seekers is undesirable and unsustainable. Work is underway to expand the dispersal estate and develop alternative accommodation models to better deliver value for money and reduce impact on communities.
To support local authorities, the Home Office provides significant grant funding to manage the pressures associated with asylum accommodation. This includes the Asylum Grant 395 which is designed to offset costs for councils and support local services impacted by the use of hotels and other accommodation. Under this grant local authorities received an initial payment of £1,200 per bedspace occupied on 30 March 2025; with £100 per month for each additional occupied bedspace between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026.
Additional grant funding is available for the support of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and care leavers. These grants form part of a wider package of measures to ensure that local authorities are not disproportionately burdened by the statutory asylum support system.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what percentage of asylum seekers received initial decisions in quarter 4 of 2025 (October to December) compared to quarter 2 2024 (April to June).
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 initial decisions of asylum claims is published in table Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum claims and initial decisions datasets’. The latest data relates to the year ending September 2025.
Data for the year ending December 2025, which will include Quarter 4 of 2025, will be published on 26 February 2026.