Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Afghans were evacuated from Pakistan under the (a) Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme and (b) Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy each month from January 2025 to the latest month for which data is available.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The UK made an ambitious and generous commitment to help at-risk people in Afghanistan and, so far, we have brought around 38,700. people to safety, including thousands of people eligible for our Afghan schemes.
Afghanistan Resettlement Schemes operational data is published quarterly with the last publication on the 21 August 2025.
Data on recent and planned resettlement is not available due to the operational nature of the schemes. For operational security reasons, we are unable to provide additional information on plans for future resettlement flights.
The data published within: immigration system statistics release (year ending June 2025, published 21 August 2025) provides a breakdown of arrivals by quarter. The number of individuals resettled under the schemes is as follows: 19,048 under ARAP. 10,160 individuals under ACRS Pathway 1, 1,406 individuals under ACRS Pathway 2 and 1,679 individuals under ACRS Pathway 3.
Afghan Operational data is viewable at: Afghan Resettlement Programme: operational data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2025 to Question 84157 on Immigration Controls: Northern Ireland, what information her Department holds on the outcomes of Operation Gull; and what criteria she uses to evaluate the success of that operation.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
To maintain the highest standards of accuracy, the Home Office prefers to refer to published data, as this has been subject to rigorous quality assurance under National Statistics protocols prior to publication. Information about outcomes and criteria to evaluate the success of Operation Gull is not available in our published data.
Our published national data on enforcement activity is available at the following link and includes data on detected irregular arrivals to the UK: Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2025 - GOV.UK
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's publication entitled Illegal working and enforcement activity to the end of September 2025, published on 28 October 2025, how many of people arrested under suspicion of working illegally in Northern Ireland within the past twelve months arrived illegally into the UK.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
We do not routinely publish the information you have requested. We are unable to provide this information, as it could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Chris Philp (Conservative - Croydon South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to stop foreign offenders wanted for crimes abroad from (a) crossing the Channel and (b) claiming asylum in the UK.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
We have launched the Border Security Command (BSC) whose work is imperative not only to stop criminals from entering the UK via small boats in the first place but to stop anyone from making these dangerous journeys. This is why the BSC is working with partners internationally to tackle and disrupt organised immigration crime gangs.
All individuals arriving in the UK via small boats undergo a comprehensive screening process. This is designed to gather key information about each person, including any indicators of criminality.
As part of this process, the Home Office collects biometric data—such as facial images and fingerprints—to verify identity. These biometrics are checked against Home Office systems and other law enforcement databases, including Interpol’s wanted list. This enables us to identify individuals, assess whether they pose a risk to public safety, and determine any breaches of immigration law. These checks are essential to maintaining a secure, fair, and effective immigration system.
In line with the Refugee Convention, refugee status will be denied to those who have committed serious crimes, pose a danger to the community, or present a threat to national security.
For further details on security checks during the asylum screening process, please refer to: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66a0e95e49b9c0597fdb03dd/Screening+and+routing.pdf
This process also ensures that individuals who should not be granted bail are identified promptly.
Asked by: Chris Philp (Conservative - Croydon South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is taking steps to track people crossing the Channel who might pose a security risk.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
We have launched the Border Security Command (BSC) whose work is imperative not only to stop criminals from entering the UK via small boats in the first place but to stop anyone from making these dangerous journeys. This is why the BSC is working with partners internationally to tackle and disrupt organised immigration crime gangs.
All individuals arriving in the UK via small boats undergo a comprehensive screening process. This is designed to gather key information about each person, including any indicators of criminality.
As part of this process, the Home Office collects biometric data—such as facial images and fingerprints—to verify identity. These biometrics are checked against Home Office systems and other law enforcement databases, including Interpol’s wanted list. This enables us to identify individuals, assess whether they pose a risk to public safety, and determine any breaches of immigration law. These checks are essential to maintaining a secure, fair, and effective immigration system.
In line with the Refugee Convention, refugee status will be denied to those who have committed serious crimes, pose a danger to the community, or present a threat to national security.
For further details on security checks during the asylum screening process, please refer to: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66a0e95e49b9c0597fdb03dd/Screening+and+routing.pdf
This process also ensures that individuals who should not be granted bail are identified promptly.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) landlords, and (2) private landlords, have offered properties for use under asylum seeker accommodation schemes in each of the past five years, broken down by UK nation.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The following is an amalgamation of the various landlord proposals the Home Office has recorded over the past five years.
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Total |
England | 38 | 21 | 27 | 50 | 136 |
Jersey |
|
|
| 1 | 1 |
Scotland |
|
| 1 | 1 | 2 |
Unknown | 21 | 24 | 12 | 26 | 83 |
Wales | 1 |
| 4 | 5 | 10 |
Grand Total | 60 | 45 | 44 | 83 | 232 |
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the cost of moving asylum seekers housed in hotels into disused military bases.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
As part of our commitment to close all asylum hotels, we are looking at a range of more appropriate sites including disused accommodation, industrial and ex-military sites so we can reduce the impact on communities. Alternative accommodation sites will be considered on a site-by-site basis, we will continue to work closely with key stakeholders and in compliance with published policy.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the proposal to increase the minimum required period to apply for indefinite leave to remain from three to five years, what steps they are taking to ensure that the UK remains globally competitive in attracting tech talent.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Immigration White Paper, published on 12 May 2025, set out that the standard qualifying period for settlement would increase to ten years, although individuals would have the opportunity to reduce this qualifying period based on contributions to the UK economy and society. We will launch a consultation on these changes later this year.
Individuals working within tech can access a number of routes, including the UK’s main work visa Skilled Worker for the majority of individuals, and via the Global Talent route for leaders and future leaders in key fields; those at an early career stage who have the potential to benefit the UK economy can apply through the High Potential Individual route; and those setting up the next generation of tech companies can access both the Innovator Founder and Scale-up routes.
The Immigration White Paper noted that we will go further in ensuring that the very highly skilled have opportunities to come to the UK by, amongst other measures, reviewing our Innovator Founder visa to ensure that it supports entrepreneurial talent currently studying at UK universities to move into the visa so that they can build their business and career in the UK, and streamlining the process for employers and skilled workers to get visas, reducing bureaucracy and supporting growth.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the time taken in Certificate of Sponsorship allocations for Skilled Worker visa holders in cases where (a) a compliant sponsor with an A-rated licence has submitted a valid request with supporting evidence and (b) delay risks causing a lawful worker to fall out of immigration status.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
It is the responsibility of individual businesses to monitor the visa expiry dates of their overseas employees and to take appropriate action to ensure continuity of employment.
The published service standard for non-complex Undefined Certificate of Sponsorship (UCoS) allocations and renewals is 18 weeks, as outlined on GOV.UK. Businesses may also opt to use the priority service, which aims to process requests within 5 working days.
Responsibility for submitting timely applications or updates lies with the sponsoring business.
Where necessary, the Home Office conducts additional checks to maintain the integrity of the immigration system, which may delay the processing of applications to assure ourselves that requests are genuine and full time work and employment will be given to a prospective employee, for their own protection.
UK visa sponsorship for employers: Your responsibilities - GOV.UK
The Home Office is currently operating within the published service standards for all Sponsorship applications.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have had their UK citizenship reinstated following a successful appeal since 26 February 2025.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Since 26 February 2025, there have been no cases of reinstated citizenship following a successful appeal.