Asked by: Baroness Buscombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what powers are available to Police Community Support Officers to address serious and organised crime, beyond those relating to intelligence gathering.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) support policing with targeted visible patrols, public engagement and reassurance to help reduce crime and anti-social behaviour and make people feel safer in their communities. They are not intended to directly target serious and organised crime.
PCSOs do not have a fixed set of powers in law. Their powers are designated locally by Chief Officers under section 38 of the Police Reform Act 2002. A wide range of powers can be designated to PCSOs, but this does not include statutorily excluded powers such as arrest, stop and search or powers set out in terrorism and national security legislation. Those more intrusive and complex powers are available to warranted police constables, who are trained and held accountable for their safe and appropriate use.
This Government remains firmly committed to tackling serious and organised crime and the threat it poses to communities across the UK. We ensure that law enforcement agencies have the powers and capabilities they need to disrupt and prevent serious and organised criminal activity.
Asked by: Baroness Buscombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many arrests relating to serious and organised crime on high streets in rural areas have been made in each of the past two years.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes data on arrests in England and Wales as part of the ‘Police Powers and Procedures’ statistical series, available here: Police powers and procedures England and Wales statistics - GOV.UK
However, data is collected by broader offence group for example ‘drug offences’ or ‘possession of weapons’, therefore data specifically on arrests relating to serious and organised crime is not available.
Additionally data is collected by Police Force Area, therefore further geographical details relating to arrests such as arrests made on high streets in rural areas is also not available.
Asked by: Baroness Buscombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many foreign national offenders released from HMP Huntercombe upon completion of their sentence have, in each of the past two years, not been deported in accordance with their sentence and have subsequently become unaccounted for by the relevant authorities.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The specific information you have requested regarding the foreign national offenders (FNOs) released from HMP Huntersombe who subsequently abscond is not available from published Home Office statistics.
We make every effort to ensure that FNOs are removed directly from prison, and we have delivered record numbers of FNO returns under the Early Removal Scheme, delivering 3,044 returns in the year ending January 2026, which is a 13% increase compared to the 2,700 in the same period 12 months prior.
The Home Office faces significant and complex challenges when seeking to return those who have no right to be in the UK to their country of origin or lawful place of return and it is not always possible to remove immediately post custodial sentence.
Where removal is not immediately possible, FNOs may be granted bail to be managed in the community. FNOs will be subject to rigorous reporting, electronic monitoring, and accommodation conditions.
If an FNO does not comply with their bail conditions, the Home Office has a dedicated tracing capability that works in partnership with the police, other government agencies, and commercial companies to help identify information on a person. Where tracing checks are successful, we will consider the most appropriate intervention, including whether to task an enforcement team to conduct a visit or to set up a suitable immigration reporting regime.
Asked by: Baroness Buscombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many units of service family accommodation exist in the UK; and of these, what proportion have been made available for housing asylum seekers.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
We do not house people in service accommodation. Any former military sites that we do use are not available to the Armed Services.
The UK government has a statutory obligation to support asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute. The government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly, and fairly; and ensures the rules are properly enforced. We have committed to exiting hotels at the earliest opportunity, and in order to do this we need to stand up alternative accommodation which is better suited to this purpose.
As part of our commitment to close all asylum hotels, we are looking at a range of more appropriate sites including ex-military sites, so we can reduce the impact on communities. Decisions on the use of alternative asylum accommodation sites are made on a site-by-site basis.
Asked by: Baroness Buscombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum seekers from Afghanistan and their families are currently housed in service family accommodation in the UK.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
We do not house people in service accommodation. Any former military sites that we do use are not available to the Armed Services.
The UK government has a statutory obligation to support asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute. The government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly, and fairly; and ensures the rules are properly enforced. We have committed to exiting hotels at the earliest opportunity, and in order to do this we need to stand up alternative accommodation which is better suited to this purpose.
As part of our commitment to close all asylum hotels, we are looking at a range of more appropriate sites including ex-military sites, so we can reduce the impact on communities. Decisions on the use of alternative asylum accommodation sites are made on a site-by-site basis.
Asked by: Baroness Buscombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum seekers are currently housed in service family accommodation in the UK.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
We do not house people in service accommodation. Any former military sites that we do use are not available to the Armed Services.
The UK government has a statutory obligation to support asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute. The government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly, and fairly; and ensures the rules are properly enforced. We have committed to exiting hotels at the earliest opportunity, and in order to do this we need to stand up alternative accommodation which is better suited to this purpose.
As part of our commitment to close all asylum hotels, we are looking at a range of more appropriate sites including ex-military sites, so we can reduce the impact on communities. Decisions on the use of alternative asylum accommodation sites are made on a site-by-site basis.
Asked by: Baroness Buscombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many illegal immigrants who have left Home Office asylum accommodation are currently unaccounted for.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested is not currently available from published statistics.
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.
There is a difference between Asylum Seekers who leave Home Office provided accommodation while their claim is pending and an absconder. Those who leave accommodation may be deemed as missing from that particular location but are not automatically considered as ‘absconders’ as they may remain in contact with the Home Office whilst their claim is processed.
Absconders are individuals who have breached one or more conditions of their immigration bail and all efforts to contact the person have been exhausted.
Asked by: Baroness Buscombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum seekers have absconded from Home Office accommodation since 5 July 2024; and how many of them have subsequently been located.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested is not currently available from published statistics.
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.
There is a difference between Asylum Seekers who leave Home Office provided accommodation while their claim is pending and an absconder. Those who leave accommodation may be deemed as missing from that particular location but are not automatically considered as ‘absconders’ as they may remain in contact with the Home Office whilst their claim is processed.
Absconders are individuals who have breached one or more conditions of their immigration bail and all efforts to contact the person have been exhausted.
Asked by: Baroness Buscombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to end the use of Ministry of Defence accommodation to house Afghan refugees; and what plans they have to find alternative accommodation for Afghan refugees.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The resettlement of Afghan refugees under ARP continues and we are proud of this safe and legal route for those affected by events in Afghanistan. Those who are eligible and arrive in the UK legally under ARP receive Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR).
Transitional accommodation (TA), including Service Family Accommodation (SFA), has been used on the Defence Estate to support eligible Afghan families arriving under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and the wider Afghan Resettlement Programme. This has ensured safe, immediate housing for eligible persons resettled in the UK.
The use of large bridging hotels has now ended, and the Government is reducing reliance on temporary Ministry of Defence accommodation. Recent arrivals increasingly move directly into permanent settled homes where available, or into other forms of transitional accommodation on a short‑term basis.
Under the Afghan Resettlement Programme, transitional accommodation is offered for up to nine months, within which households are expected to move into their settled home. The Government continues to work closely with local authorities to secure suitable permanent accommodation and to support families towards sustainable long‑term resettlement. Settled homes remain the best long‑term solution, providing newly arriving individuals and families with the stability to integrate, put down roots, and build their new lives in the UK.
Asked by: Baroness Buscombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 25 November (HL11798), whether those in charge of hotels in which asylum seekers are house are required to inform the Home Office of any residents who have disappeared and what steps are taken to locate such residents.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Home Office accommodation is non-detained, asylum seekers are free to come and go from the sites.
The Home Office expects the highest standards from accommodation providers, who are expected to conduct regular checks across the asylum estate including reporting police for disappearing of asylum seekers. A detailed breakdown of all of the services to be undertaken by accommodation providers and the standards we expect can be found in the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contracts.
Schedule 2 to AASC contract provides:
Accurate and auditable daily site registers maintained in accordance with the Home Office’s requirements. The Provider must inform the Home Office as soon as they become aware of an unauthorised absence of an asylum seeker from the relevant Initial Accommodation