Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report that the new Irish Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland described herself as the Ambassador to Great Britain when presenting her credentials.
Answered by Lord Wood of Anfield - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Noble Baroness to the answer provided on 8 September in response to Question 26855 which is copied below:
All Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary accredited to the Court of St James's are Ambassadors to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum seekers have been removed from Northern Ireland in the past three years; whether the Government possess confirmations of their departure from the United Kingdom and return to another state; and how many such returns were made to the Republic of Ireland.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not routinely produce statistics showing from where in the UK a failed asylum seeker has been removed. A transparency publication updated on 19 August (Northern Ireland enforcement activity between 1 October 2022 and 31 May 2026 - GOV.UK) shows that between 1 July 2024 and 31 May 2026, Immigration Enforcement conducted 2,913 enforcement visits in Northern Ireland resulting in 2,425 arrests, with nearly 1,000 (963) people subsequently returned, almost 500 (493) of which had a destination of Ireland. These numbers are not however specific to asylum seekers and include both asylum-related and non-asylum encounters.
The latest official statics on returns published on 27 August (How many people are returned from the UK? - GOV.UK) show that in 2025 there were 521 returns (enforced and voluntary) to Ireland (table Ret_D02 of the ‘returns detailed datasets’). These figures are from across the UK however and are not specific to Northern Ireland encounters.
Obtaining the specific information you have requested would involve collating and verifying information from multiple systems owned by multiple teams across the Home Office and, therefore, could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Wood of Anfield on 27 July (HL1989), whether they will commence the recording by data fields of (1) the nationality of asylum seekers, (2) how they entered or came to be in the United Kingdom, and (3) which country they travelled from most recently before reaching the UK.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes the number of asylum claims raised by nationality, and the number of people claiming asylum by prior route, by nationality in the Asy_D01 and Asy_D01a tables available here: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK
Asylum seekers arrive in the UK through a range of routes before claiming asylum. In the year ending June 2026, 41% had previously entered on a visa or other leave, 40% arrived by small boat, 12% arrived via other illegal entry routes, and 8% entered via other routes or could not be matched to a route of entry.
Information on countries asylum seekers travelled from before reaching the UK this information is not published. It is held as “free text” on individual case files and can only be extracted manually at disproportionate cost.
The number of people claiming asylum in the previous three years, and to date in the current year is shown below:
Time period | People claiming asylum |
Year ending December 2023 | 87,427 |
Year ending December 2024 | 104,764 |
Year ending December 2025 | 101,911 |
January to June 2026 | 33,189 |
Source: Asy_D01 Asylum claims raised, by nationality, age, sex, UASC, applicant type, and location of claim.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration, if any, they are giving to the forfeiture of the NHS pensions of Mr Amran Hussein and Dr Muhammad Iqbal following their recent convictions.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under NHS Pension Scheme Regulations, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, may direct all or part of a member's pension benefits be forfeited where the member has been convicted of a relevant offence committed before those benefits become payable. Any decision on forfeiture is considered on a case-by-case basis.
The Government does not comment on individual cases.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of South Africa regarding the expulsion of migrants and refugees from Zimbabwe from South Africa.
Answered by Lord Wood of Anfield - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Noble Baroness to the answer provided on 20th July in response to Question HL1800.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 13 July (HL1405), whether they plan to collect data on the number of people claiming asylum at the Home Office building in Belfast, the means by which they entered the UK, and from which country they entered the UK; and if not, why not.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
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.
Asylum statistics are published quarterly in the Home Office’s Immigration System Statistics, but they do not identify the specific UK location where a claim is made, the countries individuals claiming asylum travelled from before entering the UK, or a Northern Ireland breakdown of the means by which people entered the UK.
On 01 July 2026 Minister Norris responded to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee and provided operational management information which indicates that 1,517 asylum claims were made in 2025 where that claim could be associated with a location in Northern Ireland. This data has not been subject to the same level of assurance as official statistics, and it is subject to change as it has been taken from live operational systems.
This letter is published online: committees.parliament.uk/publications/53976/documents/300881/default/
Asylum seekers are routinely asked to outline their journey to the UK during their screening interview. The published Screening and routing guidance (pp.70 – 73) lists the type of questions asylum seekers are asked at screening, and provides additional guidance to the interviewing officer.
Information on the means of entering the UK, including countries individuals travelled from before entering the UK, or the specific building they claimed asylum at is held in individual case files and case notes. This information is “free-text” and could only be retrieved through a manual review of cases which would involve a disproportionate use of resource.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many migrants were removed from Northern Ireland in each of the last three years; of those, which ten (1) nationalities, and (2) countries, were most involved; and of the 1,000 people removed in 2025 who, according to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in an interview with GB News on 11 June "had no right to be here", how many were confirmed as leaving the United Kingdom, and what means are normally employed to effect such departures.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Between 1 July 2024 and 31 May 2026, Immigration Enforcement conducted 2,913 enforcement visits in Northern Ireland resulting in 2,425 arrests, with nearly 1,000 (963) people subsequently returned, almost 500 (493) of whom had a destination of Ireland.
There is published transparency data relating to enforcement activity in Northern Ireland here - Northern Ireland enforcement activity between 1 October 2022 and 31 May 2026 - GOV.UK. Returns from the UK include both voluntary and enforced returns.
More detailed information on removals from Northern Ireland, including nationalities and countries involved, 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.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many staff are currently employed at the UK Visas and Immigration's Drumkeen House Belfast office, and what are the running costs for that office for each of the last 3 years.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Location Name | Head Count |
Drumkeen House | 461 |
Period Covered: 30th May 2026 | |
Organisational Coverage: Home Office | |
Employee Coverage: Data is based on all Current Paid Civil Servants whose work location name is "Drumkeen House" | |
| |
The below shows running costs for Drumkeen over last three financial years.
Financial Year | Total Costs (Including Rent, Facilities Management, Utilities, Etc) |
25/26 | £569,369.08 |
24/25 | £682,373.33 |
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cost implications to Northern Ireland of complying with Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 of the European Parliament and the Council of 14 June 2023 on machinery and repealing Directive 2006/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Directive 73/361/EEC.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Engagement with industry stakeholders indicates that the Regulation is expected to deliver overall benefits for businesses in Northern Ireland. In particular, it preserves dual-market access to both the UK Internal Market and the EU Single Market.
The Regulation also introduces measures intended to reduce administrative burdens, including provisions enabling the use of digital documentation in place of paper documentation, which are expected to generate cost savings for businesses.
In addition, the Government is legislating to continue recognising products that meet the updated EU machinery requirements in Great Britain. This will enable many manufacturers to place the same products on the markets in Northern Ireland and Great Britain without the need for additional conformity assessment. The Government expects this approach to support the smooth flow of trade within the UK Internal Market while reducing costs and administrative burdens for businesses operating across the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people who have claimed asylum in Northern Ireland in the last 24 months have travelled from the Republic of Ireland.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested is not held in a reportable format and could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.