Found: 5 March 2026, Letter from Lord Hanson of Flint re: Immigration Rules Change Correspondence

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer from Lord Hanson of Flint on 24 March (HL15656), whether they will now answer the question put: namely, what estimate they have made of the number of individuals who will be affected by the changes to the EU Settlement Scheme to extend the period to 60 months in which an individual can use an expired biometric residence card as proof of their identity and nationality.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

To support the de-commissioning of biometric residence cards (BRCs), cards issued since 2 August 2021 had an expiry date of 31 December 2024, irrespective of the length of immigration leave granted to the card holder. Cards were issued under the EU Settlement Scheme to non-EEA nationals granted pre-settled or settled status who did not already hold a BRC issued under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016 (the free movement regime). From 30 June 2021 to 31 December 2025, there were 110,228 grants of pre-settled status to non-EEA nationals. Whether these pre-settled status holders subsequently apply for settled status with their BRC is dependent on customer behaviour and their individual circumstances, but the change in HC1691 allows those who wish to do so to remain on a fully digital journey. Without this change, as we pass 18 months since the expiry date of most BRCs for this cohort, a significant portion would be required to attend a UK visa application centre to re-enrol their biometrics, creating an unsustainable demand on UK Visas and Citizenship Application Services.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 5 March (HL15249), whether they will now answer the question put: namely, when they will next convene a summit with mobile phone operators, mobile phone manufacturers, and law enforcement professionals.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Metropolitan Police recently hosted an international conference on phone theft, attended by partners from across law enforcement and industry. The Government is working with the Metropolitan Police to consider the outcomes from this event in determining what further action is necessary.

We look forward to public commitments from industry in the coming weeks, in advance of the Metropolitan Police Commissioner’s deadline for meaningful commitments of 1 June. If these are not forthcoming, the Government will look to consider any necessary action.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 5 March (HL15250), whether they will now answer the question put: namely, what the timeline is for developing technical solutions with technology companies and partners.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Metropolitan Police recently hosted an international conference on phone theft, attended by partners from across law enforcement and industry. The Government is working with the Metropolitan Police to consider the outcomes from this event in determining what further action is necessary.

We look forward to public commitments from industry in the coming weeks, in advance of the Metropolitan Police Commissioner’s deadline for meaningful commitments of 1 June. If these are not forthcoming, the Government will look to consider any necessary action.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 11 March (HL14955), and the remarks by Lord Hanson of Flint on 5 November 2025 (HL Deb col 1973), what steps they plan to take to share the findings of the move on period evaluation with Parliament.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The evaluation report cannot be shared externally until we have two satisfactory external peer reviews. Once approved, the report will be published on GOV.UK as part of the Home Office Research Series.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 11 March (HL14954), what factors led to the decision to introduced a revised move on period of 42 days.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

In reaching this decision, a range of evidence, including key findings from the evaluation of the 56-day pilot, operational data, and forecasted impacts on the asylum accommodation estate were considered. The Home Office will continue to work closely with our partners to reduce barriers and support effective transitions from asylum accommodation.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 25 February (HL14520), what assessment they have made of the utilisation of police community support officers and other publicly employed wardens to supplement enforcement of moving traffic; and what steps they are taking to promote this utilisation to Chief Constables.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

Decisions on how community support officers are designated with powers for traffic enforcement is an operational matter for chief officers. Chief Officers will take decisions with consideration for local policing plans.

Other enforcement officers, including wardens and civil enforcement officers, are employed by local authorities and public bodies to support the management and enforcement of traffic in England and Wales, under civil or limited statutory powers.

The Home Office does not collect data on the utilisation of such powers.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 6 March (HL14995), what estimate they have made of the number of individuals currently holding leave under the appendix to the European Communities Association Agreement who have not yet obtained indefinite leave to remain; and what assessment they have made of the potential impact on those individuals of the earned settlement proposals set out in A Fairer Pathway to Settlement (CP 1448), published on 20 November 2025.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

As set out in the Written Answer (HL14995) implementation of the earned settlement arrangements will be subject to economic and equality impact assessments, which we have committed to publish in due course.

In the meantime, Appendix ECAA Settlement will continue to apply. Time spent in routes that currently count towards settlement after 5 years will also continue to count towards the new standard qualifying period.

Based on the latest published data, as of the end of December 2025, there had been around 18,000 grants of settlement since 2020 to individuals who previously held leave under the ECAA route, including ECAA workers, business persons and dependants. It is not possible to confirm the exact number of ECAA leave holders who have not yet obtained settlement.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 2 October 2025 (HL10716), when they intend to publish the statutory guidance to accompany the Protection from Sex-based Harassment in Public Act 2023.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

Public sexual harassment is a crime that often leaves victims, who are disproportionately likely to be women, feeling very unsafe. That is why tackling it is an important part of our mission on VAWG.

The “Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls”, published on 18th December 2025, committed to commence the Protection from Sex-Based Harassment in Public Act 2023 on 1 April 2026. This includes publication of the statutory guidance for police on the same day, which is a requirement of Section 2 of the Act. We are working directly with policing to ensure everything in is in place to support them in enforcing the aggravated offence from 1 April 2026.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Hanson of Flint on 4 March (HL Deb col 1399), what the timeline is for developing technical solutions with technology companies and partners; and what form those solutions will take.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

Operation Reckoning is delivering a surged enforcement response aimed at tackling all layers of criminal activity associated with the model of phone theft in London, including street level offenders, middle market handlers and those responsible for the export of stolen devices. It is delivering significant results: in the 12 months to February, mobile phone theft in the capital fell by 12.3% on the previous year.

We welcome this significant progress, but too many people are still being subjected to the considerable distress and disruption caused by these criminals and we are determined to bring these numbers down further.

To break the business model that drives mobile phone theft, we need to reduce the value of a stolen device. The Metropolitan Police are leading work with technology partners to look at the quickest and most effective ways of achieving this outcome and we are working in close support of this collaboration.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Hanson of Flint on 4 March (HL Deb col 1399), what aspects of Operation Reckoning are focused on disrupting or removing the organised crime business model for stole mobile phone devices.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

Operation Reckoning is delivering a surged enforcement response aimed at tackling all layers of criminal activity associated with the model of phone theft in London, including street level offenders, middle market handlers and those responsible for the export of stolen devices. It is delivering significant results: in the 12 months to February, mobile phone theft in the capital fell by 12.3% on the previous year.

We welcome this significant progress, but too many people are still being subjected to the considerable distress and disruption caused by these criminals and we are determined to bring these numbers down further.

To break the business model that drives mobile phone theft, we need to reduce the value of a stolen device. The Metropolitan Police are leading work with technology partners to look at the quickest and most effective ways of achieving this outcome and we are working in close support of this collaboration.

Found: proposed approach to the regulation of decapods used in scientific procedures as agreed by Lord Hanson of Flint

Found: Declaration 2.1 Lord Hanson of Flint at the Home Office confirms that this Explanatory Memorandum

Found: proposed approach to the regulation of decapods used in scientific procedures as agreed by Lord Hanson of Flint

Found: The Rt Hon Lord Hanson of Flint, Home Office Lords Minister, chaired the meeting.