Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to prevent abuse by applicants of the proposed new capped safe and legal routes for asylum seekers.

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

Arrivals under the new safe and legal routes will start small and build over time. The number of arrivals will be carefully managed to align with the UK’s capacity to support refugees.

To prevent abuse of the routes, the Home Office will assess all applications to ensure that only those who meet the eligibility requirements can access them. Refugee status will be determined in partnership with the UNHCR, and all applicants will be subject to appropriate security, identity, and background checks before arrival in the UK.

The Home Office will also retain control over who can sponsor, setting clear criteria to be met by sponsor groups and undertaking monitoring and assurance to ensure sponsorship arrangements are safe, effective and deliver positive outcomes. Where concerns about misuse, fraud or non-compliance are identified, appropriate action will be taken.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many refugees they intend to allow into the UK under the proposed new capped safe and legal routes.

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

Arrivals under the new safe and legal routes will start small and build over time. The number of arrivals will be carefully managed to align with the UK’s capacity to support refugees.

To prevent abuse of the routes, the Home Office will assess all applications to ensure that only those who meet the eligibility requirements can access them. Refugee status will be determined in partnership with the UNHCR, and all applicants will be subject to appropriate security, identity, and background checks before arrival in the UK.

The Home Office will also retain control over who can sponsor, setting clear criteria to be met by sponsor groups and undertaking monitoring and assurance to ensure sponsorship arrangements are safe, effective and deliver positive outcomes. Where concerns about misuse, fraud or non-compliance are identified, appropriate action will be taken.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum seekers were temporarily housed in (1) hotels, and (2) houses, in each month since 2024.

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

The Home Office publishes details on the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated on a quarterly basis, with the latest information published on 21 May 2026. The number of asylum seekers in receipt of support since 2024 is outlined as follows:

- “Dispersal accommodation” is primarily houses and flats procured from the private sector by the Home Office’s contracted accommodation providers.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many new-build sites they have considered for temporary housing for asylum seekers in each year since 2024.

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

Asylum seekers are not eligible for social housing and therefore there have been no examples of new council housing being constructed to house asylum seekers.

With regards to the recent reports of asylum seekers being housed within the Stoke Heath development in Shropshire, the Home Secretary directly intervened to stop migrants being moved into the site and those already there have been removed.

Moving forward, the Home Secretary has introduced robust processes earlier this year which means that new -build sites can never be considered for use to house asylum seekers.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many Notice of Refusal letters they have issued since 2024, broken down by month.

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

The information requested 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.

Statistics on Returns from the UK are published quarterly. The latest release shows that there were a total of 39,000 returns from the UK in the year ending March 2026.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many Notice of Liability to Remove letters they have issued since 2024, broken down by month.

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

The information requested 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.

Statistics on Returns from the UK are published quarterly. The latest release shows that there were a total of 39,000 returns from the UK in the year ending March 2026.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what would be considered a “serious breach of a condition attached to their leave to enter or remain” in clause 19(4) of the Immigration and Asylum Bill.

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

The Immigration and Asylum Bill, introduced on 30 June, will make fundamental changes to the immigration system to restore control at our borders and restore public confidence.

The reforms seek to ensure a fair and consistent system by reinforcing that compliance with the Immigration Rules is central to decision-making. Differences in treatment will reflect individuals’ immigration histories and circumstances and are assessed within a lawful Article 8 framework.

Further details on what would be considered a “serious breach of a condition attached to their leave to enter or remain” will be clarified in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many student visa applications were (1) accepted, and (2) rejected, in each year since 2023–24.

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

The Home Office publishes the data you have requested in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on sponsored study outcomes are published in table Vis_D02 of the entry clearance visa applications and outcomes detailed datasets’. The latest data goes up to the year ending March 2026. Please find below a table on sponsored study visas issued and refused for each year between the year ending March 2024, to the year ending March 2026.

Sponsored study (‘Student’ and ‘Child Student’) entry clearance visas issued and refused between the YE March 2024 to the YE March 2026

Notes: The figures include both main applicants and dependant family members.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what test will be applied in determining whether the effect of a person’s deportation on their partner or child would be "unduly harsh" under section 117C of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, as amended by clause 20 of the Immigration and Asylum Bill.

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

In respect of offenders sentenced to less than four years, the current Article 8 regime allows a deportation decision to be made with consideration to only the impact on the criminal or their family. Clause 20 changes this so that account must be taken of the wider public interest in deportation. The actual test in relation to unduly harsh will reflect current case law requiring the need to demonstrate a significant interference with family life.

However, the new s117C framework will thereafter allow a person’s criminal and immigration history to be considered before a person’s deportation can be deemed disproportionate.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Scottish Government about its use of its block grant on international development spending.

Answered by Lord Wood of Anfield - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has regular discussions with the Scottish Government on devolved issues, including their development programming. The FCDO offers support to the Scottish Government's development activity overseas, where such activities assist Ministers of the Crown under the terms of the Scotland Act.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to publish a timetable for the reopening of Cameron Barracks for use by all previous user groups; and whether they plan to ensure Highland Council and other affected user groups receive formal notification as soon as the handover from the Home Office is complete.

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

The Home Office is returning Cameron Barracks to the Ministry of Defence and the transfer will be completed on or before the agreed hand back date of October 2026.

As responsibility for the site will then rest with the Ministry of Defence, decisions on its future use, including any timetable for reopening and any notifications to Highland Council or other interested parties, will be matters for the Ministry of Defence.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what test will be applied in determining whether a person has been “socially and culturally integrated in the United Kingdom” for the purposes of clause 20 of the Immigration and Asylum Bill.

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

The published guidance states that positive and negative factors will need to be balanced against each other to form an overall assessment of whether a foreign national is socially and culturally integrated in the UK.

These factors include the ability to speak English, financial independence, immigration status, and criminal offending. Mere presence in the UK is not an indication of integration. However, under the new section 117C framework, the courts must consider not only the interference with a person’s rights under Article 8 that exist by virtue of meeting the private life criteria (including that the person is socially and culturally integrated in the UK), but also whether that can be justified by the public interest in favour of the person’s deportation.

Found: Under Secretary of State for Scotland to 5 July 2024) (6) n/a 11,487 n/a 1,000 n/a 13,000 Lord Cameron of Lochiel