Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many foreign-national offenders, having completed at least 12 months of a custodial sentence, have been removed from the United Kingdom, in each quarterly period since January 2020.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
As has been the case for many years, the information requested is not available from published statistics.
The Home Office does publish quarterly statistics on the returns of foreign national offenders (FNOs) by nationality and year. These returns are published in the Returns Detailed Datasets, Year Ending June 2024, which are available at: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The published statistics refer to enforced returns which include deportations, as well as cases where a person has breached UK immigration laws, and those removed under other administrative and illegal entry powers that have declined to leave voluntarily.
The number of FNOs removed from the UK who have served a custodial sentence of at least 12 months is not separately available.
We are committed to delivering justice for victims and safer streets for our communities. Foreign nationals who commit crime should be in no doubt that the law will be enforced and, where appropriate, we will pursue their deportation, and they will be swiftly removed from the country.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many non-crime hate incidents have been recorded since the publication of statutory guidance by the Home Office in June 2023, broken down by relevant police force or police authority.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not centrally collate information on the number of non-crime hate incidents recorded by individual police forces – this data is held by individual forces.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of the United States on the future of United States-United Kingdom extradition treaty arrangements and any risks of miscarriages of justice arising from their operation.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The UK-US Extradition Treaty continues to enable extradition of individuals, bringing justice to victims in both the UK and US. Individual requests for extradition from the UK are subject to the Extradition Act 2003, which requires a judge to decide whether the requested person's extradition would be appropriate based on the safeguards and protections included in the Act. Extradition continues to be a vital tool in our fight against transnational crime.
The Home Office has not had any recent discussions with the US on the future of the UK-US Extradition Treaty or risks of miscarriages of justice arising from their operation.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had with the police, the Local Government Association and other stakeholders on the impact of their plans for fast-tracking, and granting, multiple asylum applications, in respect of (1) public safety, (2) national security, (3) community cohesion, (4) the probation service, and (5) local government finance.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
On 23 July 2024, the Home Secretary laid a Statutory Instrument in Parliament which removed the retrospective application of the Illegal Migration Act 2023. This has enabled decision-makers to resume their work in processing asylum claims from those who arrived in the UK from 7 March 2023 onwards. This is an important step to restore order to the asylum system and ease the burden on the taxpayer.
Each asylum claim will be considered on its individual merits and all claimants are subject to mandatory security checks. Those who qualify are normally granted five years’ limited leave and have access to the labour market. Those found not to need protection are refused.
The Home Office does and will continue to engage with other Government Departments and a number of external stakeholders regarding the impact that the asylum system has on other areas.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the policing of safe access zones around abortion clinics will be consistent with the College of Policing’s wider guidance on managing protests.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The College of Policing has published an authorised professional practice (APP) to ensure police forces in England and Wales take a consistent and effective approach to planning and policing public order and public safety, including the management of protests. Any guidance on how the wider legislative framework should be applied specifically in the context of abortion safe access zones would be a matter for the College.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they next plan to review the operation and effect of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Regulation 12 in the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 requires the Secretary of State to carry out a review of the operation and effect of the regulations at intervals of no more than five years. The exact timing of the first review has yet to be determined, but we will allow sufficient time for the regulations to become fully established before doing so.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost to the public purse of the judicial review sought by the Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens' Rights Agreements on the implementation of the EU Settlement Scheme with regard to the upgrade from pre-settled to settled status.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The judgment of the judicial review sought by the Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens' Rights Agreements on the implementation of the EU Settlement Scheme found that the pre-permanent right to reside under the Withdrawal Agreement does not expire for failure to make a second application to the EUSS; and a Withdrawal Agreement permanent right to reside is acquired automatically by a pre-settled status holder as soon as they meet the relevant conditions, even if they have not applied for settled status under the EUSS.
Information on the cost to the public purse is not held in a reportable format and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of the Republic of Ireland on potential returns from that country of irregular migrants to (1) the United Kingdom, and (2) other European Union states.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We do not have a returns agreement with the EU or other EU Member States.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many individuals who are not British citizens have had their visitor or other visas rescinded as a result of criminal activities associated with public order offences since 7 October 2023.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office does not publish data on UK visa holders who have had visas rescinded as a result of criminal activities associated with public order offences at the current time.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many foreign national offenders they have removed from the United Kingdom at the conclusion of their custodial sentences in each of the past ten years.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Our priority will always be to keep the British public safe. That is why foreign nationals who abuse our hospitality by committing crimes should be in no doubt of our determination to deport them.
The table below provides information on the returns of foreign national offenders (FNOs) and those returned under Early Removal Scheme (ERS).
Date of return | Total FNO Returns | FNOs returned under ERS |
2014 | 5,395 | 1,717 |
2015 | 6,024 | 2,034 |
2016 | 6,437 | 2,161 |
2017 | 6,292 | 2,106 |
2018 | 5,518 | 2,118 |
2019 | 5,128 | 2,101 |
2020 | 2,944 | 1,364 |
2021 | 2,706 | 1,196 |
2022 | 3,097 | 601 |
Jan 2023 - Sep 2023 | 2,801 | - |
TOTAL | 46,342 | 15,398 |
Footnote | ||
1: The total returns dataset is from 01 January 2014 to 01 September 2023, in line with published data. | ||
2: Available published statistics for ERS are only available up to and including June 2022. | ||
The Nationality and Borders Act introduced in April 2022 made it easier and quicker to remove FNOs and those with no right to be in the UK. The Act extended the period an FNO can be removed from prison under the ERS from a maximum of 9 months to 12 months before their custodial sentence would otherwise have ended. New changes, which came into force in January 2024, extended the removal period even further. Removal of FNOs can now take place up to 18 months before the end of the custodial element of their sentence, providing they have served the requisite period before removal can take place.
The ERS remains the most effective mechanism for removing eligible FNOs as quickly as possible, freeing up prison beds and saving money.