Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have undertaken an impact assessment on the effects of any scheme to provide 99 per cent mortgages on the housing market.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government does not comment on theoretical schemes but continues to keep policy under review. The Government remains committed to supporting people of all incomes and at all stages of life in order to make the aspiration of home ownership a reality for as many households as possible.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce a scheme providing for 99 per cent mortgages.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government does not comment on theoretical schemes but continues to keep policy under review. The Government remains committed to supporting people of all incomes and at all stages of life in order to make the aspiration of home ownership a reality for as many households as possible.

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the closure of the Help to Buy scheme on the property market.

Answered by Baroness Swinburne - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

In line with the recommendation of the National Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee, the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has committed to undertaking an evaluation of the Help to Buy scheme, with a target date for publication of Autumn 2024. This will seek to investigate, amongst other matters, the effect of the Help to Buy scheme on the housing market within its lifetime and, where possible, after its closure.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to ensure effective border control and management of illegal immigration, in particular addressing any gaps in enforcement or security protocols.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Due to the steps we have taken, small boat arrivals fell by 36% in 2023 compared to the previous year; Albanian arrivals were down by over 90%. This reflects our continuing work with the French Government to prevent these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary crossings from taking place.

Immigration Enforcement is taking robust action to tackle illegal migration through:

• returning more than 25,000 people in 2023 who have no right to be in the UK, including more than 5,700 Albanians;
• increasing the number of illegal working visits by over 68% as of September 2023, compared to the same period in 2022; and
• disrupting organised crime groups, resulting in 246 arrests of people smugglers in 2023.

In terms of security protocols, the government does not routinely comment on individual cases or operational matters.

Our highest priority is protecting the safety and security of this country, which is why the UK has world-class police, security and intelligence agencies and a robust counter-terrorism framework in place.

As you would expect, security checks are already undertaken for all those identified arriving through illegal migration routes and law enforcement have the powers to deal with them appropriately.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the level of immigration to the UK for the past year; and how many individuals were granted visas for (1) work, (2) study, (3) family reunification, and (4) asylum.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’ [https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release]. Data on work and study visas granted are published in table Vis_D02, of the ‘Entry clearance detailed dataset’ [https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release]. Data on family reunification visas granted are published in table Fam_D01 and data on the number of people applying for and being granted asylum are published in table Asy_D01 and Asy_D02 of the ‘asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’ [https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/immigration-system-statistics-data-tables#asylum-and-resettlement]. Information on how to use these datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks. The latest data relates to 2023 Q4.

Not everyone granted a visa will become an ‘immigrant’ as per the United Nations definition of a long-term migrant. Information regarding immigration and emigration is a matter for the independent Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’ [https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-statistics?keywords=immigration&content_store_document_type=upcoming_statistics&organisations%5B%5D=home-office&order=relevance].

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of immigration on (1) public services, (2) housing, and (3) infrastructure.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Government has been clear that net migration is too high and is determined to bring it down to sustainable levels to help protect public services and housing against unsustainable pressure.

In May 2023, the Government announced measures to restrict the number of overseas students able to bring dependants. On 4 December 2023, the Home Secretary announced a new package of measures to reduce net migration further. These include limitations on family dependants being brought in by care workers and senior care workers; increasing the salary threshold for the Skilled Worker route; commissioning the Migration Advisory Committee to review the Shortage Occupation List; and raising the minimum income requirement for Family visas progressively over the next few years. These measures are now being implemented and were the subject of a WMS by the Minister for Legal Migration and the Border on January 30th.

Taken together with the measures the Government announced in May 2023, this means that around 300,000 people who were eligible to come to the UK last year would not be able to do so in future.

We keep all our immigration policies under review and work closely with key government departments to ensure that the immigration system best serves the UK, reflects the public’s priorities and protects public services against undue pressure.

A full analysis of the impact of the package will be published in a regulatory impact assessment in due course.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the New Bletchley Network, Rebuild The Army Now – to Prepare, Prevent, Deter War, published on 27 February.

Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Army is alive to many of the themes discussed in this report and, for those that have not already been addressed, is actively and constructively challenging itself in these areas.

Found: Lord Reid of Cardowan was a JCNSS Member until 31 January 2024, when he was discharged from the Committee