UK Migration

Lord Sahota Excerpts

Thursday 9th July 2026 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Sahota]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of people migrating into the UK in each of the last five years.

[The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Hanson of Flint) (Lab)]

Net migration increased from 2021 to record levels in 2023, reaching 944,000 at its peak. Since 2023, numbers have fallen substantially. Net migration fell to 171,000 by the end of 2025—an 82% decrease compared to the peak and the lowest level since the pandemic.

[Lord Sahota (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for that. I congratulate the Government on reducing net migration from, as the Minister said, its peak of 900,000 to 171,000, an impressive reduction of approximately 82%. However, despite this significant progress, a recent opinion poll suggests that almost half the public still believe that immigration is continuing to increase. This misconception is being exploited by the right-wing political parties and risks creating unnecessary division and disharmony within our communities. What more can the Government do to ensure that the public are made aware of the accurate immigration figures and are better informed about the progress that has been made?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

My noble friend makes an important point. Immigration is a very sensitive issue, but it is also multifaceted. The figures on net migration are falling, the number of asylum claims being processed is increasing, and we have to deal with the small boats, the numbers of which are reducing. But we also have the very valuable contribution that many people who have come to this country make—from doctors to bus drivers, to factory workers, to people involved in our society as a whole. I therefore say to those on the far right who seek to exploit this that we are a cohesive, multicultural society, and we have people here who are contributing. We have to meet certain challenges, and this Government are prepared to meet them.

Police Leadership Commission Report

Lord Sahota Excerpts

Wednesday 8th July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

Maybe I should also have declared an interest, because I have a very close relative—a daughter—who works as a serving police officer. The key thing is that, while 27 recommendations have been given to the Government and we have to look at and assess them, we accept the general tenor of what the noble Lords, Lord Blunkett and Lord Herbert, have said. We need to improve the basic level of training, look at the skills needed for the 21st century, improve senior leadership and the training for it, and make sure that we have a wider pool for people to reach the senior chief constable positions. There is a very limited pool for chief constables at the moment and, very often, internal candidates have been inoculated through the police forces they have worked in, generally without any examination.

As part of wider reforms, as the noble Lord will know, we are looking at improving the College of Policing’s work by merging with it a senior level of activity. We are looking to shrink the number of police forces to give more effective local control and change the management structures from police and crime commissioners to mayors and other authorities, as part of a wider programme that the recommendations from the noble Lords, Lord Blunkett and Lord Herbert, fit into. I cannot give definitive answers now but, as I have said, we will report back on the recommendations and our responses as soon as practicable.

[Lord Sahota (Lab)]

My Lords, I read this report from cover to cover. It acknowledges that ethnic-minority officers have a poorer retention rate and slower progression because they continue to face discrimination within their organisation. Some 20 years ago, when I was on the West Mercia Police Authority as a councillor, I raised this issue constantly, yet here we are and ethnic-minority officers are still leaving at a far higher rate than white officers. This report acknowledges this issue, yet it offers no tangible or practical solution to this problem. Does my noble friend agree?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

I am grateful to my noble friend. It is important that the police reflect the communities they serve. Many parts of this United Kingdom have populations with a level of ethnic-minority British citizens who will want to see people who look like them in the police service. The point he makes is extremely important. Once we have recruited individuals, we need to value them, retain them and train them for the future, not lose that skill to outside businesses or because they are facing discrimination inside the force. The recommendations highlight the problem; we need to examine how we improve that. I want the police service to reflect the community it serves.

Transnational Marriage Abandonment

Lord Sahota Excerpts

Thursday 18th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

That is an important matter. Without repeating myself, let me say that we have waived the fees that would be expected in normal applications for victims of transnational abuse. That is a big commitment. Obviously, there are other costs, and the individual or charities can potentially cover them, but the Government’s contribution is to say that, if you are a victim of transnational abuse, you will not have to pay the expected fee that would normally need to be paid for consideration, which is around £3,200. That is a significant government contribution.

[Lord Sahota (Lab)]

My Lords, in recent months, I came across a very strange case in my community. A couple who had lived here for about three or four years had a child, and they were working and paying their taxes and so on. They then went on holiday to India and took their child with them. On their way back, they were told at the airport that they could enter the country, but their child could not, so they had to take their child back to India and leave them with their parents before coming back. Is that government policy?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

I would be grateful if my noble friend would write to me with the specifics of that case. I cannot comment on the reasons why any particular entry was refused at that time. Self-evidently, the Government want to see families reunited, and I am not aware of the circumstances of that case. That is not transnational abuse in the way in which the noble Baroness raised it, which is a deliberate act of malicious behaviour. This may be an issue that I will have to investigate, and I am happy to do so.

Temporary Skilled Worker Visas: Creative Occupations

Lord Sahota Excerpts

Thursday 4th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

Funnily enough, as the noble Viscount will know, sheep-shearers were not on my briefing for the creative industries. I am sure it is extremely creative and extremely high skilled, but it was not specifically part of my research in answering the Question. The key point is that the Government are trying to ensure that, where possible, we encourage locally grown talent to fill all skilled worker positions. I will look at the specific issue that he has mentioned, and I will ensure that any future creative industries Question includes sheep-shearers as part of my paragraphs.

[Lord Sahota (Lab)]

My Lords, when a skilled worker applies for a job in the UK, he pays thousands of pounds to the Home Office in fees, and then he pays thousands of pounds in surcharge every year to the National Health Service. He pays his taxes, national insurance and council tax, and in return he gets nothing—none of the benefits and no recourse to public funds. Yet right-wing parties such as Reform and others are saying that these workers are a financial burden on our country. Does my noble friend the Minister agree with that statement?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

I do not agree that all individuals who come to this country are financial burdens. People historically have made long-term contributions, paid taxes and filled vacancies. However, the Government have to have a managed border system and ensure that, where we can, we upskill United Kingdom citizens to compete and fill vacancies. That is the objective that the Government have in the White Paper, and it is one that I know my noble friend will support.

Child Poverty and Homelessness: Asylum and Settlement Policies

Lord Sahota Excerpts

Tuesday 14th April 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

I think the noble Baroness will know and will want to be assured that the whole purpose of these changes is to make both asylum and refugee status quicker in dealing with those outcomes. We have made some changes, and during the 30-month period of protection, if it is granted, refugees will continue to have the sanctuary their protection requires, and it will be renewed if they still require it. But the important thing is to assess claims quickly in order to make sure that we grant status quickly, so that people can earn a living and integrate into society.

[Lord Sahota (Lab)]

My Lords, on the settlement policy, does my noble friend the Minister accept that extending the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain from five to 10 years for care workers and other workers represents a breach of trust? They came here at our invitation and in good faith to care for our elderly and vulnerable people, and now they are being betrayed. Will the Government reconsider this policy and honour their original commitment?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

As my noble friend knows, the earned settlement consultation ran for 12 weeks. It began on 20 November 2025 and closed on 12 February 2026. We are now reviewing and analysing all the responses received. That analysis will help us inform the development of that earned settlement model. I value the contribution that many people who came to this country as care workers have made. We need a supply of care workers; we need people to do those jobs in our community, but I also encourage people in this country who are unemployed at the moment to take on that work. We are assessing the contributions; as I said, we have had more than 200,000 responses and it is fair that we assess them. I assure my noble friend that the Government will act in the interests of the care sector and of the people who are here in the long term, as part of our response.

Shamima Begum

Lord Sahota Excerpts

Wednesday 7th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

The noble Baroness will know that there are British nationals, including minors, in north-east Syria, as she referred to in her question. We are very content to consider requests for consular assistance from Syria on a case-by-case basis and to take into account all relevant circumstances, including but not limited to national security. If there are individuals whom she wishes to progress, that facility is open to access.

[Lord Sahota (Lab)]

My Lords, Shamima Begum was only 15 when she left the UK. The UN Commission on Human Rights expressed deep concern about the Government’s decision to deprive her of British citizenship and said that the practice may disproportionately affect people from minority communities. Can the Minister explain how the Government’s decision aligns with their obligation to protect children and the rights of the minority communities, and to uphold a human rights standard?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

I am grateful to my noble friend, but I come back to the point that the decision to deprive Shamima Begum of her British citizenship, undertaken by the previous Government and supported by this Government, was taken because she was deemed to pose, under legislation, a national security threat at that time. That does not mean that we are not going to robustly examine and support protection of children and minority groups from the UK public more generally. However, in the individual case that my noble friend mentioned, a decision was taken to deprive her of citizenship based on information that led to national security decisions. That is currently being contested in the European court, so I cannot comment further on the Government’s position, but he can be assured that there were reasons that the decision was taken in the first place.

Non-Crime Hate Incidents

Lord Sahota Excerpts

Monday 24th November 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is right that one of the purposes of non-crime hate incident assessments is to assess whether there are potential problems or challenges in a particular area. Last year, for example, 44% of religious hate crime offences targeted Muslims, while 24% targeted Jewish people, and there were 82,490 race hate crime offences. That is useful information, but the questions are: what do we do about non-crime hate incidents generally? Should we record them? Do we follow them up? Do they lead to prosecution? Are they a good use of police time? However, the evidence gathered by some of that information is valuable, which is why the College of Policing and the police chiefs’ council are making a genuine assessment, having already said that the non-crime hate incident regime is not fit for purpose.

[Lord Sahota (Lab)]

My Lords, it will be a sad day when police stop investigating non-crime hate incidents. In the last 10 years, I stood for Parliament twice, and I was the victim of such incidents both times. Non-crime hate is an early warning sign of what is happening in our society so that police and the politicians can keep an eye on it. Does my noble friend the Minister agree?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

Again, there are robust mechanisms in place to deal with harassment, racial prejudice and other forms of harassing and abusive and threatening behaviour. The key element of a non-crime hate incident is that it does not reach a threshold of a crime incident but is, in essence, a method of collecting information. For example, in my noble friend’s case, if there were persistent and regular non-crime hate approaches that did not reach that threshold, it might well indicate to the police that there were other aspects of community cohesion behaviour they needed to investigate. The review will decide what happens in terms of police activity following up on a range of matters, and that is what we are awaiting shortly with some interest.

Elon Musk

Lord Sahota Excerpts

Tuesday 4th November 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

I fear that I will be a star of Twitter, or X, before the evening is finished; I will probably be retweeted to thousands of people who will take a different view from me. I stand here not because I am me but because I am a representative of an elected Government who have won a clear majority and who ultimately will have to defend their record to the same people who elected them.

[Lord Sahota (Lab)]

My Lords, for the last month or so, members of the Sikh community in the West Midlands have been experiencing deeply distressing incidents. Two Sikh girls were reportedly victims of racially motivated sexual assault, and two Sikh taxi drivers were violently attacked at Wolverhampton railway station. Understandably, many Sikh women are now fearful of going about their daily lives, and the community as a whole is living in fear. What assurance can the Minister give to the Sikh community in the West Midlands that their safety and security are a priority for this Government? Can he outline what specific steps are being taken to protect them and bring the perpetrators of these hate crimes to justice?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

I am grateful to my noble friend for his question. As with the noble Baroness’s question on Muslim women earlier, it is absolutely important that people are not attacked for a characteristic that they cannot change. Part of the problem with the approach of Mr Musk is that he plays to people who wish to generate activity against special-characteristic individuals—who have a view politically or who have characteristics such as being Muslim or being from the Sikh community. My noble friend will know that the Policing Minister is meeting Sikh MPs this afternoon to learn about the challenges they are facing and to provide reassurance and will, no doubt, report back to my noble friend as well.

Refugee Family Reunion Scheme

Lord Sahota Excerpts

Tuesday 14th October 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Sahota (Lab)]

My Lords, if refugees living in the UK can demonstrate that they are in stable employment and contributing to society, and that their families would not be dependent on public funds, will their families be allowed to join them in this country?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

As my noble friend will guess from the questions I have had to date, we paused the family reunion scheme on 4 September pending a review, and we expect to bring forward proposals by April of next year. I am not in a position to give my noble friend a foretaste of what those proposals will be, because the purpose of us pausing the scheme is to examine the reasons why the increase has happened; to look at the pressures that have brought, potentially, 18% of reunion visas from Syria, 17% from Iran and 12% from Afghanistan; to look at what the drivers of that are and at how we can provide an appropriate level of family reunion—but in a context whereby we put some more strictures on what family reunion means.

Migrants: Hotel Accommodation

Lord Sahota Excerpts

Tuesday 1st July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

I am grateful to the noble Lord, and I would be grateful if he could write to me with the details of his friend’s hotel, because that is a great surprise to me. We are not opening new hotels; we are trying to reduce the number of such hotels and reducing the bill, under his Government, of £9 million a day to the current £6 million a day that I mentioned.

If the noble Lord wants to tackle illegal working, I recommend that he supports the Bill on employment rights currently before this House, which is about reducing the pull factors of illegal working and cracking down on illegal employers. As I recall, the Opposition have voted against that Bill on several occasions and plan to do so again.

[Lord Sahota (Lab)]

My Lords, according to a report by Migrant Voice, in 2023 the Home Office received 1,500 complaints about migrant hotels. They included lack of privacy; having to share rooms and sometimes even beds with strangers; overcrowding; dirty rooms, bathrooms and toilets; little access to healthcare; sexual harassment; intimidation; racism; out-of-date food and so on. These conditions are dehumanising. Are the Government aware of the conditions in these hotels?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

I am grateful to my noble friend. He mentioned a report, which was from 2023. This Government have been very clear that, as I said in my original Answer to the noble Lord, Lord Goodman of Wycombe, we need to provide accommodation that meets all contractual standards and is safe, fit for purpose and properly equipped. The contractual standards, which are in the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts, must meet decency levels and be maintained. That is the objective of this Government. As I say, the details my noble friend gave are from 2023.