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Written Question
Legal Aid Scheme: Foreign Nationals
Tuesday 24th June 2025

Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total annual cost of providing legal aid to foreign nationals appealing a deportation order or contesting a criminal conviction.

Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Information on foreign national offenders contesting a criminal conviction is not centrally held.

Expenditure relating to deportation and removal appeals is published as part of the Legal Aid Agency’s Official Statistics as part of its ‘detailed civil data’ collection. Data for the last ten years can be found in the table below. Please note that due to the way information is recorded it is not possible to distinguish between costs relating to deportation matters (concerning foreign national offenders) and those relating to removal matters (e.g. individual’s whose asylum or immigration applications have been unsuccessful).

Financial Year

Immigration Deportation/Removal Appeal - Total Costs

2014-15

£875,322

2015-16

£662,880

2016-17

£615,822

2017-18

£552,301

2018-19

£516,453

2019-20

£931,934

2020-21

£767,773

2021-22

£858,623

2022-23

£878,051

2023-24

£955,947


Written Question
Romania: Begging and Vagrancy
Thursday 19th June 2025

Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with the Romanian government regarding preventing Romanian citizens from coming to the UK to beg.

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

The UK remains committed to maintaining constructive and respectful relations with Romania, and any future discussions on migration or related issues would be conducted in accordance with our shared values and international obligations.


Written Question
Begging and Vagrancy
Thursday 19th June 2025

Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with the Metropolitan Police regarding the use of anti-gang legislation to investigate and prosecute those controlling Romanian beggars in London.

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

It is the responsibility of law enforcement and statutory partners to work collaboratively to tackle the threat from all forms of Serious and Organised Crime (SOC), maximising the full range of legislative and disruption opportunities available. SOC is a major threat to the national security and prosperity of the UK and organised crime groups continue to diversify their tactics in order to exploit the vulnerable and perpetrate harm. The Government is committed to tackling SOC in all its forms and ensuring police have the capabilities they need to protect individuals and communities. We are delivering the Safer Streets mission to create a safer, fairer country for all and have increased funding for policing by more than half a billion pounds this year.


Written Question
Begging and Vagrancy
Thursday 19th June 2025

Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of organised Romanian beggars in London.

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

It is the responsibility of law enforcement and statutory partners to work collaboratively to tackle the threat from all forms of Serious and Organised Crime (SOC), maximising the full range of legislative and disruption opportunities available. SOC is a major threat to the national security and prosperity of the UK and organised crime groups continue to diversify their tactics in order to exploit the vulnerable and perpetrate harm. The Government is committed to tackling SOC in all its forms and ensuring police have the capabilities they need to protect individuals and communities. We are delivering the Safer Streets mission to create a safer, fairer country for all and have increased funding for policing by more than half a billion pounds this year.


Written Question
Begging and Vagrancy: Taxation
Tuesday 17th June 2025

Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of their ability to assess and tax the funds raised by Romanian beggars through their begging activities.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

Under current legislation, begging is not subject to Income Tax unless it can be demonstrated that an individual is being paid to provide a service, trade or profession.

HM Revenue and Customs continuously reviews and monitors risks and threats to the tax system using data and intelligence. This focusses on identifying omitted taxable income sources and does not target specific ethnic groups. HMRC does not collect data on taxpayer ethnicity.


Written Question
Rivers: Environment Protection
Wednesday 4th June 2025

Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to save England's chalk streams.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Cleaning up our waters, including iconic sites such as chalk streams is a top Government priority. That is why on 23 October 2024, the Secretary of State announced the launch of an independent commission to fundamentally transform how our water system works.

Fixing the systemic issues in the water system is essential to address the multiple pressures facing chalk streams, namely over abstraction, phosphorous pollution and physical modifications of habitats. Restoring our chalk streams to better ecological health is part of our overall programme of reforms for the water sector.

Alongside this, we are continuing to direct investment to projects that will improve chalk streams. Through the Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP), over 1000 improvement projects are planned within chalk stream catchments between 2024-2029.


Written Question
Demonstrations
Wednesday 30th April 2025

Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the recent arrests of activists from the Youth Demand group in a Quaker Meeting House, what assessment they have made of the proportionality of (1) legislation governing protests in England; and (2) the enforcement of such legislation by the police.

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

The enforcement of protest legislation is an operational matter for the police. It is within their discretion to determine whether a particular action warrants police involvement, based on their operational expertise and the specific circumstances of each case.


Written Question
Great Western Railway: Franchises
Thursday 10th April 2025

Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to exercise their option to extend the current Great Western Railway franchise.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

There are no plans to extend the Great Western Railway franchise. Under the provisions of the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024, services operated under contract with the Department will transfer into public ownership as existing contracts expire, and will be kept there, rather than public ownership merely being a temporary ‘last resort’. This delivers the Government’s manifesto commitment to bring passenger services into public ownership as a first step towards wider rail reform.


Written Question
Fordstam
Monday 7th April 2025

Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to release funds currently held by Roman Abramovich’s company Fordstam to Ukraine.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)

We are determined to see the proceeds from the sale of Chelsea FC reach humanitarian causes in Ukraine as soon as possible. We are doing everything we can to bring that about quickly. This is a complex legal issue, but the UK is working with international partners, has engaged with Abramovich's team, and is exploring all options to ensure the proceeds reach vulnerable people in Ukraine.


Written Question
Travel Requirements: EU Nationals
Thursday 3rd April 2025

Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to implement a scheme similar to the EU entry/exit system for EU nationals travelling to the UK.

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

The UK has introduced electronic travel authorisations (ETAs) to enhance our ability to screen travellers upstream, and improve the customer experience. The introduction of the ETA scheme is in line with the approach many of the UK’s international partners have already taken to border security, including the European Union’s forthcoming ETIAS and EES. The UK’s scheme was extended to eligible European nationals on 5 March 2025, and will be a requirement for this cohort for travel from 2 April 2025. In line with international partners, we are building upon our existing ability to track arrivals in and out of the country.