Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of staff in HM Prison Service speak English as a second language.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will list all property seized from Russian nationals with assets of more than £1 million in the United Kingdom which has been sold, and the total amount raised; and whether the proceeds have been donated to Ukraine.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
Between February 2022 and October 2023, £22.7 billion in frozen funds had been reported to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) in relation to the Russia sanctions regime. This is a cumulative total of assets reported as OFSI do not disclose the value of any funds held by particular designated persons or entities. OFSI intends to publish its 2023-2024 Annual Frozen Asset Review this spring 2025.
An asset freeze does not involve a change in ownership of the frozen funds or economic resources, nor are they transferred to HM Treasury.
It would not be appropriate to comment on future designations or the reasons why an individual is not currently designated. The UK does not hold a consolidated list of Russian nationals with more than £1 million in assets.
To date, the UK has sanctioned over 2200 individual and entities under the Russia regulations, over 2000 of which were sanctioned following Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will list all Russian nationals with more than £1 million in assets in the United Kingdom who are currently not subject to sanctions; and in each case, why any such person is not subject to sanctions.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
Between February 2022 and October 2023, £22.7 billion in frozen funds had been reported to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) in relation to the Russia sanctions regime. This is a cumulative total of assets reported as OFSI do not disclose the value of any funds held by particular designated persons or entities. OFSI intends to publish its 2023-2024 Annual Frozen Asset Review this spring 2025.
An asset freeze does not involve a change in ownership of the frozen funds or economic resources, nor are they transferred to HM Treasury.
It would not be appropriate to comment on future designations or the reasons why an individual is not currently designated. The UK does not hold a consolidated list of Russian nationals with more than £1 million in assets.
To date, the UK has sanctioned over 2200 individual and entities under the Russia regulations, over 2000 of which were sanctioned following Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will list all property frozen or seized from any Russian national with assets of more than £1 million in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
Between February 2022 and October 2023, £22.7 billion in frozen funds had been reported to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) in relation to the Russia sanctions regime. This is a cumulative total of assets reported as OFSI do not disclose the value of any funds held by particular designated persons or entities. OFSI intends to publish its 2023-2024 Annual Frozen Asset Review this spring 2025.
An asset freeze does not involve a change in ownership of the frozen funds or economic resources, nor are they transferred to HM Treasury.
It would not be appropriate to comment on future designations or the reasons why an individual is not currently designated. The UK does not hold a consolidated list of Russian nationals with more than £1 million in assets.
To date, the UK has sanctioned over 2200 individual and entities under the Russia regulations, over 2000 of which were sanctioned following Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will list all Russian nationals with more than £1 million in assets in the United Kingdom who are currently subject to sanctions.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
Between February 2022 and October 2023, £22.7 billion in frozen funds had been reported to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) in relation to the Russia sanctions regime. This is a cumulative total of assets reported as OFSI do not disclose the value of any funds held by particular designated persons or entities. OFSI intends to publish its 2023-2024 Annual Frozen Asset Review this spring 2025.
An asset freeze does not involve a change in ownership of the frozen funds or economic resources, nor are they transferred to HM Treasury.
It would not be appropriate to comment on future designations or the reasons why an individual is not currently designated. The UK does not hold a consolidated list of Russian nationals with more than £1 million in assets.
To date, the UK has sanctioned over 2200 individual and entities under the Russia regulations, over 2000 of which were sanctioned following Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will list all Russian nationals with assets of more than £1 million in (1) England, (2) Scotland, (3) Wales, and (4) Northern Ireland.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
Between February 2022 and October 2023, £22.7 billion in frozen funds had been reported to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) in relation to the Russia sanctions regime. This is a cumulative total of assets reported as OFSI do not disclose the value of any funds held by particular designated persons or entities. OFSI intends to publish its 2023-2024 Annual Frozen Asset Review this spring 2025.
An asset freeze does not involve a change in ownership of the frozen funds or economic resources, nor are they transferred to HM Treasury.
It would not be appropriate to comment on future designations or the reasons why an individual is not currently designated. The UK does not hold a consolidated list of Russian nationals with more than £1 million in assets.
To date, the UK has sanctioned over 2200 individual and entities under the Russia regulations, over 2000 of which were sanctioned following Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people have been resettled under the UK Resettlement Scheme in each of the past four years.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Resettlement schemes play a key role in the global response to humanitarian crises: saving lives and offering stability to refugees most in need of protection. We work closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the global refugee agency, to identify those living in formal refugee camps, informal settlements and host communities who would benefit most from resettlement to the UK. Our resettlement schemes are not selective on the basis of employability or integration potential. Apart from the criteria we set for each scheme, we do not seek to influence which cases are referred to us by UNHCR. Our approach is to resettle refugees in line with the global need identified by UNHCR, typically from countries hosting large populations of refugees such as those bordering countries with conflicts, where resettlement may be the only durable solution. This provides refugees with a safe and legal route to the UK.
Data on the number of people resettled through the UK Resettlement scheme is published in the quarterly immigration statistics release. This is viewable on gov.uk.
The table below shows the number of individuals resettled under UKRS. The data is relevant up to December 2024.
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
UK Resettlement Scheme | 1,121 | 887 | 485 | 678 |
It is not possible to disclose staffing numbers relating to UKRS currently due to the operational nature of the scheme.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they take to promote the UK Resettlement Scheme to relevant immigrants.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Resettlement schemes play a key role in the global response to humanitarian crises: saving lives and offering stability to refugees most in need of protection. We work closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the global refugee agency, to identify those living in formal refugee camps, informal settlements and host communities who would benefit most from resettlement to the UK. Our resettlement schemes are not selective on the basis of employability or integration potential. Apart from the criteria we set for each scheme, we do not seek to influence which cases are referred to us by UNHCR. Our approach is to resettle refugees in line with the global need identified by UNHCR, typically from countries hosting large populations of refugees such as those bordering countries with conflicts, where resettlement may be the only durable solution. This provides refugees with a safe and legal route to the UK.
Data on the number of people resettled through the UK Resettlement scheme is published in the quarterly immigration statistics release. This is viewable on gov.uk.
The table below shows the number of individuals resettled under UKRS. The data is relevant up to December 2024.
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
UK Resettlement Scheme | 1,121 | 887 | 485 | 678 |
It is not possible to disclose staffing numbers relating to UKRS currently due to the operational nature of the scheme.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people they employ to administer the UK Resettlement Scheme.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Resettlement schemes play a key role in the global response to humanitarian crises: saving lives and offering stability to refugees most in need of protection. We work closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the global refugee agency, to identify those living in formal refugee camps, informal settlements and host communities who would benefit most from resettlement to the UK. Our resettlement schemes are not selective on the basis of employability or integration potential. Apart from the criteria we set for each scheme, we do not seek to influence which cases are referred to us by UNHCR. Our approach is to resettle refugees in line with the global need identified by UNHCR, typically from countries hosting large populations of refugees such as those bordering countries with conflicts, where resettlement may be the only durable solution. This provides refugees with a safe and legal route to the UK.
Data on the number of people resettled through the UK Resettlement scheme is published in the quarterly immigration statistics release. This is viewable on gov.uk.
The table below shows the number of individuals resettled under UKRS. The data is relevant up to December 2024.
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
UK Resettlement Scheme | 1,121 | 887 | 485 | 678 |
It is not possible to disclose staffing numbers relating to UKRS currently due to the operational nature of the scheme.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many police officers in England and Wales have been recruited in each of the past five years without proper references being obtained prior to their employment.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government expects all forces to uphold the highest standards in recruitment so that only those fit to serve as police officers are appointed.
All candidates for appointment as a police officer should meet the standards set by the College of Policing. The Home Office does not hold data related to candidate references as this element of the end-to-end recruitment process is managed locally by forces.
The Government has committed to delivering stronger vetting standards, placed on a legislative footing, by the end of the year.