Baroness Maclean of Redditch

The Home Office does not hold data on crime reduction attributable to the recording of non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs). These are not criminal offences; they are recorded by police forces as intelligence to help monitor patterns of behaviour and community tensions that could escalate into serious harm. This practice, recommended by the Macpherson Inquiry following the murder of Stephen Lawrence, is intended to support safeguarding and public safety. Recording NCHIs enables police to capture information on incidents motivated by hate which, while not criminal, may present safeguarding risks or contribute to rising tensions within communities. The National Police Chiefs’ Council and College of Policing are currently conducting a review of NCHIs. We look forward to receiving the review’s recommendations shortly.

We engage with stakeholders, including faith leaders, to ensure asylum claims based on religious persecution, including those based on religious conversion, are well considered, that those in genuine need are supported, and that there are no loopholes to claiming asylum in this country. Our guidance for considering claims based on religious conversion is publicly available on GOV.UK and we do not consider it is appropriate to place detailed discussions with stakeholders in the Library of the House.

Detailed Home Office policy instructions are regularly reviewed and provide a framework for considering asylum claims. All caseworkers receive extensive training to consider claims objectively and impartially and receive mentoring support before interviewing claimants and making such decisions. Our processes are underpinned by a robust framework of safeguards and quality checks, ensuring that claims are properly considered, decisions are sound, fake claims are rooted out, and protection is granted to those who genuinely need it.

Every asylum claim admitted to the UK asylum system, including those based on religion or belief, and including those from claimants who were accommodated on the Bibby Stockholm, is determined on its individual merits in accordance with our international obligations. People may become refugees ‘sur place’ due to activities they engage in or beliefs they have come to hold since leaving their country. As with all asylum claims, claims involving sur place activity are carefully considered on a case-by-case basis. In some circumstances it is appropriate to revoke protection status where evidence emerges that status was obtained by deception; where protection is no longer needed; or where someone commits a serious crime, represents a threat to our national security or demonstrates extremist behaviour.

We engage with stakeholders, including faith leaders, to ensure asylum claims based on religious persecution, including those based on religious conversion, are well considered, that those in genuine need are supported, and that there are no loopholes to claiming asylum in this country. Our guidance for considering claims based on religious conversion is publicly available on GOV.UK and we do not consider it is appropriate to place detailed discussions with stakeholders in the Library of the House.

Detailed Home Office policy instructions are regularly reviewed and provide a framework for considering asylum claims. All caseworkers receive extensive training to consider claims objectively and impartially and receive mentoring support before interviewing claimants and making such decisions. Our processes are underpinned by a robust framework of safeguards and quality checks, ensuring that claims are properly considered, decisions are sound, fake claims are rooted out, and protection is granted to those who genuinely need it.

Every asylum claim admitted to the UK asylum system, including those based on religion or belief, and including those from claimants who were accommodated on the Bibby Stockholm, is determined on its individual merits in accordance with our international obligations. People may become refugees ‘sur place’ due to activities they engage in or beliefs they have come to hold since leaving their country. As with all asylum claims, claims involving sur place activity are carefully considered on a case-by-case basis. In some circumstances it is appropriate to revoke protection status where evidence emerges that status was obtained by deception; where protection is no longer needed; or where someone commits a serious crime, represents a threat to our national security or demonstrates extremist behaviour.

We engage with stakeholders, including faith leaders, to ensure asylum claims based on religious persecution, including those based on religious conversion, are well considered, that those in genuine need are supported, and that there are no loopholes to claiming asylum in this country. Our guidance for considering claims based on religious conversion is publicly available on GOV.UK and we do not consider it is appropriate to place detailed discussions with stakeholders in the Library of the House.

Detailed Home Office policy instructions are regularly reviewed and provide a framework for considering asylum claims. All caseworkers receive extensive training to consider claims objectively and impartially and receive mentoring support before interviewing claimants and making such decisions. Our processes are underpinned by a robust framework of safeguards and quality checks, ensuring that claims are properly considered, decisions are sound, fake claims are rooted out, and protection is granted to those who genuinely need it.

Every asylum claim admitted to the UK asylum system, including those based on religion or belief, and including those from claimants who were accommodated on the Bibby Stockholm, is determined on its individual merits in accordance with our international obligations. People may become refugees ‘sur place’ due to activities they engage in or beliefs they have come to hold since leaving their country. As with all asylum claims, claims involving sur place activity are carefully considered on a case-by-case basis. In some circumstances it is appropriate to revoke protection status where evidence emerges that status was obtained by deception; where protection is no longer needed; or where someone commits a serious crime, represents a threat to our national security or demonstrates extremist behaviour.

Every asylum claim admitted to the UK asylum system, including those based on religion or belief, is determined on its individual merits in accordance with our international obligations so that we do not remove anyone who faces persecution or serious harm on return to their country of origin. This is regardless of where or how a person may have entered the UK, or how they might be accommodated while in the UK.

People may become refugees ‘sur place’ due to activities they engage in or beliefs they have come to hold since leaving their country. As with all asylum claims, claims involving sur place activity are carefully considered on a case-by-case basis. This is also the process for further submissions lodged on protection grounds by failed asylum seekers.

We engage with stakeholders, including faith leaders, to ensure asylum claims based on religious persecution, including those based on religious conversion, are well considered, that those in genuine need are supported, and that there are no loopholes to claiming asylum in this country.

Every asylum claim admitted to the UK asylum system, including those based on religion or belief, is determined on its individual merits in accordance with our international obligations so that we do not remove anyone who faces persecution or serious harm on return to their country of origin. This is regardless of where or how a person may have entered the UK, or how they might be accommodated while in the UK.

People may become refugees ‘sur place’ due to activities they engage in or beliefs they have come to hold since leaving their country. As with all asylum claims, claims involving sur place activity are carefully considered on a case-by-case basis. This is also the process for further submissions lodged on protection grounds by failed asylum seekers.

We engage with stakeholders, including faith leaders, to ensure asylum claims based on religious persecution, including those based on religious conversion, are well considered, that those in genuine need are supported, and that there are no loopholes to claiming asylum in this country.

Every asylum claim admitted to the UK asylum system, including those based on religion or belief, is determined on its individual merits in accordance with our international obligations so that we do not remove anyone who faces persecution or serious harm on return to their country of origin. This is regardless of where or how a person may have entered the UK, or how they might be accommodated while in the UK.

People may become refugees ‘sur place’ due to activities they engage in or beliefs they have come to hold since leaving their country. As with all asylum claims, claims involving sur place activity are carefully considered on a case-by-case basis. This is also the process for further submissions lodged on protection grounds by failed asylum seekers.

We engage with stakeholders, including faith leaders, to ensure asylum claims based on religious persecution, including those based on religious conversion, are well considered, that those in genuine need are supported, and that there are no loopholes to claiming asylum in this country.

The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release on GOV.UK.

Data on the number of grants where sexual orientation forms part of the claim is published in table SOC_00. The latest data relates to 2023. In 2023, 2,133 claims were granted where sexual orientation formed part of the basis for the asylum claim. For further information on the data, see the notes pages of the tables.

Not all these individuals will necessarily have been granted protection on the basis of their sexual orientation. Similarly, other asylum seekers may be granted protection without referencing their sexual orientation in their claims and therefore would not be included in these figures.

Updated published data from 2023 onwards is currently unavailable due to ongoing work as immigration data transitions to a new case working system and it will be included in a future edition of the Immigration System Statistics Release.

The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

This Government has been clear that a consistent and common-sense approach must be taken with non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs).

The Home Secretary has asked the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the College of Policing to expedite its review of NCHIs which began earlier this year. The review is considering the recording of information that has not yet reached the criminal threshold, but which may still be useful for the purposes of monitoring community tensions and keeping the public safe. It is also considering the fundamental right of freedom of expression and recent court rulings in this area.

The Home Office is working closely with the NPCC and the College as they develop their findings.

As part of its assurance processes, the Home Office conducts regular inspections and monitoring of asylum accommodation sites to ensure compliance with contractual and safety standards, including security arrangements. Feedback from local authorities and service users is also considered to inform improvements.

The Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract (AASC) Requirements gives a detailed breakdown of all the services to be undertaken by our accommodation providers and to the standards we expect.

All asylum claims, including those based on religion conversion, are carefully assessed individually in accordance with our international obligations and in line with our published guidance.

As part of its assurance processes, the Home Office conducts regular inspections and monitoring of asylum accommodation sites to ensure compliance with contractual and safety standards, including security arrangements. Feedback from local authorities and service users is also considered to inform improvements.

The Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract (AASC) Requirements gives a detailed breakdown of all the services to be undertaken by our accommodation providers and to the standards we expect.

All asylum claims, including those based on religion conversion, are carefully assessed individually in accordance with our international obligations and in line with our published guidance.

All asylum and human rights claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations, meaning religious conversions do not guarantee a grant of refugee status.

Home Office policy guidance provides a framework for considering asylum claims and assessing credibility. When assessing claims based on religious persecution, caseworkers are expected to ask appropriate and sensitive questions to explore a claimant’s personal experiences and journey to their new faith and gather evidence of current religious practice.

Our processes are underpinned by a robust quality assurance review process. Decision makers and quality assessors must adhere to the interview and decision marking standards, which are shared with caseworkers to improve understanding when receiving feedback.

We have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders to help us to improve our policy guidance, training for asylum decision-makers, and to ensure we approach claims involving religious conversion in the appropriate way.

All asylum and human rights claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations, meaning religious conversions do not guarantee a grant of refugee status.

Home Office policy guidance provides a framework for considering asylum claims and assessing credibility. When assessing claims based on religious persecution, caseworkers are expected to ask appropriate and sensitive questions to explore a claimant’s personal experiences and journey to their new faith and gather evidence of current religious practice.

Our processes are underpinned by a robust quality assurance review process. Decision makers and quality assessors must adhere to the interview and decision marking standards, which are shared with caseworkers to improve understanding when receiving feedback.

We have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders to help us to improve our policy guidance, training for asylum decision-makers, and to ensure we approach claims involving religious conversion in the appropriate way.

The requested information on asylum claims being accepted based on religious conversion is not available from published statistics and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

The Home Office publishes data on initial decisions on asylum claims in table Asy_D02 of the 'Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release' on GOV.UK. The latest data relates to the year ending June 2025. Between July 2020 and June 2025, 165,551 people have been granted protection or other leave at initial decision. There is no breakdown by religion available.

All asylum claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with the Immigration Rules. This means that religious conversions do not guarantee a grant of refugee status.

The government is committed to building more high-quality, well-designed, and sustainable homes and places. There is a clear framework through policy and guidance on how to achieve well-designed places in plan making and decision making, and the principles of good design are set out in national design guidance. We will be publishing updated guidance in due course. We are also exploring the role of digital tools to support local planning authorities to deliver good design through the planning system.

We support the responsible integration of AI across local government operations and services to reduce costs, drive efficiencies and improve service outcomes.

My department is working with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) Incubator for AI (i.AI) to deliver the ‘Extract’ product, which uses AI to transform planning information and maps from PDFs into data. This will unlock data, which can be made available on planning.data.gov.uk, to power innovation, analysis and new types of planning software. We intend to make this product available for all local authorities in England during 2026. We are developing Extract to make it as intuitive as possible to all users, to encourage greater adoption. As a vital part of our commitment to developing AI-enabled products responsibly, we are also identifying and meeting the need for AI literacy and training among users in local planning authorities.

We want exemplary development to be the norm and not the exception – this is the focus of teams across the Department. MHCLG’s design and placemaking policy team is comprised of 13 civil servants, including five staff who were redeployed from the Office for Place. The team is working across the Department to embed good design within housing and planning policy, and we will be publishing updated national design guidance later this year.

An additional five staff from the Office for Place were redeployed onto housing delivery to support efforts to improve the quality of new development. We can confirm that all staff who were working directly on Office for Place activities were transferred to MHCLG or their home departments. The Office for Place annual report and accounts are available on gov.uk here.

No new homes in Cambridge are currently blocked due to water scarcity issues. Our work with the Water Scarcity Group has unblocked over 9,000 homes and over 500,000sqm of commercial space, and in December 2024, the Environment Agency lifted its objections to remaining blocked development following improvements to Cambridge Water’s Water Resource Management Plan and progress made by the Water Scarcity Group.

The Government is continuing to progress work to deliver water savings and develop a water credits scheme, to ensure that development between now and 2032 (when new water resources are delivered) can proceed. Further details will be announced in due course.

This government is committed to delivering 1.5 million homes over this Parliament as set out in our Plan for Change. These will be high-quality, well-designed homes, supported by the necessary infrastructure, where people can thrive. In January, the Chancellor confirmed that the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor is a key economic priority for the country and we are working with local authorities across the region to help them do their part in planning for ambitious housing delivery.

The New Homes Accelerator (NHA) is a collaboration between the government, Homes England, the Greater London Authority (GLA), local authorities, developers, and other key stakeholders. It aims to unblock and accelerate the delivery of housing developments that have for various reasons become delayed, or which are not progressing as quickly as they could be. The NHA is helping to progress large development sites across the country by providing site-specific support and also addressing system-wide constraints.

Since July 2024, the NHA has announced 16 sites for site-specific support, with combined capacity for c. 48,600 homes, that will benefit from government support. To date, through our engagement with statutory consultees and arms-length bodies, we have unblocked nearly 100,000 homes.

The programme is constantly exploring new issues and blockers to address, which will determine the NHA’s level of impact. The NHA continues to work with Homes England, the GLA and other partner bodies to expand the programme’s capacity and impact over this current Parliament.

Total housing supply in London amounted to 191,103 net additional dwellings (for the period 2019-20 to 2023-24).

The government has set an ambitious target of 88,000 new homes per year in London through the new standard method and remains committed to working in partnership with the London Mayor, boroughs, and wider stakeholders to achieve a step change in building in the capital.