Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she expects the independent inquiry into grooming gangs to commence taking evidence; and what steps she is taking to support cross-Government cooperation with the inquiry.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
On 9 December 2025 the Home Secretary announced Baroness Anne Longfield as Chair of the Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs, alongside panellists Zoë Billingham CBE and Eleanor Kelly CBE. She also published the draft Terms of Reference, which she has asked the Chair to consult on. The final version will be published by 31 March 2026, after which the inquiry will formally commence. Under the Inquiries Act 2005, the conduct and procedure of the inquiry are a matter for the Chair.
The Home Secretary has been clear that the inquiry will act without fear or favour, identifying individual, institutional and systemic failure, inadequate organisational responses, and failures of leadership. The government is fully committed to supporting the Inquiry.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department holds information on whether accommodation providers or subcontractors have used third-party agencies to purchase residential properties in Northern Ireland intended for use in accommodating asylum seekers.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Home Office accommodation Providers procure accommodation on behalf of the Home Office for use as asylum accommodation, this can be either via purchasing or letting accommodation available on the property market and they work with a range of landlords and agents to do so.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of procuring residential accommodation for asylum seekers in Northern Ireland on (a) the availability of and (b) waiting times for social housing.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Accommodation for people seeking asylum in Northern Ireland is procured by Home Office Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract providers from the private rented sector and does not draw on social housing stock. Northern Ireland is not part of the Full Dispersal arrangements, so only those who claim asylum in Northern Ireland are accommodated there. On that basis, the Department does not assess a direct impact on either the availability of, or waiting times for, social housing.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether individuals currently residing on a UK Ancestry visa and working towards Indefinite Leave to Remain under the existing five-year residency requirement will be required to meet the proposed ten-year residency rule in proposed changes to immigration rules.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We are currently holding a public consultation on new settlement rules. Following that, we will provide details of how this initiative will work, including on any transitional arrangements for people already in the UK.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of training given to police officers attending people in mental health crisis.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The College of Policing set the professional standards for police in England and Wales. The College’s core guidance includes the initial training for officers under the Policing Education Qualifications Framework which incorporates autism, learning disabilities, mental health including their powers under section 135 and 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983, and vulnerabilities. Through this, officers are taught to assess vulnerability and amend their approaches as required.
The College further promotes the need for frameworks to assess vulnerability, to aid in consistent identification, support decision making, and to trigger appropriate safeguarding action. Such principles and practices are set out in a number of college products, including the Detention and Custody Authorised Professional Practice.
Police officers are not mental health experts, neither are they expected to be. However, the training available to police officers in respect of mental ill health or other vulnerabilities is aimed at equipping them to identify potential issues and to know when interventions from partner agencies and health professionals may be needed.
Policing is operationally independent, and it is a matter for the chief constables of each force to decide which additional training their officers should undertake and to set and enforce standards, giving them the flexibility to address their own local challenges, needs and priorities. They are inspected biannually by His Majesties Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) whose role is to independently report on the efficiency and effectiveness of police forces, including inspecting how forces protect vulnerable people.
The College of Policing’s Approved Professional Practice for mental health is currently undergoing a full review, which will be going out for public consultation in the coming months.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has issued on processing cases of irregular migrants who have been found to be involved in violent crime.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Any foreign national who is convicted of a crime and given a prison sentence is considered for deportation at the earliest opportunity. Under the UK Borders Act 2007, a deportation order must be made where a foreign national has been convicted of an offence and received a custodial sentence of at least 12 months. A foreign national convicted of an offence that has caused serious harm, who is a persistent offender or who poses a threat to national security will also be considered for deportation where it is deemed to be conducive to the public good under the Immigration Act 1971. Guidance on the use of those powers can be found here: Deporting foreign nationals on conducive grounds: caseworker guidance - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Palestine refugee visa scheme on (a) social cohesion, (b) public services and (c) immigration levels; and what steps she is taking to ensure that the scheme is implemented in a way that balances (i) humanitarian responsibilities and (ii) the need to maintain community stability.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Any application for a UK visa will be assessed against the requirements of the Immigration Rules and our suitability requirements. Consideration will be given to compelling, compassionate and exceptional circumstances raised and may be taken into account where certain requirements are not met.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to (a) recognise domestic abuse as a form of violence against women and girls, (b) prioritise funding for specialist services, (c) implement reforms to family courts recommended in the Ministry of Justice’s Harm Panel review and (d) take other steps to tackle such violence.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Domestic Abuse is a form of Violence Against Women and Girls and this Government is committed to tackling VAWG in all its forms.
Our new VAWG strategy will be published next year and will set out our continued recognition of the fundamental importance of specialist services. We will use every tool available to target perpetrators and address the root causes of abuse and violence.
On 20th September, we announced a package of measures to tackle VAWG. This included launching the Domestic Abuse Protection Orders in selected police forces and courts on 27th November to further strengthen protections for victims and introducing domestic abuse specialists into 999 control rooms from early 2025 as part of ‘Raneem’s Law’. On 3rd December, we also announced new measures to tackle stalking.
We are committed to responding to the Harm Panel’s recommendations and the Pathfinder pilot is central to reforming the family justice system. This entirely reformed court model is currently operating in Dorset, North Wales, Birmingham and South-East Wales and seeks to improve the experiences of children and families and reduce re-traumatisation through a more investigative and less adversarial approach.
Following the spending review announcements in October, the Home Office and other departments across Government are deciding how their departmental budgets are allocated to deliver the Government’s priorities in 2025/26. Phase 2 of the Spending Review will be mission-led, ensuring Departments work together to develop a shared strategy for delivering the Government’s priority areas for reform.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what happens to dogs held for research purposes by Government (a) Departments and (b) agencies once research has been completed.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) provides protections for animals in the UK that are used in scientific procedures.
For dogs used in science, the Home Office expects that every opportunity will be taken to re-home animals where it is appropriate to do so (advice note available at: www.gov.uk/guidance/animal-research-technical-advice).
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many animals are held by Government (a) Departments and (b) agencies for research; and what type of animals are held.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals, Great Britain 2023 was published on the 11 September 2024.
The statistics provide full details on the number of licensed procedures carried out, the species of animals and the purposes for which the procedures have been undertaken. Information regarding establishment type is not collected as part of the return of procedures data used as this is not an indicator of the type of procedures carried out, and often establishments could be categorised as more than one type.