Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average cost is to accommodate an individual asylum seeker by Scottish local authority.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government inherited an asylum system under exceptional strain, with tens of thousands of people stuck in limbo without any prospect of having their claims processed. At their peak use under the previous government, in the autumn of 2023, more than 400 asylum hotels were being leased by the Home Office, at a cost of almost £9 million a day.
We took immediate action to resolve that chaos by restarting asylum processing, establishing the new Border Security Command to tackle the people-smuggling gangs, cracking down on illegal working across the country, and increasing the return and removal of people with no right to be here.
Inevitably, due to the size of the backlog we inherited, the Government has been forced to continue with the use of hotels for the time being. This is not a permanent solution, and the small increase in the number in use at the end of last year was just a temporary but necessary step to manage pressures in the system, which is now in the process of being reversed. The number of hotels in use at present is 218. Since the General Election, there has been a net increase of six hotels in use; however, nine are scheduled for closure by the end of March 2025.
It remains our absolute commitment to end the use of hotels over time, as part of our reduction in overall asylum accommodation costs. In the interim, we are also continuing to increase our operational activity against smuggling gangs and illegal working, and we have increased returns to their highest level since 2018, with 16,400 people removed in the first six months this government was in office.
Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including hotels, and by local authority can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for our most recent statistics release: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK(opens in a new tab).
The Home Office publishes information on asylum expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts at Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK(opens in a new tab).
This Government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly, and fairly, including reviewing all spending to ensure the best value for money for the British taxpayer.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department has spent on accommodation for asylum seekers by Scottish local authority.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government inherited an asylum system under exceptional strain, with tens of thousands of people stuck in limbo without any prospect of having their claims processed. At their peak use under the previous government, in the autumn of 2023, more than 400 asylum hotels were being leased by the Home Office, at a cost of almost £9 million a day.
We took immediate action to resolve that chaos by restarting asylum processing, establishing the new Border Security Command to tackle the people-smuggling gangs, cracking down on illegal working across the country, and increasing the return and removal of people with no right to be here.
Inevitably, due to the size of the backlog we inherited, the Government has been forced to continue with the use of hotels for the time being. This is not a permanent solution, and the small increase in the number in use at the end of last year was just a temporary but necessary step to manage pressures in the system, which is now in the process of being reversed. The number of hotels in use at present is 218. Since the General Election, there has been a net increase of six hotels in use; however, nine are scheduled for closure by the end of March 2025.
It remains our absolute commitment to end the use of hotels over time, as part of our reduction in overall asylum accommodation costs. In the interim, we are also continuing to increase our operational activity against smuggling gangs and illegal working, and we have increased returns to their highest level since 2018, with 16,400 people removed in the first six months this government was in office.
Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including hotels, and by local authority can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for our most recent statistics release: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK(opens in a new tab).
The Home Office publishes information on asylum expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts at Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK(opens in a new tab).
This Government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly, and fairly, including reviewing all spending to ensure the best value for money for the British taxpayer.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many hotels her Department has identified as being appropriate for accommodating asylum seekers in Scotland by local authority.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government inherited an asylum system under exceptional strain, with tens of thousands of people stuck in limbo without any prospect of having their claims processed. At their peak use under the previous government, in the autumn of 2023, more than 400 asylum hotels were being leased by the Home Office, at a cost of almost £9 million a day.
We took immediate action to resolve that chaos by restarting asylum processing, establishing the new Border Security Command to tackle the people-smuggling gangs, cracking down on illegal working across the country, and increasing the return and removal of people with no right to be here.
Inevitably, due to the size of the backlog we inherited, the Government has been forced to continue with the use of hotels for the time being. This is not a permanent solution, and the small increase in the number in use at the end of last year was just a temporary but necessary step to manage pressures in the system, which is now in the process of being reversed. The number of hotels in use at present is 218. Since the General Election, there has been a net increase of six hotels in use; however, nine are scheduled for closure by the end of March 2025.
It remains our absolute commitment to end the use of hotels over time, as part of our reduction in overall asylum accommodation costs. In the interim, we are also continuing to increase our operational activity against smuggling gangs and illegal working, and we have increased returns to their highest level since 2018, with 16,400 people removed in the first six months this government was in office.
Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including hotels, and by local authority can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for our most recent statistics release: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK(opens in a new tab).
The Home Office publishes information on asylum expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts at Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK(opens in a new tab).
This Government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly, and fairly, including reviewing all spending to ensure the best value for money for the British taxpayer.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many hotels are being used to house asylum seekers in Scotland by local authority.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government inherited an asylum system under exceptional strain, with tens of thousands of people stuck in limbo without any prospect of having their claims processed. At their peak use under the previous government, in the autumn of 2023, more than 400 asylum hotels were being leased by the Home Office, at a cost of almost £9 million a day.
We took immediate action to resolve that chaos by restarting asylum processing, establishing the new Border Security Command to tackle the people-smuggling gangs, cracking down on illegal working across the country, and increasing the return and removal of people with no right to be here.
Inevitably, due to the size of the backlog we inherited, the Government has been forced to continue with the use of hotels for the time being. This is not a permanent solution, and the small increase in the number in use at the end of last year was just a temporary but necessary step to manage pressures in the system, which is now in the process of being reversed. The number of hotels in use at present is 218. Since the General Election, there has been a net increase of six hotels in use; however, nine are scheduled for closure by the end of March 2025.
It remains our absolute commitment to end the use of hotels over time, as part of our reduction in overall asylum accommodation costs. In the interim, we are also continuing to increase our operational activity against smuggling gangs and illegal working, and we have increased returns to their highest level since 2018, with 16,400 people removed in the first six months this government was in office.
Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including hotels, and by local authority can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for our most recent statistics release: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK(opens in a new tab).
The Home Office publishes information on asylum expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts at Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK(opens in a new tab).
This Government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly, and fairly, including reviewing all spending to ensure the best value for money for the British taxpayer.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether further resilience measures are planned for the Emergency Services Network following recent storms in the North East of Scotland.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) works closely with user organisations and EE to enhance levels of resilience across the ESN network. This includes enhancing power resilience across the ESN network by deploying standby alternative power solutions in the event of mains power being lost.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with representatives of EE on improving the resilience of the Emergency Services Network following Storms Arwen, Malik and Corrie.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Regular discussions are ongoing between the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESCMP) and EE to ensure the ESN network is resilient in the event of major disruption. The Programme is providing additional investment to enhance resilience of the ESN network in addition to what has already been provided by EE.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with her counterparts in (a) the EU, (b) the US, (c) Canada and (d) Israel on their classification of Hamas as a terror group in its entirety.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The UK Government does not routinely comment on intelligence matters.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department takes to distinguish between the military and political wings of Hamas; and if she will review her assessment of the functions of Hamas' Political Bureau.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The UK Government does not routinely comment on intelligence matters.
While we work closely with our international partners in the global fight against terrorism, any executive action must be underpinned by intelligence which satisfies the UK’s criminal and statutory thresholds.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether a decision has been taken on the expansion of the Youth Mobility Scheme to European nationals.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The UK currently operates nine Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) arrangements with Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Korea, San Marino, Japan, Monaco, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
As each YMS is subject to a bilateral, reciprocal agreement which also provides benefit to UK Nationals, the Home Office will not add nations to the scheme unilaterally in the absence of such an agreement.
Looking to the future, we have indicated our desire to negotiate a youth mobility arrangement with the EU, or with individual countries within it if a collective agreement is not possible.
Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of full surveillance of a convicted terrorist after release from prison.
Answered by James Brokenshire
For security reasons we do not disclose the breakdown of counter-terrorism police funding for specific capabilities.
The Government is committed to supporting our superb police, security and intelligence agencies, who work round the clock to keep us safe.
That is why the Government increased resources to the intelligence community in the 2015 Spending Review. By 2021, the security and intelligence agencies will have invested an additional £2.5bn in their capability to deliver against national security priorities.