Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many students with student visas claimed asylum in every year since 2016.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Data on the number of people claiming asylum by their latest route prior to claim, including those who held a study visa prior to their claim, is published in Table Asy_D01a of the Asylum claims and initial decisions datasets. The latest available data covers the period from 2018 to June 2026.
The data relates only to a person's most recent route prior to claiming asylum and does not show whether an individual previously held a study visa before that leave.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to support local authorities in tackling anti-social behaviour.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is determined to restore confidence that anti-social behaviour will be tackled quickly and effectively. Through the Crime and Policing Act 2026, we have strengthened the tools available to frontline agencies, including introducing Respect Orders for persistent adult perpetrators of anti-social behaviour, providing a more flexible and robust intervention to prevent further offending.
The Act also strengthens existing powers by increasing the maximum financial penalty available for breaches of Public Spaces Protection Orders and Community Protection Notices, extending the period for which Closure Notices can be issued, and introducing a new requirement for local policing bodies to conduct reviews where communities are dissatisfied with the response to anti-social behaviour.
On 6 October, we published updated anti-social behaviour statutory guidance ahead of commencement of these measures on 26 October. The guidance provides frontline practitioners with clarity on the new powers and processes coming into force, helping police, councils, housing providers and the courts prepare for and implement the new framework consistently and effectively.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many project licence applications under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 were rejected between January 2026 - September 2026.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Between 1 January 2026 and 30 September 2026, no applications for project licences under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 were refused.
The Government publishes extensive guidance for the regulated sector on applying for project licences. Applications are internally reviewed by an establishment’s Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body before agreement by the Named Person Responsible for Compliance, in advance of being submitted to the Home Office Regulator for assessment. Home Office Inspectors in the Regulator will only review applications from establishments that fulfil all requirements of the legislation.
Applications received by the Regulator may be returned to the applicant for clarification and/or amendment before being re-assessed. Applicants may amend or withdraw an application in response to feedback from the Regulator.
The structuring of the application process therefore means that the number of applications refused should not be taken as a reliable indicator of the robustness of the regulatory regime.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to support local authorities in introducing knife surrender bins in a) England and b) the parliamentary constituency of Romford.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office held a knife and weapons surrender scheme from 3 August to 31 August 2026, making use of Home Office-funded knife surrender bins, including the Home Office funded surrender bin in the London Borough of Havering. The location was agreed after discussion with Community Safety Partners in Havering.
Following the conclusion of the surrender scheme at the end of August, the surrender bins remain in place and are an ongoing community resource to allow for the continued safe and secure disposal of knives and weapons.
A full list of Home Office-funded surrender bins is available at:
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether a non-animal method that is scientifically satisfactory for a particular purpose but has not undergone formal (a) validation and (b) qualification must be used in place of a regulated procedure under section 2A(2)(a) of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Under section 2A of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (“ASPA”), a regulated procedure must not be used where a scientifically satisfactory alternative method or testing strategy that does not entail the use of a protected animal is available for the intended purpose. Formal validation or qualification are not specified in section 2A as separate legal preconditions or thresholds.
Whether a method is scientifically satisfactory and applicable in the particular circumstances is assessed on the available scientific evidence. Validation or qualification may provide relevant evidence in making that assessment, including where results must meet wider regulatory requirements, but the absence of either does not, by itself, permit animal use where the non-animal method is otherwise scientifically satisfactory for the intended purpose.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many non-British sex offenders have been deported in every year since 2020.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on Foreign National Offenders (FNO) returns in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on FNO returns by offence group are published in table Ret_02c of the ‘Returns summary tables’. The latest data relates to the year ending June 2026. FNO returns by offence group was published for the first time in the May 2026 release, with data for the year 2025. Data prior to that is not available from our published statistics.
This data will be released annually, and the next release will cover the year ending June 2027, due for publication in August 2027.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Deportations are a subset of total FNO returns. Their numbers are not published.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans to begin mapping the presence and activities of Chinese state-linked entities operating within the UK; and whether consideration will be given to establishing a public register of such entities following the rollout of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS).
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)
Upholding national security and keeping the public safe is the first duty of Government.
China poses a series of threats to UK national security – from cyber-attacks, foreign interference and espionage targeting our democratic institutions, to transnational repression of Hong Kongers and China’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – and we challenge these robustly.
The Government, working alongside operational partners, keeps potential threats to the UK and its residents, including from China, under constant review and, where necessary, we use all the tools at our disposal to mitigate these.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to limit anti-social behaviour in parks linked to alcohol in (a) England and (b) Romford constituency.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government’s police reforms will protect and strengthen neighbourhood policing by freeing local forces from national responsibilities so they can focus on issues that matter most locally, like anti-social behaviour (ASB). Every police force in England and Wales now has an ASB lead in place who will work with communities, stakeholders and the general public to implement their individual ASB Action Plans, which were published at the start of April. Further information on the Metropolitan Police ASB action plan can be found here: https://www.met.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/asb/asb/antisocial-behaviour/antisocial-behaviour-action-plan/
Through our Crime and Policing Act, we are making our streets and neighbourhoods safer by strengthening the powers available to the police and other agencies to tackle anti-social behaviour, including increasing the upper limit for fixed penalty notices for breaches of CPNs and PSPOs from £100 to £500, increasing the time a dispersal direction can be implemented for from 48 to 72 hours and giving registered social housing providers the power to issue closure notices, amongst others.
The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides the police, local authorities and other local agencies with a range of tools and powers, including Public Spaces Protection Orders, that they can use to respond to anti-social behaviour. However, the powers in the ‘2014 Act’ are deliberately flexible in nature, and it is for local agencies to determine whether their use is appropriate in the specific circumstances of each individual case.
Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) are designed to stop individuals or groups committing ASB in a public place. Romford has an existing PSPO in place to restrict alcohol related nuisance and any amendment or new PSPO would require consultation with local authorities, police and relevant local agencies: https://www.havering.gov.uk/community-1/public-space-protection-orders-pspo.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for project licenses involving canines were refused by her Department in the last 12 months on the sole basis that a scientifically satisfactory (a) method and (b) testing strategy was already available.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office regulates the use of animals in science under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA). Under ASPA, all project licence applications must comply with the principles of Replacement, Reduction and Refinement (the 3Rs), which set out that animals may only be used when no validated non-animal alternative exists, the number of animals is minimised, and any potential harms are minimised.
In the last twelve months, the Home Office has not refused any licences involving canines on the grounds that a scientifically satisfactory non-animal alternative method or testing strategy was available.
The number of formal refusals is not, however, a meaningful indicator of either application of non-animal alternatives or regulatory rigour. All applications go through multiple review stages before reaching the Home Office Regulator, and guidance is available to assist applicants in preparing submissions that meet all legal requirements. Only applications that fully meet the requirements of the legislation may be considered for licensing authorisation.
All establishments licensed to use animals must have an Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body (AWERB), which reviews proposals before they are submitted to the Regulator. Therefore, establishments’ internal review processes are intended to identify where suitable alternatives are available before applications are progressed to the Home Office.
Applications received by the Home Office are subject to detailed scrutiny, including requests for clarification or amendment where required. Applicants may revise or withdraw an application in response to feedback.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department defines the statutory term scientifically satisfactory under Section 2A of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 as being legally dependent upon formal regulatory (a) validation and (b) acceptance by international bodies.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA), the statutory duty in section 2A requires the Secretary of State to ensure compliance with the principles of replacement, reduction and refinement (3Rs principles). In relation to the principle of replacement, the statutory framework requires that, wherever possible, a scientifically satisfactory non‑animal method must be used instead of a regulated procedure.
ASPA does not prescribe in detail how “scientifically satisfactory” is to be assessed. That assessment is a matter of scientific and regulatory judgement, exercised in the context of the statutory framework (including consideration of a harm–benefit analysis and the wider 3Rs principles).
All project licence applications are subject to a rigorous harm-benefit analysis, required under ASPA. The harm-benefit analysis ensures that a project is only granted where a trained Home Office Inspector is satisfied that the likely harms to animals, including pain, suffering, distress and any lasting harm, are justified by the expected benefits for humans, animals or the environment.