Asked by: Chris Philp (Conservative - Croydon South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) asylum hotels were open and (b) asylum seekers were housed in hotels as of (i) 30 June and (ii) 31 October 2024; and what was the daily cost of the asylum hotels during this period.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide destitute asylum seekers with accommodation and subsistence support whilst their application for asylum is being considered.
Data, published quarterly, on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including hotels, can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for our most recent statistics release. The data can also be broken down by local authority: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab).
The Home Office does not publish data on daily numbers or cost of hotels in use. The Government inherited an asylum system which is under exceptional strain, with tens of thousands of cases in the asylum backlog and a range of challenges across the system.
Asked by: Chris Philp (Conservative - Croydon South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were returned to their home countries between (a) 5 July and 31 October 2023 and (b) 5 July and 31 October 2024; and how many and what proportion of those returned since 5 July 2024 (i) left voluntarily, (ii) were forced to return, (iii) were foreign national offenders, (iv) had arrived by small boat, broken down by nationality.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office published an ad-hoc release containing information about the total number of enforced and voluntary returns from the UK between 5 July and 28 October 2024 and the same period in 2023, on 4 November this year.
The number of returns between July and September 2024 will be published in the Immigration system statistics release on 28 November, with data for the period October to December 2024 published in the release on 27 February 2025. Data in Ret_D01 of the returns detailed tables accompanying the report provide quarterly data broken down by return type (enforced/voluntary/port), nationality and return destination group (Home/EU member state/Other safe country).
The Home Office publishes information about those who by small boat in the Irregular Migration to the UK quarterly release. Quarterly data on enforced and voluntary returns are given by return date in table Irr_02e of the irregular migration to the UK summary tables accompanying the release.
Asked by: Chris Philp (Conservative - Croydon South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the schedule of implementation for the Right Care, Right Person model for all the police forces in England and Wales.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
It is a matter for each chief constable to determine how much of the Right Care, Right Person (RCRP) approach they wish to adopt.
I know the Rt Hon Member was strongly committed in his past role to the adoption of Right Care, Right Person approach, and I welcome his continued interest in the subject.
Although he will be aware that there is no national implementation schedule for RCRP, and timing is ultimately a matter for each chief constable, it is recognised best practice for the police to work in close consultation with local partners to understand local issues and gaps, to be clear on who will respond to what, and to agree a timeline for implementing the different phases of RCRP in their force area.
The Home Office continues to receive regular updates from police forces across England and Wales on the status of their implementation, and I am pleased to report that work is progressing well across the country.
Asked by: Chris Philp (Conservative - Croydon South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 21 October 2024 to Question 9189 on Police: Technology, and paragraph 5.6 of the Spring Budget 2024, published on 6 March 2024, HC 560, how much and what proportion of the £230 million funding for new police technology she plans to spend in the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
I refer Hon Gentlemen to the answer I gave him on 21st October 2024 (UIN 9189).
Asked by: Chris Philp (Conservative - Croydon South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to The Immigration (Age Assessments) Regulations 2024, whether those Regulations have been implemented; and whether scientific age assessments are taking place.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Immigration (Age Assessments) Regulations 2024 came into force in January of this year.
We are committed to strengthening our age assessment process.
We are taking a holistic approach to prevent adults claiming to be children or children being wrongly treated as adults – as both present serious safeguarding risks to children.
Asked by: Chris Philp (Conservative - Croydon South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to paragraph 5.6 of the Spring Budget 2024, published on 6 March 2024, HC 560, how much and what proportion of the £230 million funding for new police technology is being spent in the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Final figures for the amount spent on police technology in the 2024 financial year from the £234m announced at the Spring Budget will be available to publish at the end of that financial year.
Asked by: Chris Philp (Conservative - Croydon South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to paragraph 5.6 of the Spring Budget 2024 red book, whether it is her Department's policy to continue with the commitment of £230 million to spend on new Police technology over the next four years.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government will continue to invest in improving productivity and efficiency with new technology for policing.
Funding for future financial years will be agreed as part of the ongoing Spending Review.