Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in how many cases before the (a) First-Tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) and (b) Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) has the applicant been in receipt of legal aid in the last 12 months for which information is available.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The information requested is not held centrally.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when he received an invitation to speak at the annual dinner of the Parliamentary Group for Energy Studies on 21 October 2025; what his response was; and when he sent his response.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero receives a high volume of invitations to events and is therefore not able to accommodate all requests.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution by the Minister for Secondary Care on 3 September 2025, Official Report, column 107WH, whether the Minister for Public Health and Women's Health plans to meet the hon. Member for Christchurch.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

This is an issue that the Government takes very seriously. A meeting has been scheduled with the hon. Member for Christchurch.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many appeals heard at the First-Tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) were on the grounds that removal of the appellant from the UK would breach the UK’s obligations under the Refugee Convention in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available; and how many of those appeals were successful in each of those months.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The number of asylum, protection and revocation of protection appeals (those lodged on grounds relating to breach of the UK’s Refugee Convention obligations) determined by the Immigration and Asylum Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal and the number of those that were successful and allowed by the Tribunal can be found in the following table:

Table 1. First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) - Number of appeals determined at hearing or on paper for Asylum/Protection/Revocation of Protection(1), April 2024 to March 2025(2)

The table shows the latest 12 months of available data. Published statistics can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2025.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many appeals heard at the First-Tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) were on the grounds that removal of the appellant from the UK was unlawful under the Human Rights Act 1998 in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available; and how many of those appeals were successful in each of those months.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The number of human rights appeals (those lodged on human rights grounds) determined by the Immigration and Asylum Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal and the number of those that were successful and allowed by the Tribunal can be found in the following table:

Table 1. First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) - Number of appeals determined at hearing or on paper for Human Rights Appeals, April 2024 to March 2025(1)

The table shows the latest 12 months of available data. Published statistics can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2025.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy that requests by district judges to transfer up to the High Court for enforcement should always be allowed (a) where the County Court bailiff delay locally is three months or more and (b) where it is possible that reasonable force may have to be used.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Government has noted the findings of the High Court Enforcement Officer Association’s recent report about the process for transferring possession cases to the High Court for enforcement by High Court Enforcement Officers and is considering its recommendations.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the High Court Enforcement Officers Association's report entitled Possessions - Transferring Up, published in October 2025.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Government has noted the findings of the High Court Enforcement Officer Association’s recent report about the process for transferring possession cases to the High Court for enforcement by High Court Enforcement Officers and is considering its recommendations.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to improve decision-making by her Department in the context of the number of successful appeals under the Human Rights Act 1998 upheld by the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber).

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’.

Data on initial decisions and outcomes on asylum claims, is published in table Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum claim and initial decisions detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to as at 30 June 2025.

Data for as at 30 September 2025 will be published on 27 November 2025.

Data on asylum appeals is published in table Asy_D06 and Asy_D07 of the ‘Asylum appeals lodged and determined detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to the year ending March 2023.

Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks.

Appeals data from April 2023 onwards is currently unavailable for publication due to ongoing work as immigration data transitions to a new caseworking system. Work is ongoing to make this information available, and it will be included in a future edition of the Immigration System Statistics release.

Please note that figures for immigration and asylum appeals at First-Tier Tribunal and subsequent stages are published by the Ministry of Justice as part of their Tribunal Statistics release. The latest data relates to January to March 2025.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many courts hear First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) appeals; and how many are fully funded to operate throughout the year.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber (FtTIAC) has 83 tribunal hearing rooms across the United Kingdom and has access to shared court rooms in other jurisdictions. Utilisation of this space is dependent on a number of factors including the volume of ‘in person’ versus ‘remote’ hearings scheduled, budgetary allocations, the requirement for judges to sit at satellite venues and available staffing and judicial resource.

The FtTIAC is currently funded to sit to maximum levels based on available judicial capacity.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many beds at University Hospitals Dorset were occupied on (a) 1 April and (b) 1 October 2025 by patients with no criteria to reside.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many claims to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme for damage caused by covid-19 vaccines were received between 1 April and 30 September 2025; how many awards were made to claimants in that period; how many claims were rejected (a) through lack of causation and (b) because they were below the disability threshold; how many claims remained outstanding on 30 September 2025; and how many of those claims have been outstanding for over 12 months.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

My deepest sympathies are with those who have experienced harm following vaccination and to their families.

Data from the NHS Business Services Authority, the administrator of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, shows that during the period of 1 April 2025 to 30 September 2025:

• 2,146 COVID-19 claims were registered;
• 15 COVID-19 claims were awarded;
• 3,419 COVID-19 claims, with the causation claimed to be due to a vaccine, were not accepted; and
• 54 COVID-19 claims had causation due to vaccine accepted, but had disablement assessed as less than 60%.

As of 30 September 2025, there were 4,882 total COVID-19 claims that were unresolved, 1,672 of which had been so for over 12 months. Information on COVID-19 claims to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme is published on a quarterly basis by the NHS Business Service Authority. Further information is available at the following link:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/vdps-covid-19

I recognise many of the concerns that have been raised regarding the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme. This input will shape our ongoing consideration of reforms to the scheme and I will keep Parliament updated, as appropriate.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2025 to Question 33850 on Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme: Coronavirus, how many of the 69 cases referred to the First-Tier Tribunal were (a) successful and (b) rejected; and how many have been outstanding for more than (i) three and (ii) six months.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Data from the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), which administers the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, shows that of the 69 claims identified in Question 33850:

• 32 claims have been rejected by the First-Tier Tribunal;
• one claim has been upheld with instruction to undertake a disablement assessment;
• one claim has been considered as a “live claim unresolved” for more than three months;
• 28 claims have been considered as “live claim unresolved” for more than six months; and
• seven claims have been closed by the HM Courts and Tribunal Service with either a status of Appeal Struck out or Appeal Withdrawn.

Appeals to the First-Tier Tribunal are managed by the HM Courts and Tribunals Service, and therefore the NHSBSA must follow the directions and timescales specified by the HM Courts and Tribunals Service. The data is based on the date the HM Courts and Tribunals Service notified the NHSBSA of an appeal. The NHSBSA is not always provided the date the appellant made the appeal application to the HM Courts and Tribunals Service.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many decisions of the Home Office with a right of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) have been made in each of the last 12 months; and how many of these have been or are now the subject of such an appeal.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’.

Data on initial decisions and outcomes on asylum claims, is published in table Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum claim and initial decisions detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to as at 30 June 2025.

Data for as at 30 September 2025 will be published on 27 November 2025.

Data on asylum appeals is published in table Asy_D06 and Asy_D07 of the ‘Asylum appeals lodged and determined detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to the year ending March 2023.

Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks.

Appeals data from April 2023 onwards is currently unavailable for publication due to ongoing work as immigration data transitions to a new caseworking system. Work is ongoing to make this information available, and it will be included in a future edition of the Immigration System Statistics release.

Please note that figures for immigration and asylum appeals at First-Tier Tribunal and subsequent stages are published by the Ministry of Justice as part of their Tribunal Statistics release. The latest data relates to January to March 2025.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many appeals to the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) were outstanding on 30 September (a) 2025, (b) 2024 and (c) 2023.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The number of open cases in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) is published in table FIA4 of the Tribunals Statistics quarterly tables and more recently monthly data in table 3 of the HMCTS management information.

Figures covering up to September 2025 are scheduled for publication on 11 December 2025.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reason is the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) at Taylor House Tribunal Hearing Centre on Rosebery Avenue, London, is restricted from using more than 20 of its 27 courts on average during the year; and what would be the additional cost of allowing all of its 27 courts to be used.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber (FtTIAC) is currently sitting to maximum levels possible based on available judicial capacity.

The FtTIAC has 27 hearing rooms available to list into at the Taylor House Tribunal Hearing Centre. Utilisation of this space is dependent on a number of factors including the volume of ‘in person’ versus ‘remote’ hearings scheduled, budgetary allocations, the requirement for judges to sit at satellite venues and available staffing and judicial resource.

Work is ongoing to increase capacity through recruitment of Judges and support staff. Judicial recruitment exercises which commenced in 2024 for the First-tier Tribunal, including the IAC, are ongoing with appointments due later this year and we are working to grow capacity further across future years. As additional Judges begin to sit we expect to see higher levels of listing across the FtTIAC estate.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make his policy that witnesses giving evidence at hearings of the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) should do so under oath.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

As an issue of tribunal procedure, giving evidence under oath would be a matter for judicial consideration. Rule 14(3) of the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) already provides that the tribunal may require evidence to be given under oath.

Additionally, a witness statement, the equivalent of the oral evidence which the witness would, if called, give in evidence must always include a statement by the intended witness in their own language that they believe the facts in it are true.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer on 27 October 2025 to Question 84141 on All-party Parliamentary Group for Energy Studies, how many invitations he received for speaking events in (a) August, (b) September and (c) October 2025; and how many of those invitations were (i) answered within (A) one month and (B) two months and (ii) not answered.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

As I notified the hon. Member in my Answer on 27 October 2025 to Question 84141, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero receives a high volume of invitations to events and is not able to accommodate all requests.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (a) how many and (b) what value of facilitation payments were made to people subject to (i) deportation and (ii) removal in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The information requested regarding the specific value of payments made under the Voluntary Returns Service (VRS) and Facilitated Return Scheme (FRS) are not separately available from published statistics.

The Home Office publishes all available information on returns expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and accounts at Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK(opens in a new tab)(opens in a new tab).

The number of foreign national offenders returned under FRS is published as part of the Immigration Enforcement quarterly release, with the latest publication being in 2022. The latest published data on FRS returns can be viewed at: Immigration Enforcement data: Q2 2024 - GOV.UK.

Whereas the number of foreign nationals returned under the VRS is published as part of the Immigration system statistics return summary tables, with the latest publication being for Q2 2025. The latest published data on VRS returns can be viewed at: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK.

FRS and VRS are not an alternative to removal or deportation but facilitate the early removal of FNOs and those without leave to remain in the UK, helping them to re-settle in their country of origin. Voluntary removals benefit the UK taxpayer as costs of detention, appeals, and other legal challenges are significantly reduced.

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Cat Smith (Chair); James Asser; Bambos Charalambous; Sir Christopher Chope

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Cat Smith (Chair); James Asser; Bambos Charalambous; Sir Christopher Chope

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Cat Smith (Chair); James Asser; Bambos Charalambous; Sir Christopher Chope

Found: —(Sir Christopher Chope.) Question put, That the Amendment be made.

Found: Bill Esterson (Labour; Sefton Central) (Chair) Ms Polly Billington (Labour; East Thanet) Sir Christopher Chope

Found: Baines (Labour; St Helens North) Bambos Charalambous (Labour; Southgate and Wood Green) Sir Christopher Chope

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Cat Smith (Chair); James Asser; Sir Christopher Chope; Mary Kelly

Found: Letter dated 24/10/2025 from Torsten Bell MP to Christopher Chope MP, Emma Lewell MP, Esther McVey MP

Submit Evidence (by 7 Jan 2026)

Following an initial evidence session in Parliament on the role of the UK’s refinery industry in the energy transition, the Committee is launching a new inquiry and call for evidence on the future of UK oil and gas.

Submit Evidence (by 7 Jan 2026)

Ahead of COP 30, where host country Brazil’s Presidency has set a strategic goal to transition from “negotiation to implementation”, the Committee is launching a call for evidence in a major new inquiry on UK climate policy and finance.  

The UK is embarking on an ambitious programme of investment in nuclear energy, seeking to reverse decades of declining capacity. The Government is counting on new nuclear to help deliver energy security and decarbonise electricity generation. Announcing funding for the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in June, the Energy Secretary said “we need new nuclear to deliver a golden age of clean energy abundance.”