Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of asylum applicant initial refusals were reversed in the period between July 2024 and July 2025.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on asylum appeals and latest outcomes in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’.
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.
Data on latest asylum outcomes is published in table Asy_D04 of the ‘Asylum claims and decisions detail datasets’. Table Asy_D04 shows, for main applicants only, the number of asylum claims made each year and the initial and latest outcomes for those claims. Initial outcomes of an asylum claim are subject to change following an appeal or a reconsideration. The latest published data relates to claims made up to the end of 2024, with outcomes as at the point of data extraction in October 2025.
Information on how to use these datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks.
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 July to September 2025.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which country of origin had the highest percentage of asylum applicant initial decision success rate since July 2024.
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 on asylum claims by nationality is published in table Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum claims and initial decisions datasets’. The latest data relates to the year ending September 2025.
Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks. The latest data relates to the year ending September 2025. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which country of origin had the lowest asylum applicant initial decision success rate since July 2024.
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 on asylum claims by nationality is published in table Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum claims and initial decisions datasets’. The latest data relates to the year ending September 2025.
Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks. The latest data relates to the year ending September 2025. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether an entry clearance manager can consider a non-English untranslated document in support of a visa.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Immigration Rules set out that where specified documents submitted in support of a visa application are not in English or Welsh, the applicant must provide both the version of the document in the original language and a full translation that can be independently verified by the decision maker. See Immigration Rule 39B(f)
Immigration Rules - Immigration Rules part 1: leave to enter or stay in the UK - Guidance - GOV.UK
For all types of documents, including non-specified documents that are not translated, an ECM may write to the applicant to request a translation of the document if it is relevant to whether the requirements of the Immigration rules are met. This approach is in line with the published Evidential Flexibility policy. Evidential flexibility
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what length of time since the date of issue may Military Service Exemption cards be used by VISA applicants before they no longer qualify as proof of VISA applicants' circumstances by Home Office Entry Clearance Officers.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Evidence of exemption from military service is not a requirement of the UK Immigration Rules. Where an applicant presents a document to demonstrate their exemption from military service in their home country, the entry clearance officer would consider this evidence in the round and against the relevant immigration rules for the route applied for.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations her Department has made to the Chinese authorities regarding the prosecution and imprisonment of British citizen Jimmy Lai under the National Security Law; and what steps he is taking to secure his release.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answers I provided in the Urgent Question debate on 9 February.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to extend the exemption to pay income tax to pensioners with private pensions who receive the same income as those who solely receive the maximum state pension.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to making sure older people can live with the dignity and respect they deserve in retirement. The State Pension is the foundation of the support available to them. Over the course of this Parliament, the yearly amount of the full new State Pension is currently projected to go up by around £2,100. This reflects the Government’s commitment to the Triple Lock for the duration of this Parliament. This will increase the basic and new State Pension by 4.8% next April, boosting pensioner incomes by up to £575 a year and strengthening retirement security.
When it comes to taxes, social security benefits are treated differently depending on why they are paid. Generally, benefits that replace income, like the State Pension, are taxable. However, I can confirm that those whose sole income is the basic and full new State Pension, without any increments, will not pay any income tax this tax year or next.
Furthermore, the Chancellor has said that those whose only income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments will not have to pay income tax over this Parliament. At the Budget, the Government announced that it will achieve this by easing the administrative burden for pensioners so that they do not have to pay small amounts of tax via Simple Assessment from 2027/28. The Government will set out more details in due course.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to improve the quality, maintenance and availability of service family accommodation in Scotland.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Defence Housing Strategy sets out our vision for military housing across the UK, including the Devolved Nations.
The Defence Housing Service will deliver the recommendations of our new Defence Housing Strategy which is backed by £9 billion of investment to build, renew and repair 9 in 10 defence family homes, harnessing the opportunities created by our landmark deal which brought 36,000 properties into public ownership.
We have transformed 1,000 of the worst homes ahead of schedule in time for Christmas, with hundreds more military properties to be upgraded by Spring 2026. Over 50 of these homes were in Scotland.
A new demand and supply forecasting model will ensure that the future needs of the Armed Forces are more accurately planned for, enabling us to deliver housing in the right places to support military operations and reducing the number of homes that lie empty.
The Defence Secretary, John Healey MP visited Helensburgh in January 2026 to mark the impact the new Armed Forces Bill will have on Scottish personnel and their families, including those in Kinloss and Victoria Barracks. Whilst in Scotland, he saw first-hand the rapid improvement works that were completed for over 50 military families in Helensburgh in time for Christmas last year and work underway for a further 170 homes which will be completed this year.
We continue to drive for both improved performance and increased value for money from the Accommodation Industry Partners who are responsible for the maintenance of Service Family Accommodation. Performance is monitored on a monthly basis including oversight at Chief Executive level and through a series of regular reviews, including external audits.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the reported increase in drone incursions near UK military bases, including those in Scotland, and what steps are being taken to strengthen counter-drone capabilities to protect national security.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
We take the safety and security of our personnel, assets and operations extremely seriously. We maintain multi-layered security measures, including counter-drone capabilities which can identify and facilitate the capture of drones.
Clause 4 of the Armed Forces Bill 26 Defence will provide a regime allowing a Defence authorisation to use authorised equipment to detect and prevent offences being committed by drones against Defence Areas or Defence Property.
We remain committed to maintaining the highest standards of security and will continue to assess, adapt and respond to all threats, including those from drones, to safeguard our national defence capabilities.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the statutory walking distance for entitlement to home to school transport under section 42(4) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980.
Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)
The provision of school transport is the responsibility of local authorities in Scotland.
It is for Scottish Ministers and local authorities to consider the adequacy of the statutory walking distance and to determine the policy and operational aspects of home-to-school transport provision.
I note that the Scottish Government undertook a review of this policy and subsequent update of this matter in 2025.