Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications were (a) received, (b) granted and (c) rejected for (i) asylum, (ii) Spousal Visas and (iii) Skilled Worker Visas in the last financial year.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas by visa type, including Partner and Skilled Worker visas, in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on visa applications are published in table ‘Vis_D01’ whilst data on the outcomes of visa applications are published in table ‘Vis_D02’ of the ‘detailed entry clearance dataset’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. Data is from January 2005 up to the end of March 2025.
The Home Office also publishes data on the number of people claiming asylum and the number of initial decisions is published in tables Asy_D01 and Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum claims and initial decisions detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to the year ending March 2025.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department plans to take to improve the asylum system.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill introduced to Parliament on 30 January (Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill 2025 - GOV.UK.) and the Immigration White Paper published on 12 May (Restoring control over the immigration system: white paper - GOV.UK), both of which will drive forward the Government’s objectives to restore order to the asylum system, and cut costs it imposes on the taxpayer.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum applications were received in Northern Ireland in the last financial year.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
Available data on people claiming asylum in the UK is published in table Asy_D01 of the ‘Asylum claims and initial decisions detailed datasets’. Data on asylum seekers in receipt of support by local authority is published in table Asy_D11 of the ‘Asylum support detailed datasets’.
The latest data relates to the year ending March 2025 and as at 31 March 2025. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to ensure that decisions on third country asylum applications are dealt with within 6 months.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
We always aim to process inadmissibility decisions as promptly as possible.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of not implementing the proposed changes to Spousal and Skilled Worker Visa applicants set out in the White Paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system, published on 12 May 2025.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Further details and assessments of measures announced in the White Paper will be published in due course, when the relevant rules are introduced.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of allowing applications to be dealt with in the UK for asylum applicants who have been granted asylum in another European country.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
Where a person already has asylum or subsidiary protection in another European country, the person’s claim will usually be declared inadmissible (meaning that their asylum claim will not be substantively considered in the UK), and they will be removed to that country, if they refused to return voluntarily.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will estimate the number of asylum applicants who have had their initial claims rejected and subsequently made a further application.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
Data on initial decisions on asylum claims, including refusals, is published in table Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum claims and initial decisions detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to the year ending March 2025. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks. Data on the number of further submissions is not available from published statistics.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2025 to Question 29448 on Police: Workplace Pensions, what progress has been made on discussions with the Chief Constables in each of the devolved regions on the McCloud Judgement.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has engaged with the National Police Chiefs’ Council in working to resolve issues related to the McCloud remedy in relation to England and Wales.
As policing is devolved in Scotland and Northern Ireland, the policy and legislative responsibility for the police pension scheme in those regions lies with the Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive respectively.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to (a) enforce and (b) monitor the application of legislation on the rights of migrants to (i) rent and (ii) otherwise reside in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Right to Rent Scheme (the Scheme) requires landlords and letting agents to check that prospective adult tenants have the relevant permission to access the private rental sector. The Scheme is in force in England only and has not been rolled out to the devolved nations and therefore does not apply to Northern Ireland. The Home Office continues to keep the Scheme’s operation under review.
Immigration Enforcement teams are active in Northern Ireland as they are in the rest of the UK. As part of our Plan for Change, this government is cracking down on criminal industry at every level, including stepping up our visits to businesses where illegal working is taking place, and increasing our enforcement action both against illegal workers and the people who employ them in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will list by (a) age, (b) gender and (c) country the number of asylum claims granted protection to (i) asylum seekers who crossed the English Channel by sea and (ii) all asylum seekers in each of the last five years.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on asylum, including by nationality, age and sex, in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on initial decisions of asylum claims, by the date of the decision, is published in table Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum claims and initial decisions detailed datasets’. Data on initial decisions of asylum claims from small boat arrivals, by the date of arrival, is published in table Irr_D03 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed tables’ and by the date of decision in asylum summary tables Asy_02c and Asy_02d.
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 March 2025.