Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much was spent on (a) translation and (b) interpretation services in the (i) courts and (ii) prison system in the last financial year.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice has a statutory duty to provide Language Services to enable access to justice for users for whom English is not their first language and those who require visual and tactile services, under the provision of the Equality Act. Language Service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers while maintaining high standards of service delivery.
In FY 2024/25, the spend in the courts was £33,073,280.44 on interpretation (spoken) and £136,879.03 on translation (written).
In FY 2024/25, the contracted spend in the prisons was £105,849.83 on interpretation (spoken) and £1,707,440.07 on translation (written).
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much she spent on providing (a) translation and (b) interpretation services for benefit claimants in the last year.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The spend in the period of January 2024 – December 2024:
a) Translation: £882,118
b) Interpreting: £6,774,336
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of local authority housing allocations were made to households where the primary applicant was not a UK national in the last 12 months.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
People are generally eligible for social housing if they have leave to remain in the UK and have recourse to public funds. The Home Office decides whether persons from abroad have leave to remain in the UK and whether they have recourse to public funds.
Only individuals that are eligible can join housing registers and be given a social housing tenancy. For those who are eligible, housing needs will be considered on an equal basis in accordance with the relevant local authority’s housing allocation scheme.
According to the relevant 2021 Census extract, there were 796,000 households living in the social rented sector in England in March 2021 that were headed by someone who was not born in the UK. It is important to note that such households may contain UK nationals as well as non-UK national lead tenants.
My Department’s annual social housing lettings statistical series details the number of the new social housing lettings by the nationality of the lead tenant. It can be found on gov.uk here.
As per our pre-announced schedule, and in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, data for 2024/25 is currently being processed and quality assured and will be published in Winter 2025. Data for 2025/26 is currently being collected and will be published in Winter 2026.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential (a) economic and (b) social impact of uncontrolled migration on communities.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Home Office’s Immigration White paper, published on 12 May, sets out proposed reforms in a wide range of areas to restore control to the immigration system, after the chaos inherited from the previous government, when the level of net migration rose to more than 900,000 per year, and when 400 asylum hotels were in use across the country, at a cost of almost £9 million per day.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to review (a) citizenship and (b) settlement criteria to place greater emphasis on (i) cultural integration and (ii) long-term contribution to the UK.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
We set out our plans to reform the settlement and citizenship rules in the white paper “Restoring Control over the Immigration System”. We will be consulting on the settlement and citizenship schemes later this year, and further details will be provided at that time.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many individuals with no legal right to remain in the UK are in receipt of (a) accommodation and (b) subsistence.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The latest data on the number of asylum seekers in receipt of asylum support can be found at: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign national offenders are living in the UK and have received deportation orders.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office routinely publishes the number of FNOs subject to deportation proceedings and living in the community within its Immigration Enforcement quarterly transparency release. The latest release can be found at: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK, which shows up to the end of Q1 2025.
The Home Office works tirelessly to clear legal barriers, secure documentation or overcome other impediments to a return. Between 5 July 2024 and 18 May 2025, there were 4,436 enforced and voluntary returns of FNOs. This is an increase of 14% compared to the 3,879 FNO returns in the same period 12 months prior.
The Home Office also continues to work closely with HMPPS (HM Prisons and Probation Service) to focus on driving up the returns of FNOs direct from prison, delivering 2,274 early removal scheme (ERS) returns, which is an 11% increase compared with the 2,050 in the same period 12 months prior.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of net zero policies on (a) energy security and (b) industrial competitiveness.
Answered by Kerry McCarthy - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The transition to net zero will support both energy security and industrial competitiveness.
Switching to homegrown clean energy, including renewables and other clean technologies, offers security that fossil fuels simply cannot provide. And our Clean Power 2030 target is the key to long-term sustainable price reductions. Clean, homegrown energy is the best way to protect billpayers and boost Britain's energy independence.
The Government recognises the challenges in moving away from fossil fuels but is confident security of supply can be maintained throughout this transition. The recently published Clean Power 2030 Action Plan sets out our plans to secure critical supply chains in clean energy and foundational industries, such as steel and concrete.
Alongside measures to support the growth of these sectors, we are bringing energy costs for UK industries closer in line with other major economies, including through the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme. This will slash industrial electricity prices by around 20-25% from 2027, which could benefit over 7,000 manufacturing businesses, including carmakers and defence manufacturers – which employ over 300,000 skilled workers.
The Government will publish its updated carbon budget plan by October. This will set out the policy package to the end of Carbon Budget 6 in 2037 for all sectors of the economy, and will include consideration of energy security and industrial competitiveness.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of political impartiality in the BBC’s news and current affairs output.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Under its Royal Charter, the BBC has a duty to deliver impartial and accurate news coverage and content, and the Government expects the BBC to uphold these standards. However, the government has not made an assessment of BBC impartiality as it is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of the BBC, to hold the BBC to account on this duty.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of (a) emergency and (b) long-term accommodation has been allocated to (i) asylum seekers and (ii) foreign nationals in the last 12 months.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Home Office publishes data on individuals placed in accommodation in the gov.uk ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum seekers in receipt of support, individuals under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, and those resettled via the Afghan Resettlement Programme, is published in table Reg_02 of the gov.uk ‘Regional and local authority data’, including breakdowns by accommodation type.
The department does not hold data on how many foreign nationals are accommodated in emergency or long-term accommodation.