Asked by: Lincoln Jopp (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has agreed a new two-year contract to put asylum seekers in the Mercure Stanwell Hotel.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
It has been the longstanding policy of the Home Office under successive governments not to disclose information about specific hotels which may or may not be used for asylum accommodation.
However, the Home Office continues to work with a range of stakeholders to fulfil our statutory obligations and deliver our commitment to reduce the overall cost of asylum accommodation, including ending the use of hotels, by the end of this Parliament.
Asked by: Lincoln Jopp (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to close the asylum hotel in Spelthorne constituency.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
It has been the longstanding policy of the Home Office under successive governments not to disclose information about specific hotels which may or may not be used for asylum accommodation.
However, the Home Office continues to work with a range of stakeholders to fulfil our statutory obligations and deliver our commitment to reduce the overall cost of asylum accommodation, including ending the use of hotels, by the end of this Parliament.
Asked by: Lincoln Jopp (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help prevent people residing in asylum hotels from taking up illegal employment.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is determined to tackle illegal working, and since coming to office, we have increased the number of raids, arrests and fines against offenders to their highest level in almost a decade.
We have also secured pledges from delivery firms to increase verification checks on their drivers, and introduced new legislation in the Border Security Bill to make employment checks mandatory in the gig economy. It remains very disappointing that the party opposite chose to vote against those crucial measures.
Asked by: Lincoln Jopp (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what stages of recruitment are still to be completed for the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration role.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Affairs Select Committee’s pre-appointment hearing with the Government’s preferred candidate took place on 11 February.
Once Ministers have finalised the appointment and the terms of appointment have been agreed, the new ICIBI will be announced in the normal way.
Ministers agreed to extend David Bolt’s appointment term as interim ICIBI for a further period of up to three months, to enable sufficient time to conclude the recruitment process for a permanent ICIBI and ensure a smooth transition.
Asked by: Lincoln Jopp (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who are subject to a live deportation order have applied under the EU Settlement Scheme in Spelthorne.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested is not available from published statistics.
Asked by: Lincoln Jopp (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent progress has been made to replace the Action Fraud website with an upgraded reporting system hosted by the City of London Police.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office are working with the City of London Police to replace Action Fraud with a new and improved national police reporting service for fraud and cyber crime.
The new service will provide better support services and reporting tools for victims, provide greater intelligence to law enforcement, and allow for greater prevention and disruption at scale. This will include an upgraded call centre and a new user-friendly, accessible website for reporting fraud, offering simpler pathways to support and guidance.
A phased introduction of the new service is underway and will continue throughout 2025.
The first phase, completed in November 2024, saw the introduction of the new crime and intelligence management system. This will improve the analysis of reports, the quality of intelligence drawn from them, and how quickly this is sent to police forces for investigation.