Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the report by Kalaayan’s entitled 12 Years of Modern Slavery, published on 14 June 2024.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office keeps all policies and immigration routes under review. Ministers regularly meet with internal and external stakeholders, including Kalaayan, to discuss a wide range of issues, including the Overseas Domestic Worker route.
The Overseas Domestic Worker visa only grants permission for up to six months and cannot be extended. The Home Office publishes statistics relating to individuals who extend their stay here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/immigration-system-statistics-data-tables. The number of people extending their stay on the Domestic Worker in a Private Household visa is available from Table Exe_D01 of the Extension data tables (listed as “Overseas Domestic Worker”).
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of its policies on the right to work for irregular migrants on levels of irregular migration.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has developed new legislation to expand the scope of right to work checks to a wider range of businesses. This activity aims to prevent illegal working and to further reduce the opportunities for individuals in the UK illegally to gain employment. An impact assessment on this legislative change was published on 7 May 2025 and can be found here:
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what meetings she has had with expert stakeholders on reviewing the Overseas Domestic Worker visa.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office keeps all policies and immigration routes under review. Ministers regularly meet with internal and external stakeholders, to discuss a wide range of issues, including the Overseas Domestic Worker route.
The Overseas Domestic Worker visa only grants permission for up to six months and cannot be extended. The Home Office publishes statistics relating to individuals who extend their stay here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/immigration-system-statistics-data-tables. The number of people extending their stay on the Domestic Worker in a Private Household visa is available from Table Exe_D01 of the Extension data tables (listed as “Overseas Domestic Worker”).
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of domestic workers who renew their visas each year.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office keeps all policies and immigration routes under review. Ministers regularly meet with internal and external stakeholders, to discuss a wide range of issues, including the Overseas Domestic Worker route.
The Overseas Domestic Worker visa only grants permission for up to six months and cannot be extended. The Home Office publishes statistics relating to individuals who extend their stay here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/immigration-system-statistics-data-tables. The number of people extending their stay on the Domestic Worker in a Private Household visa is available from Table Exe_D01 of the Extension data tables (listed as “Overseas Domestic Worker”).
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department collects on how migrant survivors of trafficking in the National Referral Mechanism entered the UK.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This dataset only covers small boat arrivals and does not include other methods of entry. The published figures currently cover arrivals up to the end of September 2025.
The Home Office does not publish age-related statistics for individuals supported under the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC).
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many working-age people are on the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract through the National Referral Mechanism.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This dataset only covers small boat arrivals and does not include other methods of entry. The published figures currently cover arrivals up to the end of September 2025.
The Home Office does not publish age-related statistics for individuals supported under the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC).
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether future police force boundaries will be aligned with regional mayoral boundaries.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has committed in its English Devolution White Paper to transfer policing functions to Mayors of Strategic Authorities wherever boundaries of the mayoral and policing areas align, by default, subject to Royal Assent to provisions in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill.
This Government will abolish PCCs across England and Wales at the end of their term in 2028 and police governance functions will be transferred to mayors wherever possible, or to elected council leaders where it is not.
The Home Secretary has an ambitious police reform agenda, which will include measures to drive down waste and cut bureaucracy so that the police can focus on issues that matter to the public and cut crime in our communities. Further detail will be set out in the Police Reform White Paper, which is due to be published in early 2026.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the police's ability to meet current levels of demand from crime.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is committed to giving the police the resources it needs to tackle crime. In 2025-26, the police funding settlement provided £19.6bn of funding for the policing system, an increase of £1.2bn compared to 24-25. At the spending review the chancellor announced a real terms increase in police funding.
In addition, a Police Reform White Paper is being developed in partnership with policing. This is a comprehensive package of reform to policing in England and Wales that will strip out duplication and waste and ensure policing can keep up with the fast-changing nature of crime. This will be published early 2026.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of trends in the level of migration of British nationals from the UK on the economy.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Estimates of net migration patterns of British Citizens are made by ONS. The impact on the economy will depend on characteristics of those leaving. Further information on those leaving can be found: Long-term international immigration, emigration and net migration flows, provisional - Office for National Statistics.
In their November 2025 release, ONS used a new method for estimating British nationals migration, affecting data from the year ending June 2021 onwards. This involved moving away from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) to a new method based on the Department for Work and Pension's (DWP's) Registration and Population Interaction Database (RAPID). This means the most recent data is not comparable with estimated before June 2021. Further information can be found in the ONS report: Improving long-term international migration statistics, updating our methods and estimates - Office for National Statistics.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the reasons for the negative net migration of British nationals from the UK in recent years.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Estimates of net migration patterns of British Citizens are made by ONS. The impact on the economy will depend on characteristics of those leaving. Further information on those leaving can be found: Long-term international immigration, emigration and net migration flows, provisional - Office for National Statistics.
In their November 2025 release, ONS used a new method for estimating British nationals migration, affecting data from the year ending June 2021 onwards. This involved moving away from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) to a new method based on the Department for Work and Pension's (DWP's) Registration and Population Interaction Database (RAPID). This means the most recent data is not comparable with estimated before June 2021. Further information can be found in the ONS report: Improving long-term international migration statistics, updating our methods and estimates - Office for National Statistics.