Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department holds information on a standard letter template used by Pakistani men to falsely claim they are gay during the asylum process.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office is committed to ensuring that the asylum system is not open to abuse. It is the responsibility of everyone claiming asylum in the UK to co-operate with the Home Office and tell the truth. It is a crime to make an asylum application that involves trying to deceive the Home Office. If anyone does this and is found guilty of it in a court, they may be given a custodial sentence, after which they may be deported.
All asylum and human rights claims, including those raised by Pakistan nationals on grounds of sexuality are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations. Our guidance for considering asylum claims is available on GOV.UK at: Assessing credibility and refugee status: caseworker guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The weight to be placed on evidence of support from any particular individual or organisation is something for an asylum decision maker to judge on a case-by-case basis, in line with the Immigration Rules and Home Office policy.
A decision maker will not accept that someone is gay simply because they claim to be so. Such declarations constitute the starting point in the consideration process and are subject to probing at interview and a proper assessment of the facts and circumstances.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of people currently accommodated under sections 95, 98 or 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (a) entered the UK on a work, study or visitor visa and subsequently claimed asylum, (b) arrived by small boat, and (c) arrived by other unauthorised means in each of the last 12 months; and if she will publish this data by accommodation type, including hotels, dispersal accommodation, initial accommodation and large sites.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested on data linking asylum seekers' accommodation status with their route of entry is not currently published.
Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.
You may be interested to note that the Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on people claiming asylum by prior route is published in table Asy_D01a of the ‘Asylum claims and initial decisions datasets’. The latest data goes up to the year ending June 2026.
Data on Asylum seekers in receipt of Home Office support by support type and accommodation type is published in table Asy_D09 of the ‘Asylum support detailed datasets’. Please note the figures reported represent the number of people in receipt of support at the end of the period, rather than the total supported throughout the period. The latest data goes up to as at 30 June 2026.
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 potential financial impact of applying the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts service credit regime to (a) hotels, (b) MDP Wethersfield and (c) Napier Barracks.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister of State (Home Office)
There is currently no dedicated KPI regime in operation for hotels or the Wethersfield Large Site and performance-related penalties are not being applied. The Home Office ceased to use Napier Barracks in 2025.
While hotels do not form part of core contractual KPI regimes, Home Office assurance teams review performance and carry out inspections at properties to ensure appropriate standards are being met. The Department keeps supplier performance under regular review and applies contractual remedies in accordance with the terms of the relevant contracts.
Large Sites assurance is delivered through strong, hands-on operational oversight, grounded in on-site presence, observation, incident review and active engagement with Providers. This provides a high degree of real-time visibility and responsiveness and ensures that performance is managed closely both on site and on record keeping - any issues are identified early and addressed promptly with a clear governance and escalation structure.
The Home Office is in the process of developing a KPI framework for Large Sites which, once agreed with contracted Providers, will be implemented at Wethersfield and any other Large Sites which may be brought into the estate in the future.
Asylum accommodation contracts contain performance management arrangements, including service credits where appropriate, to incentivise contractual compliance. The Home Office does not publish commercially sensitive information relating to the operation of its contractual arrangements.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of extending the VAT exemption on domestic renewables beyond March 2027.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
Installations of qualifying energy-saving materials in residential accommodation, and buildings used solely for a charitable purpose, benefit from a temporary VAT zero rate until March 2027. After that date, they will revert to the reduced rate of VAT at five per cent. This support is worth over £1 billion.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of SEND delivery in primary schools with single-form entry.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The quality of teaching is the single most important in-school factor for improving pupil outcomes, and it is particularly important for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). High-quality teachers exist everywhere across the system, including in single-form primaries.
To ensure that all teachers, teaching assistants, support staff and leaders across early years, schools and post-16 settings can be trained to support pupils with SEND, we are investing £200 million of new funding to upskill staff and promote inclusive practice. In addition, we are investing £1.8 billion for local area partnerships to develop and deliver an Experts at Hand offer to mainstream settings, including small and single-form entry primary schools. They will have access to specialist education and health professionals who will work alongside staff to build capacity, support earlier intervention and strengthen inclusive practise.
The department is also providing £1.6 billion of additional funding to mainstream settings through an Inclusive Mainstream Fund, to help settings identify commonly occurring needs and take meaningful steps to improve everyday support. We have published guidance to support schools to develop their initial inclusion strategies, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-mainstream-fund-support-for-school-leaders/developing-an-inclusion-strategy-using-the-inclusive-mainstream-fund.
We are also proposing to introduce new National Inclusion Standards to set out what ordinarily-available provision should be in every setting across the 0 to 25 system, as well as the evidence-based tools, strategies and approaches for educators to draw on to identify and support children and young people with SEND.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his department has made of the reasons for the decline in the number of planning permissions awarded for developments of between 10 and 49 homes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Planning applications statistics make clear that there has been a small reduction in the percentage of homes in planning permissions that are on sites of between 10-49 homes, from 11% in 2022-23 to 10% in 2024-25.
The reasons for this marginal reduction are multifaceted, but an important factor is the fact that sites of this size are primarily built out by small and medium-sized (SME) housebuilders who face challenges accessing finance and land and are disproportionately impacted by onerous regulatory burdens.
As a government we are clear that ramping up housing delivery requires us to diversify the housebuilding market. Integral to such diversification is not merely arresting but reversing the decline of SME housebuilders that has taken place over recent decades. That is why we have acted to support them by increasing their access to land, providing further financial assistance, and easing the burden of regulation.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to allow asylum seekers to register with their most local police station.
Answered by Alex Norris - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
There is currently no policy of requiring asylum seekers to register at a police station. Asylum seekers may be required to report to an immigration reporting centre or police station as a condition imposed under section 71 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (asylum seekers with leave to enter or remain) or under Schedule 10 to the Immigration Act 2016 (asylum seekers on immigration bail).
There are a number of factors that go into determining the location a person is required to report. The circumstances where a person may report to a police station rather than an immigration reporting centre are outlined in the Reporting and Offender Management guidance which can be found on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, in relation to this year's delays to Pearson exam results, what steps are being taken to ensure that similar delays do not occur in future years.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Schools rightly expect results to be delivered on time, and Pearson Education Limited has fully apologised for failing to return these results on time and for the impact on schools, pupils, parents and carers. Pearson confirmed that their GCSEs, A levels, and vocational qualifications operate through separate systems and processes and are not affected.
We will use all the provisions in the contract to ensure that Pearson is held to account for their failures in delivery and will explore all possible options for future delivery. The government has confirmed that there will be a full independent review into how such serious failings have occurred. Further details and terms of reference will be set out shortly.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, will an independent review be undertaken into the management of this year's KS2 SATs marking process.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Schools rightly expect results to be delivered on time, and Pearson Education Limited has fully apologised for failing to return these results on time and for the impact on schools, pupils, parents and carers. Pearson confirmed that their GCSEs, A levels, and vocational qualifications operate through separate systems and processes and are not affected.
We will use all the provisions in the contract to ensure that Pearson is held to account for their failures in delivery and will explore all possible options for future delivery. The government has confirmed that there will be a full independent review into how such serious failings have occurred. Further details and terms of reference will be set out shortly.
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 impact of financial insecurity on birthrates.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has made no recent assessments of the potential impact of financial insecurity on birthrates.