Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to identify and counter potentially state-backed digital advertising campaigns promoting Russian citizenship and residency to people in the UK.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)

This Government takes the threat of information operations from foreign states seriously. We work closely with industry, international and operational partners to identify and counter state-backed influence activity in the UK.

Whilst we do not comment on specific operational matters, we keep the threat from state-sponsored information campaigns under constant review. Where activity linked to a foreign state poses a threat to the UK’s safety or interests, the Government will use the full range of powers to detect, expose and disrupt that activity.

That is why the Prime Minister has asked security chiefs to establish a new National Centre for Information Defence (NCID) – to transform the UK’s capabilities for detecting, attributing and disrupting information attacks from foreign adversaries, to support and defend our democracy and national security.

More broadly, the National Security Act 2023 provides robust powers to tackle foreign interference, including activity conducted on behalf of a foreign state to influence UK political processes. Russia has been placed on the Enhanced Tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, increasing transparency requirements and creating further legal consequences for those who seek to conceal their links to the Russian state.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to her Department is of providing citizenship ceremonies.

Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes the fees charged and the estimated unit cost of processing immigration and nationality applications on GOV.UK. This can be reviewed via the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visa-fees-transparency-data.

Fees for immigration and nationality applications are kept under review. However, no assessment has been made of the potential merits of a reduced naturalisation fee for applicants’ resident in the UK for more than 20 years and there are no plans to carry out such an assessment in the future.

While some individuals may wish to apply to become a British citizen, it is not mandatory and many choose not to do so. This is because, in addition to lawful permanent residence in the UK, a person with Indefinite Leave to Remain is able to access to the UK labour market, state education and healthcare and the ability to sponsor family members’ residence in the UK.

There is no cost to the Home Office for providing citizenship ceremonies. Local Authorities provide and administer the ceremony, and the fee is payable to them. Overseas ceremonies are administered by Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) officials at the nearest embassy or High Commission. The ceremony fee covers that cost and is paid to FCDO once the ceremony has been conducted.

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 a reduced naturalisation fee for applicants resident in the UK for more than 20 years.

Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes the fees charged and the estimated unit cost of processing immigration and nationality applications on GOV.UK. This can be reviewed via the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visa-fees-transparency-data.

Fees for immigration and nationality applications are kept under review. However, no assessment has been made of the potential merits of a reduced naturalisation fee for applicants’ resident in the UK for more than 20 years and there are no plans to carry out such an assessment in the future.

While some individuals may wish to apply to become a British citizen, it is not mandatory and many choose not to do so. This is because, in addition to lawful permanent residence in the UK, a person with Indefinite Leave to Remain is able to access to the UK labour market, state education and healthcare and the ability to sponsor family members’ residence in the UK.

There is no cost to the Home Office for providing citizenship ceremonies. Local Authorities provide and administer the ceremony, and the fee is payable to them. Overseas ceremonies are administered by Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) officials at the nearest embassy or High Commission. The ceremony fee covers that cost and is paid to FCDO once the ceremony has been conducted.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the unit cost to her Department is of processing an application for naturalisation; and what the fee charged is.

Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes the fees charged and the estimated unit cost of processing immigration and nationality applications on GOV.UK. This can be reviewed via the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visa-fees-transparency-data.

Fees for immigration and nationality applications are kept under review. However, no assessment has been made of the potential merits of a reduced naturalisation fee for applicants’ resident in the UK for more than 20 years and there are no plans to carry out such an assessment in the future.

While some individuals may wish to apply to become a British citizen, it is not mandatory and many choose not to do so. This is because, in addition to lawful permanent residence in the UK, a person with Indefinite Leave to Remain is able to access to the UK labour market, state education and healthcare and the ability to sponsor family members’ residence in the UK.

There is no cost to the Home Office for providing citizenship ceremonies. Local Authorities provide and administer the ceremony, and the fee is payable to them. Overseas ceremonies are administered by Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) officials at the nearest embassy or High Commission. The ceremony fee covers that cost and is paid to FCDO once the ceremony has been conducted.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much revenue was raised from naturalisation fees in each of the last three financial years.

Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office’s financial system does not separately record different types of nationality income. Isolating revenue from naturalisation fees would require a manual review of all nationality income transactions over a three-year period. The information cannot therefore be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the Government will set out its conclusions on public food waste reporting for large food businesses, following the 2023 consultation and the ongoing advice of the Circular Economy Taskforce and No.10 National Endeavour on Food Waste.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government recognises the importance of improving food waste data to help reduce food waste and improve resource efficiency. The Department is engaging with industry to improve reporting and data quality, while considering a range of policy options. Potential reporting requirements for larger businesses, including mandatory reporting, remain under consideration.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claims for Bereavement Support Payment have been refused on the grounds that the contribution condition was not met in each year since 2017.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Information on Bereavement Support Payment including the number of claims that were refused because the National Insurance contribution conditions were not met is available via Stat-Xplore.

Found: Mike Reader. Mike Reader: Thank you, Chair.