Oral Answers to Questions

Mike Tapp Excerpts

Monday 13th July 2026 Commons Chamber

[Josh Fenton-Glynn (Calder Valley) (Lab)]

11. When she plans to announce the number of seasonal worker visas available for 2027.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mike Tapp)]

This Government recognise the importance of a prompt announcement on visa numbers to enable the agriculture industry to plan and prepare. The Government are committed to supporting the UK horticulture sector, but it is important that the sector reduces its ongoing reliance on significant numbers of seasonal workers from overseas. We are engaging closely with the sector and other stakeholders, and will announce the number of seasonal worker visas available for 2027 shortly, in line with usual practice.

[Josh Fenton-Glynn]

I am currently taking part in the excellent National Farmers’ Union food and farming fellowship. On a recent visit to a vegetable farm, I was told that the numbers of seasonal worker visas are announced far too late in the farming cycle for farmers to be able to plan in advance. If we are to have domestic agriculture, we are going to need some seasonal workers. Will the Government look at working with the industry so that we can plan in advance and actually run our farms and agriculture sector properly?

[Mike Tapp]

I thank my hon. Friend for his important question. I will ensure that we work closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs—we already do—in engaging with the sector to ensure that the announcement on numbers is timely, as it needs to be, so that farmers can plan.

[Peter Swallow (Bracknell) (Lab)]

12. What assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the British national overseas visa settlement route.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mike Tapp)]

We assess that the route has been a success. Since it launched, more than 170,000 Hongkongers have moved to the UK, and thousands have now been granted settlement. The Government remain steadfast in our support for the Hong Kong community in the UK and those who will arrive in the future.

[Peter Swallow]

The Hong Kong community in Bracknell Forest has welcomed the announcement of the continuation of the five-year settlement route for BNO visa holders, as well as the expansion to adult children. However, real concerns remain around changes to language and income requirements, as well as concerns that Hongkongers prosecuted by the Chinese state under the national security law are seeing delays to accessing indefinite leave to remain status. Will the Minister set out when my constituents will be given clarity on these really important issues? It is right that we stand by the Hong Kong community, given our long and historic ties.

[Mike Tapp]

We have consulted widely on earned settlement. We are considering the responses, and will bring forward reforms at the earliest opportunity. In the meantime, those on the BNO route can continue to apply, and the service standard for those on that route continues to be six months. If there are any individual circumstances, my hon. Friend can grab me after this and we can go through them.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Alicia Kearns (Rutland and Stamford) (Con)]

Ann Widdecombe was a force of nature, and my heart goes out to all her friends and loved ones.

The BNO route has provided sanctuary for Hongkongers fleeing the autocracy of the Chinese Communist party. However, its effectiveness should not be measured in visas granted, but in whether people are actually safe here. BNOers live under CCP bounties, doxxing and surveillance. A year after the foreign influence registration scheme went live, not one person or company has registered as working or taking money from the Chinese state, and the Government still refuse to put the Chinese Communist party in the enhanced tier. Do the Government really believe that not a single organisation in the UK is engaged in political influence on behalf of the Chinese Communist party, and if not, how many investigations have there been into those failing to disclose? The annual report on FIRS was due to published by the end of June. Are the Government planning on sneaking it out during the summer recess to hide their failure to protect us and Hongkongers from the Chinese Communist party?

[Mike Tapp]

I thank the hon. Lady for her important point. It is essential that we keep those who are here safe. The Minister for Security is keeping this matter under review, and will write to her in due course.

[Sir John Whittingdale (Maldon) (Con)]

13. What estimate her Department has made of the number of police officers in September (a) 2024 and (b) 2025.

--- Later in debate ---

[Alison Hume (Scarborough and Whitby) (Lab)]

The scampi catching sector in Northern Ireland is currently reliant on foreign seasonal workers. To stay afloat, the sector needs about 66 visas to be valid for just seven months of the year. Will the Minister consider extending the seasonal worker visa route to the nephrops industry to give the catching sector the certainty it needs and protect processing jobs at Whitby Seafoods in my constituency?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mike Tapp)]

I thank my hon. Friend for her important question. I work closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and many sectors in agriculture to ensure that they can operate if they need access to foreign workers. Of course, we are looking to reduce the need for that, and I am happy to meet afterwards and talk more about the specific issue of scampi, which I love.

[Mark Pritchard (The Wrekin) (Con)]

I thank the Asylum Minister for his professional courtesy in calling me on Friday to say that the asylum dispersal plans for Stoke Heath in my constituency have now been scrapped. I am grateful for that, and it is a great relief to many residents—it was a completely inappropriate location from the get-go. However, can I ask him to put on the record whether the Government have any plans to put asylum seekers into Clive barracks at Tern Hill in Shropshire, which is currently home to the Royal Irish Regiment?