Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average processing time for asylum claims was broken down by (a) individual route and (b) month since July 2024.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of claims awaiting an initial decision, broken down by duration, is published in table Asy_D03 and data on the number of people claiming asylum, by route of entry to the UK, is published in table Asy_D01a. These data tables are published as part of the asylum detailed datasets.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the headcount number of caseworkers for processing asylum claims was broken down by (a) individual route and (b) month since July 2024.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office is maintaining sufficient resource in place to clear the Asylum backlog.

The number of full time equivalent (FTE) asylum caseworkers employed per month until June 2025 is published in the ASY_05(M) tab of the published migration transparency statistics, located here: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK.

At the end of June 2025 there were 2,057 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Asylum Caseworking Staff.

We do not publish breakdown of this information by individual route.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of creating a medal for servicemen and women who leave the armed forces before becoming eligible for medals under existing schemes.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

Whilst we are grateful to all those who serve in our Armed Forces, it remains the position that medals are awarded only in recognition of operational Service, acts of gallantry, and long and meritorious Service; they are not awarded for Service alone. The Ministry of Defence has no plans to recommend that consideration is given to the introduction of a new medal for personnel who are not eligible for recognition under existing medallic arrangements. Any proposal for a new medal would require endorsement by the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals and approval by His Majesty The King.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to help improve (a) training and (b) awareness of (i) Lymphoedema and (ii) Lipoedema for (A) GPs and (B) other medical professionals.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Doctors are responsible for maintaining their clinical knowledge, including on lymphoedema and lipoedema, throughout their careers, and are responsible for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development.

All doctors registered in the United Kingdom are expected to meet the professional standards set out in the General Medical Council’s (GMC’s) Good Medical Practice. In 2012, the GMC introduced revalidation, which supports doctors in regularly reflecting on how they can develop or improve their practice, giving patients confidence that doctors are up to date with their practice, and promoting improved quality of care by driving improvements in clinical governance.

The training curricula for postgraduate trainee doctors are set by the relevant medical royal college and have to meet the standards set by the GMC. Whilst curricula do not necessarily highlight specific conditions for doctors to be aware of, they instead emphasise the skills and approaches that a doctor must develop to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients.

Resources for health professionals are available from a number of professional and patient organisations to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and management of patients presenting with lymphoedema and lipoedema.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) halal and (b) kosher slaughterhouses have operated in the UK in each year since 2020, by local authority area.

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

The number of slaughterhouses carrying out slaughter using the halal or shechita methods is not routinely recorded, as no specific approval from the Food Standards Agency is required to use these methods. However, the FSA’s most recent slaughter sector survey showed that in February 2024: for cattle, there were 4 slaughterhouses that used the Shechita method and 4 that used the non-stun halal method; for sheep, there were 5 that used the Shechita method and 12 that used the non-stun halal method; for meat chickens, there were 4 slaughterhouses that used the Shechita method and 10 that used the non-stun halal method. Additionally, some slaughterhouses also utilise the stunned halal method too.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how the headcount number was of caseworkers processing visas by (a) each visa route and (b) month since July 2024.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Department is unable to provide previous headcount data for visa processing broken down by route and by month. Caseworkers are routinely reallocated across visa routes to maintain service standards and a flexible deployment model is used by UKVI to manage fluctuations in demand and seasonal surges. As a result, the Departmental systems do not capture headcount movements at a visa route level with sufficient accuracy to support robust external reporting.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of mandating the labelling of (a) halal and (b) kosher products.

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

There are no regulations that require the labelling of halal or kosher meat, but the Government expects industry to provide consumers with information on which to make an informed choice about their food. Any information provided on the method of slaughter must be accurate and not misleading to the consumer.

We will consider the potential role of method of production labelling reform as part of the ongoing development of the Government’s wider animal welfare strategy.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) halal and (b) kosher slaughterhouses have been investigated for violations of (i) food safety and (ii) animal welfare standards in each year since 2020.

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

The Food Standards Agency does not have data on the number of halal or kosher slaughterhouses investigated for violations of food safety or animal welfare standards.

The Food Standards Agency does not categorise slaughterhouses as either ‘halal’ or ‘kosher’. No specific approval is required to use these methods and so the slaughterhouses producing kosher or halal meat are not routinely recorded.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of (a) food safety and (b) animal welfare standards in (i) halal and (ii) kosher slaughterhouses.

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

No specific food safety or animal welfare assessments have been made of slaughterhouses using halal or kosher slaughter methods.

Animal welfare at time of killing legislation sets out the main requirements to protect the welfare of animals when being slaughtered. There are additional rules that apply when animals are slaughtered by either the Jewish or Muslim method to ensure that animals are spared avoidable pain, suffering, or distress during the slaughter process. Similarly, food hygiene legislation sets out the hygiene requirements for approved slaughterhouses regardless of the method used.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her planned timetable is for launching a national inquiry into grooming gangs.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Government is driving forward work to establish the National Inquiry into Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse under the Inquiries Act 2005. It will be overseen by an Independent Commission with statutory powers to compel evidence and testimony so that institutions can be held to account for current and historic failures. The inquiry will be independent of government and designed to command the confidence of victims and survivors and the wider public.

The first step in establishing the inquiry is the appointment of the Chair to the inquiry. A rigorous selection process is currently underway, which we are undertaking properly and thoroughly, with appropriate due diligence and meaningful engagement with victims and survivors. This is a non-negotiable part of this process and remains ongoing. Once the Chair is appointed, the Government will provide a full update to Parliament.

In line with the Inquiries Act, the appointed Chair will play a central role in shaping the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference. These will be published in draft once the Chair is appointed and subject to consultation with stakeholders, including victims and survivors.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much in remittances by country of destination has been sent from the UK in each year since 2020.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Treasury does not collect or report data on the flow of remittances out of the UK and has not under previous governments. The UK imposes taxes based on individual’s residence status. Individuals who are resident in the UK are taxable on their income and gains that arise worldwide. Remitting funds outside of the UK is not generally considered to be a chargeable event for individuals. It should also be noted that funds being remitted will often have been subject to UK tax, such as income tax, if funded from earnings.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a tax on remittance flows.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Treasury does not collect or report data on the flow of remittances out of the UK and has not under previous governments. The UK imposes taxes based on individual’s residence status. Individuals who are resident in the UK are taxable on their income and gains that arise worldwide. Remitting funds outside of the UK is not generally considered to be a chargeable event for individuals. It should also be noted that funds being remitted will often have been subject to UK tax, such as income tax, if funded from earnings.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment his Department has made of the practice of voluntary liquidation by companies with (a) liabilities and (b) outstanding contractual obligations that begin operations under another name.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

My Department has not made these assessments. However, liquidators of an insolvent company are required to report on the conduct of its directors to the Insolvency Service, who will consider investigating potential misconduct and seek to disqualify the directors if appropriate.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the use of bankruptcy law by companies to avoid repaying contractual repayments.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

My Department has not made this assessment. Statistics on the volumes of corporate insolvencies are published and can be found at Company insolvency statistics releases - GOV.UK.

Attendance of the Attorney General at the Bar of the House on the Chinese espionage case