Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the cost of housing asylum seekers in (a) hotels, (b) private rental accommodation and (c) council housing in each of the last five financial years.

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

The Home Office publishes information on asylum expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts at Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the number of small boat crossings since 4 July 2024.

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

The Border Security Command was established to provide strategic leadership in tackling small boats, ensuring our approach is informed by a single and shared understanding of the threat through the integrated use of intelligence, assessments, data and evidence. The Command has an established process for monitoring and evaluating work underway, including assessing delivery and monitoring trends in arrivals. The Government keeps all options to tackle small boat crossings, and the Organised Crime Groups behind them, under constant review.