Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her current budget is for (a) processing illegal immigration cases, (b) managing legal appeals to such cases and (c) deportation operations; and what steps she is taking to increase efficiency in the (i) allocation and (ii) use of this funding.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes relevant information regarding departmental expenditure on the asylum and immigration systems on a regular basis in its annual reports, the most recent editions of which can be found at the following link: Home Office Annual Report and Accounts 2023 to 2024 (publishing.service.gov.uk).
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
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 illegal immigration on (a) local law enforcement and (b) levels of police (i) funding and (ii) manpower required to tackle illegal entry-related cases.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government recognises that irregular migration is too high and that is why we are committed to restoring order to the system so that it is faster, fairer, and the rules are properly enforced.
Other Border Security partners, including Border Force, Immigration Enforcement and the National Crime Agency, lead on tackling illegal migration. As such, no specific assessment is made regarding the impact illegal migration has on law enforcement.
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the annual cost of providing (a) housing and (b) welfare support for people residing in the UK illegally; and what steps she is taking to reduce these costs.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The department has made no such estimate. Persons residing in the UK illegally who have no recourse to public funds are not eligible for an allocation of social housing or statutory homelessness assistance.
More broadly, the Home Office is responsible for tackling illegal immigration.
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people that entered the UK illegally and were subsequently convicted of a criminal offense have been deported in each of the last three years; and what steps she is taking to expedite the deportation of foreign nationals with criminal records.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested is not available from published statistics.
Any foreign national who is convicted of a crime in the UK and given a prison sentence is considered for deportation at the earliest opportunity. Where a person’s criminality does not meet the threshold for deportation, consideration is given to administrative removal.
Statistics on the returns of foreign national offenders (FNOs) by nationality and year are published on a quarterly basis. These returns are published in the Returns Detailed Datasets, Year Ending June 2024, which are available at: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The published statistics include deportations, as well as cases where a person has breached UK immigration laws, and those removed under other administrative and illegal entry powers that have declined to leave voluntarily.
Figures on deportations, which are a subset of enforced returns, are not separately available.
We have already begun delivering a major surge in immigration enforcement and returns activity to remove people with no right to be in the UK and ensure the rules are respected and enforced.
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate she has made of the number of people in the UK that have overstayed their visas; if she will make an estimate of the percentage of people in the UK that have overstayed their visas that have been (a) located and (b) deported in the last year; and what further steps she plans to take to (i) track and (ii) enforce compliance among visa holders.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
As set out in legislation, an individual is liable to removal from the UK if "the person requires leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom but does not have it". The Home Office does not routinely categorise immigration offenders by the manner in which they became irregular, and to do so could only be achieved at disproportionate cost.
We have already begun delivering a major surge in immigration enforcement and returns activity to remove people with no right to be in the UK and ensure the rules are respected and enforced, with 9,400 people returned from 5 July to 28 October 2024.
Further data on returns activity is published quarterly and can be found on gov.uk at Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact on national security of the level of steelmaking capacity in the UK between the (a) closure of blast furnaces and (b) establishment of electric arc furnaces; and what steps he is taking to ensure (i) the security of steel supply for critical infrastructure and (ii) value for money in the purchase of steel for such projects in that transitional period.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises the important position our steel companies play in the supply chains for a number of key industries. This is why we are developing a steel strategy. With regards to the transition of Port Talbot, Tata will be importing steel slab and coil for a temporary period whilst the new electric arc furnace (EAF) is being built. We continue to prioritise engagement with British Steel.
Neither Tata Steel nor British Steel are currently critical suppliers into UK defence programmes. High quality steel, including for the Royal Navy’s new Dreadnaught class submarines, is already being made by EAF steel producers.
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many reports have been received by the Citizens Advice consumer hotline on the illegal sale of (a) tobacco products, (b) vape and c) alcohol products in each of the last five years.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Set out in the table below are the number of cases reported to and collected by the Citizens Advice consumer service over the past 5 years.
Cases | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
Tobacco | 1376 | 1471 | 1184 | 944 | 787 |
E-cig/Vape | 459 | 1883 | 3757 | 2398 | 1400 |
Alcohol | 1719 | 1749 | 1746 | 1014 | 766 |
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure that parishes in areas without a parish council are (a) consulted on and (b) have the opportunity to provide (i) local insights and (ii) detailed community knowledge during the Planning Inspectorate’s decision-making processes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In areas with no Parish Council, Parish Meetings can make representations in relation to planning appeals and wider planning consultations.
Beyond this, residents in these areas can engage directly with the various decision-making processes. Those that have already made representations to the local planning authority about a planning application or a local plan consultation, will have their representations forwarded direct to the Planning Inspectorate if there is an appeal or in advance of a local plan examination.
They will also be notified of the appeal or examination, so that they can make further responses or appear at a hearing or inquiry to give evidence. Indeed, residents appear regularly at public hearings and inquiries, where they are afforded time to speak in front of the Planning Inspector.
Community or action groups may also ask to have so-called “Rule 6” status, which entitles them to appear as a formal party to a public inquiry and to cross-examine witnesses.
In the case of Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, residents can also register to become “interested parties”. This allows them to make representations to the examining panel. They may also ask to speak at the public examination before the examining panel and to attend site visits.
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the cost to the public purse was of (a) training and (b) otherwise integrating NHS staff recruited from abroad in the last 12 months.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested on the cost to the public purse for the training and integration of National Health Service staff recruited from abroad is not collected centrally.
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an estimate of the potential cost to the public purse of compensation for loss of property value as a result of proposed pylon installations in Boston and Skegness constituency.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Landowners, businesses and homeowners that have electrical equipment, such as pylons or towers, sited on their land have the right to compensation for the value of their land, as well as for any losses or expenses incurred. Acquiring authorities can also put in place discretionary schemes offering additional compensation. As compensation is provided by the electricity network licence holders, not the Government, we cannot provide an estimate of potential costs.
More broadly, the Government is committed to ensuring that communities who live near new clean energy infrastructure can see the benefits and is currently considering how to deliver this most effectively.