Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will have discussions with the Leader of the House on a holding a debate on the transfer of sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The agreement announced by the UK and Mauritius on 3 October concerning the exercise of sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory / Chagos Archipelago is subject to the finalisation of a treaty. Parliament will have the opportunity to scrutinise the detail of the Treaty prior to ratification, in the usual way.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people of what nationality claiming an out of work benefit are not UK citizens; and what the cost to the public purse is of such benefits.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not hold data on the current nationality of all those claiming benefits. DWP policy responsibility lies in establishing a customer’s eligibility to claim benefits. For non-UK / Irish citizens, an individual’s specific nationality does not play a role in this and the Department therefore does not consistently collect nationality information at the point of benefit claim.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will meet the hon. Member for Great Yarmouth to discuss (a) safety concerns about and (b) dualling of the Acle Straight on the A47.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In the first instance, I would encourage the honourable member to meet with colleagues from National Highways to discuss their work to improve safety on the Acle Straight section of the A47 in Suffolk. There are currently no plans to dual the Acle Straight.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what costs from the treatment of chargeable overseas visitors (a) are outstanding and (b) have been written off.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department publishes data on the income identified from chargeable overseas visitors in England as part of its annual report and accounts. The cash payments received, and amounts written off in-year by the National Health Service from chargeable overseas visitors, are also published annually in the consolidated NHS provider accounts.
The following table shows the aggregate income identified, cash payments received, and amounts written off in-year by the NHS in England, from overseas visitors, over the last three years: | ||||
| 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | |
Aggregate income identified | £61,000,000 | £67,000,000 | £100,000,000 |
|
Cash payments received in-year | £21,000,000 | £25,000,000 | £32,000,000 |
|
Amounts written off in-year | £46,000,000 | £36,000,000 | £37,000,000 |
|
Source: DHSC Annual Report and Accounts and Consolidated NHS provider accounts.
NHS charges can be recovered up to six years from the date of invoice, and therefore the amount recovered in a year does not necessarily mean it was identified that financial year.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the annual cost is of foreign national prisoners in each of the last three years; and how many foreign national prisoners there are.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
There were 10,435 foreign national prisoners held in custody on 30 June 2024; representing 12% of the total prison population. We do not hold annual running cost data for foreign national prisoners. We publish costs per prison place via Prison and Probation Performance Statistics at: costs-per-place-per-prisoner-2022-2023-summary.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk).
The information requested on the nationality of foreign national offenders in prison is published quarterly in table 1_Q_12 of Offender Management Statistics, with the latest data (30 June 2024) available from: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66a1167cce1fd0da7b592c8d/Prison-population-30-June-2024.ods
Information on the offence group of foreign national offenders in prison on 30 June 2024 can be found in the attached table.
Information on deportations is a matter for the Home Office. Foreign national offenders who commit crime should be in no doubt that the law will be enforced and, we will work with the Home Office to pursue their deportation.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) nationality and (b) class of crime is of foreign national offenders (i) in prison and (ii) deported this year.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
There were 10,435 foreign national prisoners held in custody on 30 June 2024; representing 12% of the total prison population. We do not hold annual running cost data for foreign national prisoners. We publish costs per prison place via Prison and Probation Performance Statistics at: costs-per-place-per-prisoner-2022-2023-summary.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk).
The information requested on the nationality of foreign national offenders in prison is published quarterly in table 1_Q_12 of Offender Management Statistics, with the latest data (30 June 2024) available from: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66a1167cce1fd0da7b592c8d/Prison-population-30-June-2024.ods
Information on the offence group of foreign national offenders in prison on 30 June 2024 can be found in the attached table.
Information on deportations is a matter for the Home Office. Foreign national offenders who commit crime should be in no doubt that the law will be enforced and, we will work with the Home Office to pursue their deportation.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 10 September 2024 to Question 3443 on National Security Online Information Team, what (a) topics and (b) events are being monitored by the National Security Online Information Team.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
NSOIT leads the operational response to information risks to UK audiences. Its ministerially agreed remit is to focus on public safety and national security risks. This includes mis- and disinformation arising from events such as the public unrest which occurred over the summer as well as ongoing risks to the UK’s core values and democratic processes from foreign states’ interference.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been deported by country of destination on each day this year.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on individuals who are returned from the UK as a part of the “Immigrations Systems Statistics Quarterly Release”. The total number of enforced returns of individuals by destination can be found in table Ret_D02 of the “returns detailed datasets”. The Home Office publishes this data quarterly, with the latest data up to the end of June 2024. Data for July to September 2024 will be published in November 2024. The Home Office does not publish daily returns of individuals.
Deportations are a specific subset of enforced returns which are enforced either following a criminal conviction or when it is judged that a person’s removal from the UK is conducive to the public good. The deportation order prohibits the person returning to the UK until such time as it may be revoked. The Home office publishes data on enforced returns but not deportations.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of foreign nationals sentenced to a period of imprisonment of at least 12 months have been deported in each of the last five years; and what mitigating factors the Foreign National Offenders Returns Command considers when determining whether deportation based on criminality is appropriate.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes statistics on the returns of foreign national offenders by nationality and year. 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 refer to enforced returns which 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
Under the UK Borders Act 2007, a deportation order must be made where a foreign national has been convicted of an offence and received a custodial sentence of 12 months or more. This is subject to several exceptions, including where to do so would breach a person’s ECHR rights or the UK’s obligations under the Refugee Convention.
Section 7 of the Immigration Act 1971 provides an exemption from deportation for Commonwealth citizens who were ordinarily resident in the UK on 1 January 1973 and ordinarily resident in the five-year period before the decision to make a deportation order. Those who can establish that they meet this exemption will not be liable to deportation and so will not be deported.
A foreign national offender is given the opportunity to make submissions as to why they should not be deported and all claims raised are fully considered and decided upon before deportation, including, where applicable, via the Courts.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish a constituency level breakdown of where all irregular migrants are being housed including accommodation type.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, by local authority and accommodation type, can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for our most recent stats release: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab).
The Government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly and fairly. This includes identifying a range of options to reduce the use of hotels over time and ensuring efficiency and value for money across all accommodation arrangements.