Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, further to written statement UIN HCWS144, what plans her Department has to help support the dependents of eligible students from Gaza travelling to UK universities.
Answered by Mike Tapp
On 24 June the Government confirmed its support for high achieving students from Gaza to take up fully funded scholarships at UK universities for the 2026/27 academic year.
This will build on support already provided by the government in the current academic year, through which we have enabled over 100 students from Gaza to pursue their studies. The Government will continue to prioritise students who hold fully funded and verifiable scholarships, and who meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules.
Departures from Gaza remain highly complex and are dependent on factors outside the UK Government’s control. However, we will continue to work with relevant authorities to facilitate departures and onward travel in a third country to ensure the students, and the dependants of those students who meet the relevant requirements of the Immigration Rules, can leave Gaza and undertake biometric checks before coming to the UK.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether steps will be taken to support students from Gaza currently studying at UK universities to remain temporarily in the UK following graduation further to the eighteen months allowed under the UK Graduate visa.
Answered by Mike Tapp
Upon successful completion of their course of study, students may be eligible to apply for a Graduate visa, which allows them to remain in the UK for up to 2 years (or 3 years for PhD graduates). For those who submit their Graduate application on or after 1 January 2027, the permitted stay will be up to 18 months (or 3 years for PhD graduates).
Should students wish to remain in the UK beyond this time, they can apply for further permission to stay under existing routes within the Immigration Rules, as with other international students.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Chevening Scholars who have claimed asylum in each year between 2021 and 2025 broken down by home country.
Answered by Alex Norris - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of people claiming asylum where the latest leave held prior to claim was a study visa is published in table Asy_D01a of the ‘Asylum claims and initial decisions datasets’. The number of student entry clearance visas issued is published in table Vis_D02 of the 'Entry clearance visas datasets'.
The requested information on asylum claims from Chevening scholars is not available from published statistics.
Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data. These reviews allow us to balance the production of our regular statistics whilst developing new statistics for future release.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2025 to Question 96731, how many of the 16 in person visits were conducted as joint inspections and with which other enforcement bodies.
Answered by Jess Phillips
Following my answer on 12 December 2025, in which I stated there had been 16 visits since 1 January 2025, the GLAA has identified a further 36 visits during the same period.
Therefore, since 1 January 2025, GLAA Officers have undertaken 52 (not 16) in person inspection visits to farms in Scotland.
Of these 52, 10 were conducted in partnership with other enforcement bodies including Police Scotland, Home Office Immigration Enforcement, UK Visas & Immigration, Local Authority Environmental Health Teams, the Health & Safety Executive and the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many in-person inspections were carried out by Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority officers on farms in Scotland in 2025.
Answered by Jess Phillips
The GLAA does not record ‘Complaints’ about licensed entities. Instead, it records ‘General Issues’ (referrals from members of the public, victims, workers, etc.) which may or may not be negative in nature.
Since 1 January 2025, the GLAA has received 11 ‘General Issues’ referrals relating to Scottish farms.
Since 1 January 2025, GLAA Officers have undertaken 16 in person inspection visits to farms in Scotland. These figures include compliance and enforcement inspections, as well as joint operations with other enforcement bodies.
As of November 2025, the GLAA has a total headcount of 117, with 2 members of staff currently based in Scotland.
The GLAA deploys members of staff from all over the UK to support operations wherever they are required. It is therefore not possible to provide an accurate breakdown of the number of staff who cover Scotland as part of their roles and responsibilities, as this will change depending on demand.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many complaints were received by the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority with reference to farms in Scotland in 2025.
Answered by Jess Phillips
The GLAA does not record ‘Complaints’ about licensed entities. Instead, it records ‘General Issues’ (referrals from members of the public, victims, workers, etc.) which may or may not be negative in nature.
Since 1 January 2025, the GLAA has received 11 ‘General Issues’ referrals relating to Scottish farms.
Since 1 January 2025, GLAA Officers have undertaken 16 in person inspection visits to farms in Scotland. These figures include compliance and enforcement inspections, as well as joint operations with other enforcement bodies.
As of November 2025, the GLAA has a total headcount of 117, with 2 members of staff currently based in Scotland.
The GLAA deploys members of staff from all over the UK to support operations wherever they are required. It is therefore not possible to provide an accurate breakdown of the number of staff who cover Scotland as part of their roles and responsibilities, as this will change depending on demand.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what is the total number of Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority staff; and how many of these staff are a) based in Scotland and b) cover Scotland in their role responsibilities.
Answered by Jess Phillips
The GLAA does not record ‘Complaints’ about licensed entities. Instead, it records ‘General Issues’ (referrals from members of the public, victims, workers, etc.) which may or may not be negative in nature.
Since 1 January 2025, the GLAA has received 11 ‘General Issues’ referrals relating to Scottish farms.
Since 1 January 2025, GLAA Officers have undertaken 16 in person inspection visits to farms in Scotland. These figures include compliance and enforcement inspections, as well as joint operations with other enforcement bodies.
As of November 2025, the GLAA has a total headcount of 117, with 2 members of staff currently based in Scotland.
The GLAA deploys members of staff from all over the UK to support operations wherever they are required. It is therefore not possible to provide an accurate breakdown of the number of staff who cover Scotland as part of their roles and responsibilities, as this will change depending on demand.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Department how many UK Visas and Immigration seasonal worker visa scheme compliance visits were conducted in a) England, b) Scotland and c) Wales in 2025.
Answered by Mike Tapp
UKVI does not produce published data on seasonal worker visa scheme compliance visits.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Afghans were evacuated from Pakistan under the (a) Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme and (b) Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy each month from January 2025 to the latest month for which data is available.
Answered by Mike Tapp
The UK made an ambitious and generous commitment to help at-risk people in Afghanistan and, so far, we have brought around 38,700. people to safety, including thousands of people eligible for our Afghan schemes.
Afghanistan Resettlement Schemes operational data is published quarterly with the last publication on the 21 August 2025.
Data on recent and planned resettlement is not available due to the operational nature of the schemes. For operational security reasons, we are unable to provide additional information on plans for future resettlement flights.
The data published within: immigration system statistics release (year ending June 2025, published 21 August 2025) provides a breakdown of arrivals by quarter. The number of individuals resettled under the schemes is as follows: 19,048 under ARAP. 10,160 individuals under ACRS Pathway 1, 1,406 individuals under ACRS Pathway 2 and 1,679 individuals under ACRS Pathway 3.
Afghan Operational data is viewable at: Afghan Resettlement Programme: operational data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when was the most recent evacuation under the (a) Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme and (b) Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy; and when are the next planned evacuations.
Answered by Mike Tapp
The UK made an ambitious and generous commitment to help at-risk people in Afghanistan and, so far, we have brought around 38,700. people to safety, including thousands of people eligible for our Afghan schemes.
Afghanistan Resettlement Schemes operational data is published quarterly with the last publication on the 21 August 2025.
Data on recent and planned resettlement is not available due to the operational nature of the schemes. For operational security reasons, we are unable to provide additional information on plans for future resettlement flights.
The data published within: immigration system statistics release (year ending June 2025, published 21 August 2025) provides a breakdown of arrivals by quarter. The number of individuals resettled under the schemes is as follows: 19,048 under ARAP. 10,160 individuals under ACRS Pathway 1, 1,406 individuals under ACRS Pathway 2 and 1,679 individuals under ACRS Pathway 3.
Afghan Operational data is viewable at: Afghan Resettlement Programme: operational data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)