Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the legal basis for the pilot small boat crossings returns scheme with France.

Individuals will be removed to France using our existing legislation. Our inadmissibility, certification and removal processes are well established in published guidance and enable us to declare asylum and humanitarian protection claims inadmissible, not substantively consider them in the UK and quickly remove relevant individuals to a safe third country.

An Immigration Rule change will be made to operationalise the new legal route into the UK. The full legal basis will be presented to Parliament in due course and the operational arrangements – which have been discussed with European partners – will also be set out to Parliament in due course.