Asked by: Lord Wasserman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what evidence there is that the introduction of Police and Crime Commissioners has had an adverse impact on the (1) number, and (2) quality, of candidates for the post of chief constable and whether they will publish this evidence.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Following the announcement by the Policing Minister on 13 November that the government will abolish Police and Crime Commissioners, we are working with local government and policing to design new arrangements for the oversight of policing, including relationships between Chief Constables.
Further detail will be set out in the forthcoming Police Reform White Paper.
The Home Office does not collect data on Chief Constable tenure.
Despite the efforts of many individual PCCs, the model of a direct 1:1 relationship between elected Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables has not always facilitated effective management of police forces.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department operates any concession or discretionary process for partner visa holders whose entry to the UK was delayed due to government-mandated COVID-19 travel restrictions and red-list hotel quarantine.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the department considered the impact on people qualifying for settlement and, as a result, concessions were put in place, including where discretion will be exercised regarding the qualifying period for settlement. These are set out in the Family Life guidance: Family life and exceptional circumstances: caseworker guidance - GOV.UK
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has assessed the impact of COVID-19 border restrictions on the ability of spouse visa holders to meet the five-year qualifying period for Indefinite Leave to Remain.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the department considered the impact on people qualifying for settlement and, as a result, concessions were put in place, including where discretion will be exercised regarding the qualifying period for settlement. These are set out in the Family Life guidance: Family life and exceptional circumstances: caseworker guidance - GOV.UK
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, given the forthcoming report of the Cranston Public Inquiry into the tragic loss of 27 lives in the English Channel in November 2021, has she undertaken a review of Channel operations, and the search and rescue capability UK Border Force provides to His Majesty's Coastguard.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
It would be wrong to pre-empt the findings and recommendations of a public inquiry, but it should be noted that considerable improvements had been made in how UK authorities detect and respond to these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary crossing attempts of the Channel, even before the Cranston Inquiry was announced.
The Home Office will study the findings and recommendations of the Inquiry when they are delivered.
Our thoughts remain with the loved ones of those many people who were lost in this appalling tragedy.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many migrants crossing the Channel in small boats present with either pre-existing medical conditions or injuries, or with injuries sustained from the crossing itself.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
These records are not held in a readily retrievable form, and it would only be possible to provide the information being sought at a disproportionate cost.
Migrants who have made dangerous, illegal, and unnecessary crossings of the Channel by small boat do sometimes present with injuries such as petrol burns, or dangerous medical conditions such as hypothermia. Our response to these crossings is reducing the risk to safety of life at sea, and the Home Office has a reception process which includes assessment of all arrivals by suitably qualified medical personnel.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many individuals assessed as posing a national security risk have absconded from immigration control in each of the last five years.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The first priority of Government is protecting our national security and the safety of our people. As a matter of longstanding Government policy, we do not comment on the detail of national security and intelligence matters.
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 immigration cases have been delayed due to legal challenges under the Human Rights Act in the past five years.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of removals of individuals with no legal right to remain in the UK; and what assessment she has made of current capacity for enforced returns.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The government has set out plans to increase returns in the policy paper entitled “Restoring Order and Control: A statement on the government’s asylum and returns policy”, updated on 21 November 2025. This can be viewed on gov.uk at Restoring Order and Control: A statement on the government’s asylum and returns policy (accessible) - GOV.UK
The immigration removal estate is kept under constant review to ensure that the Home Office has sufficient resilience, geographical footprint and capacity for the men and women it is necessary to detain for the purposes of removal, while providing value for money.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of foreign national sex offenders were subject to deportation orders in each year since 2020.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information you have requested is not available from published statistics.
Work is currently underway to improve the quality of information held by the department on foreign national offenders (FNOs). Further information on this work can be found at: Statistics on foreign national offenders and the immigration system - GOV.UK.
We are committed to delivering justice for victims and safer streets for our communities. Foreign nationals who commit serious crimes will face the full force of the law and be deported at the earliest opportunity.
Between 1 November 2024 and 31 October 2025 this government has returned over 5,400 FNOs, a 12 per cent increase on the previous twelve months and we will continue to crack down on any foreign nationals who come to this country and break our laws.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of procuring residential accommodation for asylum seekers in Northern Ireland on (a) the availability of and (b) waiting times for social housing.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Accommodation for people seeking asylum in Northern Ireland is procured by Home Office Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract providers from the private rented sector and does not draw on social housing stock. Northern Ireland is not part of the Full Dispersal arrangements, so only those who claim asylum in Northern Ireland are accommodated there. On that basis, the Department does not assess a direct impact on either the availability of, or waiting times for, social housing.