Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been arrested for being a supporter of (a) the Maniacs Murder Cult and (b) the Russian Imperial Movement in the latest reported quarter, July to September 2025.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Data on arrests, charges and convictions for the proscription offences in sections 11 to 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000 can be found in the quarterly Home Office publication ‘Operation of Police Powers under the Terrorism Act 2000’. The most recent publication up to year ending September 2025, was published on 18 December 2025. This can be accessed on GOV.UK in the following link: Operation of police powers under TACT 2000, to September 2025 - GOV.UK
Data is not published on the specific proscribed organisation that the arrest, charge or conviction relates to, with the exception of Palestine Action. Since the proscription of Palestine Action on 5 July 2025, arrests linked to supporting this group have materially altered the volume and demographic makeup of terrorism-related arrests. To preserve the clarity and time-series compatibility, arrests and charges relating to supporting Palestine Action are shown separately, while still being included in the overall total of all arrests in the publication. The separation does not imply that this cohort has been treated differently to other arrests and charges.
The investigation and prosecution of criminal offences, including determining whether an offence has been committed or not, is a matter for the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) who are operationally independent.
The Government is absolutely clear that support for proscribed organisations is unacceptable. Anyone expressing support for a proscribed organisation should expect to be investigated by the police.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her department has assessed the potential impact of beach-based police interventions in northern France on recent trends in levels of deaths in the Channel; and what measures she is implementing to help minimise potential risks from such interventions.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Our ongoing partnership with French law enforcement prevented over 22,000 crossing attempts during 2025. We are working closely with the French to reduce the risk to life from these crossings and with partners across Europe to bring the smuggling gangs to justice. We will continue our work with the French Government to explore every avenue to understand what further can be done in the Channel to disrupt and deter small boat crossings.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what percentage of asylum seekers received initial decisions in quarter 4 of 2025 (October to December) compared to quarter 2 2024 (April to June).
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on initial decisions of asylum claims is published in table Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum claims and initial decisions datasets’. The latest data relates to the year ending September 2025.
Data for the year ending December 2025, which will include Quarter 4 of 2025, will be published on 26 February 2026.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
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 UK-funded French police operations on the safety and wellbeing of people attempting to seek asylum; and what steps she is taking to ensure accountability for violence committed by officers funded by the UK.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
It would be inappropriate for the Home Office to comment upon the composition or duties of French law enforcement units. It is important to emphasise that French law enforcement units necessarily operate independently of UK law enforcement, though there is regular liaison, information exchange, and alignment of operational approaches between the two countries.
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 attempted re-entries are successfully detected under the reciprocal agreement with France.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Two individuals who had previously been returned from the UK to France under the reciprocal exchange agreement attempted to re-enter. They were detected, detained, and their cases expedited for return. We are not aware of any other attempts to re-enter the UK from those returned to France under the scheme.
We continue to work closely with our French counterparts to ensure that those who are returned under the agreement do not re-enter the UK illegally.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2025, to Question 94192, on Holiday Accommodation: Taxation, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of applying the levy to asylum seekers in hotels on costs to the public purse.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide support to destitute asylum seekers and as such these are not discretionary overnight stays.
The Government’s position remains that the use of hotels to accommodate asylum seekers is undesirable and unsustainable. Work is underway to expand the dispersal estate and develop alternative accommodation models to better deliver value for money and reduce impact on communities.
To support local authorities, the Home Office provides significant grant funding to manage the pressures associated with asylum accommodation. This includes the Asylum Grant 395 which is designed to offset costs for councils and support local services impacted by the use of hotels and other accommodation. Under this grant local authorities received an initial payment of £1,200 per bedspace occupied on 30 March 2025; with £100 per month for each additional occupied bedspace between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026.
Additional grant funding is available for the support of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and care leavers. These grants form part of a wider package of measures to ensure that local authorities are not disproportionately burdened by the statutory asylum support system.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of (a) trends in the level of violence asylum seekers face at the UK-France border and (b) the potential impact of UK policy on those trends.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Violence against French law enforcement is unacceptable. Whilst the French law enforcement response to that violent conduct has to be a matter for the French authorities, we continue to support their operations to prevent small boat crossings.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of UK–France border agreements in the context of trends in the number of (a) fatalities and (b) reports of violence at the border; and whether any changes are planned.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Violence against French law enforcement is unacceptable. Whilst the French law enforcement response to that violent conduct has to be a matter for the French authorities, we continue to support their operations to prevent small boat crossings.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether data is collected on non-fatal injuries linked to border enforcement activity at the UK–France border.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Violence against French law enforcement is unacceptable. Whilst the French law enforcement response to that violent conduct has to be a matter for the French authorities, we continue to support their operations to prevent small boat crossings.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 22 December 2025 to Question 99417 on Undocumented Migrants, what steps she is taking to strengthen (a) statutory and (b) operational powers to (i) relocate and (ii) detain illegal migrants.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
In our Restoring Order and Control statement, we set out a series of measures designed to increase the rate of removal of illegal migrants from the UK, focusing on five areas. First, scaling up removals of those whose claims have failed. Second, imposing sanctions on countries that refuse to take their citizens back. Third, reforming our appeals system. Fourth, pursuing legal reform, both nationally and internationally. Finally, tackling other barriers that are used today to block removals.
Immigration detention plays a key role in maintaining effective immigration controls and securing the UK’s borders. We have made significant reforms to detention over the past few years in line with external reports and recommendations including strengthening our powers to detain individuals who arrive unlawfully through the Border, Security and Asylum Act 2025, enabling detention from the point an individual is notified they are liable for removal. We also expanded the detention estate with the opening of IRC Campsfield in December 2025.