Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign nationals have had their visas revoked since 2010, broken down by type of grounds for refusal.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office do not currently publish data in relation to decisions to cancel permission to enter or permission to stay. The information requested can’t be obtained without disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of UK asylum and visa policies, in the context of Iranian nationals potentially seeking refuge.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The UK has a proud history of providing protection and we continue to welcome refugees and people in need through our safe and legal routes. However, there is no provision within our Immigration Rules for someone to be allowed to travel to the UK to seek asylum or temporary refuge. Whilst we sympathise with people in many difficult situations around the world, we are not bound to consider asylum claims from the very large numbers of people overseas who might like to come here. Those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach – that is the fastest route to safety.
Our visa policy is kept under review. Iran is a visa national country, and we will assess any visa applications against the relevant immigration rules in the normal way.
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 impact on applications for refugee status in the UK transpires when an applicant's home country refuses to share criminal activity data with UK authorities.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office performs mandatory and case-by-case verification and security checks on individuals applying to enter or remain in the UK. To protect the integrity of the specific identity and security checking processes that are conducted, information about them is not disclosed publicly.
We will deny the benefits of refugee status to those who commit serious crimes and are a danger to the community or those who are a threat to national security. Article 1F of the Refugee Convention and Section 72 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 allow us to exclude individuals from protection status where there are serious reasons to show they have committed a particularly serious crime or pose a danger to the community.
In accordance with our obligations under the Refugee Convention and domestic law, we do not disclose information about an individual’s asylum claim to their home country or seek information in a way that could expose them, or any family who remain in that country, to serious risk.
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, which countries currently refuse to share criminal record data with UK immigration authorities as part of visa or refugee application processes.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office performs mandatory and case-by-case verification and security checks on individuals applying to enter or remain in the UK. To protect the integrity of the specific identity and security checking processes that are conducted, information about them is not disclosed publicly.
We will deny the benefits of refugee status to those who commit serious crimes and are a danger to the community or those who are a threat to national security. Article 1F of the Refugee Convention and Section 72 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 allow us to exclude individuals from protection status where there are serious reasons to show they have committed a particularly serious crime or pose a danger to the community.
In accordance with our obligations under the Refugee Convention and domestic law, we do not disclose information about an individual’s asylum claim to their home country or seek information in a way that could expose them, or any family who remain in that country, to serious risk.
Asked by: Lord Harris of Haringey (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of retrospective settlement changes proposed in their ‘Earned Settlement’ consultation on the UK's national resilience, specifically regarding the retention of cyber security and data science personnel in critical national infrastructure sectors.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The earned settlement model, proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026.
The consultation seeks views on whether there should be transitional arrangements for those already on a pathway to settlement, in order to ease the impact of changes for particular groups or preserve already afforded permissions by the previous system. No transitional arrangements have been decided upon yet.
Details of the earned settlement model, including any transitional arrangements for those already in the UK, will be finalised following that consultation. The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessments, which we have committed to publish in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Featherstone (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how the retrospective application of new settlement rules is consistent with the principles of administrative fairness and legitimate expectation for residents who entered the United Kingdom under the previous statutory framework.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The earned settlement model, proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026.
The consultation seeks views on whether there should be transitional arrangements for those already on a pathway to settlement. Transitional arrangements refer to temporary measures or rules put in place to manage the shift from one system, or policy framework, to another. Details of the earned settlement model, including any transitional arrangements for those already in the UK, will be finalised following that consultation.
The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessments, which we have committed to publish in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 2 January (HL12929), whether they plan to allow asylum seekers who are awaiting a decision after 12 months to apply for any job, including those not contained in the immigration salary list and the shortage occupation list.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Under the current system, permission to work for asylum seekers remains restricted to applying for roles on the Immigration Salary List, to protect the integrity of the asylum system and avoid creating incentives for irregular migration. Asylum seekers can undertake volunteering activities in charitable or public sector organisations, so long as it does not amount to unpaid work.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional resources she plans to provide to ensure the police can meet the expectation set out in the Freedom From Violence and Abuse Strategy for police forces to follow the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We know that more needs to be done to ensure the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme is as effective as it can be for victims and survivors.
We are working closely with the Independent Office for Police and Conduct and National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls and Public Protection to review the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, and better understand the barriers forces face when applying the statutory guidance, including any resourcing implications.
In the VAWG Strategy, we committed to create a clearer, more consistent framework for police and other agencies to improve implementation of the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme. We will also develop and roll out a digital tool, to support the police to make better decisions when disclosing to victims and survivors.
Asked by: Michelle Welsh (Labour - Sherwood Forest)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure police are aware of the potential impact of violence against women and girls has on the number of people missing people.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Violence against women and girls is a national emergency, and we’ve made it our mission to halve it in a decade. We are deploying the full power of the state through our VAWG Strategy, which was published on 18th December 2025.
Every missing person case deserves a swift and thorough response from all safeguarding agencies. We also recognise the link between a person going missing and their vulnerability to violence against women and girls, which is why tackling VAWG remains central to our approach.
The Missing Persons Authorised Professional Practice, established by the College of Policing, provides a comprehensive national framework that police forces in England and Wales must follow in missing person investigations. Within this, the National Crime Agency (NCA) publishes an annual report setting out available data on missing persons.
Missing People Ltd has been in receipt of Home Office funding for its core support services since 2011, including its helpline. This is in recognition of the work of the police as a multiagency safeguarding partner and the role in some missing cases.
Asked by: Michelle Welsh (Labour - Sherwood Forest)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of including missing people in future work to tackle violence against women and girls.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Violence against women and girls is a national emergency, and we’ve made it our mission to halve it in a decade. We are deploying the full power of the state through our VAWG Strategy, which was published on 18th December 2025.
Every missing person case deserves a swift and thorough response from all safeguarding agencies. We also recognise the link between a person going missing and their vulnerability to violence against women and girls, which is why tackling VAWG remains central to our approach.
The Missing Persons Authorised Professional Practice, established by the College of Policing, provides a comprehensive national framework that police forces in England and Wales must follow in missing person investigations. Within this, the National Crime Agency (NCA) publishes an annual report setting out available data on missing persons.
Missing People Ltd has been in receipt of Home Office funding for its core support services since 2011, including its helpline. This is in recognition of the work of the police as a multiagency safeguarding partner and the role in some missing cases.