Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she or officials in her Department have had with the College of Policing on updating hate crime recording protocols.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Hate crime has no place in our society, and the Government is committed to ensuring it is recorded accurately and addressed effectively.
The accuracy and consistency of crime recording, including hate crime, is the responsibility of individual police forces, who must comply with the Home Office Counting Rules. His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) independently inspects, monitors and reports on the efficiency and effectiveness of the police, including crime recording practices. However, HMICFRS does not publish annual compliance reports specifically on hate crime recording.
Home Office statisticians work closely with forces to ensure accurate data is provided for the annual statistical publication on hate crime in England and Wales. The latest release, covering the year ending March 2025, is available on GOV.UK. Hate crime, England and Wales, year ending March 2025 - GOV.UK
The College of Policing sets national guidance and standards for policing, including Authorised Professional Practice on hate crime. The Home Office works closely with the College and other policing partners to review and update recording protocols as needed. This ensures forces have clear, consistent guidance for recording hate crime across all protected characteristics.
The government is carefully considering the 34 recommendations made by the Law Commission in its 2021 review of hate crime legislation; this does not contain any formal recommendation on how police should record hate crimes.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to protect civil liberties in the (a) development and (b) implementation of (i) public order and (ii) policing policy.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
All protest legislation has been and is developed in line with the UK’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, particularly Articles 10 and 11. The government remains committed to protecting civil liberties, including the right to peaceful protest.
It has long been a principle in this country that individuals may gather and express their views, provided they do so within the law. Where protests contravene the law, it is essential that the police who are operationally independent have appropriate powers to respond.
The Home Secretary launched an independent review of public order and hate crime legislation on 5 October led by Lord Macdonald of River Glaven KC. The review will ensure police powers remain fit for purpose, are used consistently, and strike the right balance between protecting the public and upholding the right to lawful protest.
It will address whether the existing legislation is effective and proportionate, whether it adequately protects communities from intimidation and hate and whether it strikes a fair and sustainable balance between the right to freedom of expression and peaceful protest, and the need to prevent disorder and keep communities safe.
The review is underway and will conclude by Spring 2026.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many small boat crossings have taken place in each of the last ten years, including 2025.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes daily statistics on detected small boat arrivals to the UK in the Small boat activity in the English Channel - GOV.UK(opens in a new tab) release.
More detailed published data on small boat arrivals to the UK are provided in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release(opens in a new tab)’, with the nationality, age grouping and sex of arrivals shown in table Irr_D01 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed datasets(opens in a new tab)’, with the latest data up to the end of September 2025.
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, whether she is taking steps to ensure that data on illegal migrants whose whereabouts are unknown can be published in a verified form.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The nature of absconding is complicated because individuals frequently come in and out of contact. Whilst the Home Office has processes for the recording of absconder events, and for seeking to bring such individuals back into contact, the recording of information about absconders is complex and the operational systems involved do not currently support the production of robust statistics on this area.
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 requests, the public resources required to compile the statistics, and importantly the quality and availability of data. The Home Office does not publish data on subjects where the information held is known to be of a quality that would be unsuitable for appropriately supporting public debate.
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 steps she is taking to establish the number of illegal migrants whose whereabouts are unknown.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The nature of absconding is complicated because individuals frequently come in and out of contact. Whilst the Home Office has processes for the recording of absconder events, and for seeking to bring such individuals back into contact, the recording of information about absconders is complex and the operational systems involved do not currently support the production of robust statistics on this area.
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 requests, the public resources required to compile the statistics, and importantly the quality and availability of data. The Home Office does not publish data on subjects where the information held is known to be of a quality that would be unsuitable for appropriately supporting public debate.
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, whether she plans to publish data on the number of migrant absconders in each of the last three years.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The nature of absconding is complicated because individuals frequently come in and out of contact. Whilst the Home Office has processes for the recording of absconder events, and for seeking to bring such individuals back into contact, the recording of information about absconders is complex and the operational systems involved do not currently support the production of robust statistics on this area.
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 requests, the public resources required to compile the statistics, and importantly the quality and availability of data. The Home Office does not publish data on subjects where the information held is known to be of a quality that would be unsuitable for appropriately supporting public debate.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been deprived of their British citizenship in each year since 2020; and how many of those (a) were born British citizens, (b) became stateless as a result, and (c) had their citizenship restored following an appeal.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on the number of citizenship deprivation orders. These reports are available on Gov.UK as part of the HMG Counter-Terrorism Disruptive Powers reports and the Immigration and Protection transparency data
However, the full information requested could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what criteria they use to decide which asylum seekers will be returned to France under the 'one in, one out' scheme.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Regarding returning people to France, any individual who arrives on a small boat may be eligible to be detained and returned to France.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department’s report Scientific procedures on living animals, Great Britain: 2024, published on 23 October 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the increase in procedures involving sheep each year since 2021.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Home Office regulates under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) to assure compliance with the robust protections afforded to animals used in science and to administrate the licensing framework. Licences to test on animals are only granted where applicants comply with the principles of replacement, reduction and refinement. Animals can only be used where there is no non-animal alternative, numbers are minimised, and where the most refined methods of testing are used to minimise harms.
The majority of procedures involving sheep each year are conducted for basic research purposes. The trends in the number of animals and types of procedures carried out each year are influenced by a range of extraneous factors, for example requirements for research and testing which include products being brought to market.
The Government has published the strategy, "Replacing animals in science, a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods". The strategy seeks to accelerate the development and validation of alternatives to animals in science in all but exceptional circumstances The strategy is available here:
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
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 recent changes to the eligibility criteria for Indefinite Leave to Remain on British Nationals (Overseas) students who have resettled in the UK.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government remains steadfast in its support for members of the Hong Kong community in the UK.
BN(O) visa holders will attract a 5-year reduction in the qualifying period for settlement, meaning they will continue to be able to settle in the UK after 5 years’ residence, subject to meeting the mandatory requirements. Individuals on the BN(O) route who are studying in the UK will also qualify for the same reduction.
We are seeking views on earned settlement through the public consultation A Fairer Pathway to Settlement and will continue to listen to the views of Hong Kongers. Details of the earned settlement model will be finalised following that consultation. An impact assessment will be developed alongside the finalised policy.
In the meantime, the current rules for settlement under the BN(O) route will continue to apply.