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 her Department publishing an open opportunity contract on 6 January 2026 entitled Home Office Returns Reintegration Programme (HORRP) - Phase 3 - 2026 – 2028, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of this scheme on the future number of illegal migrants coming to the UK from (a) Algeria and (b) Sri Lanka.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Since 2021, the UK has seen record numbers of people arriving illegally and claiming asylum, with increasing pressure on public services and accommodation – this scheme is designed to improve returns cooperation with these countries, support those being returned to their country of origin, and ultimately remove more people.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations they have made to the government of Algeria regarding restrictions on the freedom of worship of the Ahmadiyya Muslims.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 29 October 2025 in response to Question 83261.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what information her Department holds on whether the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia plans to declare independence from Algeria on 14 December 2025.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We were aware of the intention of the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia to make a declaration of independence on 14 December, which they have since done. I refer the Hon. Member to the responses I provided in February regarding the situation in Kabylia and confirm that we continue to monitor developments closely.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with the Algerian Government concerning Mohamed Tadjadit.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to the promotion and protection of human rights worldwide, including in Algeria, and consistently urges all states to uphold international law and international human rights standards. Our Embassy in Algiers remains in regular contact with the Algerian authorities to promote the importance of upholding human rights, and we continue to monitor the situation closely.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many returns agreements her Department have made to enable the return of foreign nationals in the last 12 months.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The UK has signed returns related agreements with Vietnam, Algeria, Iraq, Moldova and France in the last 12 months.
This Government is committed to maintaining and improving returns cooperation with all countries to which we are seeking to remove those with no legal basis to remain in the UK.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had with the government of Algeria about the use of (1) anti-proselytism, and (2) blasphemy, laws to target Christian communities; and what steps they are taking to promote religious freedom in that country.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer provided on 28th July to Question HL9457.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs what recent discussions she has had with international partners on the (a) (i) targeting and (ii) arrests of religious minorities and (b) forced closures of places of worship in Algeria.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK champions Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all. On 21 October, I met Foreign Minister Attaf and emphasised the importance of promoting FoRB and interfaith dialogue, and offered the UK's support in that effort. Our Embassy in Algiers also remains in regular contact with religious groups on how best to support FoRB. We continue to monitor the situation closely and advocate for freedom of expression for religious minority communities in Algeria.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she had with her Algerian counterpart on (a) religious freedoms and (b) the religious freedoms of the Ahmadiyya community in that country.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK champions Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all. Our Embassy in Algiers raises FoRB with the Algerian authorities, doing so most recently when our Ambassador met the Minister of Religious Affairs on 10 February. Our Embassy remains in regular contact with minority religious groups on how best to support FoRB. We will continue to raise the issue and advocate for freedom of expression for religious minority communities in Algeria.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the Arab Parliament’s defence of Algeria’s religious freedom record, what assessment they have made of restrictions on religious freedom faced by Christian communities in Algeria.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK champions Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all. It is our firm opinion that no one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe. Our Embassy in Algiers raises FoRB with the Algerian authorities, doing so most recently when our Ambassador met the Minister of Religious Affairs on 10 February. Our Embassy remains in regular contact with minority religious groups on how best to support FoRB. We will continue to raise the issue and advocate for freedom of expression, including for Christian communities in Algeria.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice has a statutory duty to provide Language Services to enable access to justice for users for whom English is not their first language and those who require visual and tactile services, under the provision of the Equality Act.
Language Service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers while maintaining high standards of service delivery.
In FY 23/24 the total contracted spend was £915,037.52.
In FY 24/25 the total contracted spend was £1,003,283.32.
In FY 25/26 so far, the total contracted spend is £256,707.82.
The languages in this data exclude written translations into English, Welsh and Braille.
The languages translated into from English (United Kingdom) are:
Albanian (Albania)
Amharic (Ethiopia)
Arabic (Classical)
Arabic (Egypt)
Arabic (Modern Standard) Middle Eastern
Arabic (Modern Standard) North African
Arabic (Morocco)
Armenian (Armenia)
Bangla (Bangladesh)
Bosnian (Latin, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Bulgarian (Bulgaria)
Burmese
Burmese (Myanmar)
Catalan (Catalan)
Chinese (Simplified)
Chinese (Traditional)
Croatian (Latin, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Czech (Czech Republic)
Danish (Denmark)
Dari (Afghanistan)
Dutch (Netherlands)
Estonian (Estonia)
Filipino (Philippines)
Finnish (Finland)
French (Belgium)
French (France)
Georgian (Georgia)
German (Austria)
German (Germany)
Greek (Greece)
Gujarati (India)
Hebrew (Israel)
Hindi (India)
Hungarian (Hungary)
Icelandic (Iceland)
Indonesian (Indonesia)
Italian (Italy)
Japanese (Japan)
Kinyarwanda (Rwanda)
Kiswahili (Kenya)
Korean (Korea)
Kurdish (Bahdini)
Kurdish (Sorani)
Latvian (Latvia)
Lingala (Congo DRC)
Lithuanian (Lithuania)
Macedonian (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia)
Malay (Malaysia)
Malayalam (India)
Maltese (Malta)
Mirpuri (Central Asia)
Mongolian (Cyrillic, Mongolia)
Nepali (Nepal)
Norwegian, Bokmål (Norway)
Norwegian, Nynorsk (Norway)
Oromo (Ethiopia)
PahariPotwari (Central Asia)
Pashto (Afghanistan)
Persian (Afghanistan)
Persian (Iran)
Polish (Poland)
Portuguese (Brazil)
Portuguese (Portugal)
Punjabi (India)
Punjabi (Pakistan)
Romanian (Romania)
Romany (Europe)
Russian (Russia)
Serbian (Cyrillic, Serbia)
Serbian (Latin, Serbia)
Shona (Latin, Zimbabwe)
Sinhala (Sri Lanka)
Slovak (Slovakia)
Slovenian (Slovenia)
Somali (Somalia)
Spanish (Argentina)
Spanish (Latin America)
Spanish (Mexico)
Spanish (Spain)
Swedish (Sweden)
Tajik (Cyrillic, Tajikistan)
Tamazight (Latin, Algeria)
Tamil (India)
Tetum (Timor)
Thai (Thailand)
Tigrinya (Eritrea)
Turkish (Turkey)
Ukranian (Ukraine)
Urdu (Islamic Republic of Pakistan)
Uzbek (Latin, Uzbekistan)
Vietnamese (Vietnam)
Wolof (Senegal)
Yoruba (Nigeria)
The Languages translated into from English (United States) are:
Arabic (Egypt)
Hungarian (Hungary)
Polish (Poland)
Romanian (Romania)