Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many applications for political asylum and protection status have been made in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Information regarding basis of claim is not published and could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
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 estimate her Department has made of the potential number of refugees who will enter the UK on a work and study visa in the next 5 years.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office has not made an estimate of the potential number of refugees who may enter the UK on work or study visas over the next five years.
Student visa applications are rigorously assessed, and any indication of non-genuine intent, such as using the route for purposes other than study, will lead to refusal.
While anyone in the UK has the right to claim asylum, asylum and human rights claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum claims (a) approved and (b) rejected since July 2024 involved face-to-face interviews.
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: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum claims (a) approved and (b) rejected since July 2024 involved interviews over video calls.
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: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will place a moratorium on the granting of exhumation licences for former asylum cemeteries, including Horton Cemetery, until a review of historic and cultural importance has been undertaken.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government recognises the sensitivities surrounding burial grounds linked to former psychiatric institutions, including Horton Cemetery, and is committed to upholding the dignity of these sites and the memory of those interred within them.
All applications for exhumation are assessed individually and require consents from next of kin, the owner of any related exclusive right of burial and the burial authority to ensure that respect for the deceased person is balanced with a legitimate request from the family or burial authority. A general ban would remove this balance and prevent valid cases from being considered. All applications undergo rigorous scrutiny, and disturbing remains without authority is a criminal offence.
The Law Commission is currently reviewing burial legislation, including the legal provision for exhumation, as part of its Burial, Cremation and New Funerary Methods project (Burial, cremation, and new funerary methods – Law Commission). Its report on this issue is expected to be published in early 2026, and the Government will respond in due course.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to the Home Office policy paper, Restoring Order and Control: A statement on the government’s asylum and returns policy, published on 17 November, what assessment they have made of the cost to the (1) Home Office, and (2) legal aid budget, of reassessing refugee applications every 30 months over a 20-year period.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government’s Asylum Policy Statement outlines the current challenges, the Government’s objectives, and a comprehensive package of measures to restore order, control, fairness and public confidence in the UK’s system. Specific Impact Assessments will be undertaken as policies are developed more fully. These will be kept under review to ensure that there are no unintended impacts on people with protected characteristics.
Further details on asylum reform, including support and contributions, will also be announced in due course.
The Asylum and Returns Policy Statement sets out the intention that we will review protection status for people who do not switch out of Core Protection. This is part of the wider package that seeks to incentivise people to switch (alongside the ability to earn down the time to settlement, and sponsor family members).
We cannot predict with any certainty what proportion of people will switch, although the system will be designed to ensure that switching is a viable option for the majority of people.
For those who do remain on Core Protection, reviews will be conducted on a targeted basis so that we can make the most efficient use of resources. The renewal stage will generally involve a simple security check, and we will set business rules to identify cases that warrant a manual intervention.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to prevent immigration rules abuse where people on tourist visas claim asylum.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
All visitors must be able to demonstrate that they are genuine and will leave the UK at the end of their visit. The Visitor route is not intended to facilitate individuals travelling to the UK with the intention of claiming asylum. Visitor visa applications are rigorously assessed against the Immigration Rules.
We are committed to further strengthening the integrity of visa decision making by continuing to apply greater scrutiny to those where there is evidence to demonstrate a greater risk of an asylum claim once in the UK — ensuring that visas are only issued to genuine visitors.
This government has also taken decisive action to address instances of individuals using visa-free travel to reach the UK and claim asylum. As a result, we have introduced visa requirements for Jordan, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Botswana. Where we have data available (the requirement for Botswana was only introduced on 14 October 2025) this action has been extremely effective: asylum seekers from Jordan, Colombia and Trinidad and Tobago have fallen by 93% and asylum seekers at port have fallen by 99% from their peak prior to the introduction of a visa requirement compared to Q3 2025.
Where countries are not cooperating on the return of their nationals who have no right to be in the UK, including failed asylum seekers, we will not hesitate to use the visa system (particularly visit visas) to bring about better cooperation. As announced on 17 November, we have told Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Namibia that if they do not comply with international rules and norms, we will impose visa penalties on them.
Unless other countries heed this lesson, further sanctions will follow.
Any asylum claim that is then subsequently lodged from within the UK and admitted to the UK asylum system, is given full and careful consideration. Our approach is to promptly consider asylum claims, with a rapid appeals process, so that claims from genuine asylum seekers can be accepted, and those that are not, can be rejected.
The Government’s recently published Asylum Policy Statement sets out significant reforms to the UK’s asylum and illegal migration system. The Statement outlines the current challenges, the Government’s objectives, and a comprehensive package of measures to restore order, control, fairness and public confidence in the system.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of those who have claimed asylum in the UK since 2021 have been permitted to bring immediate family members to reside in the UK, and what percentage of those granted such permission have been required to meet the minimum income requirement that applies to British citizens.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Whilst the data specifically requested is not recorded in a reportable format, the Home Office does publish data on the number of people who have claimed asylum in the UK and the number of people granted asylum in the UK - Immigration system statistics, year ending September 2025 - GOV.UK.
In addition, the Home Office publishes data on the number of people who arrived under the Refugee Family Reunion route - How many people come to the UK via safe and legal (humanitarian) routes? - GOV.UK.
The Refugee Family Reunion Route was available to those granted protection status in the UK, until 4 September 2025, when the Government introduced a temporary suspension for all new applications, as we undertake a full review and reform of the current family rules to ensure we have a fair and properly balanced system.
Under the Refugee Family Reunion route, applicants did not have to meet the minimum income requirement. Following the publication of the the Government’s asylum and returns policy statement last month, we intend to change the Refugee Family Reunion and end the automatic right for refugees to bring their immediate family to the UK.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her department has considered the use of AI to help tackle the backlog of asylum applications.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Asylum Case Summarisation (ACS) tool uses artificial intelligence (AI) to summarise asylum interview transcripts. The Asylum Policy Search (APS) tool is an AI search assistant that finds and summarises country policy information. The tools were designed as an aid for decision-makers to improve efficiency but do not, and cannot, replace any part of the decision-making process. APS has been rolled out and is accessible to all Asylum decision makers and ACS development continues, with a full roll out planned in the new year. Further tooling is being worked on including an asylum letter writing assistant for caseworkers which supports the decision-maker in the drafting of outcome letters. It does not make the decision for the decision-maker.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many applications for political asylum have been made in Northern Ireland in each of the past eight quarters; and what are the ten countries from which the most applications have been received.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Information regarding basis of claim is not published and could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.