Asked by: Tracy Gilbert (Labour - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Israeli government’s decision to suspend 37 aid groups on the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the statement I made on 5 January.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking with international partners to help ensure that all aid crossings into Gaza are fully operational.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 11 December to Question 91356.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with Israeli counterparts to support the unrestricted operation of international NGOs in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 11 December to Question 91356.
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many foreign nationals have been granted social housing in each of the last five years.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department’s annual Social Housing Lettings in England statistical series includes data on the number of the new social housing lettings in England each year to households by the self-reported nationality of the lead tenant. It can be found on gov.uk here.
Data from 2006/07 to 2024/25 can be found in table 3e in the Social Housing Lettings in England, tenants summary tables: April 2024 to March 2025, which can be found here.
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 foreign national sex offenders were subject to deportation orders in each year since 2020.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information you have requested is not available from published statistics.
Work is currently underway to improve the quality of information held by the department on foreign national offenders (FNOs). Further information on this work can be found at: Statistics on foreign national offenders and the immigration system - GOV.UK.
We are committed to delivering justice for victims and safer streets for our communities. Foreign nationals who commit serious crimes will face the full force of the law and be deported at the earliest opportunity.
Between 1 November 2024 and 31 October 2025 this government has returned over 5,400 FNOs, a 12 per cent increase on the previous twelve months and we will continue to crack down on any foreign nationals who come to this country and break our laws.
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 information her Department holds on the number of visa applicants whose applications were denied due to criminal records relating to sex offences since 2020.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We take the issue of preventing foreign criminals entering the UK extremely seriously, and we continue to strengthen our borders so that we can prevent crime and protect the public, delivering on this Government’s commitment to tackle foreign criminality. For example, those required to obtain a visa to enter the UK are checked against a range of police, security and immigration databases for details of any UK or overseas criminal record. All applicants are required to provide details of their criminal history. Where it is found that they failed to declare relevant offences/convictions, their application will be refused and they will be subject to a ten-year ban from applying to enter the UK.
We do not hold information on the specific offences relating to refused applications.
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 checks are carried out during visa applications to identify previous sexual offence convictions overseas.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We take the issue of preventing foreign criminals entering the UK extremely seriously, and we continue to strengthen our borders so that we can prevent crime and protect the public, delivering on this Government’s commitment to tackle foreign criminality. For example, those required to obtain a visa to enter the UK are checked against a range of police, security and immigration databases for details of any UK or overseas criminal record. All applicants are required to provide details of their criminal history. Where it is found that they failed to declare relevant offences/convictions, their application will be refused and they will be subject to a ten-year ban from applying to enter the UK.
We do not hold information on the specific offences relating to refused applications.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the overall cost of removing the two-child benefit cap, and (2) what percentage of that cost will be spent on foreign-born children.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/OBR_Economic_and_fiscal_outlook_November_2025.pdf
Table 3.2: Costing of the removal of the two-child limit
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| £ billion (unless otherwise stated) | ||||
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| Forecast | ||||
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| 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 | 2029-30 | 2030-31 |
Post-behavioural costing |
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| 2.3 | 2.5 | 2.7 | 3.0 | 3.1 | ||
of which: |
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Static costing |
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| 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 2.7 | 2.8 | |
Direct behavioural response from higher take-up | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | ||||
Number of families gaining (thousand) |
| 510 | 520 | 540 | 560 | 570 | |||
Average annual change in award for gaining |
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families (£) |
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| 4,530 | 4,790 | 5,040 | 5,310 | 5,450 | |
We have announced plans to double the standard time most migrants have to wait before they can access benefits to 10 years, reducing the burden on the taxpayer and making sure settlement rights are earned.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much Western Mackerel has been (a) caught, (b) landed in UK ports and (c) landed in ports outside the UK; and what is the estimated first hand sale value.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It is not possible to separate landings of Western mackerel from total mackerel landings in the UK Sea Fisheries statistics published by the Marine Management Organisation.
In 2024, the last full year of landings data available, quota for Western mackerel accounted for 99% of the UK’s total mackerel quota and (a) UK vessels landed 233,586t of mackerel, (b) 127,967t of mackerel was landed into UK ports by UK and foreign vessels and (c) UK vessels landed 111,061t into non-UK ports. The first-hand sale value for mackerel landed by UK vessels was £1,468 per tonne in 2024. Mackerel prices have increased in 2025 – provisional figures suggest in November this year the sale value is £2,076 per tonne.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues, Football authorities and the Football Association on the potential visa requirements of the US government to provide information about their social media activity in the last 5 years for people travelling to watch the world cup.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is working across Government and with sporting bodies to support UK fans travelling to matches for the FIFA World Cup in 2026. The FCDO is in contact with US authorities to ensure we have the latest information on immigration rules, and we encourage those travelling to the US to consult our USA (https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/usa/entry-requirements) and World Cup (https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/usa/world-cup-2026) travel advice pages before making travel arrangements.