Asked by: Patrick Spencer (Independent - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate has been made of the economic impact of housing (a) refugees and (b) asylum seekers in Ipswich.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office works closely with local authorities and takes into account the pressures associated with providing asylum accommodation. We continue to engage with local authorities to manage these impacts, including on their wider statutory responsibilities and local plans.
To support this work, the Home Office administers a range of grants to help local authorities meet the costs of accommodating asylum seekers.
Costs associated with asylum accommodation and support are reported at a national level in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ho-annual-reports-and-accounts.
Asked by: Baroness Smith of Llanfaes (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the cross-departmental ministerial group will next meet to discuss the violence against women and girls strategy action plan; and how that group plans to report its work to Parliament.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Ministerial Board met on Tuesday 27th January and will continue to meet regularly.
Home Office Ministers look forward to engaging with Parliament on the working of the government in implementing our Strategy ‘Freedom from Violence and Abuse’, our supporting Action Plan, and our ambition to halve VAWG within a decade. This will include annual progress reports which will be published.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff were employed in Border Force in each of the last five years.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The latest published staffing and finance figures for Border Force can be found in the Home Office Annual Report for 2020-2025 at:
HO annual report and accounts 2020-25 (Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK)
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department spent on (a) legal advice and (b) other support services for migrants who arrived in the UK illegally who are in accommodation by contract in 2025.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold the requested data on the provision of legal advice. Asylum seekers may be eligible for legal aid, which is administered by the Legal Aid Agency in the Ministry of Justice.
Regarding other services, the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract (AASC) Statement of Requirements provides a detailed breakdown of all services that accommodation providers must deliver, along with the standards expected of them. The full document is available here:
The Home Office publishes information on asylum expenditure, including services such as AASC and AIRE, within its Annual Report and Accounts. These can be found on GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ho-annual-reports-and-accounts
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the commitment in the Replacing Animals in Science Strategy, published in November 2025, to "accelerate uptake in alternative methods through reform of animals in science regulation", and reports of non-compliance described in the Animals in Science Regulation Unit Annual Report 2024, published in December 2025, whether they plan to undertake a wider review of the adequacy of regulation in this area; what steps they will be taking to prevent non-compliance; and whether they plan to review the wider performance of the Animals in Science Regulation Unit, including its use of sanctions in response to non-compliance.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government remains fully committed to continuous improvement in the regulation of the use of animals in science, and to strengthening the UK’s position as a global leader in science and innovation. As part of this, the Home Office is in the final stages of delivering a comprehensive programme of regulatory reform to further strengthen the Animals in Science Regulation Unit (ASRU), ensuring confidence in the regulatory system and maintaining robust compliance with the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA).
As part of the reform programme, the number of inspectors will increase from 14.5 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions at the end of 2017 to 22 FTE positions by March 2026.
All licensed establishments must fully uphold the standards for animal welfare set out in ASPA and in the Code of Practice for the Housing and Care of Animals Bred, Supplied or Used for Scientific Purposes. ASRU conducts regular audits to assure compliance and takes any instance of non-compliance extremely seriously.
ASRU’s published Compliance Policy (www.gov.uk/guidance/animal-testing-and-research-compliance-with-aspa) sets out how the regulator identifies, investigates and responds to potential incidents of non‑compliance, and how it applies appropriate and proportionate measures and sanctions where breaches are found. Through the delivery of this policy, the regulator aims to minimise the risk of future non‑compliance.
The Government’s strategy Replacing Animals in Science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods sets out a long-term vision to accelerate the development and use of nonanimal approaches. The Home Office will continue to apply ASPA’s rigorous licensing framework, ensuring that animals are only used where no validated non-animal alternative exists.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department will be taking to prevent establishments licensed under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 from keeping animals in sub-standard facilities.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
All licenced establishments must meet the minimum required standards for care and accommodation, as set out in the Code of Practice for the Housing and Care of Animals Bred, Supplied or Used for Scientific Purposes (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/code-of-practice-for-the-housing-and-care-of-animals-bred-supplied-or-used-for-scientific-purposes).
The Home Office Regulator conducts both announced and unannounced audits to assure establishments’ compliance with the required standards in the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, the Code of Practice and their individual licence conditions.
In confirmed cases of non-compliance, the Regulator applies remedies aimed at minimising the risk of future recurrence, in line with its compliance policy (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/animal-testing-and-research-compliance-with-aspa). The Regulator will continue to publish all cases of non-compliance in its Annual Reports, where it considers root causes of and key learnings from non-compliance and makes recommendations to reduce future risk. (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-regulation-unit-annual-reports).
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 average cost to the public purse of deportations in each year since 2020.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information you have requested about the average cost of deportations of foreign national offenders (FNOs) is not available from published statistics, as we do not publish these costs.
The Home Office publishes all available information on expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and accounts, which can be found here: Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK.
Over 7,000 FNOs have been returned from the UK under this government, and we will continue to do everything we can to remove these vile criminals from our streets.
Foreign nationals who commit crime should be in no doubt that the law will be enforced and, where appropriate, we will pursue their deportation.
The Home Office makes no apology for the fact that its priority will always be to keep our communities safe. As such, we are fully committed to making our communities safer by deporting foreign nationals who break our laws.
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 assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of training provided to police officers on identifying and recording incidents involving gender identity and sex characteristics.
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: 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: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what consideration the Home Office has given to mandating annual publication of police force level data on hate crime recording compliance.
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.