Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her department holds an estimate of the number of criminals in the UK that arrived in the country by irregular means.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information you have requested regarding the number of foreign criminals in the UK who arrived by irregular means is not available from published statistics.
However, 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 latest published information shows that in the year-ending October 2025, 5,430 foreign national offenders (FNOs) were returned, which is an increase of 12% compared to the number of FNO returns in the same period 12 months prior.
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the average cost of deportations of foreign national offenders (FNOs) is not available from published statistics, as we do not publish these costs.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: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the principal barriers have been to the deportation of foreign nationals convicted of sexual offences since 2024; and what steps her Department is taking to help tackle those barriers.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office deals with significant and complex challenges when seeking to return those who have no right to be in the UK to their country of origin. Sometimes the UK’s current obligations under international law prohibit us from returning certain individuals despite their criminality. Legal or re-documentation barriers can frustrate immediate deportation. Despite these barriers, we are fully committed to making our communities safer by deporting those who break our laws.
To address these challenges, this government is committed to reforming the appeals process by creating a new appeals body with professionally trained adjudicators. We will also strengthen the certification regime to deny appeal rights for clearly unmeritorious claims. Furthermore, the number of countries that foreign national offenders can be deported to before they can lodge an appeal from abroad has also been increased.
We are also working to reform Human Rights and Modern Slavery claims. In these areas we will rebalance the public interest test for Article 8 claims and work with our international partners to reform the application of the ECHR’s prohibition on inhuman or degrading treatment. With the Modern Slavery reforms legislation will be brought forward to clarify our responsibilities under international law, the removal of reconsideration for negative decisions, enhanced screening for individuals detained for removal, and a stronger link between timely disclosure and credibility of a claim.
Finally, under new measures introduced by the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025, sexual offences which give rise to the notification requirement in Schedule 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 will be assumed to be ‘particularly serious’ for the purpose of applying Article 33(2) of the Refugee Convention, thereby allowing the UK to exclude those individuals from being granted asylum protections in the UK.
Where removal is still not possible due to our ECHR obligations, the provision will ensure that such individuals are not afforded the generous benefits of protection status in the UK.
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, how many foreign nationals convicted of sexual offences have been removed under the Early Removal Scheme in each year since 2020.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested regarding foreign national offenders (FNOs) convicted of sexual offences removed under the Early Removal Scheme (ERS) is not available from published statistics.
The Home Office has published figures on FNOs removed under the ERS, from 2010 Q1 up until 2022 Q2, which can be found within ‘FNO_09’, here: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK.
The Home Office also recently published figures on FNOs removed under the ERS, from 01 March 2023 up to 31 October 2025, which can be found here: Returns from the UK from 1 March 2023 to 31 October 2025 - GOV.UK
Data on FNOs removed under ERS between July 2022 and February 2023 is not currently available from published statistics, but work is currently underway to publish more detailed information on FNOs subject to deportation. Further information on this work can be found at: Statistics on foreign national offenders and the immigration system - GOV.UK.
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: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many foreign national offenders have been deported in each month since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
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.
There is no monthly breakdown available from published statistics.
The Home Office publishes data on FNO returns in the quarterly Immigration System Statistics release. Quarterly data on enforced, voluntary and port FNO returns (of which ‘deportations’ are a legal subset) are published in table ‘Ret_D03’ of the returns detailed datasets accompanying the release.
The Home Office also recently published figures on FNO returns (which include both enforced and voluntary returns) between 1 March 2023 and 31 October 2025, which can be found here: Returns from the UK from 1 March 2023 to 31 October 2025 - GOV.UK.
Work is currently underway to publish more detailed information on FNOs subject to deportation. Further information on this work can be found at: Statistics on foreign national offenders and the immigration system - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Baroness Buscombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 25 November (HL11797), what steps they take to ensure that those living in the vicinity of a prison are notified in the event that a foreign national offender is released without being deported immediately.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
There is no mechanism to notify the public living in the vicinity of a prison if a Foreign National Offender (FNO) is released.
When a FNO is released into the community, they are subject to supervision and monitoring by the probation service in the same way British citizens released from prison would be. The Home Office will pursue removal of FNOs whether in prison or the community where a deportation order has been made.
The HMPPS Victim Contact Scheme provides a service for the victims of offenders who are convicted of a specified violent, sexual or terrorism offence and are sentenced to twelve months or more imprisonment. Victims who decide to receive the service are allocated a Victim Liaison Officer who will keep the victim updated on key stages throughout the sentence, including when the offender (whether FNO or not) is released.
In the year-ending October 2025, over 5,400 FNOs have been returned which is 12% higher than the 12 months prior.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what evidential basis the Minister of State for Immigration said on 3 September 2025 that her Department does not hold any central record of the requested information on foreign nationals who have absconded after being served with a deportation order.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested on the number of foreign national offenders (including the previous request under UIN 74872) and irregular migrants who are classified as absconders is not currently available from published statistics. Nor is the breakdown of those figures by risk category, criminal history and nationality.
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 needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.
Whilst local management information is held on absconder numbers and updated in line with operational need, this is used only for local management purposes. This data has not been verified or checked for accuracy to a standard that would make it suitable for publication, or to be provided to Members of Parliament. Obtaining the detailed information that has been requested would involve collating and verifying information from multiple Home Office systems and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
With regard to the question about foreign national offenders who have been either re-apprehended or deported, such individuals in these circumstances would no longer be classified as absconders on Home Office systems. Similarly, irregular migrants in the total absconder pool who have been located or removed from the UK would no longer be classified as absconders.
With regard to the assessment of the potential public safety risk posed by foreign national offenders and irregular migrants recorded in the total absconder pool, joint working between Immigration Enforcement (IE), National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and the National Crime Agency (NCA) helps tackle threats posed by high-harm foreign national offenders within the community. This initiative is not directly linked to individuals who have absconded.
This initiative has developed a harm score threat assessment to ensure that multiagency efforts are able to utilise a risk-based prioritisation approach. The release of the methods utilised to calculate these risks would prejudice ongoing operational activity and is therefore not considered to be in the public interest to disclose this methodology.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 12 September 2025 to Question 74872 on Deportation, whether this remains the case.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested on the number of foreign national offenders (including the previous request under UIN 74872) and irregular migrants who are classified as absconders is not currently available from published statistics. Nor is the breakdown of those figures by risk category, criminal history and nationality.
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 needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.
Whilst local management information is held on absconder numbers and updated in line with operational need, this is used only for local management purposes. This data has not been verified or checked for accuracy to a standard that would make it suitable for publication, or to be provided to Members of Parliament. Obtaining the detailed information that has been requested would involve collating and verifying information from multiple Home Office systems and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
With regard to the question about foreign national offenders who have been either re-apprehended or deported, such individuals in these circumstances would no longer be classified as absconders on Home Office systems. Similarly, irregular migrants in the total absconder pool who have been located or removed from the UK would no longer be classified as absconders.
With regard to the assessment of the potential public safety risk posed by foreign national offenders and irregular migrants recorded in the total absconder pool, joint working between Immigration Enforcement (IE), National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and the National Crime Agency (NCA) helps tackle threats posed by high-harm foreign national offenders within the community. This initiative is not directly linked to individuals who have absconded.
This initiative has developed a harm score threat assessment to ensure that multiagency efforts are able to utilise a risk-based prioritisation approach. The release of the methods utilised to calculate these risks would prejudice ongoing operational activity and is therefore not considered to be in the public interest to disclose this methodology.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the provisions of the Sentencing Bill which relate to the removal of foreign criminals from the United Kingdom are compatible with Article 2 of the Windsor Framework.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
We have carried out an assessment of the compatibility of the provisions in the Sentencing Bill which relate to the removal of foreign criminals from the UK with Article 2 of the Windsor Framework.
The Government is currently appealing the scope and operation of Article 2 of the Windsor Framework before the higher Courts.
However, it is the Government’s view that the provisions are compatible with Article 2.