Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to her written statement of 2 March 2026 on Asylum changes, by what date her department intends to have operationalised a Named Community Sponsorship scheme for refugee resettlement.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
In the Restoring Order and Control policy statement, the Government committed to transforming its approach to safe and legal routes. This included the creation of a named sponsorship scheme to enable community groups to sponsor refugees and displaced persons.
Work is underway to deliver the named community sponsorship route.
Further details, including timeframes for the launch of the route and the volume of beneficiaries, will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to reopen resettlement programmes, humanitarian visas or family reunion.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The UK continues to welcome refugees and people in need through our global resettlement schemes, which include the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), Community Sponsorship and the Mandate Resettlement Scheme.
We are developing new capped sponsored refugee pathways across education, labour and community routes. This will ensure that there are routes available to support individuals in need of protection, but in a way that meets the need of UK communities.
During the suspension of Appendix Family Reunion, the Government is taking forward wider asylum and family reforms to place the system on a fairer, more controlled and sustainable footing. Further information on forthcoming changes will be set out in due course. In the meantime, other family routes remain available, including Appendix FM: Family Members, which was amended to allow applications from a partner and dependent children of a sponsor with protection status in the UK.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the new refugee study and work pathway schemes will be open to nationals from Sudan and Afghanistan.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
In the Restoring Order and Control policy statement, the Government committed to transforming its approach to safe and legal routes. This included the creation of a named sponsorship scheme and capped routes for refugee and displaced students to come to the UK to study or for work.
Eligibility requirements for the route, including who will be eligible, have yet to be set. Further details, including eligibility requirements, will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to announce transitional arrangements for people who are awaiting the outcome of an asylum claim submitted before 2 March 2026.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The family reunion route was suspended to ease the pressures that local authorities and public services have been placed under due to the recent significant increase in people arriving under this route in recent years.
Outstanding applications will continue to be considered under the family reunion rules in place prior to the commencement of the suspension, including those that are at appeal.
During the suspension, the Government is taking forward wider asylum and family reforms to place the system on a fairer, controlled and sustainable footing. Further information on forthcoming changes will be set out in due course. In the meantime, other family routes remain available, including Appendix FM.
Those who claimed asylum or made further submissions before 2 March 2026, and who are eligible for protection, will receive 5 years’ permission to stay in accordance with the transitional arrangements included in the Immigration Rules laid on 5 March 2026.
We will encourage refugees to switch out of the Core Protection route wherever possible into a new, bespoke work and study route to access family reunion and settlement rights with new fees and conditions in accordance with the rules of that route.
Refugees granted refugee status or humanitarian protection (as well as those arriving under one of the UK’s resettlement schemes) have immediate access to the labour market and benefits, including employment support from Department for Work and Pensions work coaches. Unemployed refugees are eligible for full funding for English for Speakers of Other Languages learning.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how refugees on the core protection route will be supported to transition on to work and study visas.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The family reunion route was suspended to ease the pressures that local authorities and public services have been placed under due to the recent significant increase in people arriving under this route in recent years.
Outstanding applications will continue to be considered under the family reunion rules in place prior to the commencement of the suspension, including those that are at appeal.
During the suspension, the Government is taking forward wider asylum and family reforms to place the system on a fairer, controlled and sustainable footing. Further information on forthcoming changes will be set out in due course. In the meantime, other family routes remain available, including Appendix FM.
Those who claimed asylum or made further submissions before 2 March 2026, and who are eligible for protection, will receive 5 years’ permission to stay in accordance with the transitional arrangements included in the Immigration Rules laid on 5 March 2026.
We will encourage refugees to switch out of the Core Protection route wherever possible into a new, bespoke work and study route to access family reunion and settlement rights with new fees and conditions in accordance with the rules of that route.
Refugees granted refugee status or humanitarian protection (as well as those arriving under one of the UK’s resettlement schemes) have immediate access to the labour market and benefits, including employment support from Department for Work and Pensions work coaches. Unemployed refugees are eligible for full funding for English for Speakers of Other Languages learning.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to resume refugee family reunion.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The family reunion route was suspended to ease the pressures that local authorities and public services have been placed under due to the recent significant increase in people arriving under this route in recent years.
Outstanding applications will continue to be considered under the family reunion rules in place prior to the commencement of the suspension, including those that are at appeal.
During the suspension, the Government is taking forward wider asylum and family reforms to place the system on a fairer, controlled and sustainable footing. Further information on forthcoming changes will be set out in due course. In the meantime, other family routes remain available, including Appendix FM.
Those who claimed asylum or made further submissions before 2 March 2026, and who are eligible for protection, will receive 5 years’ permission to stay in accordance with the transitional arrangements included in the Immigration Rules laid on 5 March 2026.
We will encourage refugees to switch out of the Core Protection route wherever possible into a new, bespoke work and study route to access family reunion and settlement rights with new fees and conditions in accordance with the rules of that route.
Refugees granted refugee status or humanitarian protection (as well as those arriving under one of the UK’s resettlement schemes) have immediate access to the labour market and benefits, including employment support from Department for Work and Pensions work coaches. Unemployed refugees are eligible for full funding for English for Speakers of Other Languages learning.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to establishing additional safe and legal routes for refugees to the United Kingdom alongside the Community Sponsorship Scheme.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Restoring Order and Control policy statement set out how the Government would transform its approach to safe and legal routes. Alongside the new community sponsorship route, the Government committed to the creation of capped routes for refugee and displaced students to study in the UK, and for skilled refugees and displaced people to come to the UK for work.
Work is underway to operationalise these new routes and further details will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many individuals arrived from Afghanistan to the UK between 25 October 2022 and 6 December 2023.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on resettlement as part of the Immigration System Statistics quarterly release. Data on refugees resettled under the Afghan Resettlement Program is published in table Res_D02 of the resettlement detailed datasets. The latest data is available up to the end of December 2025.The latest data is available up to the end of December 2025.
The Immigration system statistics release also includes data on grants of entry clearance visas and arrivals by illegal entry routes.
Asked by: Baroness Buscombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to end the use of Ministry of Defence accommodation to house Afghan refugees; and what plans they have to find alternative accommodation for Afghan refugees.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The resettlement of Afghan refugees under ARP continues and we are proud of this safe and legal route for those affected by events in Afghanistan. Those who are eligible and arrive in the UK legally under ARP receive Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR).
Transitional accommodation (TA), including Service Family Accommodation (SFA), has been used on the Defence Estate to support eligible Afghan families arriving under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and the wider Afghan Resettlement Programme. This has ensured safe, immediate housing for eligible persons resettled in the UK.
The use of large bridging hotels has now ended, and the Government is reducing reliance on temporary Ministry of Defence accommodation. Recent arrivals increasingly move directly into permanent settled homes where available, or into other forms of transitional accommodation on a short‑term basis.
Under the Afghan Resettlement Programme, transitional accommodation is offered for up to nine months, within which households are expected to move into their settled home. The Government continues to work closely with local authorities to secure suitable permanent accommodation and to support families towards sustainable long‑term resettlement. Settled homes remain the best long‑term solution, providing newly arriving individuals and families with the stability to integrate, put down roots, and build their new lives in the UK.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many refugees they expect to be resettled in the UK through the UK Resettlement Scheme in 2026.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The UK has a proud history of providing protection and we continue to welcome refugees and people in need through our safe and legal routes.
As announced in Restoring Order and Control, we are developing new capped sponsored refugee pathways. These will include education, labour and community routes. This transformative change to safe and legal routes will revolutionise the way in which we offer opportunities to refugees. The Home Office is working with partners, including local authorities, to design and operationalise these routes.
As part of the fundamental change to the UK’s protection offer, the annual cap will be set in consultation with local authorities, partners, and community sponsors. The approach will reflect community capacity to welcome and support refugees.
The number of refugees resettled through the UKRS in any given year will depend on a range of factors, including the capacity of local authorities to welcome, accommodate and integrate refugees.