Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the UK Resettlement Scheme will be open to refugees from Sudan.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
As announced by the Home Secretary on 28 September, the Home Office has started receiving new referrals for the United Kingdom Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) in 26/27.
The UKRS is not restricted by nationality. Sudanese refugees who are outside their country of origin may therefore be considered for resettlement where they are identified and referred by an approved referral partner on the basis of their vulnerability and protection needs.
Further information is available in the published UK Resettlement Scheme policy guidance.
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 estimate she has made of the number of people expected to travel to the United Kingdom under the newly announced resettlement routes for Afghan and Palestinian refugees.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
As announced by the Home Secretary on 28 September, the Home Office has started receiving new referrals for the United Kingdom Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) in 26/27. The Government expects a quarter of UKRS referrals to be Afghan women and girls, and Palestinians.
The Government expects the total arrivals across the UKRS and the 3 new community sponsorship routes to number in the low hundreds at first.
The Home Office works closely with the local authorities that volunteer to participate in the UKRS, and arrival is contingent on local authorities providing accommodation and agreeing to support a refugee family. The number of individuals 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.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Gower (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the reopening of the UK resettlement scheme, how many refugees they expect to resettle under the scheme in (1) 2026, and (2) 2027; and what assessment they have made of the capacity of local authorities to accommodate those arrivals.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
As announced by the Home Secretary on 28 September, the Home Office has started receiving new referrals for the United Kingdom Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) in 26/27.
The Government expects the total arrivals across the UKRS and the three new community sponsorship routes to number in the low hundreds at first.
The Home Office works closely with the local authorities that volunteer to participate in the UKRS, and arrival is contingent on local authorities providing accommodation and agreeing to support a refugee family. The number of individuals 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.
Asked by: Lord Davies of Gower (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the likelihood that Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights will be used by individuals entering the UK on the resettlement scheme to bring additional family members.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
As announced by the Home Secretary on 28 September, the Home Office has started receiving new referrals for the United Kingdom Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) in 26/27.
The Government expects the total arrivals across the UKRS and the three new community sponsorship routes to number in the low hundreds at first.
Individuals identified for resettlement under the UKRS are usually resettled as part of immediate family units.
Through the Immigration and Asylum Bill, the Home Office will limit the application of Article 8 claims in three ways: strengthening and rebalancing the public interest test to ensure issues that are central to the public interest are considered; defining family life for the purposes of Article 8, by setting out a clear framing for decision makers and the courts that it should not normally go beyond immediate family members; and requiring Article 8 family life claims from those outside of the UK to be made by a UK-based sponsor.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish further information about the UK Resettlement Scheme; and if she will set out whether refugees will be able to refer themselves to the scheme online.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister of State (Home Office)
As announced by the Home Secretary on 28 September, the Home Office has started receiving new referrals for the United Kingdom Resettlement Scheme in 2026/27.
The UKRS does not operate through direct applications, and individuals are unable to apply online. Instead, refugees are identified and referred through established referral processes by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the Internation Refugee Assistance Project for displaced Palestinians, based on their vulnerability and protection needs.
The UKRS is an established scheme, which has operated since 2021. Further UKRS Policy guidance can be found online: Resettlement.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to monitor the activities of successful asylum applicants.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister of State (Home Office)
We do not routinely monitor those who are granted asylum or leave to remain but refugees, and those granted protection in the UK, have equitable access to the resources and support necessary to fully integrate into life here, achieve self-sufficiency, provide for themselves and their families, and contribute to the UK economy.
Integration outcomes of asylum refugees and refugees resettled under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme and Vulnerable Children Resettlement Schemes is available on GOV.UK at: Refugee Integration Outcomes (RIO) Insights - GOV.UK. RIO aims to create a comprehensive dataset of refugee outcomes by linking Home Office data with administrative data from across government.
Under our new Core Protection model, we have moved away from the presumption of permanent protection, and instead will provide protection for the duration of need. Where a person no longer requires protection, including where their personal circumstances or a country situation has changed, they will be expected to return home.
Everyone is expected to abide by the law; this includes refugees and other foreign nationals. This Government is clear that those who commit serious crimes and pose a danger to the community and those who otherwise pose a threat to national security will have their refugee status revoked because they no longer deserve our protection and the generous benefits that come with such status. Instead, they will be removed from the UK at the earliest opportunity. Where evidence comes to light that demonstrates that a person obtained their protection status fraudulently, we will seek to revoke their status.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the press release entitled "Mahmood: My reforms will save the asylum system for a generation", published on 30 June 2026, whether refugees will be prioritised for resettlement under the named community sponsorship model on the basis of their nationality or country of origin.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister of State (Home Office)
The new safe and legal routes, announced in the Restoring Order and Control statement, will enable community groups, universities and employers to identify refugees they wish to sponsor, including individuals known to them. Any individual proposed for sponsorship would need to meet the eligibility requirements of the route and be subject to the relevant security and assurance checks before a decision is made.
The Home Secretary has stated that the routes will be capped. We anticipate that arrivals under the new safe and legal routes will start small and build over time. The number of arrivals will be carefully managed to align with the UK’s capacity to support refugees and the Home Office will retain overall control on numbers.
We are continuing to work with stakeholders to develop and design the new routes.
Further details, including eligibility requirements for refugees, the role of local authorities, and the funding, fundraising and status requirements for sponsors, will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many refugees who (1) have been given the right to remain in the UK and (2) are currently awaiting a decision on their application to remain are currently domiciled in Wales.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government publishes UK-level data on people granted leave under resettlement schemes in the Home Office’s quarterly Immigration System Statistics, including those arriving via safe and legal routes; data on those resettled in Wales is published within these statistics with breakdowns by scheme and local authority.
Figures for those residing in Wales who have been given leave to remain or are awaiting a decision under the Asylum and Human Rights routes; or those who are awaiting a resettlement decision under safe and legal routes are not published and could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to expand the Community Sponsorship scheme as part of the refugee resettlement strategy; and what assessment she has made of the adequacy of that scheme’s capacity to provide an effective resettlement route for refugees.
Answered by Alex Norris - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
As announced on 27 June, the refugee study and named community sponsorship routes will open to applications from prospective lead sponsors this autumn, with arrivals expected from autumn 2027 onwards. The new routes will operate alongside the existing UK Resettlement Scheme.
Arrivals under the new safe and legal routes will start small and build over time. The number of arrivals will be carefully managed to align with the UK’s capacity to support refugees.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to operationalise a named Community Sponsorship scheme for refugee resettlement.
Answered by Alex Norris - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
As announced on 27 June, the refugee study and named sponsorship routes will open to applications from prospective lead sponsors this autumn, with arrivals expected from autumn 2027 onwards. The refugee work route is expected to open next year.
Arrivals under the new safe and legal routes will start small and build over time. The number of arrivals will be carefully managed to align with the UK’s capacity to support refugees.