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Dr Scott Arthur:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the economic impact of improving access to childcare out of school hours. \p Olivia Bailey: Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The government has introduced free breakfast clubs in all primary schools which are 30 minutes before the school day. So far, the department has delivered 2.6 million breakfasts and offered places to almost 180,000 pupils across the country.

Following the success of the early adopters, as the first phase of national rollout, we are investing a further £80 million into the programme to fund around 2,000 additional schools between April 2026 and March 2027. This will benefit around 500,000 more children. Parents will gain up to 95 hours back over the academic year, saving up to £450 per year.

Parents can also receive support with costs for childcare, if eligible, through Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit childcare, which are UK-wide schemes. The Flexible Support Fund also helps individuals overcome financial barriers to employment and can provide support costs such as childcare, enabling claimants to access opportunities that improve their chances of finding or starting work.
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Joe Morris:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve support for families over the school holidays in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle, (d) the North East and (e) England. \p Olivia Bailey: Through our Plan for Change, the government is committed to giving every child the best start in life. On 28 August 2025, the department confirmed over £600 million for the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme for the next three financial years, from 2026/27. This equates to just over £200 million each year.

This multi-year commitment gives parents and providers certainty that clubs will be available over what can otherwise be an expensive holiday period, ensuring that children and young people continue to benefit from enriching holiday experiences and nutritious meals. The programme also opens up work opportunities for parents on low incomes to support their families.

The programme is delivered by all 153 local authorities in England, providing over 500,000 children per year with healthy meals and enriching activities in the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays.

In Easter 2025, the latest data available, there were a total of 20,282 HAF funded attendees across the North East. We do not publish figures for individual local authorities.
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Jo Platt:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Holiday Activities and Food programme on levels of (a) food insecurity and (b) support for families during school holidays. \p Olivia Bailey: The holiday activities and food programme (HAF) ensures that children who are eligible for free school meals can access enriching activities and healthy meals during school holidays, benefiting their health, wellbeing and learning. On 28 August, the department announced that over £600 million has been confirmed for the programme for the next three financial years, from 2026/27.

This multi-year commitment gives parents and providers certainty that clubs will be available over what can otherwise be an expensive holiday period, ensuring that children and young people continue to benefit from enriching holiday experiences and nutritious meals. The programme also opens work opportunities for parents on low incomes to support their families.

Almost five million HAF days were provided across the Christmas, Easter and summer holidays this year, reaching over half a million children. During summer 2024, over 628,000 children attended the HAF programme.
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Dan Norris:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the steps she has taken to help (a) improve school attendance and (b) reduce the numbers of pupils persistently absent. \p Olivia Bailey: This government is determined to tackle the challenge of school absence. Missing school regularly is harmful to children’s attainment and wellbeing.

We are continuing our focus on improving school attendance through a ‘support first’ approach as set out in our statutory guidance. We have also developed real-time data tools that allows schools to compare attendance against similar schools and enable earlier intervention. Alongside this, we are investing in targeted support, including £15 million to set up the attendance mentors programme supporting 10,800 pupils and establishing 90 attendance and behaviour hubs that will support thousands of schools around the country.

Thanks to the efforts of schools, absence is moving in the right direction, with children attending over 5.31 million more days this year compared to last. However, around one in five pupils are still missing 10% or more of school, which is why the department is continuing to drive further improvement.
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Sir Andrew Mitchell:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of nursery availability on parents' ability to return to work in Sutton Coldfield constituency. \p Olivia Bailey: It is our ambition that all families have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change. In 2025/26, we plan to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements, which is an additional £2 billion compared to 2024/25, saving eligible families who use their full entitlement £7,500 a year on average.

The government will provide an additional £1.6 billion per year by 2028/29, compared to 2025/26, to continue the expansion of government-funded childcare for working parents.

We have announced over £400 million of funding to create tens of thousands of places in new and expanded school-based nurseries to help ensure more children can access the quality early education where it is needed and get the best start in life. The first phase of the programme is creating up to 6,000 new nursery places, with schools reporting over 5,000 have been made available in September 2025.

The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action they are taking to address those issues and, where needed, support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.
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Saqib Bhatti:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how her Department plans to integrate feedback from schools on the adequacy of funding for the breakfast clubs programme. \p Olivia Bailey: We have always been committed to rolling free breakfast clubs out nationally and the test and learn phase was put in place to inform how best to do so.

We have been listening to schools and other stakeholders throughout this phase and will continue to work with them to learn from our early adopters and inform national rollout. Further information on national rollout will be announced later in the Autumn term.
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Saqib Bhatti:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department plans to take to assess the adequacy of the accessibility to parents of recent childcare announcements made by her Department. \p Olivia Bailey: In 2025/26, the department plans to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements, an additional £2 billion compared to 2024/25, saving eligible families who use their full entitlement £7,500 a year on average. The government will provide an additional £1.6 billion per year by 2028/29, compared to 2025/26, to continue the expansion of government-funded childcare for working parents.

The department has announced over £400 million of funding to create tens of thousands of places in new and expanded school-based nurseries to help ensure more children can access the quality early education where it is needed and get the best start in life. The first phase of the programme is creating up to 6,000 new nursery places, with schools reporting over 5,000 have been made available in September 2025.

The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action they are taking to address those issues and, where needed, support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.
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Michael Wheeler:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the forthcoming Child Poverty Strategy will include specific measures to support children in deepest poverty. \p Olivia Bailey: This government is committed to tackling child poverty and the Child Poverty Strategy will be published in the autumn. The publication will set out how we intend to monitor and evaluate the impacts of the strategy from this year and in future years, including understanding how this varies across the UK and for different groups. This publication will also set out how we will measure the experience of children in the most severe and acute forms of poverty.

The government has already taken action to support children in deepest poverty, for example a new £1 billion package to reform crisis support, including funding to ensure the poorest children do not go hungry outside of term time.
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Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that Ofsted inspections are carried out in accordance with standardised procedures across childcare settings. \p Olivia Bailey: From 10 November 2025, Ofsted report cards will be introduced across all education remits Ofsted inspects, including early years. We need all inspections to be high-quality, consistent and conducted with the highest levels of professionalism. That is what Ofsted is determined to achieve.

Ofsted will receive additional funding from the department as part of the Best Start in Life strategy to enhance the quality and consistency of early years inspections. We will also fund Ofsted to move to inspecting all providers at least once every four years, as opposed to the current six-year window, to achieve parity with schools. This investment will support the government’s ambition to deliver the best start in life for every child.
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Joe Morris:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Sure Start centres have closed in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle, (d) the North East and (e) England since May 2010. \p Olivia Bailey: Data on children’s centres is supplied by local authorities via the department’s ‘Get Information about Schools’ database portal, which is available at: https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/.

The figures are based on information supplied by local authorities as of 4 November 2025. These figures could change again in future, since local authorities may update the database at any time.

Since May 2010, no children’s centres have closed in Hexham constituency but 2 have been converted into children’s centre linked sites. In Northumberland, 5 children’s centres have closed, and the local authority has converted a further 3 into children’s centre linked sites. In the North East, 50 children’s centres have closed and local authorities have converted a further 50 into children’s centre linked sites. In England, 779 children’s centres have closed and a further 686 have been converted into children’s centre linked sites.
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Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department holds data on families with home-educated children who are unable to (a) secure a place in a GCSE examination centre and (b) afford exam entry fees. \p Josh MacAlister: The department does not hold data on families with home educated children who are unable to secure a place in a GCSE examination centre or afford exam entry fees.

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will introduce the first ever duty on local authorities to provide support for home educating families in their areas who are registered with them and who request support. This support could include advice and information on how to access examinations.
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Kate Osamor:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the report by Kinship entitled Handle with Care: Annual survey of kinship carers 2025, published on 2 October 2025. \p Josh MacAlister: The department is grateful to Kinship for its continued work to highlight the experiences of kinship carers. We are grateful for the insights in the ‘Handle with Care’ report from over 1,900 kinship families on the challenges and opportunities they face. The report’s findings around financial hardship, housing and access to support, reinforce the importance of our ongoing work to improve support for kinship carers and children living in kinship care.

The department remains focused on delivering improvements for kinship families through our existing programmes. We will be piloting a Kinship Financial Allowance in up to 10 local authorities, following the announcement at Autumn Budget 2024. We are also updating statutory guidance and developing best practice materials on family group decision making (FGDM) to support local authorities in delivering safe and effective FGDM, including how to engage children and families in the process.
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Neil O'Brien:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 12 March 2024 to Question 17707 on Home Office: Equality, how many and what proportion of people work in her Department's equality, diversity and well-being team. \p Sarah Jones: There are 34 members of staff (31.56 FTE) working in the central Equality, Diversity and Wellbeing Team based on headcount, this represents 0.07% of the total staff (paid Civil Servants) working for the Home Office. The small increase compared to the answer of 12 March 2024 reflects a combination of factors including
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Steff Aquarone:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times exchange of notes arrangements have been used in investigations relating to economic crime to share beneficial ownership information between the UK on the one hand and the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories on the other in financial years (i) 2019-20, (ii) 2020-21, (iii) 2021-22, (iv) 2023-24 and (v) 2024-25. \p Sarah Jones: In 2016 the UK, the three Crown Dependencies and six participating British Overseas Territories committed to share company beneficial ownership information on a bilateral basis between their participating law enforcement agencies.

The Home Office does not hold data on the number of investigations where the Exchange of Notes Arrangements have been used in investigations.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to update data used to construct indicators for the calculation of Police Main Grant. \p Sarah Jones: This Government is committed to ensuring that policing has the resources it needs and the allocation of funding to police forces remains an important consideration.

The Chancellor has announced a real terms increase in police spending power over the next three years. As with previous years, decisions on police force funding allocations for 2026-27, including the police main grant, will be set out at the forthcoming police funding settlement.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what resources she has committed to tackling rural crime in Shropshire. \p Sarah Jones: Under our Safer Streets Mission reforms, rural communities will be safeguarded, with tougher measures to clamp down on equipment theft, anti-social behaviour, strengthened neighbourhood policing and stronger measures to prevent farm theft and fly-tipping.

The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will also ensure that every neighbourhood in England and Wales, including rural communities, will have named and contactable officers dealing with local issues, and that neighbourhood teams spend the majority of their time in their neighbourhoods providing visible patrols and engaging with local communities and businesses.

This will be supported by the delivery of up to an additional 3000 neighbourhood officers into teams by March 26, as part of our ambition to deliver 13,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel across England and Wales by the end of this parliament.

This financial year the Home Office has provided the first Government funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (£365,000) as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (£450,000). The National Rural Crime Unit, assists all police forces including West Mercia, in tackling rural crime

We are also working closely with the National Police Chiefs Council to deliver their updated Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy for 2025-2029. The strategy will set out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling crimes that predominantly affect rural communities.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure police officers are able to perform day to day duties during protests outside hotels housing migrants. \p Sarah Jones: The Government recognises the operational challenges posed by protests including those taking place outside hotels housing asylum seekers and remains committed to supporting policing so that forces can maintain core duties while managing public order.

Routine abstraction of officers from core roles impacts policing teams’ ability to work with communities to tackle crime and local issues, as well as delivering a consistent and visible presence. However, the deployment of officers and force priorities are matters for the operationally independent Chief Constables.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of police officers are qualitied to use firearms in each year since 2018. \p Sarah Jones: The Home Office collects and publishes information annually on the number of armed officers, and the proportion of armed officers relative to the total number of police officers, in the statistical publication on the police use of firearms.

The latest available data is for the year ending 31 March 2025 and can be accessed at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-use-of-firearms-statistics-april-2024-to-march-2025

Data on the number of armed officers in England and Wales, as at 31 March each year since 2018, is available in data table 3. The proportion of operationally deployable armed officers relative to the total number of police officers can be found in figure 5 for the same period.
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Joe Morris:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police stations have closed in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle and (d) the North East since May 2010. \p Sarah Jones: The Home Office does not collect data on the number of police stations or public front counters in use across all police forces, nor the number of closures. Decisions regarding the management of local police resourcing and estates is a matter for Chief Constables and directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners (or equivalents). They are best placed to make these decisions based on their knowledge of local need, experience, and in line with their existing budget.

A key part of the Government’s Safer Streets Mission is focused on restoring neighbourhood policing, and rebuilding trust and confidence in policing, The commitments set out in the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee are now making a considerable difference to the service communities receive from their neighbourhood policing teams.

We have also provided £200 million in FY 2025/26 to support the first steps of delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel across England and Wales by the end of the Parliament. This increase in neighbourhood policing, alongside the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, will strengthen the connections between the police and the communities they serve.
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to issue guidance to police forces on responding to (a) thefts from vans and (b) tool theft, in the context of the implementation of the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023. \p Sarah Jones: The Government is currently bringing forward legislative proposals to extend the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023 to include tradespeople’s power tools. As set out in the recently published Government Response to the Call for Evidence on the scope of the legislation, concerns were raised by stakeholders that property marking tools would be impractical and costly. The economic impact assessment findings indicate that the total cost to business would be disproportionate to the benefits of implementing this proposal.

We recognise the devastating impact theft of tools can have for tradespeople. We are working with the police-led National Business Crime Centre and industry via the Combined Industries Theft Solutions forum to explore ways to tackle and prevent the theft of tools.

We encourage tradespeople to use existing guidance such as the NBCC and Police Crime Prevention Initiatives (Secured By Design) crime prevention guidance to help prevent theft.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help protect (a) police officers, (b) immigration officers and (c) other public sector workers from online harassment by people who film and publish deliberately confrontational encounters with them on social media platforms. \p Sarah Jones: Nobody should face harassment in person, on social media or anywhere online.

The Online Safety Act (OSA) introduced a number of communication offences, including the false communications offence and which could include videos uploaded online. This offence captures communications where the individual knows the information to be false but sends it intending to cause harm, or intending for it to cause non-trivial psychological or physical harm to a likely audience.

The Act requires services, including social media platforms, to implement robust measures to reduce the risks that users post illegal content, and to reduce the risk of users coming across this content. Moreover, platforms should also have their own terms, community guidelines or options for people to submit complaints to them and potentially have content removed, even if it may not be in breach of the Online Safety Act.

Anybody who believes online material may be in breach of the Online Safety Act or falls short of the social media provider’s policies should report it to the relevant company. We expect companies to take their legal obligations seriously.

It is a criminal offence to engage in behaviour that intentionally causes another person harassment, alarm, or distress, or for a person to pursue a course of conduct which amounts to harassment. In some circumstances, the repeated filming of an individual could be captured under these offences. It is for the police to decide whether a particular offence applies in any given circumstance.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on (a) enforcement and (b) prosecution rates by police force following reports from members of the public of road traffic offences captured on (i) dashcams and (ii) other video evidence. \p Sarah Jones: The Home Office does not hold the requested information.

The Home Office collects and publishes statistics on police enforcement of road traffic offences as a part of the annual ‘Police powers and procedures: Roads policing’ statistical release. These statistics include information on the number of offences by outcome, including Fixed Penalty Notice, driver retraining and referral to court action.

The latest publication, covering 2023, can be found on GOV.UK at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-powers-and-procedures-roads-policing-to-december-2023

As part of these statistics, the Home Office publishes breakdowns on the number of camera-detected offences. However, these figures relate to offences captured by official traffic enforcement cameras and do not include footage submitted by members of the public via dashcams or other private video recording devices.

Information on the prosecution outcome of offences referred to court action by the police is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice.
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing mandatory suicide preventing training for emergency service workers. \p Sarah Jones: The Home Office only has responsibility for territorial police forces.

The College of Policing set the professional standards for police in England and Wales. The College’s core guidance includes the initial training for officers under the Policing Education Qualifications Framework which incorporates autism, learning disabilities, mental health and vulnerabilities. Through this, officers are taught to assess vulnerability and amend their approaches as required.

The College further promotes the need for frameworks to assess vulnerability, to aid in consistent identification, support decision making, and to trigger appropriate safeguarding action. Such principles and practices are set out in a number of college products, including the Detention and Custody Authorised Professional Practice.

Policing is operationally independent, and it is a matter for the chief constables of each force to decide which additional training their officers should undertake.
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Manuela Perteghella:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to publish data on the number of animals bred for use in laboratories that were not used in scientific procedures in 2024. \p Dan Jarvis: The Home Office is reviewing the collection and publication of additional statistics on animals that were bred but not used in scientific procedures.
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Alex Mayer:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals, Great Britain 2024; published on 23 October 2025, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the (a) number and (b) types of procedures carried out compared to the previous year. \p Dan Jarvis: In 2024, there were 2.64 million regulated scientific procedures carried out in Great Britain involving living animals. This is a decrease of 1% on the previous year, and the lowest number since 2001.

The trends in the number of animals and types of procedures carried out each year are linked to the volume and nature of scientific work undertaken and products being brought to market.

The Home Office is responsible for regulating under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) to assure compliance with protections afforded to animals used in science. Trends in requirements are the responsibility of other authorities. For instance, regulatory requirements for animal testing are the responsibility of the relevant regulators, such as the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (for medicines) and Health and Safety Executive (for chemicals).
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Ruth Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 19 October 2023 to Question 202528 on Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, when the policy work to clarify Section 24 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 was (a) commenced, (b) paused and (c) resumed. \p Dan Jarvis: In 2014, the Government commenced a public consultation seeking views on section 24 with the aim of increasing openness and transparency. This work was paused due to changes in administration.

The Home Office since resumed work on this issue and in 2022 a letter was sent from the responsible Minster to the Chair of the Animals in Science Committee setting out the intention to engage stakeholders on clarifying Section 24.

Under this Government, the Home Office has been reviewing the matter internally and the intention to clarify the position on Section 24 remains.
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Manuela Perteghella:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of importing cynomolgus monkeys born in (a) Africa and (b) Asia for use in scientific procedures on the welfare of those animals. \p Dan Jarvis: The Home Office is committed to maintaining the highest standards of animal welfare regarding the use of non-human primates in scientific procedures. The use of cynomolgus monkeys in the United Kingdom is strictly regulated under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA).

The Home Office commissioned a comprehensive assessment from the expert Animals in Science Committee on the welfare implications associated with the use of non-human primates bred and imported for use in scientific procedures. You can find the report here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nonhuman-primates-bred-for-use-in-scientific-purposes.

Following recommendations from the Committee, the Home Office has introduced a time-limited transitional period relating to the sourcing of non-human primates. During this period, the use of first-generation cynomolgus macaques will only be permitted where there is a scientific need, where there is an inability to reasonably source self-sustaining animals, where there is a robust plan to transition to a sustainable supply, and where their use will prevent culling, thereby reducing harm. You can read the Government’s response to the report here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/non-human-primates-bred-for-use-in-scientific-purposes-response-from-lord-hanson.
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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to prevent the exploitation of workers on the Seasonal Worker visa in food supply chains following BBC’s File on 4 Abused for our Food investigation. \p Mike Tapp: The Home Office undertakes extensive assurance action across the route, including significant numbers of boots on the ground visits, including interviews with randomly selected workers. Since March 2023, we have visited 387 farms and conducted 2560 interviews of both farm managers and workers.

Defra’s Annual Seasonal Worker survey showed that the vast majority of respondents (94.2%) reported a positive experience from their time in the UK and 96.9% expressed a desire to return.

Scheme Operators are required to have a clear employer transfer pathway in place as a condition of holding their sponsor licence, including transparent criteria for making a transfer request and a process for considering such requests. This is set out in published Home Office guidance, available at: Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors: sponsor a seasonal worker - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

We currently have five scheme operators for horticulture and poultry workers who are responsible for 43,000 employees. We carefully manage the allocation each operator receives to ensure that it is commensurate with their scale, capabilities and experience as a scheme operator. Allowing workers to move freely between operators is incompatible with this important safeguard as it could place individuals at greater risk of exploitation.

If a significant issue was identified with an individual employer, a Scheme Operators will promptly relocate any workers placed with that employer to a more appropriate farm. This can be done immediately with no need to for further visa applications or any interruption to the workers immigration status. The gives workers a safety net which explicitly ensures that they are not tied to their employer.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-11)

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Dr Neil Hudson:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Border Force publishes quarterly data on seizures of products of animal origin. \p Mike Tapp: The Home Office does not publish quarterly transparency data on seizures of products of animal origin (POAO).
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-11 conversation_239

Tim Farron:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the review of refugee family reunion will consider the optimisation of decision making to reduce the need for appeals. \p Mike Tapp: The family reunion route is temporarily suspended for a short period until Spring 2026. The Home Office is reviewing the route, with the intention to set out and implement those changes from then.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-11 conversation_240

Kim Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visas have been issued to Gazan children seeking medical evacuation to the UK since 5 July 2024. \p Mike Tapp: The information requested is not available from published statistics. 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.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-11 conversation_241

Chris Law:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to help prevent the exploitation of workers on the Seasonal Worker Visa in food supply chains. \p Mike Tapp: Protecting workers from exploitation is paramount in the design and operation of the Seasonal Worker route. The Home Office undertakes extensive assurance action across the route, including significant numbers of boots on the ground visits, including interviews with randomly selected workers. Since March 2023, we have visited 387 farms and conducted 2560 interviews of both farm managers and workers.

Defra’s Annual Seasonal Worker survey showed that the vast majority of respondents (94.2%) reported a positive experience from their time in the UK and 96.9% expressed a desire to return.

Scheme Operators are required to have a clear employer transfer pathway in place as a condition of holding their sponsor licence, including transparent criteria for making a transfer request and a process for considering such requests. This is set out in published Home Office guidance, available at: Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors: sponsor a seasonal worker - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

We currently have five scheme operators for horticulture and poultry workers who are responsible for 43,000 employees. We carefully manage the allocation each operator receives to ensure that it is commensurate with their scale, capabilities and experience as a scheme operator. Allowing workers to move freely between operators is incompatible with this important safeguard as it could place individuals at greater risk of exploitation.

If a significant issue was identified with an individual employer, a Scheme Operator will promptly relocate any workers placed with that employer to a more appropriate farm. This can be done immediately with no need to for further visa applications or any interruption to the workers immigration status. The gives workers a safety net which explicitly ensures that they are not tied to their employer.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-11 conversation_242

Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to house asylum seekers in South Holland and the Deepings constituency. \p Alex Norris: The priority is to ensure that the procurement of secure, safe and sustainable dispersed accommodation is carried out in a fair and equitable manner so that the Home Office continues to meet its statutory obligations while also carefully considering the impact on local areas.

The Home Office operates a Full Dispersal model which works to ensure that asylum accommodation is equitably and fairly spread out across the country. Dispersed accommodation offers accommodation that delivers better value for money for the taxpayer and helps the Home Office work towards the fair and equitable spread of accommodation. The Home Office continues to work with local government to allocate asylum seekers based on a range of evidence, including the availability of housing, pressure on services and community cohesion.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-11 conversation_243

Chris Law:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who were detained in illegal working raids were entered into the National Referral Mechanism in the last 12 months. \p Alex Norris: Immigration Enforcement made 2,809 referrals to the National Referral Mechanism and 429 Duty to Notify reports in 2024. Modern slavery: National Referral Mechanism and Duty to Notify statistics UK, end of year summary 2024 - GOV.UK. We are unable to provide data on how many of these referrals followed an illegal working visit.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-11 conversation_244

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) people have applied to and (b) applications have been approved for the UK/European Applicant Transfer Scheme since that scheme was established. \p Alex Norris: Detailed figures on applications or approvals under the UK/European Applicant Transfer Scheme are not currently published. However, we have set out that as of 5 November 2025, 57 people have been transferred from France to the UK under this scheme. We continue to monitor engagement with the scheme to ensure it is being accessed by those wishing to consider making an application.

This scheme is part of a pilot initiative designed to be responsive and scalable, and operational details are sensitive. We will not be disclosing such information as it could inadvertently assist the organised immigration crime gangs that are behind small boats crossings.

A full evaluation of the pilot will be completed following its conclusion in June 2026.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-11 conversation_245

Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what was the cost of asylum properties procured for dispersed accommodation in (a) England, (b) Greater Manchester and (c) Oldham for each financial year from 2015/16 to date. \p Alex Norris: The Home Office does not hold financial data in the format required to answer the specifics in the question. However total asylum costs including accommodation are published in the Home Office’s Annual Report and Accounts.

Please refer to page 75 (page 83 on the pdf reader) of 2024-25 Annual Report for the most recent published data.

Home Office Annual Report and Accounts 2024 to 2025
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-11 conversation_246

Paul Holmes:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish any detailed assessments carried out (a) by and (b) on behalf of her Department on the use of Crowborough Training Camp to house asylum seekers; and whether Wealden District Council has (i) requested and (ii) been supplied those assessments. \p Alex Norris: It remains our intention to use Crowborough Training Camp to accommodate asylum seekers, subject to the outcome of feasibility assessments. The Home Office has been engaging with statutory partners, including Health, Police and Fire Rescue on this proposal and all sites progressed for asylum accommodation, including Crowborough, will comply with safety, security, health and wellbeing standards.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-11 conversation_247

Dr Kieran Mullan:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether (a) Wealden District Council and (b) Wealden District Council's (i) leadership and (ii) councillors have made legal challenges to (i) prevent or (ii) delay the use of Crowborough Training Camp as accommodation for asylum seekers. \p Alex Norris: All sites progressed for asylum accommodation, including Crowborough Training Camp currently under consideration, will comply with safety, security, health and wellbeing standards. This government will close every asylum hotel. Work is well underway, with more suitable sites being brought forward to ease pressure on communities across the country.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-11 conversation_248

Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that financial support offered to facilitate voluntary return does not incentivise future illegal migration. \p Alex Norris: Financial support is designed to help with reintegration once migrants have returned to their home country, ensuring the return is sustainable, and not as an incentive to re-enter the UK illegally.

The various voluntary schemes operate under clear guidance to prevent misuse, including checks on eligibility and informed consent procedures. Individuals eligible for financial support through the Voluntary Returns Service receive a single payment on a card that can only be used in their home country. The Home Office monitors uptake and trends to ensure the different schemes remain cost-effective and are not abused.

Further details on eligibility are published on gov.uk at Get help to return home if you’re a migrant in the UK: Who can get help - GOV.UK
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-11 conversation_249

Justin Madders:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the payment of £500 made to Hadush Kebatu, (a) by what legislative authority this payment was made; (b) what level of payment made under this authority requires ministerial approval, (c) what is the average level of such payments made over the last three years, (d) the total number of such payments made in the last three years and (e) whether she plans to take steps to end such payments. \p Alex Norris: The Home Office applies small discretionary payments, where appropriate, to prevent the failure of returns. These payments facilitate returns by making them quicker and cheaper, helping to avoid delays and additional costs. Decisions on their use are operational in nature.

As always with expenditure on returns, these one-off costs must be set against the much higher long-term costs that would result from the same individuals remaining in the UK, including, where necessary, ongoing expenditure on accommodation or detention and the legal processes required to authorise their removal.

This Government’s priority is keeping the people of this country safe, and we make no apology for seeking to remove dangerous foreign criminals and other immigration offenders.