theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of changing the rules to allow prison officers who retire after failing their annual physical fitness test to receive their full pension. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: Prison officers are members of the Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS), for which the policy is owned by HM Treasury and applied to the scheme by Cabinet Office.

Like all public sector pension schemes, a member of the CSPS can consider taking retirement at any time after reaching the age of 55 (increases to 57 from 2028).

If there is an underlying medical condition which significantly impacts a prison officer from carrying out their role, they may be considered for Ill Health Retirement.
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Andy MacNae:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals to automatically limit a surviving parent's parental responsibility over their child in cases where one parent has unlawfully killed the other. \p Sarah Sackman: Section 18 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 provides that where one parent kills the other, the Crown Court will be required to restrict the exercise of their parental responsibility for any children they shared at the point of sentence.

The measure will protect children and shield carers from the further distress that might come with making an application to restrict the exercise of parental responsibility at what will already be the most difficult of circumstances. We are now working with key partners including Local Authorities, the Crown Prosecution Service, the National Police Chief’s Council and HMCTS, ahead of commencement, to establish the best system for this change. This includes developing any relevant changes to the criminal and family procedure rules as well as broader guidance for practitioners and families.
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Daniel Francis:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of making (a) court transcription services (i) cheaper and (ii) more accessible for the families of victims and (b) court recordings directly available to those families. \p Sarah Sackman: Bereaved families of victims of murder, manslaughter, and fatal road offences can request a free transcript of the judge’s sentencing remarks. Following the conclusion of a one-year pilot, on 22 May the Lord Chancellor announced that we are continuing the provision of free transcripts of sentencing remarks for victims of rape and other sexual offences on an ongoing basis.

More widely, we are actively considering how to make court transcripts more accessible, and we continue to explore the potential for using AI to produce transcripts more quickly and at a lower cost.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) does does not currently have the technical capability to share audio files. Addressing this or expanding the provision of free transcripts would have operational and resource implications for HMCTS and the judiciary at a time when the system is under considerable pressure.
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Daniel Francis:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether recordings of court proceedings from October 2023 onwards are available for transcription for a period of one year. \p Sarah Sackman: Crown Court transcripts are available for a minimum of one year dependent upon the nature of the disposal.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will commission research into the potential impact of housing asylum seekers in private rented sector accommodation on (a) integration and (b) community cohesion. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Home Office considers a range of factors when assessing the suitability of a local area for asylum accommodation and works with local partners including local authorities and the police.
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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what basis Serco can refuse to inform Members of Parliament when (a) houses, (b) hotels and (c) other premises are being used for asylum dispersal in their constituency. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Home Office routinely engages local officials and elected members as part of the procurement process for specific types of accommodation, to enable us to gather local intelligence which informs our decision making. This engagement and disclosure is undertaken on a case by case basis as is necessary.

The Home Office publishes details of numbers of supported asylum seekers by local authority on a quarterly basis. This can be found here - Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK - Asy_D11 tab. Any requests relating to the disclosure of information beyond that which is already published, is reviewed on a case by case basis to ensure that it is lawful, proportional and necessary.
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Mary Kelly Foy:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional steps her Department plans to take to improve the process of accessing evisa accounts. \p Seema Malhotra: eVisas are a key part of delivering a border and immigration system which will be more digital and streamlined, a change that will enhance the applicant’s experience and increase the immigration system’s security and efficiency.

The UKVI account provides people with the ability to use online services to ‘view and prove’ their immigration status, including their rights to rent, work, study and access public services, by sharing relevant information about their permissions in the UK. People can easily keep the Home Office updated with any changes in their details or documentation using their account. For example, they can tell us about changes to their name, nationality or a new passport.

Our aim is that new and existing immigration status holders will have access to a UKVI account and their eVisa, and that creating a UKVI account is a smooth and straightforward process.

To help people create and use their UKVI accounts, we have provided information and guidance videos on GOV.UK which show users how to access and use their UKVI account. We have listened to feedback from users and have plans to make our GOV.UK pages easier to follow. These planned improvements are currently being drafted and are scheduled for release later in 2025.

We are continually improving the functionality and ease of use of the UKVI account. For example, we recently added the facility for a person without an identity document to create an account and we will add the ability to link a Home Office issued travel document to a UKVI account later in 2025.

Monitoring of the system since the end of December 2024 suggests that for most people the transition to eVisa has gone smoothly. By the end of April 2025 over 4.3 million people had created an online (UKVI) account to access their eVisa, with the latest statistics published on GOV.UK on 22 May 2025. Further statistics will be published in due course.

Between Q4 2019 and Q1 2025, the 'view and prove' service has seen over 41.9 million views by individuals and over 6.3 million views by organisations checking immigration status.

Should anyone find themselves needing support with creating their UKVI account or getting access to their eVisa, the latest updates and guidance can be found on GOV.UK

We are continuing to listen to the views and concerns of stakeholders and users of our digital systems and aim to continually enhance the user experience wherever possible. We have also increased the number of support services available to vulnerable people and have delivered £4m of grant funding to 72 voluntary and community sector organisations across the UK to support people to be able to set up and access their eVisa accounts.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police forces have (a) appointed a dedicated antisocial behaviour lead, (b) established an antisocial behaviour action plan and (c) increased patrols in hotspot areas. \p Dame Diana Johnson: Tackling anti-social behaviour and the harm it causes is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission. The Government’s Plan for Change details our commitment to reduce ASB, including that every police force in England and Wales will have a dedicated lead officer by the end of July, who will work with communities to develop a local ASB action plan.

I am pleased to confirm all dedicated ASB lead officers are now in place and will be developing local action plans as soon as possible.

We are also delivering on our commitment to restore and strengthen neighbourhood policing, ensuring thousands of additional police officers and police community support officers are out patrolling in our town centres and communities to make the streets safer. As part of the Neighbourhood Policing Grant, £200 million has been allocated to forces for 2025/26 to support this commitment. Lancashire Constabulary has been allocated £5,090,296 and will deliver an increase of 53 police officers and 30 PCSOs by 31 March 2026.

The Home Office is also providing £66.3millon funding in 2025-26 to forces in England and Wales to deliver high visibility patrols in the areas worst affected by knife crime, serious violence and anti-social behaviour. Lancashire Constabulary will receive £1,713,512 of this funding.
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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the funding from her Department to recruit 13,000 neighbourhood police officers by 2029. \p Dame Diana Johnson: We have made £200 million available in FY 25/26 to support the first steps towards delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood personnel.

This major investment, alongside £66 million for hotspot policing, supports the commitment to make the country’s streets safer.
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Andrew Gwynne:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times their Department has accepted in full the position of the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s (a) findings and (b) recommendations on (i) issuing an apology and (ii) other forms of redress in the last 10 years. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The Government does not centrally keep records of or track all the findings and recommendations made by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
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Rachel Blake:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans go give additional powers to policing forces to deal with allegations of (a) trespassing and (b) modern slavery and human trafficking, in the context of the commencement of the abolition of the Vagrancy Act 1824. \p Dame Diana Johnson: This Government is repealing the outdated Vagrancy Act and introducing new offences which deal with specific risks.

Repealing the Vagrancy Act 1824 will leave a gap for the police to tackle organised begging and trespassing, which police have highlighted as a particular concern.We have therefore introduced, in the Crime and Policing Bill, a new offence of facilitating begging for gain and a new criminal offence of trespassing with intent to commit a criminal offence.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the number of neighbourhood police officers in Surrey. \p Dame Diana Johnson: Neighbourhood policing is the bedrock of the British policing model. Every community deserves visible, pro-active and accessible neighbourhood policing with officers tackling the issues that matter to them.

£200m has been made available to police forces in England and Wales in 2025/26 to fund additional policing personnel into neighbourhood teams. By the end of this parliament there will be 13,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel across England and Wales, including up to 3000 additional neighbourhood officers by the end of March 26.

In 2025/26 Surrey Police has been allocated £2,582,672 and has a delivery plan which sets out a projected growth of 25 newly recruited officers and 15 newly recruited special constables.

Full details of the Neighbourhood Policing Grant allocations and projections for 2025/26 can be found here: Neighbourhood policing grant allocations and projections: 2025 to 2026 - GOV.UK
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Josh Babarinde:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle crime in (a) town centres and (b) Eastbourne town centre. \p Dame Diana Johnson: Creating Safer Town Centres is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission. This Government wants town centres to be vibrant, welcoming places where businesses thrive and people feel safe to come to shop, socialise and live.

That is why this Government has awarded £66.3 million in Hotspot Action funding to all 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales in 2025/6.

The Hotspot Action Fund will increase visible uniformed patrols in town centres and other areas most impacted by knife crime, serious violence and anti-social behaviour. The Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner has been awarded £1,436,889 as part of this funding. It will be for the PCC to decide how that money is used across the force area, including Eastbourne.

This Government has additionally made £200m available to forces in 2025/26 to kickstart the delivery of our commitment to have 13,000 more neighbourhood officers across England and Wales by the end of this Parliament. This investment will be used to enhance local policing capacity, with Sussex Police’s projected growth over 2025 to 2026 to be 43 police officers (FTE), and 21 Special Constables. We are delivering more police on our streets, tackling the crimes that blight our town centres.

The Safer Streets Summer initiative will run from 30 June to the end of September 2025. The primary goal is to prevent crime and disorder and increase meaningful and visible consequences for the minority who feel it is acceptable to cause this scourge on society.

Over 500 town centres and thousands of shops will benefit from increased police patrols and local action to tackle town centre crime and anti-social behaviour with the launch of the Government’s Safer Streets Summer Initiative across England and Wales. In Sussex, they will be focussing on over 20 locations as part of the initiative, including Eastbourne.
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Josh Babarinde:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle drug-related crime in Eastbourne. \p Dame Diana Johnson: To deliver on our pledge to halve knife crime in the next decade, it is crucial that we tackle the gangs that lure children and young people into crime and run county lines through violence and exploitation.

County Lines are the most violent model of drug supply and a harmful form of child criminal exploitation. Through the County Lines Programme, we will continue to target exploitative drug dealing gangs and break the organised crime groups behind the trade.

From July 2024 to March 2025, policing activity delivered through the County Lines Programme has resulted in more than 1,200 deal lines closed, 2,000 arrests (including the arrest and subsequent charge of over 800 deal line holders) and 2,100 safeguarding referrals of children and vulnerable people.

Through our County Lines Programme we are funding the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre (NCLCC), to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response. We also have a dedicated fund to help local police forces, including Sussex Police, tackle the scourge of county lines.

In addition, as committed to in the Government’s manifesto, we are introducing a new offence of the criminal exploitation of children in the Crime and Policing Bill to go after the gangs who are luring young people into violence and crime. As part of this legislation, we are also delivering new civil preventative orders which will support the police and NCA to disrupt and prevent child criminal exploitation from occurring or re-occurring.

We are also going further in our response to wider criminal exploitation introducing a new offence of ‘cuckooing’ and have also introduced a new offence to tackle coerced internal concealment. These three new offences will all work to tackle the interconnected and exploitative practices often used by criminal gangs, especially in county lines.
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Carla Lockhart:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of cross-border drug trafficking between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland; and what steps she is taking to disrupt such activity. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The National Crime Agency’s latest National Strategic Assessment notes the Common Travel Area, and particularly the routes between Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Great Britain, continue to be exploited by criminals for the purposes of serious and organised crime including the smuggling of illicit commodities. It is highly likely that organised crime groups are taking advantage of additional ferry routes between mainland Europe and Ireland in order to avoid detection at the UK border.

Since the beginning of 2023, there has been a notable increase in seizures of cocaine in excess of 100kg at Irish ports from ferry routes originating from within the European Union.

UK law enforcement organisations, including the Police Service Northern Ireland, NCA and Border Force work with An Garda Síochána, to target those who might attempt to smuggle illicit drugs between the Republic of Ireland and the UK, including via the sea.
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Josh Babarinde:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many hate crime incidents were recorded in Eastbourne in the latest year for which data is available. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The Home Office publishes official statistics on the number of hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales at the Police Force Area level.

Data for Sussex, for the year ending March 2024, can be found here: Hate crime, England and Wales, year ending March 2024 - GOV.UK
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Josh Babarinde:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle youth offending in Eastbourne. \p Dame Diana Johnson: In 2025/26 the Home Office is investing over £1.04m in grant funding to the Sussex Violence Reduction Unit, alongside £269k to continue the implementation of the Serious Violence Duty. This funding will support delivery of a range of early intervention and prevention programmes, which includes the continuation of a Focussed Deterrence intervention in East Sussex. This project is targeted at young people who carry knives and provides them with tailored multi-agency support to desist from violence, alongside enforcement measures.

We are also investing more than £43m in the County Lines Programme this financial year to target exploitative drug dealing gangs and break the organised crime groups behind the trade. Through our County Lines Programme, we are funding the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response. We also have a dedicated fund to help local police forces, including Sussex Police, tackle the scourge of county lines.

Going further, the Young Futures Programme is a key part of the Safer Streets Mission and will help deliver the Government’s target to halve knife crime over the next decade. Under this programme the Government will intervene earlier, to ensure Children and Young People (CYP) who are facing poorer outcomes and are vulnerable to being drawn into crime are identified and offered support in a more systematic way. The programme also aims to create more support and opportunities for them in their communities.
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Gregory Stafford:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the (a) Irish band Kneecap and (b) Bob Vylan performances at Glastonbury. \p Dame Diana Johnson: Avon and Somerset Police have opened an independent criminal investigation into the matters raised, and it would therefore be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department has spent on equipment to enable civil servants to work from home in each of the last three years. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The information requested is not centrally held in an easily accessible form, and could only be collated and verified for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
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Josh Babarinde:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with Sussex Police on the adequacy of police response times in Eastbourne. \p Dame Diana Johnson: Chief Constables are responsible for determining the allocation of resources for operational policing and managing their response times, in line with the priorities set out by their Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC).

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) assesses the operational performance of forces in England and Wales. HMICFRS last published a Police Effectiveness Efficiency and Legitimacy inspection (PEEL) report for Sussex Police on 13 April 2023. Its next PEEL report is expected to be published shortly.

Katy Bourne, as the directly elected PCC for Sussex Police, is responsible for holding the Chief Constable of the force to account for its performance.

In November 2024, the Home Secretary announced the creation of a new Performance Framework and a Home Office performance unit to help deliver this ambition.

The new Police Performance Framework will help to ensure consistent collection and analysis of police performance data and enable greater Government oversight of performance to ensure that all forces are delivering the level of performance that the public expect of them.
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Dame Harriett Baldwin:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal on her Department. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The Home Office always works closely with the Department for Business and Trade to assess the potential impact of trade agreements.
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Fabian Hamilton:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system, updated 6 June 2025, what steps she is taking to ensure that reforms will allow recognised refugees to become British citizens. \p Seema Malhotra: We will be consulting on the earned settlement and citizenship scheme later this year, and further details on the proposed scheme will be provided at that time.
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Dr Simon Opher:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason there are currently no service standards in place for Family route visa applications. \p Seema Malhotra: Family visa applications have a service standard of 12 weeks. Further information on our Family visa service standards can be found here: Visa processing times: applications outside the UK - GOV.UK.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish the (a) eligibility criteria and (b) application process for (i) employers and (ii) sectors seeking to have occupations included on the proposed Temporary Shortage List; and what the criteria for inclusion on that list will be. \p Seema Malhotra: An interim Temporary Shortage List (TSL), containing occupations at RQF levels 3-5 which the Department for Business and Trade and His Majesty’s Treasury have identified as being important for the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy was included in Immigration Rules changes laid before Parliament on 1 July 2025 (HC 997).

The TSL will be subject to review by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC). Occupations will only be included or retained on the list where the MAC has advised it is justified, where there is a workforce strategy in place, and where sectors are key to the industrial strategy or delivering critical infrastructure. The MAC will be commissioned to undertake this review shortly and will issue a call for evidence to which interested stakeholders should engage.
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Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking with local authorities to support the integration of refugees that have been granted leave to remain. \p Seema Malhotra: I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 26 June to Question 61436.
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Daisy Cooper:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of providing additional resource to the priority service for processing Indefinite Leave to Remain applications on the BNO route for Hong Kongers. \p Seema Malhotra: The Priority Visa Service for BNO (British National Overseas) Indefinite Leave to Remain applications was introduced on 8 September 2023. Straightforward applications are processed within 5 days of biometric enrolment. Sufficient resource is allocated to ensure this target is met.
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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what current restrictions are placed upon tourist visitors from China. \p Seema Malhotra: Chinese nationals travelling to the UK as tourists are able to use the Standard Visitor route to come to the UK for up to six months, though they will need to apply for a Standard Visitor visa prior to travel. This requirement applies to all visa national countries designated under the UK’s Immigration Rules.

The UK welcomes genuine visitors from across the world and the visitor conditions in the Immigration Rules apply to all visitors irrespective of nationality.

The Immigration Rules Appendix V: Visitor sets out the requirements for visitors coming to the UK. Visitors must leave the UK at the end of their visit and must not live in the UK for extended periods through frequent or successive visits, or make the UK their own home. A visitor must also intend to undertake one or more of the permitted visitor activities, such as visiting friends and family or coming to the UK for a holiday, and they must not intend to work or study except where this is specifically permitted.

www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-v-visitor
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Catherine Fookes:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of making changes to Ukraine visa schemes to facilitate routes to settlement. \p Seema Malhotra: We are committed to standing with Ukraine and providing stability for those we have welcomed to the UK and who still need our sanctuary.

The Ukraine Permission Extension (UPE) scheme, which opened to applications on 4 February 2025, provides up to an additional 18 months’ permission to stay in the UK for those with existing Ukraine Scheme permission.

We keep the Ukraine schemes under continuous review in line with the ongoing conflict and the Ukrainian government’s desire for the future return of its citizens to Ukraine. This is why the Ukraine Schemes are temporary and do not lead to settlement in the UK. Similarly, time spent in the UK with permission granted under the Ukraine Schemes cannot be relied upon towards the continuous qualifying period for the purposes of a Long Residence application.

There are other routes available for those who wish to settle in the UK permanently, if they meet the requirements, such as work routes and family routes. These routes are published on GOV.UK at: Work in the UK - GOV.UK (opens in a new tab) and Family in the UK - GOV.UK (opens in a new tab).
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Dan Carden:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that the national inquiry into group-based child sexual exploitation is (a) independent and (b) led by survivors. \p Jess Phillips: As previously announced, the national inquiry will be established as an independent statutory inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005. While the Chair will determine the inquiry’s conduct and procedures, the Government remains firmly committed to placing victims and survivors at its heart. Further details, including the Terms of Reference, will be published in due course.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department holds on the convictions of licensed taxi drivers for (a) grooming, (b) sexual exploitation and (c) trafficking offences. \p Jess Phillips: Available data on the age, ethnicity, gender and region of individuals prosecuted and convicted at criminal courts in England and Wales in the Ministry of Justice Outcomes by Offences data tool, can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page, which is available online here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics

However, this data is not broken down by employment status.
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Carla Lockhart:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of end-to-end encryption on the ability of law enforcement agencies to (a) investigate and (b) prevent online child sexual exploitation. \p Jess Phillips: We have been consistent that the increasing moves to end-to-end-encryption (E2EE) on private messaging spaces, without sufficient safeguards to maintain proactive detection of child sexual abuse (CSA) will have a significant impact on our ability to keep children safe.

In May this year, the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) published their Cyber Tipline report for the year of 2024. This report indicated that globally there were 7 million fewer incidents of suspected child sexual abuse material reported in 2024 compared with 2023, which was partly attributed to the increased rollout of E2EE.

The Government is implementing the Online Safety Act (OSA) regulatory framework, to ensure that online platforms do more to protect their users from illegal content on their services. The Government is clear that platform design, including E2EE does not exempt platforms from their obligations to protect children from CSA.

The Government is committed to using all available levers, such as the Online Safety Act, to ensure children are protected online, and we will not hesitate to go further if necessary.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-08)

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Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of existing data collection systems in capturing the scale of spiking incidents in the UK. \p Jess Phillips: From April 2026, offences which involved spiking will be added to the Home Office’s Annual Data Requirement. This is the formal mechanism through which the Home Office collects data from all police forces in England and Wales. This will ensure that the Home Office has access to formal, standardised and regular reporting from the police on offences involving spiking.

The Home Office will also look to utilise the National Data Quality Improvement Service (NDQIS), a computer-assisted classification tool, to greatly improve the analysis of the data it receives. NDQIS will have a range of benefits including being able to identify crimes which were facilitated by spiking, such as rape or sexual assault. We expect this to give us a better understanding of the scale of spiking and its use in enabling other crimes.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-08 conversation_255

Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the importance of understanding offender motivation as part of the Government's strategy to tackle spiking. \p Jess Phillips: The Home Office has recently completed the tender for a piece of academic research into the motivations of perpetrators who commit spiking offences. This project will help to fill a gap in research that was identified by a recent literature review on the subject and will have practical implications by helping to inform Home Office policy and practice going forward.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-08 conversation_256

Wendy Chamberlain:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many in-person inspections were carried out by Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority officers on farms in Scotland in 2024; and how many (a) workers and (b) workers on the UK seasonal worker visa were spoken to at each inspection. \p Jess Phillips: In 2024, 18 in-person inspection visits were undertaken by Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) officers on farms in Scotland. This figure includes compliance and enforcement inspections, as well as joint inspections with other enforcement bodies, such as UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI). The GLAA does not hold data on which visas are held by workers at these farms.

In England and Wales, the GLAA has responsibilities to investigate reports of modern slavery. In Scotland, the primacy for this lies with Police Scotland but the GLAA support this activity to target, dismantle and disrupt serious and organised crime.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-08 conversation_257

Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle violence against women and girls in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) the rest of the UK. \p Jess Phillips: Achieving our commitment to halve violence against women and girls in a decade requires close cooperation and coordination across Government, public services, the private sector, and the charity sector. Through the Safer Streets Mission Board and VAWG Ministerial Group, we are driving collective action across Government to achieve this. We will set out further detail in a new, transformative VAWG Strategy, which we aim to publish in September.

While crime prevention, policing, and justice policy are reserved matters in England and Wales, we are also working closely with partners in Scotland and Northern Ireland in achieving our shared ambition in tackling VAWG.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-08 conversation_258

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Number 10 press release entitled UK to deliver on 5% NATO pledge as Government drives greater security for working people, published on 23 June 2025, if he will list his Department's (a) projects and (b) programmes by directorate that will contribute to the resilience and security element of national security spending for each year between 2025-26 and 2034-35 inclusive; and if he will list the amount of spending for each item (a) in real terms (b) as a proportion of concurrent forecast GDP. \p Dan Jarvis: The Government will set out detailed plans for meeting this new target at the appropriate time. The Government will continue to report to NATO on delivery against the headline investment pledge and the split in line with NATO’s reporting schedule.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-08 conversation_259

Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress has been made on appointing a permanent Independent Prevent Commissioner. \p Dan Jarvis: An open competition to recruit the permanent Independent Prevent Commissioner is underway, and an update will be provided once an appointment has been made.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-08 conversation_260

Gavin Robinson:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications were (a) received, (b) granted and (c) rejected for (i) asylum, (ii) Spousal Visas and (iii) Skilled Worker Visas in the last financial year. \p Seema Malhotra: The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas by visa type, including Partner and Skilled Worker visas, in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on visa applications are published in table ‘Vis_D01’ whilst data on the outcomes of visa applications are published in table ‘Vis_D02’ of the ‘detailed entry clearance dataset’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. Data is from January 2005 up to the end of March 2025.

The Home Office also publishes data on the number of people claiming asylum and the number of initial decisions is published in tables Asy_D01 and Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum claims and initial decisions detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to the year ending March 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-08 conversation_261

Esther McVey:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2025 to Question 58584 on Undocumented Migrants: Biometrics, what the limited exceptions are where biometric data may not be collected at the time of encounter from immigrants arriving in the UK illegally. \p Dame Angela Eagle: This would include for example, children under five, who are only required to provide facial photographs, or people who are physically unable to provide biometric information at the time of their arrival because of medical emergencies. In such cases, the requirement to provide biometric information is deferred until the individual is able to comply.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-08 conversation_262

Carla Lockhart:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people breached their visa conditions in Upper Bann constituency in the last five years; and how many people were subsequently deported. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The requested information is not held on a constituency level and could only be collated and verified for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost. Our published national data on enforcement is available at the following link and includes data on returns from the UK: Immigration system statistics, year ending March 2025 - GOV.UK.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-08 conversation_263

Shivani Raja:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department considers (a) occupancy levels and (b) property capacity when assessing the cost-effectiveness of asylum accommodation contracts. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contracts (AASC contracts) were procured by the previous government through a competitive tender exercise that adhered to the Public Contracts Regulation 2015. The bid evaluation process identified the most economically advantageous tender, assessing the quality and cost of bid proposals, to ensure best value to the UK taxpayer.

For any new requirements introduced to these contracts following contract award, suppliers are asked to provide priced proposals. These proposals are assessed, challenged and negotiated by Home Office representatives; ensuring that best pricing is achieved.

Occupancy levels and property capacity are both key considerations when identifying accommodation to fulfil our statutory obligation.

The contracts require the establishment and operation of governance structures and regular reporting enabling the Home Office to effectively manage the suppliers and hold them to account. These include a monthly contract management meeting, and quarterly strategic and executive boards where operational and commercial priorities are addressed and discussed, including occupancy and capacity.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-08 conversation_264

Kevin Bonavia:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of taking steps to help ensure that the transition of children from foster care to adoption does not have a detrimental impact to the (a) children and (b) former foster parents. \p Janet Daby: The transition from foster care to adoption is a critical period that can significantly impact both the children involved and their former foster parents.

Statutory guidance on placing adopted children states that a clear plan to move a child from foster care to an adoptive placement must be agreed. In many cases a series of introductory meetings will be needed, and guidance is clear that foster carers should be supported by their social worker on such arrangements. What is important is that both the child and prospective adopter feel well prepared before the placement and are happy with the pace of the introductions and date of the placement.

Adoption England are implementing National Matching Practice Standards, which includes detail on how children should move in with their adoptive families. The Standards state that professionals involved with the child should ensure an appropriate plan is made to enable the child to maintain relationships with their foster family following the period of introductions to their prospective adoptive family.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-08 conversation_265

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to funding for Level 7 apprenticeships on learners aged 22 and above. \p Janet Daby: I refer the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire to the answer of 13 June 2025 to Question 57098.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-08)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-08 conversation_266

Alex McIntyre:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on establishing Young Futures Hubs in Gloucester. \p Janet Daby: Officials from across a range of departments are working jointly to make progress, using evidence of what works to start to shape the Young Futures Hubs model. As part of this we are engaging with local areas, communities, statutory partners, charities, and other key stakeholders to support the design of the Young Futures Hubs and explore options for their delivery, including considering how best to engage with those young people who would benefit most from support.

To roll-out Young Futures Hubs, building on the success of existing infrastructure and provision, the government will establish a number of early adopter hubs, the locations of which will be determined by where they will have the most impact. These early adopters and work in local areas and will inform the longer-term development of the programme, including how quickly we move to a greater number of hubs and where they may be located.

The government will set out more details in due course.