Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the European Convention on Human Rights on levels of illegal immigration.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
We are committed to the ECHR. But it must evolve to reflect modern challenges like mass migration and ability to protect the public. That is why we are working with international partners to modernise its application.
We will also tighten how Article 8 is applied at domestic level to prevent gaming of the system and ensure the public interest is given proper weight in immigration decisions.
Asked by: Kirith Entwistle (Labour - Bolton North East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle coercive control by ex-partners.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Controlling or coercive behaviour is an insidious and often under-recognised form of domestic abuse.
To improve the multi-agency response to coercive or controlling behaviour and reflect latest policy and practice, we will update statutory guidance by the end of this year.
We will also improve the policing response to all VAWG, through our £13m investment in the new National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection.
Asked by: Tony Vaughan (Labour - Folkestone and Hythe)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help support refugee integration.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Refugees can already access the labour market, benefits, employment support and funded English language support.
After the introduction of our asylum reforms, we will create new work and study routes for those who are receiving protection, which will provide a faster path to lifetime settlement.
And we will introduce new safe and legal routes – again, with a faster path to settlement – as we move away from unsafe and illegal routes into this country
Asked by: Polly Billington (Labour - East Thanet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to publish the report on the College of Policing and National Police Chiefs’ Council review and recommendations on Non-Crime Hate Incidents.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The final report of the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs’ Council Review of Non-Crime Hate Incidents is expected to be published in the coming weeks.
The Government will set out its response to the Review’s recommendations at that time.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to require that, once an eviction notice has been served to a traveller encampment, the same group cannot establish a further unlawful encampment within a defined radius of the original site.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Planning policy is clear that local authorities should assess the need for traveller sites in their area, and then plan to meet that need, in the same way they plan for all forms of housing.
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government recently consulted on a new National Planning Policy Framework, which includes proposals that aim to give greater clarity on how traveller sites should be planned for, and which seeks views on the impacts of our policies on Gypsies and Travellers. The consultation closed on 10 March and responses are being analysed.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help tackle illegal traveller encampments where the same group repeatedly relocates within a local area, requiring the local authority to obtain a new possession order.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Planning policy is clear that local authorities should assess the need for traveller sites in their area, and then plan to meet that need, in the same way they plan for all forms of housing.
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government recently consulted on a new National Planning Policy Framework, which includes proposals that aim to give greater clarity on how traveller sites should be planned for, and which seeks views on the impacts of our policies on Gypsies and Travellers. The consultation closed on 10 March and responses are being analysed.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her department has to provide additional funding under the Neighbourhood Policing Grant for 2026/27 to help meet the neighbourhood policing recruitment target given to Devon and Cornwall Police Force.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
As part of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, the Government has committed to delivering 13,000 additional neighbourhood policing personnel by the end of this Parliament.
Funding available to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) will be up to £18.4 billion in 2026-27, an increase of up to £796 million. In 2026-27 Devon and Cornwall Police will receive up to £483.5 million of funding, an increase of up to £19.4 million compared to 2025-26, which equates to a 4.2% cash increase, or a 1.9% real terms increase
For Year 2 of the Neighbourhood Policing Grant, forces will be given their share of a £363 million ringfence. This funding is subject to forces delivering their share of growth in 2026-27, contributing to a total increase of 4,750 FTE from the March 2025 baseline. Devon and Cornwall Police have been allocated £8,590,680 of the Year 2 ringfence.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to establishing additional safe and legal routes for refugees to the United Kingdom alongside the Community Sponsorship Scheme.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Restoring Order and Control policy statement set out how the Government would transform its approach to safe and legal routes. Alongside the new community sponsorship route, the Government committed to the creation of capped routes for refugee and displaced students to study in the UK, and for skilled refugees and displaced people to come to the UK for work.
Work is underway to operationalise these new routes and further details will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department operates a policy of ending study visas for nationalities where asylum claims from students go beyond a certain percentage.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
From 26 March 2026, we will refuse sponsored study visa applications from main applicants outside of the UK who are nationals of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar, and Sudan. Additionally, we will refuse Skilled Worker visa applications from main applicants outside of the UK who are nationals of Afghanistan.
Almost 8,000 students from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sudan and Cameroon have claimed asylum since 2021. This is over 470% of their 2021 level. Without action, asylum claims will start to outstrip visas issued – and in the case of Afghan workers has already done so.
Due to the impact of asylum claims on border operations and the wider immigration system, these high numbers are not sustainable.
The UK keeps its visa system under regular review and decisions on changes are informed by a range of factors.
Asked by: Chris Philp (Conservative - Croydon South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what was the number of international students by university and by nationality who dropped out of university in the academic year 2024/2025.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office does not currently publish data on the number of student visas issued for individuals attending specific universities, nor does it provide information regarding students who fail to complete their course.
Information on Home Office Entry Clearance Student visas can be found in the Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK.