Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to her Department’s press release entitled New UK–Nigeria partnership to speed up removals, what formal agreements underpin the new UK–Nigeria migration partnership announced on 19 March 2026; and whether copies will be published.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
On 18 March 2026, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signed a UK-Nigeria Migration Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Nigerian Interior Minister, the Hon. Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
Under the terms of the MOU, the Home Office will be able to facilitate returns using a UK Letter travel document. This will ensure that we are able to swiftly conduct the return of those that no longer have a right to be in the UK. Home Office officials will work closely with the Nigerian authorities to monitor implementation.
MOUs are not legally binding but are routine mechanisms used to manage activity between the UK and foreign governments.
The Home Office publishes statistics on returns from the UK in the Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release.
Foreign national offender (FNO) returns from the UK to Nigeria are published in Table Ret_D04 of the Returns detailed datasets with the most recent figures covering the period up to the end of December 2025.
The Home Office does not publish statistics on visa overstayer returns for any nationality. In addition, Nigeria does not appear in the nationality breakdown for failed asylum seeker (asylum related) returns as only the highest 10 nationalities are published.
These publication limitations apply only to those specific return categories and do not affect the published data on foreign national offender returns to Nigeria.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to her Department’s press release entitled New UK–Nigeria partnership to speed up removals, what mechanisms are in place to monitor compliance by Nigerian authorities with the terms of the agreement.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
On 18 March 2026, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signed a UK-Nigeria Migration Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Nigerian Interior Minister, the Hon. Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
Under the terms of the MOU, the Home Office will be able to facilitate returns using a UK Letter travel document. This will ensure that we are able to swiftly conduct the return of those that no longer have a right to be in the UK. Home Office officials will work closely with the Nigerian authorities to monitor implementation.
MOUs are not legally binding but are routine mechanisms used to manage activity between the UK and foreign governments.
The Home Office publishes statistics on returns from the UK in the Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release.
Foreign national offender (FNO) returns from the UK to Nigeria are published in Table Ret_D04 of the Returns detailed datasets with the most recent figures covering the period up to the end of December 2025.
The Home Office does not publish statistics on visa overstayer returns for any nationality. In addition, Nigeria does not appear in the nationality breakdown for failed asylum seeker (asylum related) returns as only the highest 10 nationalities are published.
These publication limitations apply only to those specific return categories and do not affect the published data on foreign national offender returns to Nigeria.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to her Department’s press release entitled New UK–Nigeria partnership to speed up removals, whether the agreement with Nigeria constitutes a legally binding treaty.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
On 18 March 2026, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signed a UK-Nigeria Migration Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Nigerian Interior Minister, the Hon. Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
Under the terms of the MOU, the Home Office will be able to facilitate returns using a UK Letter travel document. This will ensure that we are able to swiftly conduct the return of those that no longer have a right to be in the UK. Home Office officials will work closely with the Nigerian authorities to monitor implementation.
MOUs are not legally binding but are routine mechanisms used to manage activity between the UK and foreign governments.
The Home Office publishes statistics on returns from the UK in the Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release.
Foreign national offender (FNO) returns from the UK to Nigeria are published in Table Ret_D04 of the Returns detailed datasets with the most recent figures covering the period up to the end of December 2025.
The Home Office does not publish statistics on visa overstayer returns for any nationality. In addition, Nigeria does not appear in the nationality breakdown for failed asylum seeker (asylum related) returns as only the highest 10 nationalities are published.
These publication limitations apply only to those specific return categories and do not affect the published data on foreign national offender returns to Nigeria.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help prevent radicalisation in communities.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government is committed to ensuring all communities are safe from radicalisation. Prevent is about stopping people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism and tackles the ideological causes of terrorism, as well as providing early intervention for people at risk of radicalisation.
Prevent deals with all forms of terrorist ideologies, and works closely with communities and organisations to support them in safeguarding people at risk of being radicalised, as well as to disrupt groups that radicalise others, both online and in communities. As announced in the Protecting What Matters publication on the 9th March 2026, our Disruptions team, which horizon scans for extremist influence and events, will be expanded with additional resource to disrupt extremist networks at a national and local level.
The Prevent programme also provides training for educators, healthcare professionals and other frontline staff to help them identify and protect those susceptible to radicalisation. A Prevent referral allows of a multi-agency safeguarding assessment to be conducted, and for a tailored package of support to be offered. This helps to support individuals to move away from radicalisation.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 5 March (HL15250), whether they will now answer the question put: namely, what the timeline is for developing technical solutions with technology companies and partners.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Metropolitan Police recently hosted an international conference on phone theft, attended by partners from across law enforcement and industry. The Government is working with the Metropolitan Police to consider the outcomes from this event in determining what further action is necessary.
We look forward to public commitments from industry in the coming weeks, in advance of the Metropolitan Police Commissioner’s deadline for meaningful commitments of 1 June. If these are not forthcoming, the Government will look to consider any necessary action.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the designation of countries where homosexuality is prosecuted as ‘safe countries’ in relation to asylum claims is compatible with their commitment to human rights.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The designation of countries under Section 94 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 does not preclude protection for those at real risk of harm. The presumption of safety is rebuttable, in other words, claims are not automatically certified as 'clearly unfounded'. Instead, asylum claims from designated countries are assessed on their individual merits. If an applicant demonstrates a real risk of persecution, including on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity, their claim will not be certified as clearly unfounded.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what criteria will be used to decide whether a refugee can move from 'core protection' to the 'work and study route' as proposed in Restoring Order and Control (CP 1418).
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Work is underway to create the Protection Work and Study route. Further details on the new route, including the eligibility criteria, will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the average length of time for security measures to be implemented following funding being approved through the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Protective Security for Mosques Scheme provides fully funded protective security measures to eligible mosques and associated community centres across the UK.
Implementation timelines under the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme can vary, as they are influenced by a range of operational and site‑specific factors. Once a site has been approved, it is referred to our delivery partners for the necessary survey and subsequent installation activity.
In some cases, additional steps may be required before installation can proceed, such as local planning permission or the production of bespoke security equipment tailored to the site. These elements, which sit outside the Home Office’s direct control, can contribute to longer timeframes.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 38 of the policy paper entitled Protecting What Matters, CP 1540, published on 9 March 2026, how she plans to update the 2024 engagement principles; and whether there will be a public consultation.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
This Government takes extremism very seriously and we have the necessary tools and powers needed to address this issue. We are embedding the 2024 definition of extremism across Government to ensure a consistent understanding of extremism.
We are reviewing the existing engagement principles to ensure they are still valid and in line with current legislation and guidance and cover the full range of threats that exist. We are consulting with other government departments and key partners to achieve this.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled New UK–Nigeria partnership to speed up removals, published on 19 March 2026, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of that agreement on the time taken to remove individuals with no right to remain.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
On 18 March 2026, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signed a UK-Nigeria Migration Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Nigerian Interior Minister, the Hon. Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
Under the terms of the MOU, the Home Office will be able to facilitate returns using a UK Letter travel document. This will ensure that we are able to swiftly conduct the return of those that no longer have a right to be in the UK. Home Office officials will work closely with the Nigerian authorities to monitor implementation.
MOUs are not legally binding but are routine mechanisms used to manage activity between the UK and foreign governments.
The Home Office publishes statistics on returns from the UK in the Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release.
Foreign national offender (FNO) returns from the UK to Nigeria are published in Table Ret_D04 of the Returns detailed datasets with the most recent figures covering the period up to the end of December 2025.
The Home Office does not publish statistics on visa overstayer returns for any nationality. In addition, Nigeria does not appear in the nationality breakdown for failed asylum seeker (asylum related) returns as only the highest 10 nationalities are published.
These publication limitations apply only to those specific return categories and do not affect the published data on foreign national offender returns to Nigeria.