Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 3 March 2026, to question 116395 on Female Genital Mutilation and Forced Marriage, whether male victims of forced marriage are included within the scope of the national prevalence estimate.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Published in December 2025, “Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls” committed to conducting an additional study to explore the viability of the approach recommended by the University of Birmingham in producing a national prevalence estimate for forced marriage and FGM.
The government is clear that whilst forced marriage disproportionately impacts women and girls, it also impacts men and boys. Whilst the study is still ongoing, any national prevalence estimate for forced marriage would include male victims.
Asked by: Julie Minns (Labour - Carlisle)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the commitments in the Men and Boys Explanatory Note to the Government’s Freedom from Violence and Abuse Strategy are implemented by police forces, particularly the requirement that male and boy victims are integrated into the response to those crimes.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The ‘Men and Boys Explanatory Note’ explains how the Strategy considers and addresses the needs of men and boys in detail. It underlines how the strategy speaks to men and boys, by addressing the key issues that the male victims’ sector has raised with us as priorities for change. All victims, including men and boys, are considered and integrated into our response throughout the Strategy and our metrics to halve these crimes.
The National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection will play a central role in delivering the VAWG Strategy, providing national coordination to ensure police commitments are implemented consistently across all forces and strengthening the police response to these crimes for all victims, including men and boys.
The VAWG Strategy is a 10-year, adaptive plan, designed to evolve in response to changing contexts. It is underpinned by a 3-year Action Plan and we will provide regular updates on progress as we deliver on our commitments.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will reconsider the termination of the temporary visa free access scheme for overseas seasonal sheep shearers from Australia and New Zealand.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
All Immigration Rules concessionary arrangements are temporary and subject to regular Ministerial review. The sheep shearing concession has been operating for 14 years and the sheep farming sector has made significant efforts to provide skills training within the domestic workforce.
To give sheep farmers two years to transition to new arrangements, and move away from using overseas shearers, the concession has been renewed for one more year. The concession will not be renewed in 2027 and will close for a final time on 30 June 2026.
Asked by: Baroness Buscombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum seekers from Afghanistan and their families are currently housed in service family accommodation in the UK.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
We do not house people in service accommodation. Any former military sites that we do use are not available to the Armed Services.
The UK government has a statutory obligation to support asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute. The government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly, and fairly; and ensures the rules are properly enforced. We have committed to exiting hotels at the earliest opportunity, and in order to do this we need to stand up alternative accommodation which is better suited to this purpose.
As part of our commitment to close all asylum hotels, we are looking at a range of more appropriate sites including ex-military sites, so we can reduce the impact on communities. Decisions on the use of alternative asylum accommodation sites are made on a site-by-site basis.
Asked by: Baroness Buscombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many units of service family accommodation exist in the UK; and of these, what proportion have been made available for housing asylum seekers.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
We do not house people in service accommodation. Any former military sites that we do use are not available to the Armed Services.
The UK government has a statutory obligation to support asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute. The government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly, and fairly; and ensures the rules are properly enforced. We have committed to exiting hotels at the earliest opportunity, and in order to do this we need to stand up alternative accommodation which is better suited to this purpose.
As part of our commitment to close all asylum hotels, we are looking at a range of more appropriate sites including ex-military sites, so we can reduce the impact on communities. Decisions on the use of alternative asylum accommodation sites are made on a site-by-site basis.
Asked by: Baroness Buscombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum seekers are currently housed in service family accommodation in the UK.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
We do not house people in service accommodation. Any former military sites that we do use are not available to the Armed Services.
The UK government has a statutory obligation to support asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute. The government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly, and fairly; and ensures the rules are properly enforced. We have committed to exiting hotels at the earliest opportunity, and in order to do this we need to stand up alternative accommodation which is better suited to this purpose.
As part of our commitment to close all asylum hotels, we are looking at a range of more appropriate sites including ex-military sites, so we can reduce the impact on communities. Decisions on the use of alternative asylum accommodation sites are made on a site-by-site basis.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people have been detained in preparation for removal to France under the pilot small boat crossings returns scheme since 1 August 2025; and of those cases how many were (1) age disputed, and (2) found to be a child.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Operational details of the scheme are not disclosed outside of what has already been published as this may impact migrant behaviour or be exploited by organised crime gangs.
Removing minors to France is explicitly prohibited under Article 4(2)(d) of the Agreement.
Individuals are not removed to France where their age is in dispute, given the terms of the Treaty sets out that those removed will be individuals who have been determined to be an adult. We have recently seen several cases where migrants in this country are claiming to be children to prevent their removal.
This can happen despite having claimed to be an adult upon arrival in the country.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department made of the potential impact of planned immigration changes, including the extension of qualifying period for settlement, on abuse victims and their ability to leave their abuser.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The consultation for the earned settlement model, as proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, was open to the public between 20 November 2025 and 12 February 2026. Contributions will now be analysed, and the findings will support the development of the final model.
We specifically consulted on victims of domestic abuse and how an earned settlement system may be tailored for this group considering their vulnerability. We will continue to have pathways to settlement for domestic abuse victims.
Economic and equality impact assessments will be conducted on the final model and published in due course.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure victims and survivors of human trafficking and modern slavery criminalised as a result of exploitation are not deported.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We want to ensure that all victims of modern slavery, regardless of nationality or residency status, are quickly identified and can access support through the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), which is the UK’s system for identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery and human trafficking.
Section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (MSA 2015) provides a statutory defence against prosecution for victims of modern slavery who were compelled to carry out criminal offences as a result of their exploitation (adults); or committed offences as a direct consequence of being a victim of modern slavery (children). Schedule 4 to the MSA 2015 contains a list of serious offences to which the section 45 defence does not apply. The list includes the most serious crimes such as sexual offences, some terrorism offences, modern slavery offences and serious violence offences. In cases where the section 45 defence does not apply, prosecutors can take into account other non-punishment principles, such as duress and the public interest test when determining whether to pursue charges against an individual.
Potential victims are entitled to a recovery period in the National Referral Mechanism, unless disqualified on grounds of public order or bad faith. This recovery period protects individuals (who have a Reasonable Grounds decision) from potential removal from the UK for a minimum of 30 days, or until a Conclusive Grounds decision is made on their case, whichever is the longer.
The Nationalities and Borders Act 2022 set the threshold for Public Order Disqualification (POD) on grounds including criminality and national security threats. POD decisions require a balancing of public order risk against the individual’s need for modern slavery specific support, taking account of factors such as relevant convictions and potential exploitation linked to those offences. Decision-making on POD is currently paused.
Adult and child victims of modern slavery with a Conclusive Grounds decision, and where applicable their dependent children, may be considered for Temporary Permission to Stay (TPS) in the UK if they do not already have status in the UK. Individuals granted TPS may still apply for a more advantageous form of leave if eligible. TPS does not lead to settlement in the UK.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to (a) reopen the Places of Worship Protective Security Scheme and (b) introduce a similar scheme for all faiths.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Protecting the right of all faith communities to worship in peace and without fear is fundamental. That is why record funding of up to £5 million is available for physical protective security measures through the Places of Worship Protective Security Scheme in 2026/27.
The next application window for this scheme will open later this year. Sites of all faiths, except Jewish and Muslim, are already eligible for this scheme. Mosques, synagogues and their associated faith community centres and schools can receive protective security through the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme and the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant – more information on the Home Office schemes can be found on GOV.uk.
Additionally, the Home Office has launched a brand-new scheme, Faith Security Training (FST), to better protect faith communities in England and Wales.
FST, developed in partnership with policing and faith representatives, is a free scheme designed to help faith communities strengthen their security awareness and preparedness.
I would encourage faith communities looking to improve the security of their places of worship to attend the training.