Asked by: John Whittingdale (Conservative - Maldon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visas were issued to citizens of the Russian Federation to visit the UK in each of the last five years.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas by nationality and visa type in the Immigration system statistics publication. Data on visas issued 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. The latest data relates up to the end of March 2025.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what systems are in place within (a) Border Force and (b) her Department to monitor the international procurement of poisons; and whether those systems are applied consistently across all countries.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
We remain committed to stopping dangerous drugs – including poisons – from entering the country. Our Border Force Officers continue to work to stop illegal drugs by making more, higher-quantity seizures than in previous years, using advanced technology, data analytics, and greater intelligence, derived from close working relationships with police, the National Crime Agency, and international partners.
It would not be in the interest of national security to disclose specific systems in place, nor further information regarding intelligence gathering and sharing.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2025 to Question 58153 on Windrush Commissioner: Finance, what budget will be available to the Windrush Commissioner.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
On 16 June, we announced that Reverend Clive Foster MBE had been appointed to be the new Windrush Commissioner. He started his role on 30 June.
Given this is a new appointment, we are discussing with the commissioner his priorities, his working arrangements and what he will need to support him in his role. Following these discussions, we will be in a position to produce a detailed budget, and will confirm this in the normal way in due course.
Asked by: Peter Prinsley (Labour - Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what consultation her Department undertook on the potential impact of changes to the skilled worker route on the supply of (a) dental hygienists and (b) dental nurses.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
On 12 May, we published our Immigration White Paper ‘Restoring Control over the Immigration System’, outlining our future approach to legal migration routes. The first set of immigration rules giving effect to the policies in the White Paper was published on 1 July, including raising the skills threshold to RQF 6 and we will publish an impact assessment of this change in due course.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the absence of service standards on all applications under the (a) family and (b) private life routes on applicants accessing (i) work, (ii) healthcare and (c) education.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Family and private life applications based on exceptionality are not subject to a service standard, however we do update GOV.UK with our average processing times and information is available in the published transparency data around consideration times.
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 (a) nursing staff and (b) allied health professionals will be exempt from planned changes to the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year and further details on the proposed scheme will be provided at that time.
Asked by: Kevin McKenna (Labour - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce the time taken to reach a decision on the immigration status application of children born in the UK whose biometric enrolment has been completed; and what measures are in place to ensure that these children have access to (a) healthcare, (b) child benefits and (c) other essential services.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
There are a range of immigration routes through which children who are born in the UK may apply for and obtain Leave to Remain. Information about our service standards for specific immigration routes can be found at:
Customer service standards - GOV.UK.
An application only becomes valid, and the service standard period will only apply, once the application has been submitted, biometric enrolment (facial photograph and fingerprints) has been completed and all required information has been provided.
Access to healthcare, child benefits and other essential services are all matters for other Government Departments. However, the Home Office does facilitate access by departments to our digital immigration records to support their decision-making.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has plans to introduce service standards for all applications for settlement made under the (a) family and (b) private life route.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Applications for Indefinite Leave to Remain based on Family or Private life will be decided within six months.
Full details of current service standards can be found here:
Settlement: customer service standards - GOV.UK
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her plans to remove asylum seekers from hotel accommodation extends to (a) hostels and (b) other types of communal accommodation.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office continues to work with a range of stakeholders to fulfil its legal obligations, whilst delivering on this Government’s commitment to reduce the overall cost of asylum accommodation, including ending the use of hotels by the end of this Parliament.
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has considered the merits of a Palestinian refugee visa scheme.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 13 March to Question 35970.