Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what methods she and her Department are using to monitor and assess levels of freight crime; what steps are being taken to engage with law enforcement agencies and the haulage industry to identify effective prevention measures; and how her Department plans to ensure robust enforcement against those responsible.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
We fully recognise the serious and growing threat that freight crime poses to businesses, drivers, and the wider economy. This Government is determined to crack down on it. The incidence of cargo theft, where criminals rip the sides of lorries and take the goods inside, is frightening for drivers. The perception this crime is low risk and high reward is completely unacceptable.
We will continue to work with law enforcement agencies and invested stakeholders to find solutions to tackle these crimes.
Freight crimes are not currently separately identifiable in the centrally held police recorded crime data. Crimes involving the theft of freight are recorded by the police within broader vehicle-related theft categories. In order to monitor trends, we are piloting the use of a flag on police crime recording systems which officers can use to indicate that the crime they are investigating is freight crime.
We also work closely with Opal, the police’s national intelligence unit focused on serious organised acquisitive crime, including freight crime, and with the National Vehicle Intelligence Service (NaVCIS), a policing unit set up to investigate vehicle crime, including freight crime. We have regular discussions with both units about tackling organised freight crime.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of levels of freight crime; and what steps she is taking to improve prevention and enforcement activity to protect haulage operators.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
We fully recognise the serious and growing threat that freight crime poses to businesses, drivers, and the wider economy. This Government is determined to crack down on it. The incidence of cargo theft, where criminals rip the sides of lorries and take the goods inside, is frightening for drivers. The perception this crime is low risk and high reward is completely unacceptable.
We will continue to work with law enforcement agencies and invested stakeholders to find solutions to tackle these crimes.
Freight crimes are not currently separately identifiable in the centrally held police recorded crime data. Crimes involving the theft of freight are recorded by the police within broader vehicle-related theft categories. In order to monitor trends, we are piloting the use of a flag on police crime recording systems which officers can use to indicate that the crime they are investigating is freight crime.
We also work closely with Opal, the police’s national intelligence unit focused on serious organised acquisitive crime, including freight crime, and with the National Vehicle Intelligence Service (NaVCIS), a policing unit set up to investigate vehicle crime, including freight crime. We have regular discussions with both units about tackling organised freight crime.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of current deterrence measures aimed at reducing illegal Channel crossings; and what further steps she plans to take to prevent small-boat arrivals.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has taken significant steps to address illegal migration and its Plan for Change sets out our ambition to secure borders and control immigration. We are committed to tackling illegal migration and the criminal networks which facilitate it. Since July 2024, nearly 50,000 individuals without lawful status have been removed from the UK. Our agreement with France means that those arriving by small boats can be detained and returned to France.
The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 has now received Royal Assent and the overarching impact assessment for this can be found here:
The Government is continuously monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of our measures in place to tackle small boats. As stated in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act, the Border Security Command will be publishing an annual report, which must state the Commander’s views on the performance in the financial year of the border security system. This is set out in the Act here:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/31/section/4/enacted(opens in a new tab)
Border security is fundamental to both our national security and economic security and evaluating our approach is a critical part of that.
On 17 November, this Government published a statement entitled “Restoring Order and Control” which set out significant reforms to the UK’s asylum and illegal migration system. The statement outlined the current challenges, the Government’s objectives, and a comprehensive package of measures to restore order, control, fairness and public confidence in the system. The Government is working at pace on the legislative and policy changes required and will set out timelines for implementation in due course.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of removals of individuals with no legal right to remain in the UK; and what assessment she has made of current capacity for enforced returns.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The government has set out plans to increase returns in the policy paper entitled “Restoring Order and Control: A statement on the government’s asylum and returns policy”, updated on 21 November 2025. This can be viewed on gov.uk at Restoring Order and Control: A statement on the government’s asylum and returns policy (accessible) - GOV.UK
The immigration removal estate is kept under constant review to ensure that the Home Office has sufficient resilience, geographical footprint and capacity for the men and women it is necessary to detain for the purposes of removal, while providing value for money.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department holds information on whether accommodation providers or subcontractors have used third-party agencies to purchase residential properties in Northern Ireland intended for use in accommodating asylum seekers.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Home Office accommodation Providers procure accommodation on behalf of the Home Office for use as asylum accommodation, this can be either via purchasing or letting accommodation available on the property market and they work with a range of landlords and agents to do so.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether changes to immigration rules will apply retrospectively to BNO visa holders in the UK.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government remains steadfast in its support for members of the Hong Kong community in the UK.
BN(O) visa holders will attract a 5-year reduction in the qualifying period for settlement, meaning they will continue to be able to settle in the UK after 5 years’ residence, subject to meeting the mandatory requirements.
We are seeking views on earned settlement through the public consultation A Fairer Pathway to Settlement and will continue to listen to the views of Hong Kongers. Details of the earned settlement model will be finalised following that consultation, including when the Rules will apply from and any transitional arrangements that will apply.
In the meantime, the current rules for settlement under the BN(O) route will continue to apply.
Asked by: Steve Witherden (Labour - Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr)
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 lengthening the qualifying period for settlement from five years to ten years for young adults and children under Appendix Private Life to the Immigration Rules.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The earned settlement model, proposed in A Fairer Pathway to Settlement, is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026.
The consultation directly seeks views on retaining the current arrangement, whereby children and young adults who grew up in the UK without immigration status my settle five years after regularising that status.
Details of the earned settlement scheme will be finalised following that consultation. The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessment, which we have committed to publish in due course.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what transitional support will be provided to the families who are already on Indefinite Leave to Remain.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We are not changing the rules for those who have already gained settled status. Similarly, no reforms are planned that would remove settlement from those people already holding that status legitimately.
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, what information her Department holds on the number of visa applicants whose applications were denied due to criminal records relating to sex offences since 2020.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We take the issue of preventing foreign criminals entering the UK extremely seriously, and we continue to strengthen our borders so that we can prevent crime and protect the public, delivering on this Government’s commitment to tackle foreign criminality. For example, those required to obtain a visa to enter the UK are checked against a range of police, security and immigration databases for details of any UK or overseas criminal record. All applicants are required to provide details of their criminal history. Where it is found that they failed to declare relevant offences/convictions, their application will be refused and they will be subject to a ten-year ban from applying to enter the UK.
We do not hold information on the specific offences relating to refused applications.
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, what checks are carried out during visa applications to identify previous sexual offence convictions overseas.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We take the issue of preventing foreign criminals entering the UK extremely seriously, and we continue to strengthen our borders so that we can prevent crime and protect the public, delivering on this Government’s commitment to tackle foreign criminality. For example, those required to obtain a visa to enter the UK are checked against a range of police, security and immigration databases for details of any UK or overseas criminal record. All applicants are required to provide details of their criminal history. Where it is found that they failed to declare relevant offences/convictions, their application will be refused and they will be subject to a ten-year ban from applying to enter the UK.
We do not hold information on the specific offences relating to refused applications.