Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the application of the devolution settlement with Scotland in relation to the Scottish Government's proposed fund to support international social care workers who are without sponsored employment elsewhere in the UK to relocate to work in Scotland.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The proposal to support international social workers who are without sponsored employment elsewhere in the UK to relocate to Scotland appears to be compatible with the existing immigration system and we encourage efforts to support displaced care workers find new employment.
The Home office and UK Visa and Immigration have been working with the Scottish Government to provide practical support for international social care workers who are without sponsored employment.
Health and social care policy is devolved and therefore the provision of social care, funding and workforce planning in Scotland is the responsibility of the Scottish Government.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Home Office was consulted by the Scottish Government before the announcement of its proposed fund to support international social care workers who are without sponsored employment elsewhere in the UK to relocate to work in Scotland.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The proposal to support international social workers who are without sponsored employment elsewhere in the UK to relocate to Scotland appears to be compatible with the existing immigration system and we encourage efforts to support displaced care workers find new employment.
The Home office and UK Visa and Immigration have been working with the Scottish Government to provide practical support for international social care workers who are without sponsored employment.
Health and social care policy is devolved and therefore the provision of social care, funding and workforce planning in Scotland is the responsibility of the Scottish Government.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people with skills in (1) cybersecurity, and (2) artificial intelligence, have applied to settle in the UK in the past 12 months, and how many of those applications were successful.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested is not available from published statistics and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2025 to Question 78583, on Immigration: English Language, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of making it a requirement of anyone being granted asylum to subsequently learn English to continue (a) residing and (b) receiving benefits.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Successfully integrating refugees is a Government priority. The ability to speak and understand English is a key factor in successful integration, allowing refugees to become active contributors to the communities in which they live.
The Immigration White Paper set out plans to increase language requirements for most routes to B2 level at settlement stage, as well as the intention to consult on wider settlement reform later this year. These changes will impact the requirements for people who wish to reside in the UK and have access to public funds through settlement.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the letter from the Minister for Border Security & Asylum to the Home Affairs Select Committee of 8 October 2025, if she will publish each Service User Demand Plan.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Service User Demand Plans are not published. The Home Office publishes information about asylum seekers across the UK quarterly here Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk of extreme left-wing terrorism in the UK, including Antifa and related groups.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST, provides a comprehensive framework for tackling all forms of terrorism and is kept under constant review to ensure our approach remains fit for purpose in response to emerging risks and challenges.
As outlined in the publication of the most recent iteration of CONTEST, in July 2023, Left Wing, Anarchist and Single-Issue Terrorism (LASIT) currently represents a significantly smaller terrorist threat to the UK than Islamist terrorism or ERWT and is not currently present in the UK at any significant scale.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 October 2025 to Question 77304 on Multiple Occupation: Migrants, whether her Department (a) collates data on which individual houses of multiple occupation are used to house asylum seekers and (b) holds data on the number of those HMOs, broken down by local authority.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
I refer the Honourable Member to the answer provided in PQ 77304.
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, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to the public purse of operating the UK/European Applicant Transfer Scheme.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
In August a £100m funding boost was announced for this financial year to bring forward a number of projects to secure our borders. This includes our landmark pilot with France which the UK/European Applicant Transfer Scheme is part of. More on this £100 million comprehensive funding package can be found at the following link: Investment for Border Security Command to tackle people smuggling gangs - GOV.UK
There are commercially sensitive arrangements as part of the UK/European Applicant Transfer Scheme which we do not comment on. To do otherwise could harm our ability to get the best value for money for the British taxpayer.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department plans to take to ensure that visa applications for foreign nationals visiting the UK through aid-funded project deliverables are processed in a (a) timely and (b) efficient manner.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
All short term visit visas are governed by our published service standards. These can be found here: Visitors and transit: customer service standards - GOV.UK
Customers are advised to allow enough time to receive their visa before applying. Customers in certain locations have the option to apply for a premium paid service to allow them to receive a decision quicker than the advertised times. Information on premium paid services can be found here: Get a faster decision on your visa or settlement application: Applying for a faster decision - GOV.UK
Visa processing times are constantly monitored to ensure that visas are being delivered within our published service standards. Where an application will not be processed within service standards due to the complex nature of the application, the applicant is informed their application will take longer.
Asked by: Lizzi Collinge (Labour - Morecambe and Lunesdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her planned timetable is for responding to the Migration Advisory Committee’s recommendations on the minimum income requirement for the UK’s spouse and partner visa routes.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The report is under review and we will consider the recommendations made by the MAC. The Home Secretary will respond to the review in due course.