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 estimate her Department has made of the number of times migrant smuggling content has been viewed before being taken down as a result of action from the Home Office over the past 12 months.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office and the National Crime Agency work with major social media companies to rapidly remove online adverts which promote organised immigration crime and since 2024 more than 18,000 posts, pages or accounts advertising organised immigration crime services have been removed. Under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act a new offence will be introduced which criminalises the creation or publication of online content which promotes unlawful immigration services which could include videos of small boat crossings, the promotion of fake travel documents like passports and visas, or explicitly promising illegal working opportunities in the UK.
The Home Office does not hold data on the number of times migrant smuggling content may have been viewed.
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, how many people were deported to Germany in each year since 2020.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on returns in the ‘Immigration System Statistics quarterly release’. Data on returns by return type and destination can be found in Ret_D02 of the ‘Returns detailed datasets’. Data on returns of FNOs by destination can be found in Ret_D04 of the same file. This data covers the period 2004 to September 2025. For future publication dates, please see the release calendar.
Deportations are a subset of published FNO returns relating to the removal of those who are subject to a Deportation order. FNO returns that are not deportations will generally be cases where a person is being returned for a breach of UK immigration laws or for not being able to demonstrate any lawful basis to remain in the UK.
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, how many people were deported to France in each year since 2020.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on returns in the ‘Immigration System Statistics quarterly release’. Data on returns by return type and destination can be found in Ret_D02 of the ‘Returns detailed datasets’. Data on returns of FNOs by destination can be found in Ret_D04 of the same file. This data covers the period 2004 to September 2025. For future publication dates, please see the release calendar.
Deportations are a subset of published FNO returns relating to the removal of those who are subject to a Deportation order. FNO returns that are not deportations will generally be cases where a person is being returned for a breach of UK immigration laws or for not being able to demonstrate any lawful basis to remain in the UK.
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 policy paper entitled UK-Germany joint action plan: irregular migration, published on 10 December 2024, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the joint action plan on the level of illegal migration since December 2024.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The recent change to German legislation is a key part of the Government's efforts to crack down on small boat crossings and secure UK borders. This change was agreed as part of the UK-Germany Joint Action Plan (JAP) and demonstrates the strength of our international partnerships, continuing close UK-Ger cooperation and the value of the JAP.
Under the new legislation, people smuggling gangs storing boats and engines in Germany, for use in Channel crossings, will face 10 years in prison. This change gives UK and German law enforcement agencies stronger powers to dismantle criminal networks and tackle the supply and storage of small boat equipment. The legislation also strengthens sharing of information between UK and German law enforcement, which will lead to more people smugglers being brought to justice.
The UK and Germany judge that this legislation change is necessary and will make a difference. Law enforcement agencies continue to work closely, with both systems working to support effective implementation and monitor its operational impact.
The Home Secretary has spoken with her German counterpart, Interior Minister Dobrindt, about the importance of this legislative change and our continued close cooperation in the fight against people smuggling.
The Home Office and German Ministry of the Interior closely monitor delivery of the JAP on an ongoing basis, including through the UK-Germany Home Affairs Dialogue, as well as via frequent operational engagement. A formal assessment of the impact of the plan in its entirety has not yet been undertaken. However, operational outcomes are routinely monitored.
The UK and Germany are cooperating closely and at pace to ensure the criminal gangs undermining both countries’ respective border security face justice.
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, whether her Department has assessed the potential effectiveness of recent German legislation targeted at people smugglers; and whether she has had discussions with her German counterpart on this matter.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The recent change to German legislation is a key part of the Government's efforts to crack down on small boat crossings and secure UK borders. This change was agreed as part of the UK-Germany Joint Action Plan (JAP) and demonstrates the strength of our international partnerships, continuing close UK-Ger cooperation and the value of the JAP.
Under the new legislation, people smuggling gangs storing boats and engines in Germany, for use in Channel crossings, will face 10 years in prison. This change gives UK and German law enforcement agencies stronger powers to dismantle criminal networks and tackle the supply and storage of small boat equipment. The legislation also strengthens sharing of information between UK and German law enforcement, which will lead to more people smugglers being brought to justice.
The UK and Germany judge that this legislation change is necessary and will make a difference. Law enforcement agencies continue to work closely, with both systems working to support effective implementation and monitor its operational impact.
The Home Secretary has spoken with her German counterpart, Interior Minister Dobrindt, about the importance of this legislative change and our continued close cooperation in the fight against people smuggling.
The Home Office and German Ministry of the Interior closely monitor delivery of the JAP on an ongoing basis, including through the UK-Germany Home Affairs Dialogue, as well as via frequent operational engagement. A formal assessment of the impact of the plan in its entirety has not yet been undertaken. However, operational outcomes are routinely monitored.
The UK and Germany are cooperating closely and at pace to ensure the criminal gangs undermining both countries’ respective border security face justice.
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 estimate her Department has made of the average cost to the public purse of deportations in each year since 2020.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information you have requested about the average cost of deportations of foreign national offenders (FNOs) is not available from published statistics, as we do not publish these costs.
The Home Office publishes all available information on expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and accounts, which can be found here: Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK.
Over 7,000 FNOs have been returned from the UK under this government, and we will continue to do everything we can to remove these vile criminals from our streets.
Foreign nationals who commit crime should be in no doubt that the law will be enforced and, where appropriate, we will pursue their deportation.
The Home Office makes no apology for the fact that its priority will always be to keep our communities safe. As such, we are fully committed to making our communities safer by deporting foreign nationals who break our laws.
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 recent estimate she has made of the number of illegal migrants residing within the UK.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
By its very nature, it is not possible to know the exact size of the illegal population, or the number of people who arrive illegally, and so we do not seek to make any official or internal estimates of the illegal population. The latest position on this from the Home Office and ONS is outlined in this statement: Measuring illegal migration: our current view - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk).
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many immigrants found to have been working illegally since 2020 have been making National Insurance payments.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold the data you have requested.
The Home Office takes the issue of illegal working seriously and continues to take robust enforcement action against those who breach immigration laws.
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, how many meetings she has had with a) National Asylum Stakeholder Forum and b) the Strategic Engagement Group in the last 12 months.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The National Asylum Stakeholder Forum and the Asylum Strategic Engagement Group both meet four times a year.
The Home Secretary has not attended these meetings in the past 12 months. Home Office officials attend on her behalf.
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 of Answer of 22 December 2025 to Question 99417: Undocumented Migrants, what steps she is taking to strengthen sanctions against illegal migrants once they have been relocated and detained.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Where an absconder is located, they may be arrested and detained for the purposes of removal. It is generally in the public interest to pursue the removal of those with no permission to be in the UK.
Where detention is not appropriate, a person may be released on immigration bail as an alternative to detention, allowing the Home Office to maintain contact with those who require permission to be in the UK but do not have it whilst a decision is made on their case or pending their removal or deportation.
A person who is subject to immigration bail is required to comply with one or more bail conditions. Conditions may include a requirement to report regularly to the Home Office, to reside at a specific location, to be electronically monitored and a restriction on work. The number and type of immigration bail conditions imposed will vary depending on the circumstances of the individual case. A person who has previously absconded is likely to have more stringent bail conditions imposed.
Where someone fails to comply with their bail conditions, they may be arrested, detained, have their bail conditions varied to be more stringent, or they can be arrested for the criminal offence, which is punishable by a fine or term of imprisonment.