Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many applications for British citizenship from UK-based foreign nationals (1) have been processed, and (2) are yet to be processed, as of 30 September.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on the processing of applications for British citizenship on the Gov.uk website.
Information on the location of customers who have applied for citizenship is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Data on the number of citizenship applications decided each quarter can be found here: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK
The number of outstanding citizenship applications each quarter can be found here: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 30 September (HL10502), why they do not publish the number of individuals granted seasonal worker visas in each of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; and whether they plan to publish that disaggregated data.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account several factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 30 September (HL10502), why they do not publish data on the number of individuals who overstay their seasonal worker visa, and whether they plan to publish such data.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account several factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 30 September (HL10502), what assessment they have made of the risk of people who receive a seasonal worker visa overstaying, and what steps they are taking to prevent overstaying on those visas.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Seasonal Worker route is an operator led immigration route with six Scheme Operators responsible for selecting suitable workers from overseas. UK Visas and Immigration closely monitor the performance of the Scheme Operators to ensure high standards of returns are maintained.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people who received a seasonal worker visa stayed in the UK beyond the six-month limit for horticultural work in (1) 2023, (2) 2024, and (3) 2025.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas, including Seasonal Worker visas, in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on visa applications are published in table ‘Vis_D01’ whilst data on outcomes of visa applications are published in table ‘Vis_D02’ of the ‘detailed entry clearance visas dataset’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data is from January 2005 up to the end of June 2025.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar.’
Seasonal Worker | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 (Jan - Jun) |
Applications | 33,592 | 36,434 | 28,837 |
Issued | 32,758 | 35,387 | 28,923 |
Refused | 676 | 669 | 194 |
The information requested regarding work placements in Scotland and overstayers in the horticultural and poultry industries is not currently 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: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people who received a seasonal worker visa stayed in the UK beyond the two-month limit for poultry work in (1) 2023, (2) 2024, and (3) 2025.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas, including Seasonal Worker visas, in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on visa applications are published in table ‘Vis_D01’ whilst data on outcomes of visa applications are published in table ‘Vis_D02’ of the ‘detailed entry clearance visas dataset’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data is from January 2005 up to the end of June 2025.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar.’
Seasonal Worker | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 (Jan - Jun) |
Applications | 33,592 | 36,434 | 28,837 |
Issued | 32,758 | 35,387 | 28,923 |
Refused | 676 | 669 | 194 |
The information requested regarding work placements in Scotland and overstayers in the horticultural and poultry industries is not currently 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: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people applied for a seasonal worker visa in (1) 2023, (2) 2024, and (3) 2025, broken down by how many applications were (a) accepted, and (b) rejected.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas, including Seasonal Worker visas, in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on visa applications are published in table ‘Vis_D01’ whilst data on outcomes of visa applications are published in table ‘Vis_D02’ of the ‘detailed entry clearance visas dataset’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data is from January 2005 up to the end of June 2025.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar.’
Seasonal Worker | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 (Jan - Jun) |
Applications | 33,592 | 36,434 | 28,837 |
Issued | 32,758 | 35,387 | 28,923 |
Refused | 676 | 669 | 194 |
The information requested regarding work placements in Scotland and overstayers in the horticultural and poultry industries is not currently 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: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people who received a seasonal worker visa completed their work placement in Scotland in (1) 2023, (2) 2024, and (3) 2025.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas, including Seasonal Worker visas, in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on visa applications are published in table ‘Vis_D01’ whilst data on outcomes of visa applications are published in table ‘Vis_D02’ of the ‘detailed entry clearance visas dataset’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data is from January 2005 up to the end of June 2025.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar.’
Seasonal Worker | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 (Jan - Jun) |
Applications | 33,592 | 36,434 | 28,837 |
Issued | 32,758 | 35,387 | 28,923 |
Refused | 676 | 669 | 194 |
The information requested regarding work placements in Scotland and overstayers in the horticultural and poultry industries is not currently 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: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government on what date the national audit on group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse, led by Baroness Casey, will be published.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The audit will conclude within three months of commencement and Baroness Casey will submit a written report, which will detail the evidence and findings across the areas detailed at section 2 of the Terms of Reference (which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-audit-on-group-based-child-sexual-exploitation-and-abuse-terms-of-reference/national-audit-on-group-based-child-sexual-exploitation-and-abuse-terms-of-reference).
The report will provide recommendations on what further local, regional or national work may be necessary, and it will be made publicly available by the Home Secretary in due course.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they consulted (1) British Association for Shooting and Conservation Scotland, (2) the Scottish Gamekeepers Association, (3) Scottish Land & Estates, (4) NFU Scotland, (5) the Scottish Association for Country Sports, (6) Scottish Target Shooting and (7) the Scottish Clay Target Association prior to laying the Firearms (Variation of Fees) Order 2025 before Parliament; and, if so, what details they can provide of the consultation and responses to it.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
On 15 January 2025, the Government laid a statutory instrument before Parliament that will increase fees charged by police forces to provide full-cost recovery for firearms licensing applications, in line with the Government's manifesto commitment on firearms fees. The fees were last increased in 2015 and they are now considerably below the cost of the service provided. It is essential for both public safety and police efficiency that increased fees are introduced so that service improvements can be made. The new fees will come into effect on 5 February.
The new fees are based on data produced by a review of firearms licensing costs in 31 police forces in January 2023. This data has since been updated to reflect increases in costs since then. The review was discussed at the Firearms Fees Working Group, chaired by the Home Office, which met in 2022 and 2023 with representation from:
· National Police Chiefs' Council
· Association of Police and Crime Commissioners
· Police Scotland
· Scottish Government
· Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
· British Shooting Sports Council
· British Association for Shooting and Conservation
· Gun Trade Association
· National Rifle Association
· Countryside Alliance
· National Gamekeepers Organisation
· Scottish Association for Country Sports.
A full impact assessment, which covers the impact of increased fees on rural communities, was published alongside the statutory instrument. The Policing Minister met with both the BSSC and BASC on the 13 January 2025.