Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
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 UK-funded French police operations on the safety and wellbeing of people attempting to seek asylum; and what steps she is taking to ensure accountability for violence committed by officers funded by the UK.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
It would be inappropriate for the Home Office to comment upon the composition or duties of French law enforcement units. It is important to emphasise that French law enforcement units necessarily operate independently of UK law enforcement, though there is regular liaison, information exchange, and alignment of operational approaches between the two countries.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what monitoring mechanisms exist to ensure that UK-funded activities in France, whether involving public authorities or private contractors, do not contribute to human rights violations against people on the move.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
France is a key partner in tackling OIC and joint work is seeing French personnel being deployed, supported by cutting-edge surveillance technologies and equipment; and more work is being done to disrupt organised criminal gangs through improved intelligence sharing.
Details of UK funding to France and its purpose are publicly available here:
The Government ensures that UK funded activities to prevent small boat crossings comply with human rights obligations through regular engagement with French counterparts, robust governance arrangements within the agreements, and ongoing monitoring and review processes to identify and address any potential risks promptly. These measures collectively safeguard against any breach of human rights while supporting the objectives of the agreements.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much UK public funding has been provided to the French Government under agreements relating to Channel operations since 2020; and for what specific purposes this funding has been used.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
France is a key partner in tackling OIC and joint work is seeing French personnel being deployed, supported by cutting-edge surveillance technologies and equipment; and more work is being done to disrupt organised criminal gangs through improved intelligence sharing.
Details of UK funding to France and its purpose are publicly available here:
The Government ensures that UK funded activities to prevent small boat crossings comply with human rights obligations through regular engagement with French counterparts, robust governance arrangements within the agreements, and ongoing monitoring and review processes to identify and address any potential risks promptly. These measures collectively safeguard against any breach of human rights while supporting the objectives of the agreements.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's White Paper entitled Restoring Control over the Immigration System, published on 12 May 2025, whether her Department has undertaken an (a) equality and (b) impact assessment on the potential impact of its proposed changes to the qualifying period for settlement on (i) British Nationals (Overseas) visa holders and (ii) their family members.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is committed to supporting members of the Hong Kong community who have relocated to the UK and those who may come here in future.
We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year and further details of the proposed scheme will be provided at that time. An assessment of equality and other impacts will be developed alongside any finalised policy.
We regularly engage with representatives of the Hong Kong diaspora in the UK on issues related to the BN(O) visa and will continue to do so.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help support migrants into work.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration and asylum system under regular review, and recently published a White Paper setting out the Government’s plans for reform in a wide range of areas, including employment opportunities for refugees, illegal working by asylum seekers, and exploitation and abuse of migrant workers.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 58258 on Asylum: Syria, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of granting Syrian asylum seekers in the UK the right to work throughout the period in which all asylum interviews and decisions relating to Syrian nationals are paused.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Asylum seekers who have had their claim outstanding for 12 months or more, through no fault of their own, can apply for permission to work. Those permitted to work are restricted to jobs on the Immigration Salary List. This policy applies to Syrian nationals whose asylum claims have been temporarily paused while we await reliable and objective information to enable an accurate assessment of the risk they may face upon return to Syria.
The pause on Syrian asylum claims is under constant review and as soon as there is a clear basis upon which to make decisions, we will resume the processing of them.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish the evaluation of the move-on period pilot extension; and whether her Department plans to further extend the pilot.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In December, the Home Office operationalised a pilot to extend the grace period to 56 days. It is important that we take the necessary time to evaluate the impact of the interim measures, including overall net costs to taxpayers, before deciding whether to make the measures permanent. We will make further announcements in the normal way in due course.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to process the outstanding asylum applications of Syrians in the UK.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Following the fall of the Assad regime, the Home Office has withdrawn the Country Policy Information Notes and Guidance relating to Syria and has temporarily paused all asylum interviews and decisions.
The pause is being kept under constant review and when there is a clear basis upon which to make decisions, we will resume the processing of them.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the White paper entitled Restoring Control over the Immigration System, published in May 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to the settlement rule on British Nationals (Overseas) visa holders.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) route was launched on 31 January 2021 in response to China’s passing of the National Security Law. The route reflects the UK’s historic and moral commitment to those people of Hong Kong who chose to retain their ties to the UK by taking up BN(O) status at the point of Hong Kong’s handover to China in 1997.
The Government is committed to supporting members of the Hong Kong community who have relocated to the UK and those who may come here in future.
Further details of all measures announced in the Immigration White Paper will be set out in the normal way in due course, and where necessary, will be subject to consultation.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to provide an additional resettlement quota for Afghan refugees in Pakistan identified by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for resettlement.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Between 2021 and March 2025, over 34,000 individuals have been resettled and relocated through the Afghan Resettlement Programme. The latest immigration statistics can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-march-2025.
The Government’s priority remains the resettlement and relocation of those already identified as eligible but who have not yet travelled.