Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to lay the changes to the Immigration Rules setting out how sponsor human rights claims are to be made; and whether they will be laid before the Report stage of the Immigration and Asylum Bill.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister of State (Home Office)
The changes to the Immigration Rules which will set out the procedural requirements for sponsor human rights claims will not be laid before Report Stage of the Immigration and Asylum Bill.
We will set out our plan for laying the relevant Immigration Rules in due course.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times in 2025 she gave consent under section 85(5) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 for the Tribunal to consider a new matter in an appeal.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested 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: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many grants of leave were made on the basis of Article 3 of the ECHR on medical grounds in each of the last three years; and what assessment she has made of the potential effect of Part 2 of the Immigration and Asylum Bill on the number of Article 3 claims.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not publish data on the number of grants of leave made on the basis of Article 3 of the ECHR. It may be raised in a range of applications, including protection claims or human rights claims.
Article 3 of the ECHR prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. It is an absolute right, meaning it cannot be balanced against the public interest, national security concerns, criminality or immigration control objectives.
Article 8, relating to family and private life, addresses a different Convention right. It is a qualified right and is therefore subject to different legal thresholds. The reforms in Part 2 in the Immigration and Asylum Bill will strengthen the public interest test under Article 8.
They do not lower the extremely high threshold that must be met to engage Article 3 nor translate to the same considerations under Article 3. As a result, we do not expect the Article 8 reforms to generate a corresponding impact increase in successful Article 3 claims
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what checks of a sponsor’s criminal record and history of domestic abuse, stalking, sexual offending or forced marriage are made before a sponsor human rights claim is decided.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister of State (Home Office)
Safeguarding vulnerable migrants, including potential victims of domestic abuse and sexual offences, will be a key consideration in the implementation of sponsor human rights claims.
We will set out any safeguarding requirements for sponsor human rights claims in the Immigration Rules, which provide the flexibility needed to respond to safeguarding risks.
This will include full consideration of whether additional safeguarding requirements are necessary as we develop the procedural requirements for sponsor human rights claims in the Immigration Rules.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what definition of “partner” will be used by her Department for the purposes of new section 117AA of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 as inserted by clause 18 of the Immigration and Asylum Bill; and whether a minimum period of cohabitation will be required.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister of State (Home Office)
Whether a partner relationship constitutes family life under new section 117AA will depend on the facts of the individual case. Cohabitation is an important indicator, but it is not an absolute requirement under Clause 18 of the Immigration and Asylum Bill. This preserves the ability to recognise genuine relationships where a couple cannot live together or has legitimate reasons for living apart.
Further details on requirements will be set out in the Immigration Rules in due course.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for entry clearance were granted on Article 8 grounds outside the Immigration Rules in each of the last three years; and how many of those grants related to a family member outside the applicant’s spouse, partner or minor child.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold published data on the number of entry clearance grants on Article 8 outside of the Immigration Rules.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average time was from lodging to determination of an appeal in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) broken down by (a) protection appeals and (b) human rights appeals in (i) 2025 and (ii) 2026.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Published data in relation to average time taken to conclude appeals within the First-tier Tribunal Immigration & Asylum Chamber (FtTIAC) broken down by appeal type can be found here
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics – within the main tables tab T_3.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the additional number of (a) judges and (b) sitting days for the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) required as a result of appeals from the Independent Immigration Appeals Authority.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber (FTT-IAC) and the Independent Immigration Appeals Authority (IIAA) will operate a considerable period of dual running, during which the FTT-IAC will continue to hear appeals in parallel to the IIAA. Levels of demand in the Upper Tribunal-Immigration and Asylum Chamber (UT-IAC) and potential sitting day requirements will be driven by the rate at which the IIAA is scaled up, which is yet to be determined. The Department is closely supporting the Home Office as it develops detailed implementation plans.
Our latest published data shows that 311 FTT-IAC judges were in post as of 1 April 2026, a net increase of 54 (21%) compared with 1 April 2025. We are now considering the future capacity requirements both in the FTT-IAC and the UT-IAC, as part of planning for the 2027/28 judicial recruitment programme.
In addition, this year, sitting days in the FTT-IAC are due to increase by 19% compared with 2024/25, so more cases can be heard and decisions made faster.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average cost to the public purse was of an appeal determined by the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) in (a) 2025 and (b) 2026.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) reports cost information on a financial year rather than calendar year basis.
A full average cost per disposal cannot be produced separately for the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) and the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), as a significant proportion of corporate overhead costs are shared across the two tribunals and are not apportioned between them.
The average costs per disposal for the First-tier and Upper Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber combined, in each of the last two financial years, were:
£2,847 per disposal in 2024/25; and
£3,079 per disposal in 2025/26.
These figures cover the cost (to HMCTS only) of all disposed cases, including those that were withdrawn by one or other of the parties before reaching a final determination.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the (a) set-up and (b) annual running costs of the Independent Immigration Appeals Authority in each of its first five financial years.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister of State (Home Office)
Detailed plans for the new authority are being developed, including costs. As currently set out in the Asylum & Immigration Bill (schedule 2, paragraph 11), once the IIAA is operational, it will publish its annual report and accounts as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of each financial year.