Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many referrals Immigration Enforcement has received from (i) local authorities and (ii) police forces regarding rough sleeping by non-UK nationals.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested is not centrally held and could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many non-UK nationals have had their permission to stay refused or cancelled under paragraphs SUI 26.1 and SUI 26.2 of Part Suitability of the Immigration Rules on the grounds of rough sleeping.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This information could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many non-UK nationals have been removed from the UK following a decision under paragraphs SUI 26.1 or SUI 26.2 of Part Suitability of the Immigration Rules.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This information could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the nationality breakdown was of people subject to decisions under paragraphs SUI 26.1 and SUI 26.2 of the Part Suitability of the Immigration Rules in each year since 1 December 2020.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This information could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessments of the potential impact of approving a new Chines embassy on Hong Kongers in the UK.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The decision on whether or not to approve planning permission for the proposed Chinese Embassy site at the Royal Mint Court is an independent one for the Secretary of State for the Ministry for Housing, Communities, and Local Government in his quasi-judicial role.
Protecting the public and our national security has been the key priority for the Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office during the planning process. We have made this clear in public representations to the inquiry throughout. The Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary confirmed in their 27 November representation to the planning enquiry that the public safety and national security concerns raised in previous representations have been addressed.
This Government stands with members of the Hong Kong community who have relocated to the UK and will continue to support them. Any attempt by China or any other foreign power to intimidate, harass or harm individuals or communities in the UK will not be tolerated. Wherever we identify such threats, we will use any and all measures, including through our world-class intelligence services, to mitigate risk to individuals.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs review of cannabis-based products for medicinal use is expected to be completed and published.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Cannabis-based products for medicinal use (‘CBPMs’) were placed in Schedule 2 to the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 in 2018, making them available for prescribing.
The Government has commissioned the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (‘ACMD’) to review the evidence on CBPMs and assess whether the legislative change in 2018 has had the desired effect and whether there have been any unintended consequences.
The ACMD is an independent scientific advisory body and determines its own procedures. However, the three-year Ministerial commission for 2025 – 2028 flagged the CBPM commission as a priority.
The Government will consider the advice carefully before deciding what action to take. The response will be published on gov.uk.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to improve the compliance of license holders with the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
All establishments licensed to breed or supply animals, or to carry out regulated procedures on animals under ASPA in Great Britain, are subject to the full requirements of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA).
The Regulator conducts audits to assure establishments’ compliance with the terms of their licences, the Code of Practice and with ASPA. Each establishment will receive an audit at least every three years if it does not hold special species and at least every year if it holds specially protected species.
The Regulator is presently undertaking a structured programme of reforms. This will increase the total number of Inspectors from 17 at the end of 2023, to 22 by end of 2025.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he is taking steps to ensure that the enforcement of safe access zones is proportionate to other (a) protests and (b) gatherings.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Government has recently published and consulted on draft guidance on the enforcement of abortion safe access zones.
The Home Office is now considering the responses before we publish a final version.
The Home Secretary is committed to ensuring that women in England and Wales feel safe and protected whilst exercising their legal right to access abortion services and I am confident that this guidance will support the effective introduction of Safe Access Zones.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress he has made on reducing the backlog of asylum cases.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Provisional data indicates that between the end of November 2022 and October 2023 the legacy backlog reduced by 64% and we remain on track to clear the legacy backlog by the end of the year as per the Prime Minister’s commitment last year.
We will continue the steps we are already taking to speed up asylum processing whilst maintaining the integrity of the system. This includes better performance management, overtime, and shorer, focussed interviews.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment the Government has made of the difference in fees in visa applications applying to some EEA and EU member state nationals; and what steps the Government is taking to improve equal treatment of all EEA/EU nationals under the current visa regime.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The UK has long standing arrangements in its legislation for the nationals of countries which have ratified the 1961 Council of Europe’s Social Charter (CESC) to qualify for a fee reduction for visa applications to come to work in the UK.
Nationals of the 26 countries which have signed and ratified the CESC are eligible for a reduction of £55 to their application fee if they are applying for a visa under a work route. Where the applicant is required to have a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) from their employer, the CoS can be issued free of charge.
Details of the routes which qualify for a reduced fee are published on at:
The fee reduction of £55 only applies to the main applicant, it does not apply to dependants.