Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Oral Statement of 22 July 2024 on Border Security and Asylum, Official Report, columns 384-387, how many people who would have been eligible for (a) processing and (b) relocation to Rwanda have remained in the UK.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
I refer the Rt Hon Gentleman to the Statement form the Home Secretary on 22 July 2024, to which this question refers, and which explains the fundamental flaw in the premise of his question, namely that – during his own time as Home Secretary, he was unable to establish a way to make the Rwanda scheme operational, and as such, the categories referred to in this question do not exist.
Nevertheless, the Rt Hon Gentleman will be pleased to note that – since coming to office – this Government has ensured the removal of more than 24,000 people with no right to be in the UK, the highest nine-month total for returns since January to September in 2017.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce small boat crossings.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
I refer the Rt Hon Gentleman to the Statements made by the Home Secretary when moving the Border Security Asylum and Immigration Bill for its second reading on 10 February 2025, and when reporting on the UK’s hosting of the Organised Immigration Crime summit on 31 March 2025.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers who have had their applications rejected have been deported from the UK since July 2024; and what steps is she taking to increase such deportations in the next six months.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has recently published the number of asylum related returns between 05 July 2024 and 22 March 2025 in Returns from the UK from 5 July 2024 to 22 March 2025 - GOV.UK.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with her international counterparts on third-country processing arrangements for people seeking to claim asylum in the UK.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government will continue to work with international partners to tackle the global migration crisis. The Home Secretary has convened an international summit focussed on Organised Immigration Crime, bringing together Interior ministers and law enforcement experts from across the world to develop our combined response to the gangs who facilitate this vile trade in human lives.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate she has made of the total cost of providing accommodation for asylum seekers in hotels in each of the next five years; and what these costs were in each of the past five years.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes information on asylum expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts at HO annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of raising the minimum income requirement for family visas.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to consult with the local community before any changes to the cap on the number of asylum seekers at the Asylum Reception Centre at the former RAF Wethersfield are made.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
Occupancy at the Wethersfield site is currently capped at 580 as part of the Special Development Order. This means that during current operation of the site, the population will not exceed 580.
Once the relevant Special Development Order conditions have been discharged, regular occupancy will be capped at 800. The number of residents on the site at any one time is likely to vary due to a number of factors, including individuals having moved to onward dispersed accommodation while their claims are being considered.
In addition to verbal updates given at various engagement forums with key stakeholders and partners the Wethersfield: Factsheet is revised regularly and updated to provide relevant information to the community.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to maintain the cap on the number of asylum seekers at the Asylum Reception Centre at the former RAF Wethersfield.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
Occupancy at the Wethersfield site is currently capped at 580 as part of the Special Development Order. This means that during current operation of the site, the population will not exceed 580.
Once the relevant Special Development Order conditions have been discharged, regular occupancy will be capped at 800. The number of residents on the site at any one time is likely to vary due to a number of factors, including individuals having moved to onward dispersed accommodation while their claims are being considered.
In addition to verbal updates given at various engagement forums with key stakeholders and partners the Wethersfield: Factsheet is revised regularly and updated to provide relevant information to the community.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to shut down the asylum reception centre at the former RAF Wethersfield.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
Any decisions on the future use of Wethersfield will be made in due course and announced in the normal way.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many incidents of disorder there were at the Asylum Reception Centre at the former RAF Wethersfield between 1 July and 1 October 2024.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The safety and security of the local communities, the staff and those accommodated on the sites are of the utmost importance, with a specialist and experienced provider of security services permanently on site.
We also work closely and routinely with Essex Police to ensure appropriate security arrangements are in place. The Home Office also continues to engage regularly with representatives from the Council, the NHS, the Police, and local partners to address the concerns of those most impacted by the site and to keep them informed.
During the period 1 July to 1 October 2024, there has been one incident of disorder on site at Wethersfield.