Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether their Department has run any (a) recruitment and (b) internship schemes aimed to increase the number of people from underrepresented groups in the workforce in the last year.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what process her Department follows after an asylum seekers’ claim has been rejected.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Asylum claims can be refused with a right of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) or refused without a right of appeal (certified). Those who do not exercise, or do not have, a right of appeal are expected to leave the United Kingdom voluntarily or can be subject to enforced removal. If a claim is certified without a right of appeal, there is an avenue to apply for a Judicial Review.
A claimant may introduce fresh evidence during the appeal process. Even if they exhaust the appeal process there is still an opportunity to present fresh evidence as “further submissions” to which the Home Office must give due consideration.
Once all legal barriers have been removed the claimant can be subject to enforced removal.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data her Department holds on the number and proportion of (a) foreign and (b) UK nationals who were able to find jobs within (i) one, (ii) three and (iii) six months of starting Universal Credit in each of the last three years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The requested information is not held and to produce it would incur disproportionate costs.
Information on the number of people on UC by nationality including their employment status is published in DWP statistics here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statis-tics/universal-credit-statistics-29-april-2013-to-10-july-2025
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure the safety of public transportation workers from (a) violence and (b) other abuse.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Violence or abuse against public transport workers is unacceptable. The Government is committed to ensuring that staff across the network not only feel safe but are safe while carrying out their duties. The Department for Transport works closely with the transport industry and, on the railways, with the British Transport Police to maintain a safe environment for both staff and passengers.
Through the Bus Services (No.2) Bill, the Government is proposing mandatory training for bus industry staff, including drivers and other frontline staff, to help them recognise and respond to crime and anti-social behaviour on the network. This training will make clear that staff should only intervene where it is safe to do so.
On the railways, the Department for Transport and British Transport Police continue to encourage operators to prioritise staff safety, including the wider adoption of Body Worn Video (BWV). A 2019 academic trial showed that BWV reduced violence against station staff wearing the devices by 47%.
It remains essential that all incidents of abuse or violence are reported to the police, so they can be properly investigated and offenders held to account.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce antisocial behaviour on public transport.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department is working across government and with partners, including the British Transport Police (BTP), the transport industry and local authorities, to ensure that everyone feels and is safe when travelling.
This includes proposals in the Bus Services (No. 2) Bill, such as staff training on how to recognise and respond to incidents of criminal and anti-social behaviour (ASB). The Bill also enables all Local Transport Authorities to introduce byelaws to tackle ASB on vehicles, as well as within and at bus-related infrastructure (for example bus stations).
On the rail network, DfT and the BTP are committed to working closely with Train Operating Companies to ensure our railways are safe, reliable, and efficient for all passengers, staff, and communities. This includes tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB) that might annoy, frighten, intimidate, or otherwise upset other people.
In addition, in November 2023, the Department provided £2.5 million for five pilot schemes in England, aimed at tackling ASB on public transport, primarily by introducing Transport Safety Officers (TSOs) on the network. The pilots came to an end in March 2025, and a full evaluation of the programme is being carried out. We are also developing a guide for local authorities who are considering using similar schemes to allow them to decide whether these approaches would work on their local networks.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that deaf people can receive appropriate care at home.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the needs of their populations, which is why, under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care market to meet the diverse needs of all people, including ensuring that deaf people receive appropriate care at home.
Additionally, the Government is taking steps to ensure that people, including deaf people, can receive high-quality, personalised care at home. This is part of the Government’s wider improvements to adult social care as we progress towards a National Care Service. These steps include:
- investing £12 million in workforce training through the Learning and Development Support Scheme, helping care workers to develop the skills needed to support people with sensory disabilities, including deaf individuals;
- rolling out the Care Workforce Pathway, which sets out the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed to deliver high-quality care across eight role categories, including personal assistants and enhanced care workers;
- supporting unpaid carers, who play a vital role in home-based care – from March 2026, millions of unpaid carers will be able to manage care plans, appointments and prescriptions via the NHS App;
- raising the Carer’s Allowance earnings limit to £196 per week and reviewing the case for paid carer’s leave;
- expanding care options to support independent living, with an additional £172 million for the Disabled Facilities Grant over two years, enabling around 15,600 extra home adaptations; and
- introducing care technology standards to help people choose the right support at home.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether their Department has run any (a) recruitment and (b) internship schemes aimed to increase the number of people from underrepresented groups in the workforce in the last year.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMT has not run any recruitment or internship schemes specifically aimed at increasing the number of people from underrepresented groups.
HMT has participated in some cross-government internship schemes such as the Cabinet Office run Summer Intern Placement (SIP), Autism Exchange Internship Placement and the Department of Work and Pensions’ Movement to Work Scheme.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers who have had their claims rejected were in receipt of Home Office accommodation support on 10 October 2025.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of asylum seekers in receipt of support, by support type, is published in table Asy_D11 of the ‘Asylum support detailed datasets’.
Individuals receiving Section 4 support have had their asylum claim refused but they are destitute and there are reasons that temporarily prevent them from leaving the UK. Please note that Section 95 support data includes some failed asylum seekers who had children in their household when their appeal rights were exhausted.
The latest data relates to as at 30 June 2025. Data for as at 30 September 2025 will be published on 27 November 2025. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking with (a) local authorities and (b) voluntary organisations to assist disabled people with transportation to medical appointments.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Plan for Change, we will ensure that 92% of patients return to waiting no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment by March 2029, a standard which has not been met consistently since September 2015. The Government is clear that reforming elective care must be done equitably and inclusively for all adults, children, and young people.
We know there is also geographical variation in waiting times. It is important that patients, including disabled patients, do not miss or cancel hospital appointments due to a lack of affordable and/or accessible transport options in their area. This is why the Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, committed to reviewing, developing and increasing the uptake of existing national health inequalities improvement initiatives. Specifically, the plan committed to reviewing local patient transport services and improving the signposting to, and the accessibility of, them for patients, to make it easier for vulnerable groups to travel to and access appointments.
NHS England are funding and co-ordinating a range of patient transport projects to explore more effective approaches to supporting patients with their NHS travel needs.
NHS England work with individual NHS organisations, local authorities, transport providers and other stakeholders to continually pilot, review, refine and propagate approaches to improving the choice, affordability, and accessibility of transport options for NHS patients.
A non-emergency patient transport service (NEPTS) provides funded transport where a medical condition means a patient cannot safely travel to receive their treatment independently. Transport may be provided by the ambulance service, independent providers, the voluntary sector and volunteers.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether their Department has run any (a) recruitment and (b) internship schemes aimed to increase the number of people from underrepresented groups in the workforce in the last year.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As set out in the Civil Service People Plan 2024 - 2027, published under the previous government, we are committed to ensuring we attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds to create a modern Civil Service, now and for the future.