Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of proposed shotgun licensing reforms on rural employment.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February this year, included a commitment to having a public consultation on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns to bring them more into line with the controls on other firearms in the interests of public safety. We intend to publish this consultation shortly.
We will carefully consider all of the views put forward during the consultation once it is completed, including from those who live and work in rural communities, before taking any decision on whether and what changes may be necessary in the interests of public safety. We will also provide an assessment of the impact of any changes that we bring forward after the consultation, including to the business community in rural areas.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department carried out an impact assessment on the introduction of an affirmative statutory instrument to amend the Public Order Act 2023.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
On Thursday 27 November 2025, the Home Office laid an affirmative Statutory Instrument in Parliament to amend Section 7 and Section 8 of the Public Order Act (POA) (2023). This will amend the list of key national infrastructure within Section 7 of the POA, to add the life sciences sector and define the life sciences sector in Section 8 of the POA.
A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument. However, the Economic Note makes frequent use of the original Impact Assessment produced for the Public Order Bill in 2022. The Economic Note also contains a specific impact test for statutory Equalities Duties in which it assesses there to be no expected impacts on any protected characteristics as an outcome of these regulations.
An Explanatory Memorandum and an Economic Note are available alongside this instrument at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2025/9780348277029/resources
The Impact Assessment conducted for the Public Order Bill in 2022 is available here: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/58-03/0008/Impact%20Assessment%20-%20Public%20Order%20Bill%20-%2017May22.PDF
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with the Metropolitan Police on its decision to retract approval for farmers to bring their tractors to London for a protest.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The right to peaceful protest is a vital part of our democracy and will not be curtailed by this government. However, these rights are not absolute and must be balanced with the rights and freedoms of others.
Section 12 of the Public Order Act 1986 allows the police to impose conditions on public processions protest as appears necessary to prevent serious public disorder, serious damage to property or serious disruption to the life of the community. Any conditions that are considered necessary by a senior police officer can be placed on the protest including the location, route and date of the protest or prohibiting individuals entering any public place specified.
The management of demonstrations is an operational matter for the police and Ministers are not involved in such decisions. Police forces work with organisers to plan protests and assess risks and manage safety.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she had with the Metropolitan Police prior to their decision to retract approval for farmers to bring their tractors to London for a protest.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The right to peaceful protest is a vital part of our democracy and will not be curtailed by this government. However, these rights are not absolute and must be balanced with the rights and freedoms of others.
Section 12 of the Public Order Act 1986 allows the police to impose conditions on public processions protest as appears necessary to prevent serious public disorder, serious damage to property or serious disruption to the life of the community. Any conditions that are considered necessary by a senior police officer can be placed on the protest including the location, route and date of the protest or prohibiting individuals entering any public place specified.
The management of demonstrations is an operational matter for the police and Ministers are not involved in such decisions. Police forces work with organisers to plan protests and assess risks and manage safety.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support people with British Nationals (Overseas) visas in relation to the changes set out in the Command Paper entitled A Fairer Pathway to Settlement.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government remains steadfast in its support for members of the Hong Kong community in the UK.
BN(O) visa holders will attract a 5-year reduction in the qualifying period for settlement, meaning they will continue to be able to settle in the UK after 5 years’ residence, subject to meeting the mandatory requirements.
We are seeking views on earned settlement through the public consultation A Fairer Pathway to Settlement and will continue to listen to the views of Hong Kongers. Details of the earned settlement model will be finalised following that consultation.
Once the changes are implemented, we will publish clear guidance for BN(O) visa holders to help them understand any new requirements.
In the meantime, the current rules for settlement under the BN(O) route will continue to apply.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
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 the recent changes to mandatory requirements for British Nationals (Overseas) who have not yet obtained indefinite leave to remain.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government remains steadfast in its support for members of the Hong Kong community in the UK.
BN(O) visa holders will attract a 5-year reduction in the qualifying period for settlement, meaning they will continue to be able to settle in the UK after 5 years’ residence, subject to meeting the mandatory requirements.
The new mandatory requirements for settlement are basic requirements that we think are reasonable for people to meet if they want to settle here. However, we are seeking views on earned settlement through the public consultation A Fairer Pathway to Settlement and will continue to listen to the views of Hong Kongers. Details of the earned settlement model will be finalised following that consultation. An impact assessment will be developed alongside the finalised policy.
In the meantime, the current rules for settlement under the BN(O) route will continue to apply.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has to end the for-profit system of housing people seeking asylum.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office is undertaking reforms to the asylum accommodation estate, including pilot schemes to repurpose derelict buildings and to develop other community-led alternatives to the use of hotels. This work will help inform the future operating model, currently being developed as part of the Asylum Support Accommodation Programme, which is leading on plans for the replacement of the current Asylum Accommodation Support Contracts (AASC).
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of automated translation tools for use in the asylum decision making process.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not currently use AI or automation for interpreting or translation purposes.
The Home Office is currently exploring the technology landscape for translation and transcription solutions with the view to better understand the capabilities and their current maturity, along with the risks and benefits. The intent is to understand the feasibility and adequacy of utilising this type of technology to support processes within the Migration & Borders system. This exploration is also supportive of engaging with experts and academia to ensure a well-informed and evidence-based approach.
The Home Office is investing in innovative techniques, including AI, to explore how we can improve productivity, speed up processing the asylum backlog, streamline the provision of accommodation and support, and restore order in the asylum system. This will not be at the cost of compromising on accuracy due to the complexity and importance of asylum decisions.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to publish further information on the extension of the Ukrainian visa scheme.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
On 1 September, the Home Secretary announced in parliament that the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme (UPE) would be extended for an additional 24 months to enable those eligible to obtain a further period of permission following their initial permission under UPE. More detail will follow in due course.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the independent report entitled Windrush Lessons Learned Review by Wendy Williams, updated 31 March 2020, what steps she has taken to ensure that the eVisas process provides adequate (a) safeguards, (b) fairness and (c) accountability for applicants.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are conscious of the lessons learnt from Windrush and are committed to ensuring that all people, including the most vulnerable, are properly supported as we transform our immigration system.
People who need support can contact the UKVI Resolution Centre to request that an account is created for them so they can access their eVisa. They can also get help to access their eVisa from Grant Funded Organisations or Local Authorities, or through the Assisted Digital Service if they are digitally excluded.
We are continuing to listen to the views and concerns of stakeholders and users of our digital systems and aim to continually enhance the user experience wherever possible. We have also increased the number of support services available to vulnerable people and have delivered £4m of grant funding to 72 voluntary and community sector organisations across the UK.
Listening to feedback from users, we have provided information and guidance videos on GOV.UK which show all users how to access and use their UKVI account.
We are continually improving the functionality and ease of use of the UKVI account to access an eVisa. For example, we recently added the facility for a person without an identity document to create an account and we will add the ability to link a Home Office issued travel document to a UKVI account later in 2025.
Monitoring of the system since the end of December 2024 suggests that for most people the transition to eVisa has gone smoothly. By the end of April 2025 over 4.3 million people had created an online (UKVI) account to access their eVisa, with the latest statistics published on GOV.UK on 22 May 2025. Further statistics will be published in due course.