Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will publish all information it holds on child sexual exploitation committed by illegal migrants.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The information you have requested is not available from published statistics and there is no immediate intention to publish them.
Work is currently underway to publish more detailed information on FNOs subject to deportation. Further information on this work can be found at: Statistics on foreign national offenders and the immigration system - GOV.UK.
In the twelve months between 1 February 2025 and 31 January 2026, over 5,600 foreign national offenders (FNOs) have been returned from the UK under this government, a 12% increase on the previous year, and we will continue to do everything we can to remove these vile criminals from our streets
In April 2025, the Home Office announced that it would – for the first time – categorise as a ‘particularly serious crime’ for the purpose of the Refugee Convention any conviction resulting in the offender being made subject to the notification requirements for sex offenders, regardless of the length of sentence they receive, thereby allowing the UK to exclude those individuals from being granted any right to claim asylum protections.
We will build on these reforms across the immigration system, as well as the asylum system, amending our policies and guidance to ensure we are upholding UK laws - taking action to prevent individuals who pose a danger to the British public from being allowed to stay in the UK, and taking much earlier action on a wider range of crimes.
We will set out more detailed reforms and stronger measures to ensure our laws are upheld, including streamlining and speeding up the removals process. That will include establishing new procedures so that the Home Office can more easily take enforcement and removal action and revoke visas in a much wider range of crimes where non-custodial sentences have been given, not just cases which are sent to prison.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the value, annual spend to date and forecast annual spend are for the contract entitled Support Payment Card held with Prepaid Financial Services Limited with contract start date 27 February 2021; and what the per-transaction and per-card cost structure is.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The total contract value is publicly available at: Support Payment Card - Contracts Finder
Information on spend to date, forecast spending and the per-transaction and per-card cost structure is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the role of Ministers is in approving or reviewing the award of high-value asylum contracts.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Prior to receiving internal, Home Office Commercial approvals, to award these contracts, supplier performance was reviewed and due diligence was carried out. Necessary external approvals from Cabinet Office Spend Controls were also obtained. The guidance for Cabinet Office Spend Controls applies to commercial activities costing £20 million or more, and is available here: Commercial spend controls (version 7) - GOV.UK
Details of the Principles for Ministerial involvement in commercial activity and the contacting process are included here: Principles for Ministerial involvement in commercial activity and the contracting process - GOV.UK
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what checks are undertaken by her Department on bidders’ prior performance on other public sector contracts, including any history of underperformance or contract failure, during the bidding process for contracts with her Department.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
All Home Office contracts are procured in line with public sector procurement regulations. As part of these regulations, robust due diligence checks are carried out on the bidders’ ability to deliver the contract in question and, in certain circumstances, it may be necessary to exclude bidders in line with relevant regulations.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Department will publish a consolidated annual report setting out total asylum contract expenditure, performance outcomes, and value-for-money assessments.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office Annual Report and accounts contain details of asylum spending and information relating to asylum processing and the asylum system. There are no current plans to expand this reported information.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what Key Performance Indicators are commonly applied across asylum contracts.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
KPI schedules and performance measures are set out in the contracts which are available on Contracts Finder and can be found in the links below:
Wales - AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract Wales - Contracts Finder
South - AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract South - Contracts Finder
NW - AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract NW - Contracts Finder
MEE - AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract MEE - Contracts Finder
NEYH - AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract NEYH - Contracts Finder
Scotland - AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract Scotland - Contracts Finder
NI - AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract NI - Contracts Finder
CTM - CCTM22A01 Provision of Bridging Accommodation and Travel Services Contract - Contracts Finder
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to contract “Support Payment Card”, procurement reference 429018/1483183, how many staff delivering services are subject to Security Clearance (SC); and what the average cost of clearance is per staff member.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not incur costs for Security Clearance (SC) under the Support Payment Card contract, as these are not charged through the contract, and we therefore do not hold data on the average cost per staff member.
The number of staff subject to SC is also not held by the department, as staffing levels and clearance requirements sit with the provider, who is responsible for ensuring that the appropriate number of suitably cleared personnel are in place to deliver the services in accordance with contractual requirements.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to contract “Support Payment Card”, procurement reference 429018/1483183, how many replacement cards were received; and what was the total cost to the public purse of the replacement.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The requested information is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total value of all active asylum-related contracts currently held by her Department is, broken down by supplier and contract type.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The contract values for asylum contracts are available in the public domain and can be viewed at:
Serco -
AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract NW - Contracts Finder
AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract MEE - Contracts Finder
Mears -
AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract NEYH - Contracts Finder
AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract Scotland - Contracts Finder
AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract NI - Contracts Finder
CRH -
AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract Wales - Contracts Finder
AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract South - Contracts Finder
CTM -
CCTM22A01 Provision of Bridging Accommodation and Travel Services Contract - Contracts Finder
Contract for the Provision of Asylum Accommodation and Travel Services - Contracts Finder
PFS -Support Payment Card - Contracts Finder
Migrant Help - AIRE - Advice Issue Reporting and Elligibility - Contracts Finder
Mitie Limited - Provision of Security Services at Home Office Contingency Accommodation - Contracts Finder
British Refugee Council - Independent Unaccompanied Asylum-seeking Children (UASCs) Support Service - Contracts Finder
The Big Word Group Limited - Contract for the provision of Language Analysis Services - Contracts Finder
VF Services (UK) Limited - Contract for the provision of Home Office and Asylum Interviews - Contracts Finder
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, With reference to contract “Support Payment Card”, procurement reference 429018/1483183, whether alternative delivery models were considered prior to awarding the contract, including in-house provision.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Alternative delivery models, including in-house provision, were considered.