Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has had discussions with counter-terrorism police on the potential impact of full-face coverings in public settings on national security.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has regular and routine discussions with counter-terrorism policing on a wide range of national security issues.
The Crime and Policing Bill contains a new criminal offence of wearing, or otherwise using, an item that conceals identity in an area designated by police due to the risk of criminal activity taking place at protests. This will enable the police to put a stop to individuals hiding behind masks to avoid conviction for criminal activity at protests.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average time was to obtain a UK driving test in each region in the most recent 12 months for which data is available; and what percentage of applicants were foreign nationals.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The table below shows the average waiting time for a car practical driving test by driving test centre regions, for the financial year 2024/25. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) does not collect any data regarding the customer's nationality when they book, or attend, their car practical driving test.
Region | Average Waiting Time In Weeks |
Zone A (Scotland and North-East England) | 17.1 |
Zone B (Wales and North-West England) | 17.5 |
Zone C (Midlands and South-West England) | 21.6 |
Zone D (London and South-East England) | 22.4 |
National | 19.5 |
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of individuals accessing NHS services who do not have lawful residency status in the UK; and whether such data is used to inform other estimates of immigration.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold or collect the information requested.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions he has had with business organisations on the impact of regulatory compliance costs on (a) profitability and (b) competitiveness.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Last year the Government launched a Call for Evidence on the UK's regulatory landscape to hear directly from business how regulation could be improved. In March we launched our Action Plan for Regulation, committing to cut administrative costs of regulation for business by 25%, giving them essential time back to focus on growing their businesses. The Secretary of State and I held a call with businesses and representative organisations, including Airbus, the British Retail Consortium and UK Space, to hear their feedback on the Action Plan. Officials in my department continue to engage regularly to support our regulatory reform agenda.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a one-in, two-out approach to new business regulations; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of that approach on (a) innovation and (b) growth.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
On 17 March 2025 the government published an Action Plan setting out its approach to regulation and regulators, which made a firm commitment to cut the administrative costs of regulation for business by 25% by the end of the Parliament. This commitment will require deregulation of the existing stock of regulations and control the flow of new regulations to reduce costs.
The Department for Business & Trade, in collaboration with HM Treasury and departments across government, is working to establish the mechanisms needed to achieve this commitment and report on progress. The government will make a further announcement in due course.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of regulation on small and medium-sized enterprises since 2010.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Businesses have told us that regulation can be too complex, stifle progress and innovation and the accumulation of poorly designed regulation over decades is a burden to comply with. Our recently published Action Plan for Regulation will aim to reduce these burdens for SMEs, with a commitment to cut administrative costs for business by 25% by the end of this Parliament. The measures announced in the Action Plan will also support the Government's SME Strategy, which aims to provide SME's with the certainty and support they need to succeed.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the number of (a) asylum seekers and (b) failed asylum claimants that have used multiple identities or aliases while in the UK.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
All asylum claimants are subject to the Home Office’s mandatory security checks to establish and verify their identity, and to link it to their biometric details for the purpose of immigration, security and criminality checks. These checks are critical to the delivery of a safe and secure immigration system.
Applicants who seek to change the information they have provided at any stage of the asylum process – including their name – must submit a request to the Home Office to have their records updated. All such changes are closely scrutinised both to prevent fraud, and assess the credibility of the claimant.
Any changes must be formally reported and are logged in official case records. And even when an individual does change their name, their previous identity will remain on their casefile, linked to their new name and to their registered biometrics (facial image and fingerprints), mitigating any risks related to fraud or misidentification.
The Home Office has published guidance to explain the documentary evidence individuals (including asylum seekers) need to supply when they request a change of name on any digital and physical documents issued by the Home Office.
Use and change of names guidance - GOV.UK
UKVI identity standards (accessible) - GOV.UK
The Home Office does not centrally hold information relating to the number of requests for name changes, and could only collate such data at disproportionate costs through the manual review of case files held across multiple systems.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of name changes by asylum seekers on (a) national security, (b) immigration enforcement and (c) criminal justice proceedings.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
All asylum claimants are subject to the Home Office’s mandatory security checks to establish and verify their identity, and to link it to their biometric details for the purpose of immigration, security and criminality checks. These checks are critical to the delivery of a safe and secure immigration system.
Applicants who seek to change the information they have provided at any stage of the asylum process – including their name – must submit a request to the Home Office to have their records updated. All such changes are closely scrutinised both to prevent fraud, and assess the credibility of the claimant.
Any changes must be formally reported and are logged in official case records. And even when an individual does change their name, their previous identity will remain on their casefile, linked to their new name and to their registered biometrics (facial image and fingerprints), mitigating any risks related to fraud or misidentification.
The Home Office has published guidance to explain the documentary evidence individuals (including asylum seekers) need to supply when they request a change of name on any digital and physical documents issued by the Home Office.
Use and change of names guidance - GOV.UK
UKVI identity standards (accessible) - GOV.UK
The Home Office does not centrally hold information relating to the number of requests for name changes, and could only collate such data at disproportionate costs through the manual review of case files held across multiple systems.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether asylum seekers are required to provide supporting documentation when requesting a legal name change.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
All asylum claimants are subject to the Home Office’s mandatory security checks to establish and verify their identity, and to link it to their biometric details for the purpose of immigration, security and criminality checks. These checks are critical to the delivery of a safe and secure immigration system.
Applicants who seek to change the information they have provided at any stage of the asylum process – including their name – must submit a request to the Home Office to have their records updated. All such changes are closely scrutinised both to prevent fraud, and assess the credibility of the claimant.
Any changes must be formally reported and are logged in official case records. And even when an individual does change their name, their previous identity will remain on their casefile, linked to their new name and to their registered biometrics (facial image and fingerprints), mitigating any risks related to fraud or misidentification.
The Home Office has published guidance to explain the documentary evidence individuals (including asylum seekers) need to supply when they request a change of name on any digital and physical documents issued by the Home Office.
Use and change of names guidance - GOV.UK
UKVI identity standards (accessible) - GOV.UK
The Home Office does not centrally hold information relating to the number of requests for name changes, and could only collate such data at disproportionate costs through the manual review of case files held across multiple systems.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers have formally changed name since 2015; and how her Department monitors that data.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
All asylum claimants are subject to the Home Office’s mandatory security checks to establish and verify their identity, and to link it to their biometric details for the purpose of immigration, security and criminality checks. These checks are critical to the delivery of a safe and secure immigration system.
Applicants who seek to change the information they have provided at any stage of the asylum process – including their name – must submit a request to the Home Office to have their records updated. All such changes are closely scrutinised both to prevent fraud, and assess the credibility of the claimant.
Any changes must be formally reported and are logged in official case records. And even when an individual does change their name, their previous identity will remain on their casefile, linked to their new name and to their registered biometrics (facial image and fingerprints), mitigating any risks related to fraud or misidentification.
The Home Office has published guidance to explain the documentary evidence individuals (including asylum seekers) need to supply when they request a change of name on any digital and physical documents issued by the Home Office.
Use and change of names guidance - GOV.UK
UKVI identity standards (accessible) - GOV.UK
The Home Office does not centrally hold information relating to the number of requests for name changes, and could only collate such data at disproportionate costs through the manual review of case files held across multiple systems.