Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum applications have been approved for people with a criminal record in the UK prior to the commencement of their asylum application.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The requested data on asylum applications from foreign national offenders is not currently published by the Home Office.
As explained in this note published in April 2025, systems for collecting and compiling data related to foreign national offenders in the immigration system are currently undergoing a transition to improve the quality of information held by the department. The Home Office is currently working towards a release of this data. At this stage, we are not in a position to detail what this will contain or the exact timing of the release.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that a person seeking asylum has not been involved in terrorism; and if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the application of these checks in the last five years.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
All asylum claimants undergo mandatory security checks to establish their identity and to link it to their biometric details for the purpose of immigration, security and criminality checks - including war crimes, crimes against humanity and terrorism. To protect the integrity of the specific identity and security checking processes that are conducted, details about them are not disclosed publicly.
All asylum and human rights claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations. Our guidance for considering asylum claims is available on GOV.UK at: Assessing credibility and refugee status: caseworker guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Each assessment is made using relevant case law and the latest available country of origin information, which is based on evidence taken from a wide range of reliable sources. Our assessment of the situation of a given group in a given country, is set out in the relevant country policy and information note, which is available on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-policy-and-information-notes
Under Article 1F of the Refugee Convention, we will deny protection to those who commit serious crimes or represent a threat to national security.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether all asylum applications have been subject to the same consideration criteria in the last five years.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
All asylum claimants undergo mandatory security checks to establish their identity and to link it to their biometric details for the purpose of immigration, security and criminality checks - including war crimes, crimes against humanity and terrorism. To protect the integrity of the specific identity and security checking processes that are conducted, details about them are not disclosed publicly.
All asylum and human rights claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations. Our guidance for considering asylum claims is available on GOV.UK at: Assessing credibility and refugee status: caseworker guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Each assessment is made using relevant case law and the latest available country of origin information, which is based on evidence taken from a wide range of reliable sources. Our assessment of the situation of a given group in a given country, is set out in the relevant country policy and information note, which is available on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-policy-and-information-notes
Under Article 1F of the Refugee Convention, we will deny protection to those who commit serious crimes or represent a threat to national security.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) security and (b) criminal record checks are made by her Department when considering an application for asylum.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
All asylum claimants undergo mandatory security checks to establish their identity and to link it to their biometric details for the purpose of immigration, security and criminality checks - including war crimes, crimes against humanity and terrorism. To protect the integrity of the specific identity and security checking processes that are conducted, details about them are not disclosed publicly.
All asylum and human rights claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations. Our guidance for considering asylum claims is available on GOV.UK at: Assessing credibility and refugee status: caseworker guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Each assessment is made using relevant case law and the latest available country of origin information, which is based on evidence taken from a wide range of reliable sources. Our assessment of the situation of a given group in a given country, is set out in the relevant country policy and information note, which is available on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-policy-and-information-notes
Under Article 1F of the Refugee Convention, we will deny protection to those who commit serious crimes or represent a threat to national security.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the longest time was for an asylum application to reach a final resolution in the last ten years.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost. The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘asylum detailed datasets’ as part of the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’.
Data on the number of claims awaiting an initial decision, by duration, is published in table Asy_D03. The latest data relates to as at 30 June 2025. For further information on the data, see the notes pages of the tables.
Additionally, data on the number of cases in the asylum system, by case age, is published in table ASY_03 of the 'Migration transparency data'. The latest data relates to as at June 2024.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the level of net migration on public services.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes a variety of analysis considering the impact of migration on public services. Home Office Impact Assessments and wider analysis can be found here: Migration analysis at the Home Office - GOV.UK
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent guidance she has issued to police forces on the (a) lawful and (b) proportionate use of stop and search powers.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Stop and search is an important tool for tackling knife crime, but it must be used fairly and effectively. Getting that balance right is key to meeting the Government’s objective of halving knife crime in ten years. We know that stop and search is most effective when it is targeted and intelligence led.
Code A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) governs the use of stop and search powers. Guidance on the use of stop and search is also issued to forces by the College of Policing in its Authorised Professional Practice.
In the year ending March 2024, available data suggests there were at least 9,423 arrests for offensive weapon or firearm offences following a stop and search. However, this data is designated as ‘Official Statistics in development’ to denote that there are known data quality issues, and the true figure will be higher.
In the year ending March 2024, 16,066 (3.0%) of stop and searches resulted in an offensive weapon or firearm being found. However, that figure includes searches where police were looking for drugs, stolen goods, or other items rather than weapons. Where offensive weapons were the reason for the search, the find rate was 12%.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of stop and searches resulted in the seizure of a weapon in (a) 2024 and (b) 2025.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Code A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) governs the use of stop and search powers. Guidance on the use of stop and search is also issued to forces by the College of Policing in its Authorised Professional Practice.
Stop and search is an important tool for tackling knife crime, but it must be used fairly and effectively. Getting that balance right is key to meeting the Government’s objective of halving knife crime in ten years. We know that stop and search is most effective when it is targeted and intelligence led.
In the year ending March 2024, available data suggests there were at least 9,423 arrests for offensive weapon or firearm offences following a stop and search. However, this data is designated as ‘Official Statistics in development’ to denote that there are known data quality issues, and the true figure will be higher.
In the year ending March 2024, 16,066 (3.0%) of stop and searches resulted in an offensive weapon or firearm being found. However, that figure includes searches where police were looking for drugs, stolen goods, or other items rather than weapons. Where offensive weapons were the reason for the search, the find rate was 12%.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of stop and search powers in reducing knife crime.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Stop and search is an important tool for tackling knife crime, but it must be used fairly and effectively. Getting that balance right is key to meeting the Government’s objective of halving knife crime in ten years. We know that stop and search is most effective when it is targeted and intelligence led.
Code A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) governs the use of stop and search powers. Guidance on the use of stop and search is also issued to forces by the College of Policing in its Authorised Professional Practice.
In the year ending March 2024, available data suggests there were at least 9,423 arrests for offensive weapon or firearm offences following a stop and search. However, this data is designated as ‘Official Statistics in development’ to denote that there are known data quality issues, and the true figure will be higher.
In the year ending March 2024, 16,066 (3.0%) of stop and searches resulted in an offensive weapon or firearm being found. However, that figure includes searches where police were looking for drugs, stolen goods, or other items rather than weapons. Where offensive weapons were the reason for the search, the find rate was 12%.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has recent discussions with police forces on their use of stop and search powers under Section 60 of the Public Order Act 2023.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Code A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) governs the use of stop and search powers. Guidance on the use of stop and search is also issued to forces by the College of Policing in its Authorised Professional Practice.
Stop and search is an important tool for tackling knife crime, but it must be used fairly and effectively. Getting that balance right is key to meeting the Government’s objective of halving knife crime in ten years. We know that stop and search is most effective when it is targeted and intelligence led.
In the year ending March 2024, available data suggests there were at least 9,423 arrests for offensive weapon or firearm offences following a stop and search. However, this data is designated as ‘Official Statistics in development’ to denote that there are known data quality issues, and the true figure will be higher.
In the year ending March 2024, 16,066 (3.0%) of stop and searches resulted in an offensive weapon or firearm being found. However, that figure includes searches where police were looking for drugs, stolen goods, or other items rather than weapons. Where offensive weapons were the reason for the search, the find rate was 12%.