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 stop and searches in have led to an arrest for (a) possession of a knife and (b) bladed article in the last 12 months.
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, what guidance her Department has issued to staff who (a) examine and (b) process asylum claims on the implementation of background checks.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Asylum caseworkers receive extensive training and mentoring for the role. All asylum claimants are subject to 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.
The Home Office performs mandatory identity verification and security checks on individuals applying to enter or remain in the UK. These checks are set out in comprehensive, internal guidance called the UK Visas and Immigration Operating Mandate (OM). To protect the integrity of the specific identity and security checking processes that are conducted under the OM, the information contained within it is not disclosed publicly.
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 potential impact on public services from the population increase caused by immigration.
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 information her Department holds on the number of houses of multiple occupancy that were accommodating asylum seekers in Runcorn and Helsby constituency.
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.
“Data on asylum accommodation is published quarterly on GOV.UK (Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK) and includes breakdowns by local authority”.
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 her Department has approved any asylum applications without a Watchlist and Information Control Unit check being carried out in the last ten years.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
We do not comment on security matters, however all asylum claimants are subject to robust, mandatory security checks and we will not compromise the integrity of the UK immigration system. These system and security database checks are completed during the asylum screening process and before a decision is made.
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 by her Department which have not had a Police National Computer check in the last five years.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
We do not comment on security matters, however all asylum claimants are subject to robust, mandatory security checks and we will not compromise the integrity of the UK immigration system. These system and security database checks are completed during the asylum screening process and before a decision is made.
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 reached the further submissions stage and have been under consideration at that stage for (a) three months, (b) six months, (c) nine months, (d) 12 months, (e) 18 months and (f) 24 months.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Cabinet Office's Guide to Parliamentary Work states that: "There is an advisory cost limit known as the disproportionate cost threshold which is the level above which departments can decide not to answer a written question. The current disproportionate cost threshold is £850."
I regret that the information she has requested is not currently available from published statistics, and would require a manual trawl of case files to identify and collate, something that could only be done at disproportionate cost.
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 irregular migrants who have (a) been refused asylum and (b) are undergoing the further submissions process were living in accommodation paid for by her Department on 3 June 2025; and what the total cost of providing accommodation to those irregular migrants was in each of the last four years.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I welcome the Hon Member to her new role, and I wish her well representing the great people of Runcorn and Helsby.
The Cabinet Office’s Guide to Parliamentary Work states that: “There is an advisory cost limit known as the disproportionate cost threshold which is the level above which departments can decide not to answer a written question. The current disproportionate cost threshold is £850.”
I regret that the information she has requested is not currently available from published statistics, and would require a manual trawl of case files to identify and collate, something that could only be done at disproportionate cost.
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 irregular migrants who have (a) been refused asylum and (b) are at the further submissions stage were in receipt of legal aid on 3 June 2025; and what the total cost was for the provision of legal aid for such irregular migrants in each of the last four years.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I welcome the Hon Member to her new role, and I wish her well representing the great people of Runcorn and Helsby.
The Cabinet Office’s Guide to Parliamentary Work states that: “There is an advisory cost limit known as the disproportionate cost threshold which is the level above which departments can decide not to answer a written question. The current disproportionate cost threshold is £850.”
I regret that the information she has requested is not currently available from published statistics, and would require a manual trawl of case files to identify and collate, something that could only be done at disproportionate cost.
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 irregular mirgrants (a) have been convicted of criminal offences and (b) were awaiting sentencing on 3 June 2025.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I welcome the Hon Member to her new role, and I wish her well representing the great people of Runcorn and Helsby.
The Cabinet Office’s Guide to Parliamentary Work states that: “There is an advisory cost limit known as the disproportionate cost threshold which is the level above which departments can decide not to answer a written question. The current disproportionate cost threshold is £850.”
I regret that the information she has requested is not currently available from published statistics, and would require a manual trawl of case files to identify and collate, something that could only be done at disproportionate cost.