Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which local authorities are participating in the asylum accommodation pilot involving the construction of new council housing.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
New council housing will not be constructed for use by asylum seekers under any circumstances. Asylum seekers are not eligible for social housing.
MHCLG and HO are investing millions in a new, more sustainable accommodation model, developed in consultation with local authorities. This funding helps deliver better outcomes for communities and taxpayers.
This new funding will complement ongoing Home Office 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 for housing asylum seekers on a temporary basis. In the longer term, the ambition is that the investment leaves a lasting legacy of housing for local communities and reduces pressure on local housing markets.
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 value for money of constructing new council housing for asylum seekers.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
New council housing will not be constructed for use by asylum seekers under any circumstances. Asylum seekers are not eligible for social housing.
MHCLG and HO are investing millions in a new, more sustainable accommodation model, developed in consultation with local authorities. This funding helps deliver better outcomes for communities and taxpayers.
This new funding will complement ongoing Home Office 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 for housing asylum seekers on a temporary basis. In the longer term, the ambition is that the investment leaves a lasting legacy of housing for local communities and reduces pressure on local housing markets.
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 consultation she has undertaken with local residents in areas selected for the construction of council housing for asylum seekers.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
New council housing will not be constructed for use by asylum seekers under any circumstances. Asylum seekers are not eligible for social housing.
MHCLG and HO are investing millions in a new, more sustainable accommodation model, developed in consultation with local authorities. This funding helps deliver better outcomes for communities and taxpayers.
This new funding will complement ongoing Home Office 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 for housing asylum seekers on a temporary basis. In the longer term, the ambition is that the investment leaves a lasting legacy of housing for local communities and reduces pressure on local housing markets.
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 plans to expand the asylum accommodation pilot involving new council housing beyond participating local authorities.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
New council housing will not be constructed for use by asylum seekers under any circumstances. Asylum seekers are not eligible for social housing.
MHCLG and HO are investing millions in a new, more sustainable accommodation model, developed in consultation with local authorities. This funding helps deliver better outcomes for communities and taxpayers.
This new funding will complement ongoing Home Office 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 for housing asylum seekers on a temporary basis. In the longer term, the ambition is that the investment leaves a lasting legacy of housing for local communities and reduces pressure on local housing markets.
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 criteria she used to select local authorities to participate in the asylum accommodation pilot involving new council housing.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
New council housing will not be constructed for use by asylum seekers under any circumstances. Asylum seekers are not eligible for social housing.
MHCLG and HO are investing millions in a new, more sustainable accommodation model, developed in consultation with local authorities. This funding helps deliver better outcomes for communities and taxpayers.
This new funding will complement ongoing Home Office 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 for housing asylum seekers on a temporary basis. In the longer term, the ambition is that the investment leaves a lasting legacy of housing for local communities and reduces pressure on local housing markets.
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 proportion of the asylum accommodation pilot funding will be from (a) the Government and (b) local authorities.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
New council housing will not be constructed for use by asylum seekers under any circumstances. Asylum seekers are not eligible for social housing.
MHCLG and HO are investing millions in a new, more sustainable accommodation model, developed in consultation with local authorities. This funding helps deliver better outcomes for communities and taxpayers.
This new funding will complement ongoing Home Office 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 for housing asylum seekers on a temporary basis. In the longer term, the ambition is that the investment leaves a lasting legacy of housing for local communities and reduces pressure on local housing markets.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will collect and publish city-specific data on the number of grooming gangs identified by police forces.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Baroness Casey’s rapid national audit into group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse set out stark findings on the scale and nature of offending by grooming gangs. This government is committed to exposing the failures that have happened across the country and making sure that it can never happen again. We accepted all of Baroness Casey’s twelve recommendations and are working across government to implement these as quickly as possible.
To improve our understanding of and response to these crimes, we fund a number of policing capabilities, including the Tackling Organised Exploitation (TOEX) programme which uses data and intelligence to increase law enforcement’s capability to respond to organized exploitation. We also fund the Child Sexual Exploitation Police Taskforce to improve how the police investigate child sexual exploitation and abuse, with a focus on group-based offending, and bring more offenders to justice. They have created the Complex and Organised Child Abuse Database (COCAD) to improve our understanding of group-based child sexual exploitation cases. On 10 December 2025, the Taskforce published an annual data report for group-based offending in 2024, which can be found here: https://www.hydrantprogramme.co.uk/publications/hydrant-publications
The Taskforce do not publish data on offending within specific cities.
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 had discussions with the Prime Minister on legal powers to restrict the (a) activities and (b) presence in the United Kingdom of Alaa Abd el Fattah.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
We do not routinely comment on individual cases however the Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister have made clear that Ministers and officials were previously unaware of the historic posts made by Mr El-Fattah.
All British citizens have a Right of Abode (ROA) in the UK which means they are entitled to live in the UK without any immigration restrictions and do not need to obtain the permission of an immigration officer to enter the UK.
Deportation from the UK only applies to foreign nationals. British citizens cannot be deported from the UK.
Deprivation of British citizenship is assessed individually on the basis of all available evidence.
This government and successive governments before it have been clear that the exercise of this tool must be used sparingly, and only against the highest harm and most dangerous individuals.
This includes those who pose a threat to the UK, including terrorists, and those who are involved in serious organised crime. The government does not propose to change the basis on which the power is used.
For those who are not deprived of citizenship but may have acted in a criminal manner, we encourage independent law enforcement to use their full suite of powers.
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 the return to the United Kingdom of Alaa Abd el Fattah on national security.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
We do not routinely comment on individual cases however the Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister have made clear that Ministers and officials were previously unaware of the historic posts made by Mr El-Fattah.
All British citizens have a Right of Abode (ROA) in the UK which means they are entitled to live in the UK without any immigration restrictions and do not need to obtain the permission of an immigration officer to enter the UK.
Deportation from the UK only applies to foreign nationals. British citizens cannot be deported from the UK.
Deprivation of British citizenship is assessed individually on the basis of all available evidence.
This government and successive governments before it have been clear that the exercise of this tool must be used sparingly, and only against the highest harm and most dangerous individuals.
This includes those who pose a threat to the UK, including terrorists, and those who are involved in serious organised crime. The government does not propose to change the basis on which the power is used.
For those who are not deprived of citizenship but may have acted in a criminal manner, we encourage independent law enforcement to use their full suite of powers.
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 (a) she and (b) officials in her Department reviewed social media posts referring to violence against police officers made by Alaa Abd el Fattah prior to his return to the United Kingdom.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
We do not routinely comment on individual cases however the Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister have made clear that Ministers and officials were previously unaware of the historic posts made by Mr El-Fattah.
All British citizens have a Right of Abode (ROA) in the UK which means they are entitled to live in the UK without any immigration restrictions and do not need to obtain the permission of an immigration officer to enter the UK.
Deportation from the UK only applies to foreign nationals. British citizens cannot be deported from the UK.
Deprivation of British citizenship is assessed individually on the basis of all available evidence.
This government and successive governments before it have been clear that the exercise of this tool must be used sparingly, and only against the highest harm and most dangerous individuals.
This includes those who pose a threat to the UK, including terrorists, and those who are involved in serious organised crime. The government does not propose to change the basis on which the power is used.
For those who are not deprived of citizenship but may have acted in a criminal manner, we encourage independent law enforcement to use their full suite of powers.