Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for the Facilitated Return Scheme have been made in the last year by applicant's index offence; and how many of these have been a) accepted, b) refused and c) not yet been decided.

The information you have requested regarding the Facilitated Return Scheme (FRS) is not available from published statistics.

FRS offers all FNOs with a determinate prison sentence the opportunity to volunteer to return to their country of origin. The scheme also allows for immediate qualifying family members departing the UK with the eligible FNO a financial support package in their own right.

It is not an alternative to removal or deportation but facilitates the early removal of FNOs and helps them to re-settle in their country of origin. Voluntary removals benefit the UK taxpayer as detention and appeals are significantly reduced.

Since this Government came to power, there have been 11,733 returns of foreign national offenders (FNOs) (1 July 2024 to 31 July 2026). FNO returns include both enforced and voluntary returns. This is a 41% increase on the last two years of the previous government (1 July 2024 to 30 June 2026, when compared to the previous 2-year period).