Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many civil servants in her Department are responsible for the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, including reviewing the compliance of entities related to the People’s Republic of China.

The Government is focused on ensuring compliance with the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS), including, where appropriate, referring cases to the police where we believe a criminal offence has been committed.

It would not be appropriate to provide details of registrations beyond those that appear on the public FIRS register, as doing so could identify information not intended to be published and undermine the scheme’s objectives. Registrations under the enhanced tier are not published unless they relate to political influence activities; there are also circumstances in which publication will not occur, for example where publication could create a risk to the safety or interests of the UK.

An annual report on the operation of FIRS will be laid before Parliament. This will include, among other things, the number of registrations under both tiers, the number of information notices issued, and the number of people charged and prosecuted for failing to comply with the scheme’s requirements. The first report will be published as soon as practicable after 30 June 2026.

Owing to security considerations, I am unable to provide specific details of the number of civil servants working on FIRS.