Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer to Question 97331 on Airports: Immigration Controls, for what reason Border Force set queue time service standards at passport control.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The service standards for wait times at passport control, which Border Force publish against, stem from a Ministerial decision to monitor performance more accurately at the border.
A huge amount of work is involved to keep passenger wait times to a minimum, whilst maintaining border security, and we remain fully committed to working with our partners to minimise delays. Monitoring wait times, amongst other internal performance indicators, allows us to do just that.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many under 21s have been arrested for possession of drugs in the last 12 months.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold the specific information requested.
The Home Office collects and publishes information on arrests for notifiable offences on an annual basis in the Stop and search, arrests, and mental health detentions, March 2025 - GOV.UK statistical series.However, data is collected at the high-level offence group only, so arrests for “possession of drugs” fall within the wider “drug offences” category, and cannot be separately identified.
Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support Gloucestershire Constabulary to tackle knife crime in Gloucester constituency.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Halving knife crime over the next decade is a priority for Government. Since this Government has been in office, knife homicides have fallen by 18% while knife crime overall has fallen for the first time in 4 years, dropping by 5% in our first year. Our approach to tackling knife-crime is centred around smart, targeted interventions, prevention and enforcement, and a tough legislative landscape to remove dangerous weapons from our streets.
Gloucestershire Constabulary will receive £1 million from the Government’s Hotspot Action Fund for 2025/26 as part of a national £66 million investment to tackle serious violence, knife crime and anti-social behaviour. This funding will support regular, highly visible patrols and targeted problem-solving in 21 identified hotspot locations across Gloucester. In 2025/26, Gloucestershire have also received £330k to support their delivery of the statutory requirements under the Serious Violence Duty.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what contracts her Department currently holds with (i) ClearVoice and (ii) other interpretation providers for asylum and migration services.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold any contract with ClearVoice.
The Home Office has a contract above threshold with ‘thebigword’ Group Limited.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that English language testing has (a) high standards and (b) testing integrity.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We set high standards in all our services and the current English Language Testing Service is no exception, with Commercial expertise and OFQUAL regulation as well as day to day oversight and monitoring by a dedicated contract management team. Where issues are identified, we do not hesitate to act and we work with suppliers on a daily basis to monitor, manage and improve the service.
As part of the Home Office English Language Testing Procurement, we have engaged the market to understand what capability is available to maintain and enhance the highest standards of security and integrity and be innovative in our delivery, harnessing technology and industry best practice. These standards will be assessed as part of the procurement process and assured during implementation by rigorous technical testing and subject matter experts.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the consultation entitled Earned settlement, published on 20 November 2025, whether it is her policy that the salary scale should apply to British National (Overseas) applicants.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government remains steadfast in its support for members of the Hong Kong community in the UK.
BN(O) visa holders will attract a 5-year reduction in the qualifying period for settlement, meaning they will continue to be able to settle in the UK after 5 years’ residence, subject to meeting the mandatory requirements which include contributing to the Exchequer.
We are seeking views on earned settlement through the public consultation A Fairer Pathway to Settlement and will continue to listen to the views of Hong Kongers. Details of the earned settlement model will be finalised following that consultation.
In the meantime, the current rules for settlement under the BN(O) route will continue to apply.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that English language immigration requirements are strengthened in the context of proposals to move English language testing for immigration purposes to a remotely proctored system.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The proposals contained within the Immigration White Paper 2025 will be delivered over the course of this Parliament, including new English Language Requirements.
The Home Office is committed to maintaining the highest standards of security and integrity in our immigration system whilst modernising services for legitimate applicants. The new service will enhance existing arrangements via robust and consistent identity management, increased monitoring of test takers and activity that is underpinned by stringent security and cyber security requirements. Detecting and combatting existing and emerging threats is at the centre of this service.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding her Department provided to strategic migration partnership in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office does not currently publish funding levels to Strategic Migration Partnerships, previous years funding can be found here Government Grants Data and Statistics
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether migrant workers employed in the social care sector will be subject to the same settlement routes and qualifying periods as counterparts working in the NHS under the Health and Care visa.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The earned settlement model, proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, announced changes to the mandatory requirements and qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain. It is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026.
The consultation seeks views on the impact proposed changes might have on different groups. Details of the earned settlement model will be finalised following that consultation.
The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessments, which we have committed to publish in due course.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has assessed the potential impact of a 15-year baseline qualifying period for settlement on the functioning and long-term sustainability of social care services.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The earned settlement model, proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, announced changes to the mandatory requirements and qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain. It is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026.
The consultation seeks views on the impact proposed changes might have on different groups. Details of the earned settlement model will be finalised following that consultation.
The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessments, which we have committed to publish in due course.