Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her planned timetable is for completing the reorganisation of police forces in England and Wales.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government published its Police Reform White Paper on 26 January 2026. It set out an ambitious package of reform, including an ambition to move to fewer, larger forces by the end of next parliament.
We will shortly launch an Independent Review of Police Force Structures, which will make recommendations on the optimum configuration of fewer, larger forces, and the timetable for implementation. The Review is expected to report its findings in summer.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department will publish an annual summary of due diligence outcomes and contract performance for its highest-value suppliers.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Home Office meets Cabinet Office transparency arrangements to ensure consistency across Government. There is no current requirement to meet the scope suggested.
Cabinet Office publishes quarterly KPI data from returns supplied by Departments.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will make an estimate of the lifetime net cost of a small boat migrant accepted by the UK.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has not carried out an assessment of the lifetime net cost of a small boat migrant who arrives in the UK and we have no plans to do so.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, further to her oral answer of 17 November 2025, Official Report column 524, what steps she will take to stop asylum seekers who have committed crimes and are deported making a new asylum application after deportation.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
We are committed to ensuring that any asylum seeker who commits a serious crime in the UK is not granted asylum and is removed or deported as quickly as possible. If deported, the person is prohibited from returning to the UK as long as the deportation order made against them remains in force. Anyone who is subject to a deportation order is liable to have their fingerprints retained beyond the standard 15-year retention period.
Once abroad, there is no provision within our Immigration Rules for someone to be allowed to travel back to the UK to seek asylum or temporary refuge.
If someone returns to the UK and re-enters the further submissions process has to be followed. Due to our robust biometric checks, face and fingerprints, individuals who have re-entered in this way will be detected upon being encountered, have their further submissions heard quickly, and they will be removed as swiftly as possible if their further submissions are without merit. We will deny the benefits of protection status to those who commit serious crimes and are a danger to the community, or those who are a threat to national security.
We are clear that serious criminals are not welcome here.
Asked by: Maureen Burke (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will set out how complaints relating to (a) cleanliness, (b) safety and (c) hygiene in landlord-provided asylum accommodation are (i) monitored, (ii) reported and (iii) investigated to ensure such accommodation is fit for purpose.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office expects the highest standards of cleanliness, safety and hygiene in all asylum accommodation and holds providers to account through the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services (AASC) contracts.
Contractual expectations are set out in the AASC Statement of Requirements (Schedule 2) which requires accommodation providers and their landlords to ensure that properties are safe, habitable and fit for purpose at all times, including meeting standards on cleanliness, hygiene, repairs and health and safety compliance.
Monitoring of accommodation standards is carried out through Home Office contract management and assurance activity, including inspections and performance reporting against contractual requirements.
Reporting routes are available to asylum seekers through the Advice, Issue Reporting and Eligibility (AIRE) service, delivered by Migrant Help, which allows issues or complaints relating to accommodation to be raised.
Investigation and resolution of complaints are managed by the Home Office once issues are escalated by Migrant Help. Providers are required to investigate concerns promptly, take remedial action within contractual timescales, and report outcomes to the Home Office.
Independent customer satisfaction and assurance activity further informs performance management and continuous improvement.
Asked by: Maureen Burke (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what contractual expectations are placed on landlords providing asylum accommodation.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office expects the highest standards of cleanliness, safety and hygiene in all asylum accommodation and holds providers to account through the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services (AASC) contracts.
Contractual expectations are set out in the AASC Statement of Requirements (Schedule 2) which requires accommodation providers and their landlords to ensure that properties are safe, habitable and fit for purpose at all times, including meeting standards on cleanliness, hygiene, repairs and health and safety compliance.
Monitoring of accommodation standards is carried out through Home Office contract management and assurance activity, including inspections and performance reporting against contractual requirements.
Reporting routes are available to asylum seekers through the Advice, Issue Reporting and Eligibility (AIRE) service, delivered by Migrant Help, which allows issues or complaints relating to accommodation to be raised.
Investigation and resolution of complaints are managed by the Home Office once issues are escalated by Migrant Help. Providers are required to investigate concerns promptly, take remedial action within contractual timescales, and report outcomes to the Home Office.
Independent customer satisfaction and assurance activity further informs performance management and continuous improvement.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2025 to Question 79231 on Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, what her planned timetable is for determining whether to include China in the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme; and what factors have determined that timetable.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
As set out in the National Security Act 2023, the Secretary of State may make a specification under the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS) where they consider it is reasonably necessary to do so to protect the safety or interests of the United Kingdom.
We look very carefully at which countries should be on the enhanced tier of the scheme, factoring in a broad range of considerations.
As I set out in the House of Commons on 20 January 2026, any changes to the countries listed will be brought to Parliament in the usual way.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's policy is on publishing details of grants on asylum housing costs to individual local authorities.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not publicly publish grant payment levels by local authority, and we have no plans to do so. We do however publish the grant funding instructions, which can be found here:
Unaccompanied asylum seeking children and leaving care: funding instructions - GOV.UK
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will update the Computer Misuse Act 1990 to give greater protection to cyber security professionals.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government is conducting an ongoing review of the Computer Misuse Act.
As part of the review, we are reviewing how we can better support legitimate cybersecurity researchers so they can operate within a clear and supportive legal framework, while maintaining robust safeguards.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases of Dating Scam Fraud were reported in 2025; and what the financial loss was.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Home Office does not collect information on Dating Scam Fraud. City of London Police are the national lead force for fraud and operate the Report Fraud (formerly Action Fraud) reporting service which collects data on Dating Scam Fraud. The below data was collected from the reports made to Action Fraud (now Report Fraud) that amounted to a crime under the Home Office crime recording rules.
In the first 10 months of 2025, there were 9,305 dating scam reports to Action Fraud (now ‘Report Fraud’). Losses for these reports totalled £90.9m. Source: Report Fraud Analysis Services (Public)