Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 5 November 2025, to Question 86426, on Asylum: Housing, If she will publish a copy of the pre-procurement documentation sent to potential suppliers of asylum accommodation for the next round of contracts.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The pre-procurement documentation for the Future Asylum Contract Transformation Project will not be published.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 5 November 2025, to Question 86772, on Asylum: Housing, whether the Home Office holds an unpublished guidance or manual on assessing suitability.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
I refer the Honourable Member to the answer provided in PQ 86772.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support the freedom to pray silently in public places.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Freedom of religion or belief, and freedom of expression are fundamental human rights. The government is committed to ensuring that individuals are protected from discrimination on the basis of religion or belief, and that they are able to hold and manifest their beliefs in a reasonable and lawful manner.
Section 9 of the Public Order Act 2023 introduced safe access zones of 150 metres around all abortion clinics in England and Wales. Within these zones, it is an offence to intentionally or recklessly influence someone’s decision to use or provide abortion services, obstruct them, or cause harassment or distress.
The legislation on safe access zones does not specify behaviours; it is for the police, Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and courts, who are operationally independent, to determine whether an act meets the threshold. CPS guidance confirms that vigils or silent prayer could fall within scope depending on intent and circumstances (in annex A): https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/offences-during-protests-demonstrations-or-campaigns.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of making it a statutory requirement for police officers to record how many suicides they attend.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not collect data from police about suicides they have attended and has no current plans to do so.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers have undergone specialist technology-facilitated domestic abuse training in each of the last five years.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The College of Policing is the responsible body for setting standards, developing curriculum and monitoring training delivery within policing, including the technology-facilitated domestic abuse training within Operation Modify.
In our manifesto, we committed to strengthening training on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) for policing to ensure that all officers have the right skills to investigate all VAWG offences, including technology-facilitated abuse.
In response to this, the Home Office has invested £13.1 million this year to launch the new National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection (NCVPP). This funding includes an uplift of nearly £2 million to deliver a robust package of training improvements across public protection crime types, including technology-facilitated abuse.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to answer of 26 June 2025 to Question 60158 on Victim Support Schemes: Domestic Abuse and Sexual Offences, whether the funding announced for the 2025-26 financial year to help prevent such crimes is ringfenced.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG), including domestic abuse and sexual violence, is a top priority for this Government with a manifesto mission to halve VAWG in a decade. We will deliver a cross-government transformative approach, underpinned by a new strategy which we aim to publish as soon as possible.
Ringfences are an important tool in supporting specific policy priorities. However, the use of ringfences must be balanced against the need for departments to retain sufficient flexibility to allocate funding within their settlements and respond effectively to emerging issues, ensuring the best use of public resources.
Home Office funding announced for VAWG in the financial year 2025-26 was not ring-fenced by HMT as part of phase one of the 2025 Spending Review settlement, and the Home Secretary retained discretion over budget allocations for VAWG funding.
Asked by: Lord Pickles (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to assess whether students arriving in the United Kingdom from Gaza have expressed support for Hamas or any other proscribed organisation operating in the Gaza Strip.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
All visa applicants are required to provide their biographic and biometric data to enable a range of security checks to be completed, including criminality checks.
Robust security checks are being undertaken on all individuals who enter the UK through the process to support eligible students to exit Gaza. Biometrics are collected as part of the visa application process and prior to travel to the UK.
The Home Office uses various tools to detect and disrupt travel by terrorists, by criminals and by individuals excluded from the UK; previously deported from the UK; or using lost, stolen or revoked documents and visas. This includes the use of domestic and international watchlists. The Home Office works with both law enforcement and wider government partners to ensure appropriate action is taken before travel or at the border when individuals of concern are identified. It would not be appropriate to provide further information about the nature and scope of security checks.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of animals involved in LD50 tests by type of animal; and what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of those tests.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Home Office publishes detailed annual statistics on the use of animals in science, including procedures for acute and sub-toxicity testing methods such as LD50 (Lethal Dose 50) and LC50 (Lethal Concentration 50). According to the latest published figures for 2024, there were 11,992 procedures in this category, and the statistics include a breakdown by species.
All testing using protected animals, including the LD50 and LC50 tests, are subject to strict regulation under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
These particular tests are internationally recognised methods for assessing toxicity and are required under guidelines set by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulations overseen by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. Some authorised medicines in the UK necessitate quality control tests which require the use of animals, conducted to ensure the quality, safety, and efficacy of specific medicines. The Government is committed to non-animal alternatives in science and has published a strategy to support their development, validation and adoption. The strategy is available at:
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to pause asylum accommodation evictions during the activation of a severe weather emergency protocol.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) protocols are now recognised standard operational practice in the Home Office.
Where SWEP is activated in a local authority area, if Service Users at the end of their move on period have not secured onward accommodation and are due to be evicted from asylum accommodation, Accommodation Providers will not actively pursue eviction, and this will be delayed.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been (a) investigated and (b) prosecuted for attempting to impersonate someone else on a Secure English language test in each of the last five years.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The cost of providing the information requested would result in disproportionate cost.