Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to provide exemptions from Electronic Travel Authorisation for children living abroad who hold dual citizenship having inherited their British Citizenship from a Parent but who do not possess a British Passport.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
British citizens with dual nationality (including those who acquired British citizenship from birth), are already exempt from the requirement to obtain an electronic travel authorisation when travelling to the UK.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department holds on outcomes of asylum appeals since March 2023.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Data on asylum appeals is published in table Asy_D06 and Asy_D07 of the ‘Asylum appeals lodged and determined detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to the year ending March 2023.
Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks.
Appeals data from April 2023 onwards is currently unavailable for publication due to ongoing work as immigration data transitions to a new caseworking system. Work is ongoing to make this information available, and it will be included in a future edition of the Immigration System Statistics Quarterly release.
Please note that figures for immigration and asylum appeals at First-Tier Tribunal and subsequent stages are published by the Ministry of Justice as part of their Tribunal Statistics release. The latest data relates to January to March 2025.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many persons who are HKSAR passport holders have claimed asylum in the UK in each of the last five calendar years; and how many were (a) granted refugee status, (b) granted humanitarian protection, (c) granted other leave, (d) refused and (e) withdrawn.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of people claiming asylum and initial decisions on asylum claims, by nationality, is published in tables Asy_D01 and Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum claims and decisions detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to the year ending September 2025. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook.
There is no published breakdown available for HKSAR passport holders.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) large sites and (b) hotel sites for Asylum Seekers are there in the Falkirk Council area.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
For the safety and security of those we accommodate and staff, it is our longstanding policy not to disclose information about sites which may or may not be utilised by the Home Office.
The latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated in each local authority area, including figures for hotels and other contingency sites. These statistics can be found at Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help ensure that Hong Kong SAR passport holders in the asylum system have access to appropriate mental health support.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office takes safeguarding issues extremely seriously. Protecting vulnerable people is a key departmental priority.
We recognise that that all asylum seekers are potentially vulnerable. During the asylum decision making process we aim to ensure that particularly vulnerable claimants are identified and that they are given help in accessing appropriate services.
All asylum seekers and refugees in the UK, including those who are Hong Kong SAR passport holders, can access the NHS for both physical and mental health needs.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what quality assurance data her Department holds on the outcomes of initial asylum decisions since 2023-24.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Department publishes asylum decision quality data annually. Asylum decision quality data is published in the ADQ_01A table found in Migration transparency data - GOV.UK(opens in a new tab) of the Immigration and Protection data.
The publication of 2024/25 data has been delayed because we are reviewing the methodology and thresholds for what is published in order to provide greater transparency across all decisions.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing the recommendations in the report Externalised asylum and migration policies and human rights law, published by the Council of Europe.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The UK has a long-standing commitment to protecting those in need, in line with our international obligations. All asylum claims that are lodged from within the UK and admitted to the UK asylum system, are given full and careful consideration. We have noted the Council of Europe’s report, and we will never remove anyone to a country where they would face persecution or serious harm. We remain firmly committed to this principle.
As required through the Public Sector Equality Duty, Home Office officials consider equality impacts throughout the policy development process. Protecting children and vulnerable people is and will remain a priority.
The reforms set out in the Asylum Policy Statement (Restoring Order and Control: A statement on the government’s asylum and returns policy - GOV.UK) introduce a comprehensive package of measures designed to restore order, control, fairness, and public confidence in the system. These reforms are fully compliant with our international obligations.
Further policy development is needed on the details of these reforms. We are in the process of consulting meaningfully with affected stakeholders and will carefully assess equalities impacts.
Asked by: Patrick Spencer (Independent - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the impact of housing (a) refugees and (b) asylum seekers in Ipswich on social cohesion.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
We have a set of Asylum Accommodation Plans which take an evidence-based approach to the procurement and occupancy of Dispersal Accommodation; ensuring we are finding suitable accommodation to fulfil our statutory duty, while considering the impacts on local areas.
The Home Office continues to work with local government to allocate asylum seekers based on a range of evidence, including the availability of housing, pressure on services and community cohesion.
Whatever decisions are made regarding specific locations, we are clear that the impact on communities must be minimised.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the extent to which exclusions from the BN(O) visa route for Hong Kong born-persons born after 1 Just 1997 and without BN(O) status, contribute to HKSAR passport holders claiming asylum in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The BN(O) route reflects the UK’s historic and moral commitment to those people of Hong Kong who chose to retain their ties to the UK by taking up BN(O) status at the point of Hong Kong’s handover to China in 1997. To be eligible for the BN(O) route, applicants must have BN(O) status, or be the eligible family member of someone with BN(O) status. Adult children of BN(O) status holders who were born after 1 July 1997 are eligible for the route.
The route is focused on those with BN(O) status and is already available to a significant proportion of the Hong Kong population. However, we understand concerns about the current scope of the route and so continue to keep this policy under review.
We have not made an assessment of the number of Hong Kongers born on or after 1 July 1997 who are not eligible for the BN(O) route, or of the extent to which ineligibility for the BN(O) route may contribute to asylum claims. Asylum and the BN(O) route serve different purposes and operate independently.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she will expand eligibility for the BN(O) route to include Hongkongers born on or after 1 July 1997; what assessment she has made of the number of people currently excluded for this reason.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The BN(O) route reflects the UK’s historic and moral commitment to those people of Hong Kong who chose to retain their ties to the UK by taking up BN(O) status at the point of Hong Kong’s handover to China in 1997. To be eligible for the BN(O) route, applicants must have BN(O) status, or be the eligible family member of someone with BN(O) status. Adult children of BN(O) status holders who were born after 1 July 1997 are eligible for the route.
The route is focused on those with BN(O) status and is already available to a significant proportion of the Hong Kong population. However, we understand concerns about the current scope of the route and so continue to keep this policy under review.
We have not made an assessment of the number of Hong Kongers born on or after 1 July 1997 who are not eligible for the BN(O) route, or of the extent to which ineligibility for the BN(O) route may contribute to asylum claims. Asylum and the BN(O) route serve different purposes and operate independently.