Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government why staff are "strongly advised" in the Immigration Enforcement Live Facial Recognition Policy Document published in November to refer to that document rather than being required to do so.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Immigration Enforcement live facial recognition policy document was based on standard police guidance. However, we can confirm that during operational deployments it was made clear to relevant Home Office members of staff that adherence to the agreed-upon policies and processes was mandatory.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Metropolitan Police Flying Squad will have its firearms capability removed; and if so, what assessment they have made of that decision.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Decisions around the deployment of armed officers are operational matters for individual chief constables to determine. It is therefore the responsibility of the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service to determine how best to meet the operational requirements and make decisions on deployment of armed officers in London.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many small boat crossings have taken place in each of the last ten years, including 2025.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes daily statistics on detected small boat arrivals to the UK in the Small boat activity in the English Channel - GOV.UK(opens in a new tab) release.
More detailed published data on small boat arrivals to the UK are provided in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release(opens in a new tab)’, with the nationality, age grouping and sex of arrivals shown in table Irr_D01 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed datasets(opens in a new tab)’, with the latest data up to the end of September 2025.
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, whether she is taking steps to ensure that data on illegal migrants whose whereabouts are unknown can be published in a verified form.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The nature of absconding is complicated because individuals frequently come in and out of contact. Whilst the Home Office has processes for the recording of absconder events, and for seeking to bring such individuals back into contact, the recording of information about absconders is complex and the operational systems involved do not currently support the production of robust statistics on this area.
Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user requests, the public resources required to compile the statistics, and importantly the quality and availability of data. The Home Office does not publish data on subjects where the information held is known to be of a quality that would be unsuitable for appropriately supporting public debate.
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 steps she is taking to establish the number of illegal migrants whose whereabouts are unknown.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The nature of absconding is complicated because individuals frequently come in and out of contact. Whilst the Home Office has processes for the recording of absconder events, and for seeking to bring such individuals back into contact, the recording of information about absconders is complex and the operational systems involved do not currently support the production of robust statistics on this area.
Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user requests, the public resources required to compile the statistics, and importantly the quality and availability of data. The Home Office does not publish data on subjects where the information held is known to be of a quality that would be unsuitable for appropriately supporting public debate.
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, whether she plans to publish data on the number of migrant absconders in each of the last three years.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The nature of absconding is complicated because individuals frequently come in and out of contact. Whilst the Home Office has processes for the recording of absconder events, and for seeking to bring such individuals back into contact, the recording of information about absconders is complex and the operational systems involved do not currently support the production of robust statistics on this area.
Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user requests, the public resources required to compile the statistics, and importantly the quality and availability of data. The Home Office does not publish data on subjects where the information held is known to be of a quality that would be unsuitable for appropriately supporting public debate.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been deprived of their British citizenship in each year since 2020; and how many of those (a) were born British citizens, (b) became stateless as a result, and (c) had their citizenship restored following an appeal.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on the number of citizenship deprivation orders. These reports are available on Gov.UK as part of the HMG Counter-Terrorism Disruptive Powers reports and the Immigration and Protection transparency data
However, the full information requested could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what criteria they use to decide which asylum seekers will be returned to France under the 'one in, one out' scheme.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Regarding returning people to France, any individual who arrives on a small boat may be eligible to be detained and returned to France.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department’s report Scientific procedures on living animals, Great Britain: 2024, published on 23 October 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the increase in procedures involving sheep each year since 2021.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Home Office regulates under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) to assure compliance with the robust protections afforded to animals used in science and to administrate the licensing framework. Licences to test on animals are only granted where applicants comply with the principles of replacement, reduction and refinement. Animals can only be used where there is no non-animal alternative, numbers are minimised, and where the most refined methods of testing are used to minimise harms.
The majority of procedures involving sheep each year are conducted for basic research purposes. The trends in the number of animals and types of procedures carried out each year are influenced by a range of extraneous factors, for example requirements for research and testing which include products being brought to market.
The Government has published the strategy, "Replacing animals in science, a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods". The strategy seeks to accelerate the development and validation of alternatives to animals in science in all but exceptional circumstances The strategy is available here:
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of recent changes to the eligibility criteria for Indefinite Leave to Remain on British Nationals (Overseas) students who have resettled in the UK.
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. Individuals on the BN(O) route who are studying in the UK will also qualify for the same reduction.
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. An impact assessment will be developed alongside the finalised policy.
In the meantime, the current rules for settlement under the BN(O) route will continue to apply.