Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of her Department's progress on reducing unauthorised migration across the English Channel.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has taken significant steps to address illegal migration and its Plan for Change sets out our ambition to secure borders and control immigration. We are committed to tackling illegal migration and the criminal networks which facilitate it. Since July 2024, nearly 50,000 individuals without lawful status have been removed from the UK. Our agreement with France means that those arriving by small boats can be detained and returned to France.
The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 has now received Royal Assent and the overarching impact assessment for this can be found here:
The Government is continuously monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of our measures in place to tackle small boats. As stated in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act, the Border Security Command will be publishing an annual report, which must state the Commander’s views on the performance in the financial year of the border security system. This is set out in the Act here:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/31/section/4/enacted(opens in a new tab)
Border security is fundamental to both our national security and economic security and evaluating our approach is a critical part of that.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the prevalence of drug smuggling among illegal migrants who arrive in the UK via the Channel.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to questions 71052, 71053 and 71054 on 4th September.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of measures to deter small boat crossings in the English Channel.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government’s Plan for Change sets out our ambition to secure borders and control immigration. We are committed to tackling illegal migration and the criminal networks behind it.
The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 has now received Royal Assent and the overarching impact assessment for this can be found here:
The Government is continuously monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of our measures in place to tackle small boats. As stated in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act, the Border Security Command will be publishing an annual report, which must state the Commander’s views on the performance in the financial year of the border security system. This is set out in the Act here:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/31/section/4/enacted
Border security is fundamental to both our national security and economic security and evaluating our approach is a critical part of that.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visas a) the Department for Culture Media and Sport, b) the Arts Council, c) the National Archives, d) the British Library, e) the British Museum, f) Historic England, g) the Imperial War Museum, h) the National Gallery, i) the Science Museum Group, j) the Victoria and Albert Museum, k) the Wallace Collection, l) the BBC, m) Channel 4, n) Historic Royal Palaces and o) the Royal Parks have sponsored since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The requested data is not held centrally in a reportable format.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were referred to the Prevent programme by local authority and risk type in each of the last five years.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Home Office does not routinely publish data on Prevent referrals by local authority, as releasing it could have detrimental effect on national security. However, the Home Office does publish data on Prevent referrals by region and type of concern for the last five years.
The type of concern categories have been updated twice in the period you have requested, 2020/21 and 2024/25. They were updated for the 2021/22 publication and the latest publication ( Individuals referred to and supported through the Prevent Programme, April 2024 to March 2025 - GOV.UK) to better describe the nature of concerns that are referred into Prevent. They were developed based on analysis of data available as well as consultation with frontline staff and policymakers about their experiences and requirements. The new type of concern categories do not exactly match onto previous years’ categories, therefore, there is a break in the time series and trends by type of concern should be interpreted carefully.
The type of concern presented is based upon information provided by the referrer. For cases that progress further into the programme, officers may update the type of concern based upon new information that comes to light. Therefore, the statistics regarding type of concern are likely to include a mix of the type of concern raised by the original referrer and the type of concern that the Channel Case Officers believe the individual is presenting as more information has become available.
c) Table A below provides a summary of the number of people referred to the Prevent programme by region and type of concern for 2024/25.
Table A: The number of referrals to Prevent by region and type of concern, 2024/25.
Year | Region | Extreme Right Wing | Islamist Extremism | Left Wing Extremism | Anarchist Extremism | Northern Ireland Related – Dissident Republican Extremism | InCel | Fascination with extreme violence or mass casualty attacks (where no other ideology) | Multiple ideologies (with no dominant ideology) | No ideology – other susceptibility to radicalisation identified | No ideology identified | Other | Unspecified | Total |
2024/25 | Total | 1,798 | 870 | 21 | 13 | 16 | 66 | 469 | 424 | 1,908 | 3,009 | 175 | 9 | 8,778 |
2024/25 | East | 101 | 41 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 34 | 32 | 78 | 302 | 15 | 0 | 614 |
2024/25 | East Midlands | 135 | 33 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 55 | 27 | 135 | 348 | 6 | 1 | 749 |
2024/25 | London | 227 | 330 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 81 | 117 | 215 | 316 | 55 | 0 | 1,354 |
2024/25 | North East | 278 | 94 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 67 | 57 | 134 | 639 | 21 | 5 | 1,312 |
2024/25 | North West | 321 | 121 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 80 | 57 | 429 | 253 | 17 | 0 | 1,296 |
2024/25 | South East | 269 | 37 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 54 | 43 | 587 | 368 | 27 | 0 | 1,397 |
2024/25 | South West | 109 | 26 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 16 | 26 | 73 | 294 | 12 | 1 | 568 |
2024/25 | Wales | 82 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 14 | 64 | 186 | 8 | 2 | 398 |
2024/25 | West Midlands | 276 | 168 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 64 | 51 | 193 | 303 | 14 | 0 | 1,090 |
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c) Table B below provides a summary of the number of people referred to the Prevent programme by region and type of concern for 2021/22 to 2023/24.
Table B: The number of referrals to Prevent by region and type of concern, 2021/22 to 2023/24.
Year | Region | Extreme Right Wing | Islamist | Other | Conflicted | No specific extremism issue | High CT risk but no ideology present | Vulnerability present but no ideology or CT risk | No risk, vulnerability or Ideology Present | School massacre | Incel | Unspecified | Total |
2023/24 | Total | 1,314 | 913 | 126 | 1,278 | 0 | 4 | 2,489 | 581 | 162 | 54 | 1 | 6,922 |
2023/24 | East | 118 | 62 | 10 | 78 | 0 | 0 | 190 | 67 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 540 |
2023/24 | East Midlands | 99 | 59 | 9 | 76 | 0 | 0 | 295 | 63 | 18 | 2 | 1 | 622 |
2023/24 | London | 123 | 290 | 16 | 177 | 0 | 0 | 260 | 96 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 981 |
2023/24 | North East | 202 | 87 | 20 | 286 | 0 | 0 | 276 | 135 | 24 | 10 | 0 | 1,040 |
2023/24 | North West | 240 | 173 | 14 | 169 | 0 | 1 | 297 | 9 | 34 | 11 | 0 | 948 |
2023/24 | South East | 200 | 50 | 23 | 354 | 0 | 1 | 515 | 33 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 1,200 |
2023/24 | South West | 67 | 18 | 8 | 54 | 0 | 1 | 280 | 41 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 481 |
2023/24 | Wales | 57 | 11 | 4 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 118 | 47 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 275 |
2023/24 | West Midlands | 208 | 163 | 22 | 61 | 0 | 1 | 258 | 90 | 22 | 10 | 0 | 835 |
2022/23 | Total | 1,310 | 781 | 112 | 1,214 | 0 | 5 | 2,505 | 654 | 159 | 69 | 8 | 6,817 |
2022/23 | East | 78 | 39 | 12 | 68 | 0 | 0 | 242 | 64 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 510 |
2022/23 | East Midlands | 114 | 43 | 11 | 75 | 0 | 0 | 276 | 79 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 614 |
2022/23 | London | 140 | 261 | 24 | 167 | 0 | 1 | 339 | 139 | 19 | 13 | 0 | 1,103 |
2022/23 | North East | 221 | 77 | 15 | 255 | 0 | 1 | 327 | 113 | 27 | 6 | 0 | 1,042 |
2022/23 | North West | 236 | 176 | 19 | 172 | 0 | 1 | 272 | 45 | 32 | 17 | 0 | 970 |
2022/23 | South East | 262 | 80 | 21 | 231 | 0 | 1 | 424 | 41 | 32 | 14 | 0 | 1,106 |
2022/23 | South West | 79 | 14 | 2 | 66 | 0 | 0 | 272 | 41 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 489 |
2022/23 | Wales | 61 | 12 | 2 | 42 | 0 | 0 | 115 | 27 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 271 |
2022/23 | West Midlands | 119 | 79 | 6 | 138 | 0 | 1 | 238 | 105 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 712 |
2021/22 | Total | 1,309 | 1,027 | 100 | 1,020 | 0 | 5 | 2,127 | 587 | 154 | 77 | 0 | 6,406 |
2021/22 | East | 76 | 41 | 8 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 170 | 65 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 410 |
2021/22 | East Midlands | 112 | 61 | 5 | 78 | 0 | 1 | 294 | 113 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 678 |
2021/22 | London | 122 | 384 | 12 | 170 | 0 | 1 | 228 | 51 | 11 | 13 | 0 | 992 |
2021/22 | North East | 259 | 110 | 15 | 155 | 0 | 0 | 372 | 109 | 32 | 11 | 0 | 1,063 |
2021/22 | North West | 185 | 166 | 16 | 155 | 0 | 2 | 153 | 42 | 27 | 12 | 0 | 758 |
2021/22 | South East | 246 | 121 | 23 | 231 | 0 | 1 | 393 | 55 | 28 | 17 | 0 | 1,115 |
2021/22 | South West | 102 | 23 | 8 | 72 | 0 | 0 | 192 | 50 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 468 |
2021/22 | Wales | 53 | 18 | 2 | 44 | 0 | 0 | 110 | 30 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 272 |
2021/22 | West Midlands | 154 | 103 | 11 | 78 | 0 | 0 | 215 | 72 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 650 |
c) Table C below provides a summary of the number of people referred to the Prevent programme by region and type of concern for 2020/21.
Table C: the number of referrals to Prevent by region and type of concern, 2020/21
Year | Region | Islamist | Extreme Right-Wing | Other | Mixed, unstable, or unclear | Total |
2020/21 | Total | 1,064 | 1,229 | 100 | 2,522 | 4,915 |
2020/21 | East | 93 | 109 | 8 | 237 | 447 |
2020/21 | East Midlands | 77 | 136 | 5 | 312 | 530 |
2020/21 | London | 294 | 97 | 18 | 279 | 688 |
2020/21 | North East | 157 | 253 | 19 | 452 | 881 |
2020/21 | North West | 149 | 129 | 22 | 297 | 597 |
2020/21 | South East | 107 | 225 | 16 | 426 | 774 |
2020/21 | South West | 29 | 84 | 6 | 173 | 292 |
2020/21 | Wales | 23 | 84 | 3 | 120 | 230 |
2020/21 | West Midlands | 135 | 112 | 3 | 226 | 476 |
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure equitable levels of representation of Northern Ireland in UK (a) broadcasting and (b) public service media.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Public service media plays an important role in terms of providing news and other content which reflects the full diversity of people, communities and experiences across the nations and regions, including Northern Ireland.
Currently under their Operating Licence, the BBC has to produce 3% of its network programming output in Northern Ireland each year, by spend and hours. Meanwhile Channel 4’s nations quota for content spend and hours has recently been increased by Ofcom from 9% to 12% from 2030 which Channel 4 have committed to delivering by 2028.
Ofcom has overall responsibility for these quotas and monitoring compliance.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the Channel 4 Fact Check report entitled Value of UK arms imported by Israel, published on 29 September 2025.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Channel 4 report focuses on imports of ammunition and munitions by Israel. The UK does not licence the export of any bombs or ammunition for use in military operations in Gaza or the West Bank. As Members will be aware, last year we suspended licences for exports of items to the IDF that might be used in military operations in Gaza.
The report is based on Israeli customs data which does not differentiate between live munitions and training equipment or sporting ammunition for civilian use. Furthermore it does not differentiate between items staying in Israel and those scheduled for re-export to other countries.
We take our arms control system very seriously and have taken every possible measure to ensure licences are not approved for exports that could be used by the IDF in Gaza.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish a list of all the instances between 4 July 2024 and 14 October 2025 when 100 or more migrants have crossed the Channel in a single small boat, including (a) the date of the crossing, (b) the number of migrants on board and (c) the approximate dimensions of the boat.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
There have been 5 occasions over this period where over 100 migrants have crossed the Channel in a single small boat. These are listed below.
Date | Number of persons onboard |
13/08/2025 | 106 |
19/09/2025 | 102 |
19/09/2025 | 106 |
27/09/2025 | 125 |
08/10/2025 | 101 |
Information about the dimensions of boats is operationally sensitive, and its release could prejudice the interests of law enforcement.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the number of migrants who have arrived illegally in the UK since 4 August 2025.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
By its very nature, it is not possible to know the exact number of people who arrive to the UK illegally, and so we do not seek to make any official estimates of this. In June 2019, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published a note on ‘measuring illegal migration’.
However, the Home Office does publish statistics on detected irregular arrivals to the UK in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on detected irregular arrivals by method of entry is published in table Irr_D01 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed datasets’, with the latest data up to the end of June 2025. Data for July to September 2025 will be published on 27 November 2025. Data on daily small boat arrivals is published at: Small boat activity in the English Channel - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Murray of Blidworth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 28 July (HL9433), how many engines for small boats have been seized prior to being used in crossings or attempted crossings of the English Channel since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
This information requested is not available in an accessible format and could only be collated at a disproportionate cost.