Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent estimate he has made of levels of child homelessness in Warrington.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 114250 on 2 March 2026.
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, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Asylum handouts and accommodation removed for illegal migrants abusing Britain’s generosity, published on 5 March 2026, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the policy on local authority homelessness services; and what protections will be in place to ensure those local authorities are not expected to provide additional support due to this policy.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is developing a new framework for asylum support, including replacing the statutory duty to support with a discretionary power and making compliance with conditions, including not working illegally, a requirement of support. These measures, announced on 5 March, are intended to reduce misuse of support, not to make people homeless or deny support to those who genuinely need it and have no alternative means of supporting themselves.
Policies are still being developed, and we have not made final estimates of the number of people who may lose asylum support or accommodation, the savings to the public purse, or the full impact on local authority homelessness services. However, an impact assessment will be published in due course and the Home Office continues to engage with MHCLG and other stakeholders to understand and mitigate any potential homelessness impacts.
Asylum support will be targeted at those who are genuinely destitute and actively engaging with the asylum system. Decisions to withdraw support will be made on a case‑by‑case basis, with mitigating circumstances and vulnerabilities, including the needs of families with children, carefully considered. Individuals will be notified through established decision‑making processes, and clear guidance will be issued ahead of any changes.
Where it comes to light that a claim for support has been made fraudulently, action will be taken to recover the support that has been paid.
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, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Asylum handouts and accommodation removed for illegal migrants abusing Britain’s generosity, published on 5 March 2026, what estimate she has made of the savings to the public purse from removing asylum support and accommodation from individuals deemed to be abusing the asylum system.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is developing a new framework for asylum support, including replacing the statutory duty to support with a discretionary power and making compliance with conditions, including not working illegally, a requirement of support. These measures, announced on 5 March, are intended to reduce misuse of support, not to make people homeless or deny support to those who genuinely need it and have no alternative means of supporting themselves.
Policies are still being developed, and we have not made final estimates of the number of people who may lose asylum support or accommodation, the savings to the public purse, or the full impact on local authority homelessness services. However, an impact assessment will be published in due course and the Home Office continues to engage with MHCLG and other stakeholders to understand and mitigate any potential homelessness impacts.
Asylum support will be targeted at those who are genuinely destitute and actively engaging with the asylum system. Decisions to withdraw support will be made on a case‑by‑case basis, with mitigating circumstances and vulnerabilities, including the needs of families with children, carefully considered. Individuals will be notified through established decision‑making processes, and clear guidance will be issued ahead of any changes.
Where it comes to light that a claim for support has been made fraudulently, action will be taken to recover the support that has been paid.
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, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Asylum handouts and accommodation removed for illegal migrants abusing Britain’s generosity, published on 5 March 2026, whether asylum seekers deemed to be capable of supporting themselves financially will be expected to contribute towards any of their prior accommodation costs, backdated to when they were deemed to have become financially capable.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is developing a new framework for asylum support, including replacing the statutory duty to support with a discretionary power and making compliance with conditions, including not working illegally, a requirement of support. These measures, announced on 5 March, are intended to reduce misuse of support, not to make people homeless or deny support to those who genuinely need it and have no alternative means of supporting themselves.
Policies are still being developed, and we have not made final estimates of the number of people who may lose asylum support or accommodation, the savings to the public purse, or the full impact on local authority homelessness services. However, an impact assessment will be published in due course and the Home Office continues to engage with MHCLG and other stakeholders to understand and mitigate any potential homelessness impacts.
Asylum support will be targeted at those who are genuinely destitute and actively engaging with the asylum system. Decisions to withdraw support will be made on a case‑by‑case basis, with mitigating circumstances and vulnerabilities, including the needs of families with children, carefully considered. Individuals will be notified through established decision‑making processes, and clear guidance will be issued ahead of any changes.
Where it comes to light that a claim for support has been made fraudulently, action will be taken to recover the support that has been paid.
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, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Asylum handouts and accommodation removed for illegal migrants abusing Britain’s generosity, published on 5 March 2026, what guidance will be issued to accommodation providers and local authorities regarding the removal of asylum accommodation.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is developing a new framework for asylum support, including replacing the statutory duty to support with a discretionary power and making compliance with conditions, including not working illegally, a requirement of support. These measures, announced on 5 March, are intended to reduce misuse of support, not to make people homeless or deny support to those who genuinely need it and have no alternative means of supporting themselves.
Policies are still being developed, and we have not made final estimates of the number of people who may lose asylum support or accommodation, the savings to the public purse, or the full impact on local authority homelessness services. However, an impact assessment will be published in due course and the Home Office continues to engage with MHCLG and other stakeholders to understand and mitigate any potential homelessness impacts.
Asylum support will be targeted at those who are genuinely destitute and actively engaging with the asylum system. Decisions to withdraw support will be made on a case‑by‑case basis, with mitigating circumstances and vulnerabilities, including the needs of families with children, carefully considered. Individuals will be notified through established decision‑making processes, and clear guidance will be issued ahead of any changes.
Where it comes to light that a claim for support has been made fraudulently, action will be taken to recover the support that has been paid.
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, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Asylum handouts and accommodation removed for illegal migrants abusing Britain’s generosity, published on 5 March 2026, what estimate her Department has made of the number of people who may lose asylum support and accommodation under the new policy.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is developing a new framework for asylum support, including replacing the statutory duty to support with a discretionary power and making compliance with conditions, including not working illegally, a requirement of support. These measures, announced on 5 March, are intended to reduce misuse of support, not to make people homeless or deny support to those who genuinely need it and have no alternative means of supporting themselves.
Policies are still being developed, and we have not made final estimates of the number of people who may lose asylum support or accommodation, the savings to the public purse, or the full impact on local authority homelessness services. However, an impact assessment will be published in due course and the Home Office continues to engage with MHCLG and other stakeholders to understand and mitigate any potential homelessness impacts.
Asylum support will be targeted at those who are genuinely destitute and actively engaging with the asylum system. Decisions to withdraw support will be made on a case‑by‑case basis, with mitigating circumstances and vulnerabilities, including the needs of families with children, carefully considered. Individuals will be notified through established decision‑making processes, and clear guidance will be issued ahead of any changes.
Where it comes to light that a claim for support has been made fraudulently, action will be taken to recover the support that has been paid.
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, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Asylum handouts and accommodation removed for illegal migrants abusing Britain’s generosity, published on 5 March 2026, what process will be used to notify people when asylum support and accommodation are withdrawn.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is developing a new framework for asylum support, including replacing the statutory duty to support with a discretionary power and making compliance with conditions, including not working illegally, a requirement of support. These measures, announced on 5 March, are intended to reduce misuse of support, not to make people homeless or deny support to those who genuinely need it and have no alternative means of supporting themselves.
Policies are still being developed, and we have not made final estimates of the number of people who may lose asylum support or accommodation, the savings to the public purse, or the full impact on local authority homelessness services. However, an impact assessment will be published in due course and the Home Office continues to engage with MHCLG and other stakeholders to understand and mitigate any potential homelessness impacts.
Asylum support will be targeted at those who are genuinely destitute and actively engaging with the asylum system. Decisions to withdraw support will be made on a case‑by‑case basis, with mitigating circumstances and vulnerabilities, including the needs of families with children, carefully considered. Individuals will be notified through established decision‑making processes, and clear guidance will be issued ahead of any changes.
Where it comes to light that a claim for support has been made fraudulently, action will be taken to recover the support that has been paid.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
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 her 5th March policy announcements on the asylum system on levels of homelessness in the UK.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Replacing the statutory duty to support with a power, and making it a condition of support not to work illegally were included in the 5th March policy announcements. The aim of these measures is to reduce misuse of support, not to make people homeless or deny support to those who genuinely need it and have no way to support themselves.
Our intention is that support will only go to those who are genuinely destitute and actively engaging with the asylum system, not those seeking to exploit it. These changes will give us greater flexibility to take firmer action against individuals who do not comply.
The Restoring Order and Control statement set out the overall direction of the future policy. The intention is to replace the current statutory duty with a more flexible framework, using the discretionary power that can take account of a wider range of factors when assessing and providing asylum support. These factors may include:
- Whether individuals have alternative means of supporting themselves such as right to work
- Whether individuals have complied with relevant immigration conditions; and
- behaviour and conduct in the UK.
Support will only be withdrawn where there has been a breach of the rules. Any withdrawal of support is done on a case-by-case basis, with any mitigating circumstances or vulnerabilities considered in the decision-making process.
We are engaging with MHCLG and other stakeholders on the potential impact of these changes, particularly on homelessness. We will also ensure that the needs of vulnerable people are properly considered as part of the decision-making process, including the needs of families with children. We are committed to ensuring that proposals are considered carefully, so that they support creation of a system which is both fair and sustainable.
Asked by: Sarah Coombes (Labour - West Bromwich)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to half the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is a priority for the Government to halve the gap between the richest and the poorest regions and to ensure that everyone, no matter where they are born, lives well for longer. We recognise that recently released Office for National Statistics Data on Healthy Life Expectancy (HLE) data is concerning and there is more we need to do.
We are tackling the root causes of the HLE gap, focusing on key prevention policies such as reducing obesity and smoking, improving NHS access and outcomes, and through coordinated cross‑Government action on wider determinants like air quality and fuel poverty.
A core mission of the 10-Year Health Plan is to reduce the persistent inequalities that shape people’s health. The plan’s three shifts all serve one purpose, to improve outcomes for the communities who face the greatest disadvantage.
We are working across Government to ensure health is embedded in the policies that shape people’s daily lives, from the homes they live in to the air they breathe. Recent cross-Government action includes the Warm Homes Plan, the Keep Britain Working Review, and the Homelessness Strategy.
We are also taking a range of cross-Government action to tackle health inequality. This includes the introduction of Awaab’s Law, ensuring landlords will have to fix significant damp and mould hazards, and legislating for a new statutory health and health inequalities duty for strategic authorities.
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that veterans receive adequate support after leaving the armed forces.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
This Labour Government was elected on a promise to renew the nations commitment with those who served – and we are acting.
We've made record investment for our remarkable veterans alongside a landmark new Veterans Strategy celebrating them as a vital national asset. £50 million for VALOUR, £12 million for the Reducing Veteran Homelessness Programme, together with Ops COURAGE, RESTORE, FORTITUDE, ASCEND and NOVA.
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