Written questions by MacDonald.

Whether the Home Office has considered the potential merits of creating a dedicated Gaelic Speaker Work Visa, allowing fluent Gaelic speakers from overseas to fill Gaelic-medium posts in Scotland.

Awaiting answer.

When she will respond to the letter of 3 March 2026 from the hon. Member for Inverness, Skye, & West Ross-shire on Cameron Barracks.

The Minister for Border Security & Asylum responded on 31 March 2026.

What recent discussions his Department has had with Highland Council on the use of Cameron Barracks to house Asylum Seekers.

The Home Office has engaged with Highland Council, as well as other local stakeholders including the Police, NHS, Scottish Fire & Rescue Service and others since plans were announced in October 2025.The department continues to engage regularly with all statutory partners as plans progress. Key information about the plans discussed with local partners can be found on the factsheet Cameron Barracks, Inverness: factsheet - GOV.UK, which will be updated as further information becomes available.

What recent assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of reports of attempts by foreign state actors to influence UK political discourse during and after the 2016 EU Referendum.

It is, and always will be, an absolute priority to protect the UK against foreign interference. The Government is clear that any interference in our democracy is unacceptable.The Government has taken steps to strengthen our resilience to foreign interference. This includes the updated guidance published by the National Protective Security Authority on 13 October, the Counter Political Interference and Espionage Action Plan which I set out in Parliament on 18 November. The National Security Act 2023, including the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme and its enhanced tier, give law enforcement and the intelligence services the powers they need to disrupt the full range of state threat activity.This government will continue to do whatever is necessary to protect UK democracy.

What recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of the broadcaster LuaLua TV on national security.

We do not routinely comment on the detail of operational matters or specific threats. But national security is the first duty of any government, and we take any malicious activity that might pose a threat to our security extremely seriously.

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the amount of resources available to police forces to investigate wildlife crime.

Wildlife crime can have devastating consequences for our natural environments and countryside communities. This Government is committed to reducing crime, including in rural areas, and anyone exploiting or deliberately harming British wildlife should face the full force of the law.This financial year, we are continuing to fund the National Wildlife Crime Unit who provide intelligence, analysis and investigative assistance to forces and other law enforcement agencies across the UK to support them in investigating wildlife crime.Additionally, the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will ensure that every community in England and Wales will have named and contactable officers dealing with local issues, and that neighbourhood teams spend the majority of their time in their communities providing visible patrols and engaging with local communities and businesses.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of consulting with Members before allocating asylum accommodation in their constituencies.

The Home Office routinely engages local officials and elected members as part of the procurement process for specific types of accommodation, to enable us to gather local intelligence which informs our decision making. This engagement and disclosure is undertaken on a case by case basis as is necessary.

What steps she is taking to help reduce tensions within local communities arising from the use of (a) hotels and (b) military barracks to accommodate asylum seekers.

The Home Office works closely with local authorities, police, and health partners to ensure that military sites operate safely, with secure perimeters, on-site services and regular Multi-Agency Forums to address local concerns. This self-contained approach helps reduce pressures on local services and supports community cohesion.The Home Office works closely with local authorities and statutory partners to ensure that all asylum accommodation sites operate safely with regular engagement to address local concerns, reduce pressure on local services and support community cohesion.

What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of relocating asylum seekers from hotel accommodation to Ministry of Defence sites in mitigating tensions with local communities.

The Home Office works closely with local authorities, police, and health partners to ensure that military sites operate safely, with secure perimeters, on-site services and regular Multi-Agency Forums to address local concerns. This self-contained approach helps reduce pressures on local services and supports community cohesion.The Home Office works closely with local authorities and statutory partners to ensure that all asylum accommodation sites operate safely with regular engagement to address local concerns, reduce pressure on local services and support community cohesion.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing flexible payment options for visa renewal fees under the family route.

The Home Office publishes the estimated unit cost of processing immigration and nationality applications on Gov.UK. This can be reviewed via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visa-fees-transparency-data.Where a fee is required, the full payment must accompany the application in order for it to be considered as a valid application. The Government has no current plans for visa fees to be payable in instalments.

What estimate she has made of the administrative cost to her Department of processing visa applications under the family route in the last 12 months.

The Home Office publishes the estimated unit cost of processing immigration and nationality applications on Gov.UK. This can be reviewed via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visa-fees-transparency-data.Where a fee is required, the full payment must accompany the application in order for it to be considered as a valid application. The Government has no current plans for visa fees to be payable in instalments.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of safeguards to the right to peaceful protest.

Public order legislation has been developed in line with the UK’s human rights obligations, including those under the European Convention on Human Rights.The Home Secretary announced on 5 October that she has asked for review of public order legislation.

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the affordability of visa application and renewal fees under the family route.

Fees for immigration and nationality applications are kept under review; however, the Home Office provides for exceptions to the need to pay application fees in a number of specific circumstances. These include affordability-based waivers for entry clearance and leave to remain on family and human rights grounds.Considerations regarding fees charged on the family route have also been addressed in published Equalities Impact Assessment, which can be found at the following link: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/363/pdfs/uksiod_20250363_en_001.pdf.

What information her Department holds on the number of people who were arrested in relation to the protests in Parliament Square on 6 September 2025.

The Government is absolutely clear that support for proscribed organisations is unacceptable. Anyone expressing support for a proscribed organisation should expect to be investigated by the police.The Metropolitan Police Service has released statistics on the arrests made at the central London protests on 6 September 2025 which can be found here:https://news.met.police.uk/pressreleases/update-on-demonstration-in-support-of-palestine-action-3403168Operational decisions, including arrests, are a matter for the police, who are independent of Government.

What information her Department holds on the number of people who were arrested at the protests in Parliament Square on 6 September 2025 who have since been (a) charged and (b) released without charge.

The Government is absolutely clear that support for proscribed organisations is unacceptable. Anyone expressing support for a proscribed organisation should expect to be investigated by the police.Charging decisions are a matter for the police and the CPS who are independent of Government. The CPS regularly publish information relating to Palestine Action related charges.

What recent discussions she has had with her international counterparts on tackling livestreamed child sexual abuse.

The Government is unequivocal in its commitment to protecting children from all forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse. This includes ensuring that we are working to combat livestreamed abuse and ensuring that offenders cannot use technology to harm children with impunity.The Home Office continues to invest in a network of Undercover Online Officers (UCOLs) in Regional Organised Crime Units. UCOLs deploy online to identify and pursue offenders seeking to sexually exploit children, including those who consume and facilitate livestreaming of child sexual abuse. Home Office funding supports the National Crime Agency to use its unique capabilities to disrupt high harm offenders, including those based overseas who seek to livestream abuse.The UK is leading the way in supporting the building and developing thematic knowledge and operational capabilities of other international law enforcement agencies to work together to pursue offenders and safeguard children. In addition, the NCA is leading a number of initiatives with industry and engagement with the financial sector, to specifically prevent and detect livestreaming offending. This includes work to build on the UK-supported report by the Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) ‘Detecting, Disrupting and Investigating Online Child Sexual Exploitation’.The Online Safety Act introduces world-leading protections for children. It places robust duties on tech companies to prevent and swiftly remove illegal content, including child sexual abuse material, and to take proactive steps to protect children from harm. Ofcom, as the regulator, will have strong enforcement powers to ensure compliance.We also recognise the importance of device-level protections in preventing livestreaming abuse and we support the development and deployment of safety technologies that can help prevent abuse before it happens. This includes exploring the role of on-device tools that can detect and disrupt livestreamed abuse and other image-based harms, while respecting users’ privacy and maintaining end-to-end encryption.The Government continues to work closely with law enforcement, industry, and child protection experts to ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of efforts to tackle online child sexual abuse.

What recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of AI-driven detection technologies in preventing online child sexual abuse.

The Home Office, in collaboration with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the Alan Turing Institute, and the Accelerated Capability Environment has led the Deepfake Detection Challenge. This initiative brought together experts to develop and evaluate detection tools, which are essential in addressing serious harms including online child sexual abuse. As offenders increasingly exploit AI, we must harness its potential for good.A key outcome has been the creation of a tool which enables scientific evaluation of detection technologies, offering actionable metrics to support informed procurement decisions and helping end users select the most effective solutions. This capability is now being considered as a potential global standard.The next phase of the Challenge will continue to identify and benchmark AI-driven solutions. The Government remains committed to investing in innovation to combat this appalling crime.The Home Office has also introduced world leading measures by becoming the first country in the world to criminalise the possession, creation and distribution of AI tools to generate child sexual abuse material, and criminalised the possession of paedophile manuals that teach others how to create tools for this purpose.

What steps her Department is taking to tackl livestreamed child sexual abuse being accessed in the UK.

The Government is unequivocal in its commitment to protecting children from all forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse. This includes ensuring that we are working to combat livestreamed abuse and ensuring that offenders cannot use technology to harm children with impunity.The Home Office continues to invest in a network of Undercover Online Officers (UCOLs) in Regional Organised Crime Units. UCOLs deploy online to identify and pursue offenders seeking to sexually exploit children, including those who consume and facilitate livestreaming of child sexual abuse. Home Office funding supports the National Crime Agency to use its unique capabilities to disrupt high harm offenders, including those based overseas who seek to livestream abuse.The UK is leading the way in supporting the building and developing thematic knowledge and operational capabilities of other international law enforcement agencies to work together to pursue offenders and safeguard children. In addition, the NCA is leading a number of initiatives with industry and engagement with the financial sector, to specifically prevent and detect livestreaming offending. This includes work to build on the UK-supported report by the Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) ‘Detecting, Disrupting and Investigating Online Child Sexual Exploitation’.The Online Safety Act introduces world-leading protections for children. It places robust duties on tech companies to prevent and swiftly remove illegal content, including child sexual abuse material, and to take proactive steps to protect children from harm. Ofcom, as the regulator, will have strong enforcement powers to ensure compliance.We also recognise the importance of device-level protections in preventing livestreaming abuse and we support the development and deployment of safety technologies that can help prevent abuse before it happens. This includes exploring the role of on-device tools that can detect and disrupt livestreamed abuse and other image-based harms, while respecting users’ privacy and maintaining end-to-end encryption.The Government continues to work closely with law enforcement, industry, and child protection experts to ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of efforts to tackle online child sexual abuse.

What discussions she has had with police forces on the potential impact of policing protest activity by Palestine Action on the allocation of police resources.

Decisions on how to police individual protests, including those by Palestine Action, are for Chief Constables, who are operationally independent and best placed to assess local threat and risk.Where the activity of protestors breaks the law, the police have the powers they need to respond.It would not be appropriate for Ministers to intervene in those operational decisions, but we continue to work closely with policing to ensure they have the right capabilities and support in place to keep the public safe and uphold the law.

What information her Department holds on the number of officer hours spent policing protests by Palestine Action since 1 January 2025.

The Home Office does not hold this information.