Written questions by Dodds.

What steps she is taking to reduce decision times for children’s applications under the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme.

The vast majority of Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme applications are being processed within Service Level Agreements. There may be applications which have varying levels of complexity and we have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children under Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009, which can cause a delay to an application.Information on visa processing times for applications made outside of the UK can be found here: Visa processing times: applications outside the UK - GOV.UK.Information on visa processing times for applications made from within the UK can be found here: Visa processing times: applications inside the UK - GOV.UK.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2025 to Question 64542 on Immigration, what steps she is taking to speed up decisions being taken on applications for (a) leave in line and (b) status in line.

The Home Office continues to invest in a programme of transformation and business improvement to speed up decision making and improve the quality and consistency of our leave in line and status in line applications.

What steps his Department is taking to protect Iranian (a) dissidents, (b) activists, and (c) journalists residing in the UK from (i) harassment, (ii) surveillance (iii) and intimidation by agents of the Iranian regime.

The UK Government will continue to use all appropriate tools at our disposal to protect the UK and its people against any threats from the Iranian state. Any attempt by a foreign state to intimidate, harass or harm individuals in the UK will not be tolerated, and will be thoroughly investigated.The National Security Act 2023 strengthens our legal powers to counter transnational repression and provides the security services and law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to deter, detect, and disrupt modern-day state threats. In March, I announced a package of measures to tackle state threats from Iran. This included our decision to place Iran on the Enhanced Tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS).I also announced new training for all frontline police officers on state threats; further sanctions against Iranian-linked criminal groups; an independent review of the parts of our counter-terrorism framework which could be applied to state threats; continued support to the Jewish community; and strengthened enforcement of our immigration measures to protect the UK from Iranian interference. Finally, the National Protective Security Authority and Counter Terrorism Policing will continue to provide protective security advice and support to individuals and organisations threatened by the Iranian regime and its criminal proxies, including Persian language media organisations.In line with recommendations from the Defending Democracy Taskforce’s Transnational Repression Review, new guidance is available on GOV.UK to provide those who believe themselves to be at-risk of TNR with practical advice for their safety both physically and online. Anyone who thinks they might be a victim should report incidents or suspicious activity to the Police via 101, a local police station, or 999 in emergencies.

When decisions on applications for (a) leave in line and (b) status in line will resume.

The Home Office has not paused decisions for leave in line applications. Children born in the UK to parents with protection status may claim asylum in their own right in accordance with the validity requirements set out in paragraph 327AB of the Immigration Rules. These decisions have also not been paused.

Whether her Department has reviewed the reasons for Sudanese children forming the largest group of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in 2024-25.

Asylum claims from unaccompanied Sudanese children fell in the year ending March 2025, but they were the largest group of UASC in that period due to a decrease in asylum claims from the previous top UASC nationality of Afghanistan.The Home Office keeps all trends in asylum claims under review, including those from unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC).

What the average time taken is to decide an in-country application for leave to remain on the basis of private life where (a) minimum income and (b) English language are not required.

The requested data is not currently available from published data and could only be collated and verified for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

What discussions the Defending Democracy Taskforce has had with civil society organisations.

The Defending Democracy Taskforce is driving forward a whole of Government response to the full range of threats to our democracy.Meetings of the Taskforce are complemented by private engagement with partners outside central Government and Parliament, including civil society organisations such as the Jo Cox foundation, on subjects relevant to the work of the Taskforce.

What steps the Defending Democracy Taskforce (a) has taken and (b) plans to take to help tackle threats to democracy outside of election periods.

The Defending Democracy Taskforce is driving forward a programme of work to secure the democratic integrity of the UK from the full range of threats. Alongside its work to protect elections, since the General Election the Taskforce has:Conducted a wide-ranging review to understand how we can prevent and deter harassment and intimidation of anyone involved in our electoral institutions and processes and is now taking forward priority work to address this issue.Sponsored the National Cyber Security Centre to deliver an enhanced cyber security offer for elected representatives across the UK to help better protect them online.Concluded a comprehensive assessment of the UK’s response to Transnational Repression to understand the scale and nature of Transnational Repression in the UK, as well as Government’s response to the issue.Engaged with international partners to share lessons learnt and expertise to help tackle similar threats to our democracies.

What steps the Defending Democracy Taskforce (a) has taken and (b) plans to take to help tackle threats to democracy arising from the lack of availability of high-quality local news.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport who are core members of the Defending Democracy Taskforce, are in the process of developing a Local Media Strategy, in recognition of the importance of this vital sector. Our vision is for a thriving local media that can continue to play an invaluable role as a key channel of trustworthy information at local level, and thereby contributes to the UK’s democratic resilience.

Whether she has made an assessment of trends in the levels of transnational repression towards Sudanese diaspora peace activists in the UK.

The first duty of this Government is to keep the country safe. We are committed to addressing foreign interference, including those actions which amount to transnational repression (TNR). We continually assess potential threats in the UK, and take protection of individuals’ rights, freedoms, and safety very seriously. As I set out in my statement to the House on 14 May, and reiterated during my evidence session at the Joint Committee on Human Rights on 21 May, any attempt by any foreign state to intimidate, harass or harm individuals in the UK will not be tolerated, irrespective of the perpetrating country.The legislation and tools designed to detect and disrupt transnational repression are actor agnostic. Where we become aware of individual victims of TNR, we work to deploy a range of tailored support and security assistance mechanisms for their protection. This assistance is based on threat and varied in its scope and approach.In line with recommendations from the Defending Democracy Taskforce’s TNR Review, new guidance is available on GOV.UK to provide those who believe themselves to be at-risk of TNR with practical advice for their safety both physically and online. Anyone who thinks they might be a victim should report incidents or suspicious activity to the Police via 101, a local police station, or 999 in emergencies.

Whether the Defending Democracy Taskforce has made an assessment of the potential implications for its policies of the report by Demos entitled Epistemic Security 2029: Protecting the UK’s information supply chain and strengthening democratic discourse for the next political era, published on 29 November 2024.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is a core member of the Defending Democracy Taskforce and is working to build information resilience and protect our democracy, including through key levers such as the Online Safety Act.My officials have been in touch with Demos to learn more about their work and consider any potential policy implications arising from their research.