Every parliamentary written question tabled by David Simmonds this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 161–163 of 163 · Home Office
Pursuant to the Answer of 29 November 2024 to Question 15651 on Licensing Laws, whether she plans to reply to the alcohol easement consultation before the easement expires.
The Government is carefully considering the results of the recent consultation and will publish these shortly alongside next steps.
Pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2024 to Question 18555 on Asylum: Hotels, in what type of tenure and accommodation will the asylum seekers now be housed; how the accommodation will be procured; and what the budget is for the forthcoming year.
This government inherited an asylum system under exceptional strain, with tens of thousands of people stuck in limbo without any prospect of having their claims processed. At their peak use under the previous government, in the autumn of 2023, more than 400 asylum hotels were being leased by the Home Office, at a cost of almost £9 million a day.We took immediate action to resolve that chaos by restarting asylum processing, establishing the new Border Security Command to tackle the people-smuggling gangs, cracking down on illegal working across the country, and increasing the return and removal of people with no right to be here.Inevitably, due to the size of the backlog we inherited, the Home Office has been forced to continue with the use of hotels for the time being. But this is not a permanent solution, and the small increase in the number in use at the end of last year was just a temporary but necessary step to manage pressures in the system, which is now in the process of being reversed.It remains our absolute commitment to end the use of hotels over time, as part of our reduction in overall asylum accommodation costs. In the interim, we are also continuing to increase our operational activity against smuggling gangs and illegal working, and we have increased returns to their highest level since 2018, with 16,400 people removed in the first six months this government was in charge
With reference to paragraph 4.20 of the Autumn Budget 2024, HC 295, published on 30 October 2024, how much funding will be provided to police forces to help increase the number of neighbourhood officers and Police Community Support Officers; and in which financial years will this funding be made available.
The Autumn Budget confirmed that the core government grant for police forces will increase. Further details and force level allocations will be set out at the provisional settlement in December.