Written questions by McMurdock.

What estimate her Department has made of the number of times migrant smuggling content has been viewed before being taken down as a result of action from the Home Office over the past 12 months.

The Home Office and the National Crime Agency work with major social media companies to rapidly remove online adverts which promote organised immigration crime and since 2024 more than 18,000 posts, pages or accounts advertising organised immigration crime services have been removed. Under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act a new offence will be introduced which criminalises the creation or publication of online content which promotes unlawful immigration services which could include videos of small boat crossings, the promotion of fake travel documents like passports and visas, or explicitly promising illegal working opportunities in the UK. The Home Office does not hold data on the number of times migrant smuggling content may have been viewed.

With reference to her Department's news story entitled UK-France treaty targeting illegal crossings comes into force, published on 4 August 2025, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the one in, one out scheme to date.

We are continuously monitoring and evaluating the agreement with France to ensure its effectiveness. There will be a full evaluation at the end of the pilot period.Any individual who re-enters the UK illegally may be detained and, where appropriate, we will seek to expedite removal.The system is working: two individuals who returned to the UK having already been removed were detected, detained, and their cases were expedited for return. We continue to work closely with our French counterparts to ensure that those who are returned under the agreement do not re-enter the UK illegally.

With reference to her Department's policy paper entitled UK-Germany joint action plan: irregular migration, published on 10 December 2024, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the joint action plan on the level of illegal migration since December 2024.

The recent change to German legislation is a key part of the Government's efforts to crack down on small boat crossings and secure UK borders. This change was agreed as part of the UK-Germany Joint Action Plan (JAP) and demonstrates the strength of our international partnerships, continuing close UK-Ger cooperation and the value of the JAP.Under the new legislation, people smuggling gangs storing boats and engines in Germany, for use in Channel crossings, will face 10 years in prison. This change gives UK and German law enforcement agencies stronger powers to dismantle criminal networks and tackle the supply and storage of small boat equipment. The legislation also strengthens sharing of information between UK and German law enforcement, which will lead to more people smugglers being brought to justice.The UK and Germany judge that this legislation change is necessary and will make a difference. Law enforcement agencies continue to work closely, with both systems working to support effective implementation and monitor its operational impact.The Home Secretary has spoken with her German counterpart, Interior Minister Dobrindt, about the importance of this legislative change and our continued close cooperation in the fight against people smuggling.The Home Office and German Ministry of the Interior closely monitor delivery of the JAP on an ongoing basis, including through the UK-Germany Home Affairs Dialogue, as well as via frequent operational engagement. A formal assessment of the impact of the plan in its entirety has not yet been undertaken. However, operational outcomes are routinely monitored.The UK and Germany are cooperating closely and at pace to ensure the criminal gangs undermining both countries’ respective border security face justice.

What the backlog is for EU Settlement Scheme applications and reviews.

Processing times for the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) are available on EU Settlement Scheme: current estimated processing times for applications - GOV.UK The latest published data on EUSS applications is contained within the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’ The most recent statistics relate to the year ending 30 September 2025. A total of 8,662,309 EUSS applications had been submitted, and 8,550,572 applications had been concluded. This equates to 98.7% of all EUSS applications submitted by the end of September 2025 having been concluded.The information requested for administrative reviews made against EUSS application decisions is not currently available from published statistics and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

Pursuant to Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 84090: Asylum, whether those charities are consulted on the development of immigration policy.

The Home Office maintains regular engagement with a wide range of stakeholders on asylum and immigration matters. Their input is valued; however, external advice is considered advisory and does not determine policy.Ministers are responsible for setting Home Office policy.

Whether she plans to consult voluntary sector organisations on the costs of immigration policy.

The earned settlement model, proposed in a Fairer Pathway to Settlement, announced that the standard qualifying period for settlement will rise from 5 to 10 years. However, we have proposed that contributions to life and work in the UK should reduce a person’s time to settlement. This includes work done in the community, such as volunteering.The earned settlement model, including how volunteering should impact a person’s time to settlement, is currently subject to a public consultation, which closes on 12 February 2026. We encourage voluntary sector organisations to participate and provide their perspective on the proposals.Wider measures contained within the “Restoring Order and Control” policy statement will be the subject of targeted engagement with relevant organisations at appropriate points during policy development.

What recent estimates her Department has for the number of crimes committed against, or on the grounds of, (a) mosques, (b) synagogues, (c) churches in England and Wales in each year since 2020.

The Home Office does not hold information on whether police recorded crimes were committed against, or on the grounds, of places of worship.

How many British citizens born (a) in the UK and (b) abroad have had their British citizenship revoked in each of the last 5 years.

The British Nationality Act 1981 provides the Secretary of State with the power to deprive an individual of their British citizenship where:The Secretary of State is satisfied that it would be conducive to the public good;The person acquired citizenship as a result of fraud, false representations or concealment of a material factThe Government considers that deprivation on ‘conducive grounds’ is an appropriate response to activities such as those involving:National security, including espionage and acts of terrorism directed at this country or an allied power;Unacceptable behaviour of the kind mentioned in the then Home Secretary’s statement of 24 August 2005 (‘glorification’ of terrorism etc);War crimes; andSerious organised crime.The Home Office publishes data relating to those deprived of British Citizenship on ‘conducive to the public good’ grounds. These are published in the Government Transparency Report: Disruptive and Investigatory Powers. Reports have been published up to 2024.The figures from the previous five years, of individuals who have been deprived of their British citizenship for this reason, are below:YearNumber of individuals202182022320232202412025Not yet publishedIn the interest of safeguarding national security, we do not break down these figures into sub-categories.This report also references s66 of the Immigration Act 2014, which allows the Secretary of State to deprive a person of their British citizenship on the ground it is conducive to the public good even if it would leave them stateless. To date, this power has not been used.

What steps is she taking to support Essex Police in tackling rural crime.

Rural communities can be assured that visible, neighbourhood policing is returning to our communities. Our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will deliver more neighbourhood police by the end of the Parliament, whilst also ensuring each community, including rural communities, has a named, contactable officer to turn to.The Home Office will continue to work with policing colleagues on options to deliver the 13,000 neighbourhood policing personnel, including setting out further plans and funding for subsequent years shortly.The Government recognises that there can be challenges in responding to rural crime, which is why we worked closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to deliver the next iteration of their Rural and Wildlife Crime strategy and sets out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling those crimes that predominantly affect our rural communities.This financial year the Home Office has provided the first Government funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (£365,000) as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (£450,000). The National Rural Crime Unit assists all police forces, including Essex, with specialist operational support in their responses to rural crime.All reported crimes should be taken seriously, investigated and, where appropriate, taken through the courts and met with tough sentences. Operational decisions will continue to be a matter for individual police chiefs and their force, and it is right that each incident is looked at on a case-by-case basis, on the evidence available and in proportion to the crime.

Whether police forces are required to publish response time data broken down by rural and urban classification.

Rural communities can be assured that visible, neighbourhood policing is returning to our communities. Our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will deliver more neighbourhood police by the end of the Parliament, whilst also ensuring each community, including rural communities, has a named, contactable officer to turn to.The Home Office will continue to work with policing colleagues on options to deliver the 13,000 neighbourhood policing personnel, including setting out further plans and funding for subsequent years shortly.The Government recognises that there can be challenges in responding to rural crime, which is why we worked closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to deliver the next iteration of their Rural and Wildlife Crime strategy and sets out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling those crimes that predominantly affect our rural communities.This financial year the Home Office has provided the first Government funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (£365,000) as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (£450,000). The National Rural Crime Unit assists all police forces, including Essex, with specialist operational support in their responses to rural crime.All reported crimes should be taken seriously, investigated and, where appropriate, taken through the courts and met with tough sentences. Operational decisions will continue to be a matter for individual police chiefs and their force, and it is right that each incident is looked at on a case-by-case basis, on the evidence available and in proportion to the crime.

What assessment she has made of the difference in police response times to time-sensitive incidents such as (a) vehicle theft and (b) robberies of retail premises in (i) rural areas and (ii) urban areas.

Rural communities can be assured that visible, neighbourhood policing is returning to our communities. Our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will deliver more neighbourhood police by the end of the Parliament, whilst also ensuring each community, including rural communities, has a named, contactable officer to turn to.The Home Office will continue to work with policing colleagues on options to deliver the 13,000 neighbourhood policing personnel, including setting out further plans and funding for subsequent years shortly.The Government recognises that there can be challenges in responding to rural crime, which is why we worked closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to deliver the next iteration of their Rural and Wildlife Crime strategy and sets out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling those crimes that predominantly affect our rural communities.This financial year the Home Office has provided the first Government funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (£365,000) as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (£450,000). The National Rural Crime Unit assists all police forces, including Essex, with specialist operational support in their responses to rural crime.All reported crimes should be taken seriously, investigated and, where appropriate, taken through the courts and met with tough sentences. Operational decisions will continue to be a matter for individual police chiefs and their force, and it is right that each incident is looked at on a case-by-case basis, on the evidence available and in proportion to the crime.

What assessment she has made of whether slow police response times to rural crime contribute to repeat offending.

Rural communities can be assured that visible, neighbourhood policing is returning to our communities. Our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will deliver more neighbourhood police by the end of the Parliament, whilst also ensuring each community, including rural communities, has a named, contactable officer to turn to.The Home Office will continue to work with policing colleagues on options to deliver the 13,000 neighbourhood policing personnel, including setting out further plans and funding for subsequent years shortly.The Government recognises that there can be challenges in responding to rural crime, which is why we worked closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to deliver the next iteration of their Rural and Wildlife Crime strategy and sets out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling those crimes that predominantly affect our rural communities.This financial year the Home Office has provided the first Government funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (£365,000) as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (£450,000). The National Rural Crime Unit assists all police forces, including Essex, with specialist operational support in their responses to rural crime.All reported crimes should be taken seriously, investigated and, where appropriate, taken through the courts and met with tough sentences. Operational decisions will continue to be a matter for individual police chiefs and their force, and it is right that each incident is looked at on a case-by-case basis, on the evidence available and in proportion to the crime.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of delayed police response times on (a) crime reporting and (b) public confidence in rural communities.

Rural communities can be assured that visible, neighbourhood policing is returning to our communities. Our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will deliver more neighbourhood police by the end of the Parliament, whilst also ensuring each community, including rural communities, has a named, contactable officer to turn to.The Home Office will continue to work with policing colleagues on options to deliver the 13,000 neighbourhood policing personnel, including setting out further plans and funding for subsequent years shortly.The Government recognises that there can be challenges in responding to rural crime, which is why we worked closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to deliver the next iteration of their Rural and Wildlife Crime strategy and sets out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling those crimes that predominantly affect our rural communities.This financial year the Home Office has provided the first Government funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (£365,000) as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (£450,000). The National Rural Crime Unit assists all police forces, including Essex, with specialist operational support in their responses to rural crime.All reported crimes should be taken seriously, investigated and, where appropriate, taken through the courts and met with tough sentences. Operational decisions will continue to be a matter for individual police chiefs and their force, and it is right that each incident is looked at on a case-by-case basis, on the evidence available and in proportion to the crime.

What information her Department holds on the number of visa applicants whose applications were denied due to criminal records relating to sex offences since 2020.

We take the issue of preventing foreign criminals entering the UK extremely seriously, and we continue to strengthen our borders so that we can prevent crime and protect the public, delivering on this Government’s commitment to tackle foreign criminality. For example, those required to obtain a visa to enter the UK are checked against a range of police, security and immigration databases for details of any UK or overseas criminal record. All applicants are required to provide details of their criminal history. Where it is found that they failed to declare relevant offences/convictions, their application will be refused and they will be subject to a ten-year ban from applying to enter the UK.We do not hold information on the specific offences relating to refused applications.

What proportion of foreign national sex offenders were subject to deportation orders in each year since 2020.

The information you have requested is not available from published statistics. Work is currently underway to improve the quality of information held by the department on foreign national offenders (FNOs). Further information on this work can be found at: Statistics on foreign national offenders and the immigration system - GOV.UK. We are committed to delivering justice for victims and safer streets for our communities. Foreign nationals who commit serious crimes will face the full force of the law and be deported at the earliest opportunity. Between 1 November 2024 and 31 October 2025 this government has returned over 5,400 FNOs, a 12 per cent increase on the previous twelve months and we will continue to crack down on any foreign nationals who come to this country and break our laws.

How many foreign nationals convicted of sexual offences have been removed under the Early Removal Scheme in each year since 2020.

The information requested regarding foreign national offenders (FNOs) convicted of sexual offences removed under the Early Removal Scheme (ERS) is not available from published statistics.The Home Office has published figures on FNOs removed under the ERS, from 2010 Q1 up until 2022 Q2, which can be found within ‘FNO_09’, here: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK.The Home Office also recently published figures on FNOs removed under the ERS, from 01 March 2023 up to 31 October 2025, which can be found here: Returns from the UK from 1 March 2023 to 31 October 2025 - GOV.UKData on FNOs removed under ERS between July 2022 and February 2023 is not currently available from published statistics, but work is currently underway to publish more detailed information on FNOs subject to deportation. Further information on this work can be found at: Statistics on foreign national offenders and the immigration system - GOV.UK.

What the principal barriers have been to the deportation of foreign nationals convicted of sexual offences since 2024; and what steps her Department is taking to help tackle those barriers.

The Home Office deals with significant and complex challenges when seeking to return those who have no right to be in the UK to their country of origin. Sometimes the UK’s current obligations under international law prohibit us from returning certain individuals despite their criminality. Legal or re-documentation barriers can frustrate immediate deportation. Despite these barriers, we are fully committed to making our communities safer by deporting those who break our laws.To address these challenges, this government is committed to reforming the appeals process by creating a new appeals body with professionally trained adjudicators. We will also strengthen the certification regime to deny appeal rights for clearly unmeritorious claims. Furthermore, the number of countries that foreign national offenders can be deported to before they can lodge an appeal from abroad has also been increased.We are also working to reform Human Rights and Modern Slavery claims. In these areas we will rebalance the public interest test for Article 8 claims and work with our international partners to reform the application of the ECHR’s prohibition on inhuman or degrading treatment. With the Modern Slavery reforms legislation will be brought forward to clarify our responsibilities under international law, the removal of reconsideration for negative decisions, enhanced screening for individuals detained for removal, and a stronger link between timely disclosure and credibility of a claim.Finally, under new measures introduced by the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025, sexual offences which give rise to the notification requirement in Schedule 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 will be assumed to be ‘particularly serious’ for the purpose of applying Article 33(2) of the Refugee Convention, thereby allowing the UK to exclude those individuals from being granted asylum protections in the UK.Where removal is still not possible due to our ECHR obligations, the provision will ensure that such individuals are not afforded the generous benefits of protection status in the UK.

What checks are carried out during visa applications to identify previous sexual offence convictions overseas.

We take the issue of preventing foreign criminals entering the UK extremely seriously, and we continue to strengthen our borders so that we can prevent crime and protect the public, delivering on this Government’s commitment to tackle foreign criminality. For example, those required to obtain a visa to enter the UK are checked against a range of police, security and immigration databases for details of any UK or overseas criminal record. All applicants are required to provide details of their criminal history. Where it is found that they failed to declare relevant offences/convictions, their application will be refused and they will be subject to a ten-year ban from applying to enter the UK.We do not hold information on the specific offences relating to refused applications.

What information her Department holds on the (a) number and (b) proportion of (i) foreign and (ii) British sex offenders who have claimed ignorance of the law as a defence in each year since 2020.

The Home Office does not hold information on whether foreign or British sex offenders claimed ignorance of the law as a defence.

What assessment she has made of whether sentencing outcomes for immigration-related offences under the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 reflect the seriousness of those offences.

The Nationality and Borders Act 2022 introduced new and tougher criminal offences for those attempting to enter the UK illegally. Specifically, it raised the maximum penalty for illegal entry from 6 months to 4 years’ imprisonment, increased the maximum penalty for entering in breach of a deportation order to 5 years and introduced life sentences for those facilitating a breach of immigration law. Individual sentences handed down by the courts are a matter for the judiciary, having regard to the Sentencing Council’s General Guideline.We will continue to keep these offences under review in light of feedback on their operation and evidence as to their impact.