Written questions by Hayes.

How many people arriving on small boats died in the English channel in each of the last three years.

A total of 138 people are known to have died since August 2019 as a result of attempting to cross the Channel by small boat.Almost all of these fatalities have occurred in French territorial waters, and the records of these held by the Home Office are primarily from information shared by the French authorities. The numbers of fatalities known to have occurred in the past three calendar years are as follows:2022 – 42023 – 122024 – 78

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2024 to Question 8756 on Polygamy, if she will make it her policy to record data on polygamous marriages in the UK.

I refer the Hon.Member to the Answer of 27 November 2024 to Question UIN 15076.

How many of the extra 13,000 neighbourhood police will serve in Lincolnshire.

As part of our Safer Streets Mission we will restore neighbourhood policing by putting police back on the beat, with 13,000 additional police officers, PCSOs and special constables in neighbourhood policing roles across England and Wales.Every part of the country will benefit from this pledge, including Lincolnshire. Further details will be announced in the normal way in due course.

With reference to her Department's plan to include a named, contactable police officer in each neighbourhood, how her Department defines neighbourhood.

As part of the Government’s Safer Streets mission, the Home Secretary has made a clear commitment to strengthen neighbourhood policing through the introduction of a Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee. This will set out what communities can expect from neighbourhood policing teams in every local area including intelligence-led and visible patrols.The Home Office is working closely with policing and other key stakeholders to implement the Guarantee, and is clear that everyone, wherever they are in the country, will benefit from it and will have a named officer to contact when things go wrong.

How many (a) reports of and (b) convictions for shoplifting there were in (i) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (ii) Lincolnshire in each of the last three years.

The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of notifiable offences, including motor vehicle theft and shoplifting offences, recorded by the police in England and Wales, at the Police Force Area level and the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) Area level. This information is published on a quarterly basis, and can be accessed here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tablesThe Home Office does not collect information at the Parliamentary Constituency level.

What estimate her Department has made of the number of vehicles stolen in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire in each of the last three years.

The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of notifiable offences, including motor vehicle theft and shoplifting offences, recorded by the police in England and Wales, at the Police Force Area level and the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) Area level. This information is published on a quarterly basis, and can be accessed here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tablesThe Home Office does not collect information at the Parliamentary Constituency level.

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding for Lincolnshire police force.

This Government is committed to ensuring that the police have the resources they need to tackle crime effectively.Lincolnshire Police’s funding will be up to £173.2m in 2025-26, an increase of up to £9 million when compared to the 2024-25 police settlement.The Home Secretary announced over half a billion for 2025-26 more funding for policing and confirmed that police forces will be fully compensated for the changes to employer National Insurance contributions.

What recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the police allocation formula on (a) policing and (b) crime in Lincolnshire.

On 19th November, the Home Secretary announced that government funding for policing will increase by over half a billion pounds next year; this includes an increase of over £260m in the core grant for police forces, additional funding for neighbourhood policing, the NCA and counter terrorism.Force level funding allocations for the financial year 2025-26 will be confirmed at the police funding settlement. Funding for future years beyond 2025-26 will be set out in phase two of the Spending Review where we will want to consider police funding in the round.

How many age assessments of people arriving on small boats and seeking asylum have taken place in each of the last three years.

The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on age disputes for all individuals with asylum claims raised and resolved is published in table Asy_D05 of the ‘Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement detailed datasets’.

What steps the Border Security Command is taking to assess the age of asylum seekers arriving on small boats.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the Answer I gave on 4 December to Question UIN 16274.

If she will make an estimate of the number of people working illegally in nail bars in England and Wales.

The government takes illegal working very seriously, and we are determined to clamp down on the employment of individuals with no right to work in the UK, including the sectors highlighted by the Rt Hon Gentleman. Since this government came to office, Immigration Enforcement’s Criminal and Financial Investigation teams have charged six individuals with employing illegal workers, compared to just four in the previous two and a half years combined. Those six charges may represent progress on the dismal record of inaction seen under the previous government, but they still add up to an unacceptably low rate of enforcement against businesses employing, and in many cases exploiting, illegal workers, and we are therefore determined to go further over the coming months and years.As part of this, we are also determined to establish a more comprehensive, accurate and up to date evidence base of the scale and nature of illegal working in the UK, which we hope will in due course allow us to provide robust answers to the questions raised by the Rt Hon Gentleman concerning the estimates of the number of people working illegally in specific, high-risk sectors and industries.

What recent estimate she has made of the number of people working illegally in the food and drink sector.

The government takes illegal working very seriously, and we are determined to clamp down on the employment of individuals with no right to work in the UK, including the sectors highlighted by the Rt Hon Gentleman. Since this government came to office, Immigration Enforcement’s Criminal and Financial Investigation teams have charged six individuals with employing illegal workers, compared to just four in the previous two and a half years combined. Those six charges may represent progress on the dismal record of inaction seen under the previous government, but they still add up to an unacceptably low rate of enforcement against businesses employing, and in many cases exploiting, illegal workers, and we are therefore determined to go further over the coming months and years.As part of this, we are also determined to establish a more comprehensive, accurate and up to date evidence base of the scale and nature of illegal working in the UK, which we hope will in due course allow us to provide robust answers to the questions raised by the Rt Hon Gentleman concerning the estimates of the number of people working illegally in specific, high-risk sectors and industries.

If she will hold discussions with the Office for National Statistics on the reliability of its immigration statistics.

The development of the long-term international migration statistics are a matter for the independent Office for National Statistics (ONS). The UK Statistics Authority oversees the quality and reliability of national statistics. The ONS’ migration statistics are ‘Official Statistics in Development’, meaning they are tested with a wide range of users, in line with the standards of trustworthiness, quality, and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics.

If she will make it her policy to introduce a cap on annual net migration.

The Prime Minister has made clear the Government will not be introducing a cap on migration. Instead, the Government wants to see immigration come down significantly and we will take an evidence-based approach, linking migration policy to skills policy so immigration is no longer used at the expense of home-grown talent.

How much police forces in England and Wales spent on roles related to equity, diversity and inclusion in the last three years.

The Home Office does not hold information relating to how much money is spent by police forces on roles related to equity, diversity and inclusion.Decisions on how funding and resources are utilised are an operational matter for Chief Constables and locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners, who are best placed to make resourcing decisions within their communities based on their local knowledge and experience.

If she will make an estimate of the number of people working illegally in the construction industry.

The government takes illegal working very seriously, and we are determined to clamp down on the employment of individuals with no right to work in the UK, including the sectors highlighted by the Rt Hon Gentleman. Since this government came to office, Immigration Enforcement’s Criminal and Financial Investigation teams have charged six individuals with employing illegal workers, compared to just four in the previous two and a half years combined. Those six charges may represent progress on the dismal record of inaction seen under the previous government, but they still add up to an unacceptably low rate of enforcement against businesses employing, and in many cases exploiting, illegal workers, and we are therefore determined to go further over the coming months and years.As part of this, we are also determined to establish a more comprehensive, accurate and up to date evidence base of the scale and nature of illegal working in the UK, which we hope will in due course allow us to provide robust answers to the questions raised by the Rt Hon Gentleman concerning the estimates of the number of people working illegally in specific, high-risk sectors and industries.

How many business owners have been charged with employing illegal workers in each of the last three years.

The government takes illegal working very seriously, and we are determined to clamp down on the employment of individuals with no right to work in the UK, including the sectors highlighted by the Rt Hon Gentleman. Since this government came to office, Immigration Enforcement’s Criminal and Financial Investigation teams have charged six individuals with employing illegal workers, compared to just four in the previous two and a half years combined. Those six charges may represent progress on the dismal record of inaction seen under the previous government, but they still add up to an unacceptably low rate of enforcement against businesses employing, and in many cases exploiting, illegal workers, and we are therefore determined to go further over the coming months and years.As part of this, we are also determined to establish a more comprehensive, accurate and up to date evidence base of the scale and nature of illegal working in the UK, which we hope will in due course allow us to provide robust answers to the questions raised by the Rt Hon Gentleman concerning the estimates of the number of people working illegally in specific, high-risk sectors and industries.

What recent estimate she has made of the number of people working illegally in car washes.

The government takes illegal working very seriously, and we are determined to clamp down on the employment of individuals with no right to work in the UK, including the sectors highlighted by the Rt Hon Gentleman. Since this government came to office, Immigration Enforcement’s Criminal and Financial Investigation teams have charged six individuals with employing illegal workers, compared to just four in the previous two and a half years combined. Those six charges may represent progress on the dismal record of inaction seen under the previous government, but they still add up to an unacceptably low rate of enforcement against businesses employing, and in many cases exploiting, illegal workers, and we are therefore determined to go further over the coming months and years.As part of this, we are also determined to establish a more comprehensive, accurate and up to date evidence base of the scale and nature of illegal working in the UK, which we hope will in due course allow us to provide robust answers to the questions raised by the Rt Hon Gentleman concerning the estimates of the number of people working illegally in specific, high-risk sectors and industries.

If she will take steps to collect data on the number of applications to stay in the UK that are made on the basis of a sham (a) marriage and (b) civil partnership.

The Government takes abuse of the spouse and partner immigration routes very seriously. Family migration must be based on a genuine and subsisting marriage or relationship. The Home Office focuses its efforts on disrupting facilitators as well as prosecuting individuals involved in sham marriages and civil partnerships.The Home Office will also investigate if, at any point, there are reasonable suspicions of a sham relationship, for example following applications for permission to enter or stay, or where there is supporting intelligence or evidence gathered during operations.The Home Office continues to enhance its reporting capabilities of recorded sham marriage data and is recording the number of sham marriage and civil partnership applications that it detects. However, it is not possible to state how many applications to stay are made on the basis of a sham marriage or civil partnership.

If she will make an estimate of the number of hours of police time spent each week on investigating non crime hate incidents.

The Home Office does not currently hold force-level data on the recording of non-crime hate incidents.