Written questions by Anderson.

What steps her Department is taking to increase the number of people employed in Immigration Enforcement.

Awaiting answer.

Whether she plans to increase policing powers to help tackle cannabis smoking within homes.

Awaiting answer.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure people working as riders for food delivery companies have the right to work in Britain.

Awaiting answer.

What steps her Department is taking to tackle organised drug-dealing.

Awaiting answer.

What steps her Department is taking to support local police forces to tackle (a) antisocial drug taking and (b) drug dealing.

Awaiting answer.

What steps her department is taking to increase the rate of (a) detention and (b) deportation for people found to be working illegally as delivery riders in Britain.

Awaiting answer.

What steps her Department is taking to tackle cannabis use.

Awaiting answer.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing policing powers to tackle antisocial drug smoking.

Awaiting answer.

What steps her Department is taking to tackle drug-related crimes.

Awaiting answer.

What recent steps she has taken to ensure police officers are safe in the workplace.

The Government recognises the vital role that police officers play in keeping our communities safe and is committed to supporting their safety and wellbeing in the workplace.Through the measures set out in the Government’s Police Reform White Paper, we are taking steps to strengthen support for the policing workforce, including improving wellbeing provision, embedding consistent wellbeing standards across policing and strengthening the delivery of the Police Covenant to ensure officers receive the support they need throughout their careers.We are working closely with police forces and the National Police Wellbeing Service to ensure officers are properly supported and looked after in the workplace.

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of information-sharing through INTERPOL channels with non-EU member states on individuals seeking residency in the UK.

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 totackle foreign criminality.For example, those required to obtain a visa to enter the UK are checkedagainst 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 relevantoffences/convictions, their application will be refused, and they will be subject to a ten-year ban from applying to enter the UK.

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the bilateral criminal records sharing agreements with (a) Albania, (b) Kosovo and (c) the Five Eyes Alliance when vetting individuals seeking residency in the UK.

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 totackle foreign criminality.For example, those required to obtain a visa to enter the UK are checkedagainst 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 relevantoffences/convictions, their application will be refused, and they will be subject to a ten-year ban from applying to enter the UK.

Whether her Department is taking to ensure people arriving from (a) EU states and (b) non-EU sates are subject to criminal record checks when entering the UK.

Border Force performs checks on 100% of passengers arriving at the UK border on scheduled services, enabling interventions against those known or suspected to pose a risk to the national interest.Border Force work alongside other law enforcement agencies at the border and will share information and refer cases when necessary to detect and deter criminality.

What steps her Department is taking to reduce international maritime drug smuggling through British ports.

Border Force runs a 24/7 operation, with its officers working at over 140 sea and airports across the UK and overseas. We are determined to protect the public from drug trafficking and crack down on organised crime groups behind illicit drugs supply by tackling all stages of the supply chain. In the year ending March 2025, Border Force seized over 150 tonnes of illegal drugs, this is a 40% increase on the amount seized in the year ending March 2024.Home Office officials led by the Border Security Command (working with the Police and the National Crime Agency) continue to explore all the new and emerging technologies that are available to help identify and intercept the vessels and individuals involved in smuggling drugs in the maritime environment, and our intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities remain amongst the best in the world. For reasons of national security, it would not be appropriate to go into greater detail.

What steps the UK is taking to combat international drug trafficking networks.

Drugs have a devastating impact on the health of individuals and communities.The Home Office and UK Law Enforcement, particularly Border Force and the National Crime Agency, delivers a significant amount of operational activity to detect and seize illicit drugs being trafficked to the UK and to secure our border. Our strategy focuses on working closely with law enforcement partners upstream to stop drug trafficking at source and across the supply chain, targeting the gangs responsible, and bringing them to justice.In the year ending March 2025, Border Force seized over 150 tonnes of illegal drugs from overseas; the highest amount on record and a 40% increase on the amount seized in the year ending March 2024.Serious criminals are constantly developing their approaches to traffic drugs into the UK in response to our efforts at the border and we recognise that we must continue to adapt our approach.

What recent assessment she has made about the level of threat from far-left extremism.

The UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST, provides a comprehensive framework for tackling all forms of terrorism and is kept under constant review to ensure our approach remains fit for purpose in response to emerging risks and challenges.As outlined in the publication of the most recent iteration of CONTEST, in July 2023, Left Wing, Anarchist and Single-Issue Terrorism (LASIT) currently represents a significantly smaller terrorist threat to the UK than Islamist terrorism or Extreme Right-Wing Terrorism (ERWT).

What recent assessment she has made of the scale of illegal migration to the UK.

The Home Office publishes statistics on detected arrivals via illegal routes to the UK in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on detected arrivals by illegal routes is published in table Irr_D01 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed datasets’, with the latest data up to the end of September 2025.The Government has taken significant steps to address illegal migration and its Plan for Change sets out our ambition to secure borders and control immigration. We are committed to tackling illegal migration and the criminal networks which facilitate it. Since July 2024, nearly 50,000 individuals without lawful status have been returned from the UK. Our agreement with France means that those arriving by small boats can be detained and returned to France.

What data her Department holds on the number of asylum seekers who have voluntarily visited their country of origin while their asylum claim is being processed.

Requests to leave the UK whilst continuing to pursue an asylum claim will only be accepted in the most exceptional circumstances such as the serious illness or death of a close family member or access to medical treatment abroad as it is unavailable in the UK. If the claimant does not seek permission to travel before leaving the UK, or the request is not responded to by the Home Office, before the claimant has left the UK, all circumstances will be taken into account before proceeding to withdrawal action.Under paragraph 333C(b)(ii) of the Immigration Rules, an application may be treated as implicitly withdrawn if the applicant leaves the United Kingdom (without authorisation) at any time before the conclusion of their application for asylum.In the Immigration System Statistics data tables, published quarterly, withdrawals are categorised into implicit (non- substantiated) and other withdrawals (including explicit). However, we do not report on withdrawals in greater detail than that, for example, according to whether someone has returned to their country of origin as it is not held in a reportable format.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of illegal migration on risks to the public.

The Border Security Command (BSC) whose work is imperative not only to stop criminals from entering the UK via small boats in the first place but to stop anyone from making these dangerous journeys. This is why the BSC is working with partners internationally to tackle and disrupt organised immigration crime gangs.All individuals arriving in the UK via small boats undergo a comprehensive screening process. This is designed to gather key information about each person, including any indicators of criminality.As part of this process, the Home Office collects biometric data—such as facial images and fingerprints—to verify identity. These biometrics are checked against Home Office systems and other law enforcement databases, including Interpol’s wanted list. This enables us to identify individuals, assess whether they pose a risk to public safety, and determine any breaches of immigration law. These checks are essential to maintaining a secure, fair, and effective immigration system.In line with the Refugee Convention, refugee status will be denied to those who have committed serious crimes, pose a danger to the community, or present a threat to national security.For further details on security checks during the asylum screening process, please refer to Gov.UK.

What steps she is taking to increase transparency in the way immigration applications are processed.

All entry clearance, permission to stay and settlement applications are subject to customer service standards which we report on our website along with transparency data on performance. Where an individual is refused permission they are provided with a full refusal notice and in some categories have a right to an administrative review or full right of appeal. Applicants are also able to view guidance which is published on GOV.UK (Visas and immigration operational guidance - GOV.UK), that caseworkers use when they consider making decisions on applications.