Written questions by Cocking.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 54430 on Undocumented Migrants: English Channel, what steps her Department is taking to remove small boat arrivals who fail criminality checks.

The Home Office conducts mandatory identity and security checks on all small boat arrivals. In line with the Refugee Convention, we will deny the benefits of protection status to those who commit particularly serious crimes and are a danger to the community or those who are a threat to national security. Anyone convicted of a particularly serious crime resulting in a custodial sentence of 12 months or more, and are considered a danger to the UK, will be denied asylum and will be considered for removal from the UK. Those refused protection status who cannot be removed will be subject to regular review until they can be removed at the earliest opportunity.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 54430 on Undocumented Migrants: English Channel, how many and what proportion of people arriving by small boat undergo further checks on criminality.

The Home Office conducts mandatory identity and security checks on all small boat arrivals. In line with the Refugee Convention, we will deny the benefits of protection status to those who commit particularly serious crimes and are a danger to the community or those who are a threat to national security. Anyone convicted of a particularly serious crime resulting in a custodial sentence of 12 months or more, and are considered a danger to the UK, will be denied asylum and will be considered for removal from the UK. Those refused protection status who cannot be removed will be subject to regular review until they can be removed at the earliest opportunity.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 54430 on Undocumented Migrants: English Channel, how many people arriving in small boats have been found to have (a) convictions, (b) pending prosecutions and (c) wanted or missing reports since 4 July 2024.

The Home Office conducts mandatory identity and security checks on all small boat arrivals. In line with the Refugee Convention, we will deny the benefits of protection status to those who commit particularly serious crimes and are a danger to the community or those who are a threat to national security. Anyone convicted of a particularly serious crime resulting in a custodial sentence of 12 months or more, and are considered a danger to the UK, will be denied asylum and will be considered for removal from the UK. Those refused protection status who cannot be removed will be subject to regular review until they can be removed at the earliest opportunity.

If she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the (a) cultural and (b) religious backgrounds of grooming gang offenders.

Earlier this year, the Home Secretary commissioned Baroness Louise Casey to undertake a national audit into the nature, scale and characteristics of this type of offending, including considering the cultural and societal drivers for this offending. I will ensure the Hon Member receives a copy of Baroness Casey's report when it is published in the coming weeks.

How many and what proportion of deportation orders issued to foreign criminals in the last five years have been enforced.

This Government pledged to deliver the highest rate of removals since 2018 and this has been surpassed, with a surge in returns activity since the election leading to almost 30,000 people with no right to be in the UK being removed.Of the total returns since 5 July 2024, 4,436 were of FNOs. This is an increase of 14% compared to the 3,879 FNO returns in the same period 12 months prior (FNO returns include both enforced and voluntary returns).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.

How many illegal immigrants have been granted asylum after being convicted of a criminal offence in the UK in the last 12 months.

This information is not held in a reportable format and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost as it would require a manual trawl of case records to retrieve.

How many and what proportion of people who arrived in the UK illegally were granted leave to remain in the last 12 months.

The Home Office publishes statistics on detected irregular arrivals to the UK in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on outcomes of asylum claims from small boat arrivals is published by arrival date in table Irr_D03 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed datasets’, and by initial decision date in table Asy_02c of the ‘asylum summary tables’, with the latest data up to the end of March 2025. Data on asylum outcomes for people who arrived irregularly by other routes is not published.

If she will make it her policy to (a) bring forward legislative proposals and (b) strengthen enforcement on fast food delivery companies to ensure they are not employing illegal immigrants.

Yes.Through the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, the Government is introducing tough new laws to clamp down on illegal working, including in the food delivery sector. This means that for the very first time, employment checks will be extended to cover businesses hiring gig economy and zero-hours workers in sectors like food delivery.The Government is also already working closely with all major food delivery platforms to ensure they understand their responsibilities in terms of preventing illegal working. As a result, Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat are now undertaking employment checks on all of their workers, including registered substitutes.

What steps she is taking to help end the use of (a) vape shops, (b) barbers and (c) other high street businesses by organised crime groups.

There are a range of powers available to deal with criminal use and exploitation of high street properties. Authorities can use closure powers under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 to close quickly premises which are being used, or are likely to be used, to commit nuisance or disorder. Courts may in turn grant a Closure Order where a person has engaged in criminal behaviour on the premises. This power is designed specifically to protect victims and communities by enabling swift action where premises are creating harm.Law enforcement agencies are taking robust action to deal with criminal use of high street properties wherever they see it. For example, in March the National Economic Crime Centre, part of the National Crime Agency, coordinated Operation Machinize, a three-week crackdown against cash-intensive businesses linked to serious and organised crime across England and Wales.

How many and what proportion of people who arrived in the UK by small boat in the last 12 months have criminal records in their countries of origin.

Security and identity checks are carried out in respect of all small boat arrivals including criminality checks on UK databases for, amongst other things, convictions, pending prosecutions and wanted or missing reports. Further checks on criminality depend on the circumstances of each case.

What steps her Department is taking to help tackle the use of (a) electric bikes and (b) e-scooters by youth gangs involved in (i) drug dealing, (ii) theft and (iii) anti-social behaviour.

Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission to take back our streets.Our Crime and Policing Bill will give the police greater powers to clamp down on all vehicles involved in anti-social behaviour including street racing, with officers no longer required to issue a warning before seizing these vehicles.On 28 May, the Government launched a 6-week consultation on proposals to allow the police to dispose of seized vehicles which have been used anti-socially from 14 days to 48 hours. Combined, these proposals will help tackle the scourge of vehicles ridden anti-socially and illegally by sending a clear message to would be offenders and local communities that this behaviour will not be tolerated.County Lines is the most violent model of drug supply and a harmful form of child criminal exploitation. Through the County Lines Programme, we are targeting exploitative drug dealing gangs and breaking the organised crime groups behind this trade. This includes funding the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre (NCLCC), to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response.

Pursuant to the Answer of 14 April 2025 to Question 44030 on Prisoners: Repatriation, whether (a) her Department and (b) HM Prisons and Probation Service have targets for the efficiency of the Early Removal Scheme process.

Between 5 July 2024 and 22 March 2025, there were 1,848 Early Removal Scheme (ERS) returns, which is a 15% increase compared to 1,610 in the same period 12 months prior. As part of the government’s Plan for Change and mission to create safer streets, we are building on the existing co-operation between the Home Office and HMPPS (HM Prisons and Probation Service) with a £5 million government investment in prisons across England and Wales which will assist in speeding up returns under the ERS. This money will fund the deployment of specialist frontline staff to 80 jails to speed up the removal of prisoners who have no right to be in this country.

Whether her Department has a target for the removal of foreign national offenders from prisons.

HMPPS (HM Prisons and Probation Service) are working closely with the Home Office to ensure the Early Removal Scheme process runs as efficiently as possible by driving up foreign national offender (FNO) returns directly from prison. Between 5 July 2024 and 22 March 2025, there have been 1,848 ERS returns, which is a 15% increase compared to 1,610 in the same period 12 months prior. The ERS remains the most effective mechanism for removing eligible FNOs as quickly as possible, freeing up prison beds and saving money.

For what reasons will the renaming of civil injunctions as housing injunctions help housing associations tackle anti-social behaviour.

Tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB) is a top priority for this government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.We will crack down on those making neighbourhoods feel unsafe and unwelcoming by bringing forward new Respect Orders, which will carry tough sanctions and penalties for persistent adult offenders. These were introduced as part of the Crime and Policing Bill on 25 February.The Respect Order partially replaces the existing Civil Injunction power for the most persistent and serious adult ASB offenders, carrying with it a power of arrest and sentencing in the criminal courts for breach. It is a broad power for use in situations where behaviour had caused or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.Practitioners who use the Civil Injunction for housing-related ASB have told us the power works well for those purposes. The element of the Civil Injunction that pertains to housing related ASB will therefore be retained, and re-named the 'housing injunction' for clarity, to distinguish it from the Respect Order and the Youth Injunction. The legal test for this is behaviour causing, or capable of causing, housing-related nuisance or annoyance. If agencies consider that ASB committed in the context of neighbour disputes meets the legal test for a Respect Order (behaviour causing harassment, alarm or distress), they may determine a Respect Order is the most appropriate option instead.

What steps her Department is taking to help tackle car theft in Broxbourne constituency.

This Government is determined to drive down vehicle crime and we are working with the automotive industry and police to ensure our response is as strong as it can be. I met the NPCC Vehicle Crime lead, ACC Jenny Sims, recently and discussed this matter.We work closely with policing and industry, via the recently formed National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership and the National Vehicle Crime Working Group. Through the working group a network of vehicle crime specialists has been established, involving every police force in England and Wales, to ensure forces can share information about emerging trends in vehicle crime and better tackle regional issues.We are also providing £250,000 funding this financial year to help support enforcement at ports to prevent stolen vehicles and vehicle parts being shipped abroad, including additional staff and specialist equipment.PRC data shows there was a total of 375,048 vehicle related thefts in year ending September 2024. 188,517 of these offences were theft from a vehicle and 127,874 were theft of a motor vehicle.   In the latest year, the CSEW estimates that vehicle related theft has remained relatively stable with a 1% increase against the previous year. The Home Office does not collect data at the parliamentary constituency level.

What steps her Department is taking to tackle financial scams.

We are committed to working with law enforcement, industry, civil society and international partners to tackle financial scams. This includes blocking fraud at its source, disrupting it before it reaches the public, and providing preventative advice and support such as our “Stop! Think Fraud” campaign.Further industry action includes potential legislative action to ban “SIM farms”, technical devices that allow criminals to send scam texts to thousands of people at the same time, and the Online Safety Act codes of practice which will come into effect in March.In due course we will publish an expanded Fraud Strategy as set out in our manifesto, which will cover the full range of threats that our society faces from this crime.

What progress she has made on ending the use of hotels to accommodate asylum seekers.

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.