Written questions by Davies.

Whether she has met with, consulted or received submissions from the Ashdown Forest Conservators on the proposed use of the Crowborough Training Camp for asylum seeker accommodation.

Discussions are underway to use the Crowborough site for asylum accommodation. Consideration of this site is ongoing and any final decision to utilise any site for the intended purposes will be made once the relevant factors have been properly considered.The Home Office continues to engage regularly with representatives from the local authority, the NHS, the Police, and local partners, including via Multi Agency Forums pre-delivery and post-Go Live of the proposed site to address the concerns of those most impacted and to identify ways to keep them informed.The Home Secretary will ensure that any development is safe, appropriate and compliant with the relevant planning regulations and processes where required.

Whether the Secretary of State has issued any directions under section 293B(13) to Wealden District Council relating to site notices or other publicity requirements for the Crowborough Training Camp and asylum seeker accommodation application.

Discussions are underway to use the Crowborough site for asylum accommodation. Consideration of this site is ongoing and any final decision to utilise any site for the intended purposes will be made once the relevant factors have been properly considered.The Home Office continues to engage regularly with representatives from the local authority, the NHS, the Police, and local partners, including via Multi Agency Forums pre-delivery and post-Go Live of the proposed site to address the concerns of those most impacted and to identify ways to keep them informed.The Home Secretary will ensure that any development is safe, appropriate and compliant with the relevant planning regulations and processes where required.

Whether her Department has submitted the required information under section 293B(7) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 in relation to an application by the Ministry of Defence concerning the use of Crowborough Training Camp for asylum seeker accommodation.

Discussions are underway to use the Crowborough site for asylum accommodation. Consideration of this site is ongoing and any final decision to utilise any site for the intended purposes will be made once the relevant factors have been properly considered.The Home Office continues to engage regularly with representatives from the local authority, the NHS, the Police, and local partners, including via Multi Agency Forums pre-delivery and post-Go Live of the proposed site to address the concerns of those most impacted and to identify ways to keep them informed.The Home Secretary will ensure that any development is safe, appropriate and compliant with the relevant planning regulations and processes where required.

If she will make (a) an assessment of the potential merits of launching a Wales-wide inquiry into grooming gangs and (b) it her policy to tackle ongoing crimes relating to grooming gangs in Wales.

The Government is committed to tackling all forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The police will respond to all allegations of group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse, ensuring that victims are protected and offenders are brought to justice.The National Inquiry into Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse will cover England and Wales. The Home Secretary has written to the First Minister to confirm this.We will continue to work closely with law enforcement and safeguarding partners to address ongoing crimes and protect vulnerable children across Wales and the rest of the UK.We are also providing £2.59 million in 2025-26 for the Support for Victims and Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse Fund, providing a range of support services with national reach. As part of the fund, this year we have provided £193,515 to Cyfannol Women’s Aid.The Home Office also launched the invitation-to-tender for the national Independent Child Trafficking Guardianship (ICTG) Service contract in September 2025, which will expand coverage from two thirds of local authorities in England and Wales to all local authorities in England and Wales.The service provides specialist modern slavery and child exploitation expertise to ensure child victims are protected from further harm, prevent possible repeat victimisation or re-trafficking, and promote the child’s recovery. It supports child victims of sexual exploitation and grooming who have been referred into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), and the professionals working with them.The Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC) provides specialist support to adult victims of exploitation and trafficking who have been identified through the NRM in England and Wales. This includes adults who experienced sexual exploitation as children

What steps she has taken to help victims of grooming gangs in Wales.

The Government is committed to tackling all forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The police will respond to all allegations of group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse, ensuring that victims are protected and offenders are brought to justice.The National Inquiry into Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse will cover England and Wales. The Home Secretary has written to the First Minister to confirm this.We will continue to work closely with law enforcement and safeguarding partners to address ongoing crimes and protect vulnerable children across Wales and the rest of the UK.We are also providing £2.59 million in 2025-26 for the Support for Victims and Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse Fund, providing a range of support services with national reach. As part of the fund, this year we have provided £193,515 to Cyfannol Women’s Aid.The Home Office also launched the invitation-to-tender for the national Independent Child Trafficking Guardianship (ICTG) Service contract in September 2025, which will expand coverage from two thirds of local authorities in England and Wales to all local authorities in England and Wales.The service provides specialist modern slavery and child exploitation expertise to ensure child victims are protected from further harm, prevent possible repeat victimisation or re-trafficking, and promote the child’s recovery. It supports child victims of sexual exploitation and grooming who have been referred into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), and the professionals working with them.The Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC) provides specialist support to adult victims of exploitation and trafficking who have been identified through the NRM in England and Wales. This includes adults who experienced sexual exploitation as children.

Whether her Department has issued guidance to local authorities on (a) when and (b) how often they can issue legal stop notices in relation to the housing of asylum seekers in their areas.

Planning enforcement action is not a matter for the Home Office.  This government will close every asylum hotel. Work is well underway, with more suitable sites being brought forward to ease pressure on communities across the country so that the Home Office continues to meet its statutory obligations while also carefully considering the impact on local areas.

How much funding her Department has allocated to Wealden District Council for each asylum seeker.

We are working closely with key stakeholders including local health partnersto minimise the impact on the local community. Total costs will be included inthe Departments Annual Report and Accounts in the normal way.

What the (a) sickness and (b) staff retention rates were of the seasonal workforce in Border force in 2024.

Data on (a) sickness rates for this cohort is not centrally held by the Home Office.As regards (b) retention, at the start of 2024, Home Office was authorised by the Civil Service Commission to recruit on an exceptional basis up to 1000 SWF staff to meet short term needs as required. This cohort was not under general employment by Home Office but could be offered short term employment contracts, which they were free to accept or reject. These contracts specified there was no expectation of extension or offer of a further contract, on expiry of the initial term. Following the Civil Service Commission confirming that authorisation for this form of recruitment would not be extended beyond early 2025, all SWF staff contracts were ended by 31 January 2025.

What the budget was for the seasonal workforce for Border Force in 2024.

The budget for Border Force’s Seasonal Workforce was £9.424m for calendar year 2024.

On how many occasions waiting time targets were exceeded at major points of entry in 2024.

The specific data requested is not available in an accessible format but below are the relevant statistics taken from Border Force’s transparency data.Of the 832,739 queue samples measured across the UK in 2024, 97.55% of queues were within Border Force’s service standards above the 95% target. These service standards are 25 mins EU/EEA and 45 mins non-EU/EEA.https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/682b149302662c6f8ec24411/border-force-transparency-data-q1-2025.ods (tab BF01).

How many officers were contracted in the seasonal workforce within Border Force in 2024.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 23 July to Question 68251.

What the (a) travel and (b) other costs were of back filling shortfalls in Border Force staff in 2024; and how many (i) posts and (ii) hours of time were backfilled.

There was no shortfall in Border Force staffing against its budgeted headcount in 2024; as such, there were no additional travel nor other costs incurred specifically for backfilling staff, and no posts nor hours required backfilling.Border Force operates a flexible resourcing model, regularly assessing operational needs and deploying staff dynamically in response to passenger volumes and security requirements. Maintaining the security and efficiency of the UK border remains a top priority, and we continue to allocate resources accordingly to ensure the smooth flow of passengers and goods.

How many former seasonal workforce officers were offered permanent positions after their contacts ended prior to 2024; and how many vacancies there were for them in 2024.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 23 July to PQ UIN 68079.

What timetable she has set to introduce domestic abuse experts in 999 control rooms.

From early this year, under a new approach named ‘Raneem’s Law’, domestic abuse specialists will begin to be embedded in 999 control rooms to advise on risk assessments, work with officers on the ground and ensure that victims are referred to appropriate support services swiftly. Exact timings will be confirmed in due course.

What timetable she has set for establishing specialist rape and sexual offences teams in every police force.

This Government recognises the devastating impact of sexual violence and that’s why tackling rape and sexual offences is a key part of our mission to halve Violence Against Women and Girls.It is essential for police forces to have the right specialist capability to support victims and bring perpetrators to justice. This is why we are working closely with policing to ensure every force has a specialist rape and sexual offences team.Further details will be announced in due course.

Whether she plans to amend police funding to help tackle extreme misogyny.

The Home Office announced the 2025-2026 police funding settlement before Christmas. It provides funding of up to £19.5 billion for the policing system in England and Wales, an overall increase of up to £1 billion when compared to the 2024-25 settlement, and equating to a 5.5% cash increase, and 3% real terms increase in funding. Total funding to police forces will be up to £17.4 billion, an increase of up to £987 million compared to the 2024-25 settlement. Decisions on how funding is used is an operational matter for Chief Constables and locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners.We are also working closely with the policing sector to deliver improvements in the police response to violence against women and girls (VAWG), including by embedding domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms.

How many hotels are (a) providing and (b) in negotiations to provide accommodation to asylum seekers in East Grinstead and Uckfield constituency.

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.Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including hotels, and by local authority can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for our most recent statistics release: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK.