Written questions by Timothy.

What criteria the Prevent programme uses to (a) identify and (b) define subcategories of Extreme Right-Wing Terrorism.

Prevent uses the definition of Extreme Right-Wing Terrorism as set out inCONTEST 2023. This describes those involved in Extreme Right-Wing activity who use violence in furtherance of their ideology. These ideologies can be broadly characterised as Cultural Nationalism, White Nationalism and White Supremacism. Individuals and groups may subscribe to ideological trends and ideas from more than one category. When assessing referrals to Prevent, specialist police officers and staff determinewhether there are reasonable grounds to suspect that a person is at risk of radicalisation. According to the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 S36(3) “A chief officer of police may refer an individual to a panel only if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the individual is vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism” The definition used by Prevent is available at the following link: Microsoft Word - English Standard_CONTEST 2023 (publishing.service.gov.uk)

How many asylum claims of Sri Lankan nationals located on Diego Garcia are being considered by her Department.

None. I refer the Hon Member to PQ 12545.

If she will make an estimate of the number and proportion of Sri Lankan nationals located on Diego Garcia that will be eligible to claim asylum in the UK.

This Government inherited a deeply troubling situation that remained unresolved under the last administration for years after the migrants’ arrival on Diego Garcia.Arrangements are being made for the temporary relocation, subject to entry clearance applications and biometrics being submitted and there being no adverse information found as result, of 61 individuals located in Diego Garcia, given serious welfare and safeguarding concerns including for children on the island. Those with criminal convictions or under investigation will be excluded.Any asylum claims made in the UK and admitted to the UK asylum system, will be carefully considered in line with our international obligations.

Whether (a) guidance has been issued and (b) training courses have been delivered to staff in her Department on (i) unconscious bias, (ii) critical race theory and (iii) decolonisation since January 2024.

In 2021-2022, in response to Recommendation 6 of the Windrush Report, the previous government commissioned the introduction of a new training course for Home Office staff on the ‘History of the UK and its relationship with the rest of the world’, created from a wide field of academic and non-academic sources, including academic experts, psychologists, behavioural scientists, sociologists, and historians from outside the Home Office.The training material for this course includes content related to the history and legacy of decolonisation, but does not include any material focused on critical race theory, or unconscious bias. The Home Office has no plans to commission the preparation of any additional training materials in this area.

Pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2024 to Question 8515 on Home Office: Art Works and Cultural Heritage, if she will publish the correspondence regarding the formulation of the answer given.

A Freedom of Information request was submitted to the Home Office on 22 October on this matter.We will be happy to share a copy of the response to that request with the Hon. Gentleman once it has been published to the requester.

Pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2024 to Question 7600 on Asylum: Finance, whether her Department holds data on the lifetime fiscal (a) cost of and (b) income generated by those granted asylum in the UK.

The information requested is not currently available. The information is currently an active piece of our research programme, which includes working with relevant government departments to ensure all the impacts relating to granting a person asylum are identified and measured as accurately as possible. I refer the Honourable Gentleman to PQ 5435.

Pursuant to the Answer of 7 October 2024 to Question 7600 on Asylum: Finance, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing an estimate of the lifetime fiscal (a) cost of and (b) income generated by people granted asylum.

As has been the case under successive governments, there is no published estimate available of the requested information.

How many asylum applications were completed on average per caseworker per week in each month of each year since 2010.

The Home Office publishes quarterly data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum applications and initial decisions are available in tables Asy_D01 and Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to the year ending June 2024. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook.Monthly data on the number of initial decisions and asylum caseworkers is published in table Asy_05(M) of the ‘Immigration and Protection Data’ as part of the ‘Migration Transparency Data release’. The data covers the period from January 2020 to June 2024. Please note that the number of initial decisions will not match the number of decisions in table Asy_D02 as the figures in Asy_05(M) have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. The number of asylum caseworking staff by financial year is available in table Asy_04 with data available from 2011/12 to 2023/24.

What (a) guidance and (b) training her Department provides to caseworkers handling asylum applications.

Asylum decision-makers receive extensive training on interviewing and considering asylum claims.https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/asylum-decision-making-guidance-asylum-instructionsAsylum decision-makers carefully consider the claimant’s protection needs by assessing all the evidence provided by the claimant in light of published asylum and country information guidance.https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-policy-and-information-notes

How many asylum applications were (a) made and (b) concluded in each month of each year since 2010.

The Home Office publishes quarterly data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum applications and initial decisions are available in tables Asy_D01 and Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to the year ending June 2024. Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook.Monthly data on the number of initial decisions and asylum caseworkers is published in table Asy_05(M) of the ‘Immigration and Protection Data’ as part of the ‘Migration Transparency Data release’. The data covers the period from January 2020 to June 2024. Please note that the number of initial decisions will not match the number of decisions in table Asy_D02 as the figures in Asy_05(M) have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. The number of asylum caseworking staff by financial year is available in table Asy_04 with data available from 2011/12 to 2023/24.

Whether external (a) guidance and (b) training has been contracted for discussing (i) unconscious bias, (ii) critical race theory and (iii) decolonisation with staff in her Department.

In 2021-2022, in response to Recommendation 6 of the Windrush Report, the previous government commissioned the introduction of a new training course for Home Office staff on the ‘History of the UK and its relationship with the rest of the world’, created from a wide field of academic and non-academic sources, including academic experts, psychologists, behavioural scientists, sociologists, and historians from outside the Home Office.The training material for this course includes content related to the history and legacy of decolonisation, but does not include any material focused on critical race theory, or unconscious bias. The Home Office has no plans to commission the preparation of any additional training materials in this area.

Whether her Department has provided funding to Hope Not Hate since the general election; and what meetings (a) officials, (b) special advisers and (c) Ministers in her Department have had with representatives of Hope Not Hate since that date.

All relevant meetings attended by ministers, special advisers and senior officials are declared in the normal way in the department’s quarterly transparency releases.Departmental spending and grant allocations are also routinely disclosed, but I can confirm that no funding has been allocated to the organisation in question during the current financial year.

When she plans to respond to the letter of 1 September 2024 from the hon. Member for West Suffolk.

The Home Office did receive the letter dated 1 September 2024, however, it was not recorded on the usual correspondence systems.A response will be issued to the original letter in due course.

Pursuant to the Answers of 17 September 2024 to Questions 4871 and 4872 on Home Office: Staff, how many of the employees of (a) Immigration Enforcement, (b) UK Visas and Immigration, (c) Border Force, and (d) HM Passport Office who were (i) suspended for gross misconduct, (ii) dismissed for gross misconduct and (iii) convicted of immigration crime were (A) British nationals, (B) non-British nationals and (C) British nationals with dual nationality.

The Home Office recruitment process adheres to the requirements of the Civil Service Nationality Rules. Civil Service recruitment: nationality rules - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)Eligibility for appointment, including on the grounds of nationality, is assessed during pre-employment checks, but breakdowns of nationality are not conducted in relation to those employers after they have been appointed or leave those roles.

If she will make an estimate of the number and proportion of warranted police officers that were (a) deployed and (b) unavailable for deployment to frontline roles per police force in the last 12 months.

The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the number and proportion of police officers available for duty and those in frontline roles as at 31 March each year in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.Table H1 of the data tables accompanying the publication provides the number and proportion of police officers available for duty, by Police Force Area, as at 31 March 2024. The number of police officers available for duty is calculated by excluding those on long-term absence.The Home Office also publishes statistics on the functions of police workers, following the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s (CIPFA) Police Objective Analysis (POA) framework. Table F1 of the data tables accompanying the publication provides the primary function of police officers by Police Force Area, as at 31 March 2024. Those on long-term absence, which are not available for duty, are included in the ‘Other’ function; however, this group may also contain some officers that are available for duty. Table F5 presents the number and proportion of officers that are in frontline roles, by Police Force Area, as at 31 March 2024. The proportions are calculated excluding officers recorded under the ‘Other’ and ‘National Policing’ functions.

Whether she plans to decolonise the (a) artwork and (b) heritage assets in her Department; and what guidance she issues to her Department’s Arm’s Length Bodies on decolonisation.

While the Hon. Gentlemen is welcome to put forward his proposals on this matter, our immediate priorities remain the protection of national security, the restoration of neighbourhood policing, tackling the smuggling gangs responsible for small boat crossings,and clearing up the chaos left by the previous government.

What industrial disputes are ongoing within (a) her Department and (b) each of the arm’s length bodies connected to her Department; how many (i) staff and (ii) contractors are involved in each dispute; what the form of industrial action is in each dispute; which recognised trade union is involved in each dispute; what the substantive matter is that is being disputed in each case; and what steps she plans to take to end each dispute.

Home OfficeNo recognised trade union currently holds a mandate to call industrial action in the Home Office.The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) trade union is in dispute with the Home Office regarding the implementation, on 29 April 2024, of a new shift roster for Border Force employees working at the Primary Control Point (PCP) at Heathrow Airport.PCS had a mandate to call strike action and action short of a strike (overtime ban and work to rule) at Heathrow between March and September 2024. That mandate has now expired, and the Home Office has not yet been notified of a further ballot. The most recent PCS notice of industrial action at Heathrow, issued in August 2024, called on 653 employees to take part in the action. There are no contractors in scope of the dispute.Border Force management remain open to discussing concerns regarding the roster with PCS with a view to resolving them in a way that meets business needs.Home Office Arms’ Length BodiesPCS currently has a mandate for strike action in the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). This mandate remains valid until 14 November 2024. This mandate is in respect of a Civil Service wide dispute over pay, pensions and job security. The number of DBS employees included in the ballot was 646. No contractors were in scope of the ballot.No recognised trade union currently holds a mandate to call industrial action in any other Home Office ALB.

What estimate she has made of the lifetime fiscal (a) cost of and (b) income generated by those granted asylum in the UK.

As has been the case under successive governments, there is no published estimate available of the requested information.

What estimate she has made of the lifetime fiscal (a) cost of and (b) income generated by people granted asylum in the UK.

As has been the case under successive governments, there is no published estimate available of the requested information.